The scripture reading this morning comes from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 17.
Please follow along in your bulletin.
He said to his disciples,
It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come,
but woe to him through whom they come.
It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea
than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.
Be on your guard.
If your brother sins, rebuke him.
And if he repents, forgive him.
And if he sins against you seven times a day
and returns to you seven times saying,
I repent, forgive him.
The apostle said to the Lord,
Increase our faith.
And the Lord said,
If you had faith like a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,
and it would obey you.
Which of you, having a slave, plowing or tending sheep,
will say to him when he has come in from the field,
Come immediately and sit down to eat.
But will he not say to him,
Prepare something for me to eat,
and properly clothe yourself,
and serve me while I eat and drink.
And afterward, you may eat and drink.
He does not thank the slave
because he did the things which were commanded,
does he?
So you too.
When you do all the things which are commanded you,
say,
We are unworthy slaves.
We have done only that which we ought to have done.
This is God's word.
How you guys doing?
Wow, that was the worst one ever.
How you guys doing?
Okay.
Wow.
So, if you're here for the first time,
my name is Tobin.
I'm one of the pastors here at Watermark.
Two quick announcements, very quickly,
just to dispel any rumors.
Yes, my wife is gone.
She went to visit her family in California this weekend
because someone came in and said to me,
Christina must be gone.
And I'm like, well, why?
And she goes, well, look at how the kids are dressed.
You must have dressed them.
Yes, I was responsible for dressing my kids today.
So, thank you very much.
It's great having a lot of moms.
Also, the other, just to spell anything,
you came in and there was a rock on your chair.
We talked about hell last week.
So, these rocks aren't for you to throw at me
when you dislike something I say, okay?
So, they're not ammunition or things like that,
but they're just things.
We'll use those later on,
keep a hold of those,
and we're going to talk.
Okay, we're on a journey.
We use that word a lot.
We're on a journey through the book of Luke.
We've been doing Luke for two years now.
I figured that we'll finish Luke in next fall.
We picked the Gospels because we figured
if we looked at Jesus, we couldn't go wrong, right?
We picked the Gospels because we looked at Jesus' life,
and we realized that in his story is our story.
Our story fits into his story,
and everything that we need to hear and know
is in his life.
And so, we've been going through Luke for two years now,
off and on with other things added in there.
And so, we're on that journey with Luke.
We also talk about we're on a journey in life.
And one of the things you need to know
about journeying through life
is that the journey in life
is all about relationships.
Relationships.
It's all about relationships
as we go on this journey.
There's two main ones.
I kind of think of them
because I'm not an engineer.
I'm studying medicine,
but I kind of think of them
as vertically and horizontally.
And first, we have that vertical relationship
in our world,
and that's with the Lord, with God.
And that we all go on this journey with God.
And it's important to remember
that when we go on this journey with God,
that we should be growing
in a couple different ways.
We should be growing
in our awareness of God's holiness.
And we should be growing
in our awareness of my flesh,
my sinfulness.
Those things should always be growing in our life.
It's why we study the Word of God.
It's why we are in church.
It's why we're in a community group
because people help us
understand about God's holiness.
God's Word helps us to understand
about God's holiness.
And being in community
helps us to understand
about our brokenness,
our fallenness.
And whenever one of those isn't happening,
we misplace grace.
We don't understand grace.
We don't understand the cross.
And so we live lives
that are bifurcated
or not what God meant for them to be.
Also, in this journey,
we have a horizontal component.
And that component is with people,
relationships, community,
your spouse,
anybody that you're with there.
And as you go on that journey,
there's two things
we can never forget also.
It's really important.
And on that journey,
we always got to be growing
in our understanding
that every person
is made in the image of God.
Every person is made
in the image of God.
Every person has
God's fingerprint on them.
Every person has
God's watermark on them.
That's why we call this church
a watermark
because we feel like
God has called us
to help bring out
that watermark.
And so everybody is made
in the image of God,
even your worst enemy.
And the second thing
you need to remember
in that journey
as individuals
with other people
in community
is that we're all broken
and sinful.
We're all broken
and sinful.
I mean,
if you ever catch yourself
saying,
oh, I can't believe
they did that,
what you're saying is,
I'm not like that.
If you ever catch yourself
saying,
well, I can't believe
this happened this way
and that really freaked me out,
you're saying,
I'm not broken
and I'm not sinful
or I'm not as broken
as they are
or I'm not as sinful
as they are.
And if you do that,
you'll never live life.
You'll never enjoy
the journey
that God meant for you
to enjoy.
Never.
We're on a journey
in Luke,
Luke 17.
It's important
to remember
in Luke 17
that as Jesus
is teaching,
he's going
to Jerusalem,
he's going
to the cross.
He's going
to die
a terrible,
terrible death.
It's about one week
away from this passage.
So we're going
to get to it
next fall,
but in chronological time
it's one week away.
And as he's going
on this journey,
he's pulling
his disciples aside
and he wants
to talk to them
about what it means
to be a follower
of Christ.
What does it look
like to follow Christ?
He's going
to talk about
four things
in this passage.
He's going
to talk about
accountability.
He's going
to talk about
forgiveness.
He's going
to talk about
walking in faith.
And most importantly,
he's going
to talk about
service.
All four of these
things he's going
to say,
if you are my follower,
this is what you do.
This is who you are.
It's not something
special that you do.
It's not something
that you get a high five
for after you score
the touchdown.
It's just something
that you do.
It's who you are.
Accountability,
forgiveness,
faith,
service.
Those are just things
that we do
as Christ followers.
And so as we look
at this passage,
I want to bring out
a couple of those
things.
And I want to talk
about the why,
the how,
and the what,
and what it means
to walk with God
on this journey
and doing those
four things.
things.
Now,
for some of you,
if you're like me,
I grew up in an amazing
church in the States,
but the focus
is always on myself.
So I read a passage
and I said,
what does this mean
for me?
How does this apply
this to my life?
How does this affect
me?
Probably you're
very similar to that.
But the scripture
is very different.
The Bible says
that all of these
passages are meant
not just for you,
but for the family
of God.
That all these
passages are meant
for us to be lived
out in community.
They're written
to a church,
they're written
to a community,
and you live
these things out
in community,
and sometimes
we forget that,
and when we forget
that,
we don't enjoy
the journey
like God
meant for us
to enjoy.
I'm going to try
something today
for the first time
ever.
We'll probably
never try it again
because it will
probably,
but we'll see.
And what I want
to do is I want
to lead us in
some reflective
prayer time.
I'm going to look
at those four points
very briefly,
and then I want
to lead us
into some
confessional
prayer time.
I've had some
prayers written out.
Today's a day
of prayer.
We felt like
as a staff,
and so I'm going
to do that,
and we'll see
how that works
and what goes
with that
as God calls
us to walk
with Him,
and what does
it mean
to walk
with Him?
You ready?
Okay,
so Luke 17,
verses 1 and 2,
and He said
to His disciples,
it is inevitable
that it will happen.
It has to happen.
Don't be surprised
when it happens.
It's going to happen
that stumbling blocks
come,
but woe to Him
through whom they come.
It would be better
for Him
if a millstone
were hung around
His neck
and He were thrown
into the sea
than that He would
cause one of these
little ones,
one of these Christians,
one of these Christ followers,
one of my children
to fall away
from the face.
Jesus says here
that sin
coming into
our community
because we're living
as a community
is inevitable.
It's going to happen.
When we talk about sin,
I'm not talking
about personality differences.
I'm not talking
about cultural differences.
I'm not talking
about preferences,
but I'm talking
about sin.
The word in Greek
here is a very interesting
word.
It's skandalon.
It's the word
we get scandal from.
It's this idea
in Greek
of this bird trap.
The bird trap
is like this
and this pole
with the bait on it
is the skandalon.
It's the thing
that attracts people
to the trap.
When the bird
hits that trap,
it hits the scandal.
The trap closes
and kills the bird.
This is the imagery
that Jesus is using
and He's saying
these things
are going to happen.
He's going to say
sometimes you and I
we're going to forget
our obligations to Him.
Sometimes we're going
to forget
these four things
and when these things
we forget them,
sin happens
and His warning
to us as a church
and as individuals
is woe to you.
It's a very strong word
in the Greek.
It means don't do it.
It means it would be
better for you
to be killed
by men
than to cause somebody
to fall away
from the face.
It would be better
for you to be destroyed.
In Jesus' day
they actually killed
criminals
by hanging a millstone
around their neck.
A millstone
was a big piece
of two stones
and you put weed in it
and you grind them up
and there'd be
a little hole
in the center
like a coin
that we have
and you'd rip it around
and sometimes
they would take criminals
and tie a millstone
around His neck
and they would throw Him
into the water.
And Jesus says to us
it would be better
for that to happen to us
than for us
to cause somebody
to stray away
from the faith.
It would be better
for that to happen to us
than if somebody
were to look at their life
and say well that's
what being a Christian
is like.
I don't want to have
anything to do
with that type
of Christianity.
And so the question
we have to ask ourselves
today is
how are we doing?
Is our faith
beautiful?
Is Jesus
beautiful?
When people look at us
do they see
Christ
and all His glory
and do they see
grace
and mercy?
Do they see
beauty?
Or are we
a stumbling block?
Are we a scandal?
Are we a scandal on?
Are we something
that's causing people
to run away
from Christianity
not to take it seriously?
Are we doing harm
to the people of God
instead of good?
As an employee
what would it look like
for you to be a scandal
to those around you?
What would it look like
for you as you went
into your office
this Monday
to turn people away
from Christ?
What would it look like
to live a life
in such a way
that if people
found out
that you were
going to church
they would never
want anything
to do with church?
As an employer
what would it look like
to live every day
in a scandal?
What would it look like
to cheat your employees?
What would it look like
so that you are so
toxic
that your employees
don't want to go
to church
or at least
your church?
As a teacher
do your students
see Christ in you?
When you walk
into the classroom
do they see Jesus
in your words
and in your grace
and in your actions
or are they overwhelmed
and they think
well they must be thinking
about something else?
As a parent
is our faith
beautiful to our children?
When our children
look at our lives
do they see Christ
and beauty
and love
and mercy
and grace?
or do they see
hypocrisy?
Hypocrisy
just last night
I'm sitting at the table
in our dinner
we're talking
I'm trying to make
conversation with everybody
and so we
just set the ground rules
in our house
we have a couple words
we don't say
we don't say shut up
and we don't say stupid
now our kids think
that those are curse words
and so we just don't
say those at all
and there's a lot
of different reasons
behind it
you know
there's just
there are things
and so last night
at the dinner table
Kip looks at me
and he says
how come
when I say stupid
I get in trouble
but when you say stupid
nothing happens?
it's tough man
right?
wow
I'm like
well my first reaction is
well you know
I grew up where stupid
wasn't a bad word
that's what I want to say
I've said that a couple times
I've said
you know
stupid is something
that your mom feels
strongly about
but it's something
that I don't know
I'm kind of on the fence about
that's worse right?
sometimes I just say
I don't know
but what I should say is
you're right
and I'm sorry
because I've sinned against you
and I've sinned against our house
when our kids
I mean dude
it's tough being a pastor
right?
you guys hear the talk
and then you leave
I have to think about this
for months and months
and then my God
just hitting me over the head
showing me
inconsistencies
in my words
in my life
sometimes 10 year olds
are the best x-rays
to inconsistencies
as a pastor
what do I preach?
do I preach something funny
and sexy
and good
and nice to hear
or do I preach the gospel?
do I preach a message
that is a scandal on
to people
and turns them away
from the beauty
and wonder
and mercy
and love
of Christ?
are my words up here
consistent with my words
when I go back home
and act
with my kids
and my family?
or are my words
a scandal
to them?
Christ says
be careful
you don't want to cause
little ones
followers of Christ
to fall away
from the faith
by our actions
I want to lead us
in some prayer time
let's pray
Father
before you
I just repent
we repent
of our selfishness
and our sin
Father
I pray for the fathers
in this household
I pray for those of us
who are selfish
I pray for those of us
who are passive
I pray for those of us
who just think about ourselves
and don't engage our wife
and our kids
when we go home
Lord we need you
help us not to be
a stumbling block
to our kids
help us not to be
a stumbling block
to our wife
and to our neighbors
as they see us interact
Father
help us to know
what it means
to walk with you
Lord
as singles
we
we repent
of stumbling blocks
and of being
stumbling blocks
in our world
do we cause people
to stumble
with our words
do we cause people
to stumble
with our bodies
and how we dress
and how we flaunt them
just to get a little attraction
do we cause people
to stumble
and to walk away
with our lifestyles
Father
as parents
we confess
our inconsistency
in what we say
and how we act
with our kids
please
we beg you
please don't allow
our kids
to be trapped
by this
to fall away
from the gospel
to not love your son
like we do
but to hate him
Lord
we realize
even if we give them
a perfect education
and a perfect life
and they get it
to the perfect school
and the perfect jobs
that they could lose
everything perfectly
for eternity
because they didn't see you
lived out in our lives
consistently
Father's wives
we confess
how we are not
Father
how we have not
allowed our husbands
to be the spiritual leaders
in our families
and in our lives
Father
we confess
and we pray
for the sarcasm
and the arrogance
that sometimes we
show
to our husbands
our spouses
in front of our children
Father
we beg your forgiveness
and we pray
that our kids
don't see that
and we pray
that their marriage
doesn't end up being
just like our marriage
Lord
we need you
Lord
come to us now
and show us
how we could
cause people
to fall
show us
how we could
cause people
to fall out of love
with you
and your son
Jesus Christ
the inconsistencies
in our life
Lord
we need you
to show us
these things
we need you
amen
be on your guard
if your brother sins
rebuke him
not
guard your own life
but guard your heart
because that sin
is going to come in there
and that sin
is going to do something
and if your brother sins
rebuke him
and if he repents
forgive him
and if he sins
against you
seven times a day
and returns to you
seven times a day
saying I repent
forgive him
Christ is teaching us
he's teaching the church
he's teaching his disciples
that as the family of God
it's really important
for us
to watch
our hearts
as we're sinned against
he's telling us
that we need to come
against brothers
and sisters
and to admonish them
to correct him
to show them
the errors of their way
and when I'm talking
about sin
I'm not
when I'm not talking
about just a simple
okay he dropped his gum
but we're talking about
things that separate
relationships
because on the journey
the relationship
is a key
and so anything
that comes in there
and separates
that relationship
between us
and God
and between us
and each other
God says
that we need to come
and we need to go
before those brothers
and show them
that sin
the goal
is not to shame them
the goal
is to restore them
the goal
is to keep the family healthy
the goal
is to bring the family together
the goal
is forgiveness
Jesus says
as a church
and as disciples
on this journey
that we
we must
rebuke sin
even when we don't want to
we must forgive
even when we don't want to
you know often
when something happens
and I watch
I look at
somebody's actions
and for me
I just kind of think through
okay something's happening there
has what they've done
affected the relationship
between me
and them
has what they've done
affected the relationship
between them and God
has what they've done
affecting them
has what they've done
affected how Christ
is seen
in the community
around them
has what they've done
a habitual habit
that they keep doing
over
and over
and Jesus says
that those things
are true
that our responsibility
is to go before
our brother
and to rebuke him
to correct him
to show him
what's going on
and to show him
that he shouldn't do that
and the moment
the moment that he
asked for forgiveness
that we're to forgive him
forgiveness is hard
isn't it
I mean I think it's
it's
it's really
really hard
it's like
the Bible says
that when somebody
wrongs you
that you incur
a debt
there's a debt
taken out
and the only way
I can think of it
I've been thinking about this
for a long time
it's like
we're this
okay you can tell
what my family does
we're this big bowl
of ice cream
or this tub
of ice cream
and every time
somebody wrongs you
this scoop comes in
and it digs some of you out
and that wrong
comes again
and they dig you out
and the question
you have to ask yourself
is what do you replace
that digged out ice cream
with
I mean if you're like me
maybe you replace it
with anger
maybe you replace it
with frustration
maybe you
replace it
with sadness
because whenever
sin hits us
like that bowl
of ice cream
being scooped out
it takes something
away from us
it might take something
away from our character
it might take something
away from us
emotionally
it might take something
away from us
in our comfort
it might destroy
our ego
it might be a financial
burden
that's taken away
and Jesus says
in this passage
as the children of God
when we're wronged
by brothers
that we are
to eat the debt
there's always a debt
there's always something
that needs to be paid
last week our car
was waiting for the kids
to be picked up at school
and a guy pushing a cart
older guy
lost control
and the cart
slammed into the side
of our car
and left this huge dent
well fortunately our car
is a 16 year old
minivan
so it's okay
but this huge dent
and all these things
and he was so panicked
what do I do
I have this debt
I have to pay these things
and I said to him
don't worry about it
we'll take care of it
did the debt go away
I mean for him it did
but the debt
still had to be taken care of
right
it still had to be dealt with
it still had to be fixed
and Jesus says
as we go in community
as we're on a journey
with relationships
that when someone wrongs you
and you've come to them
and they've
and that word
seven times seven
he's not saying
come back
okay
forgive me
okay
come back
hey I messed up again
please forgive me
no
there's a passage
where Peter goes
hey if someone forgives us
three times
which was a symbol
of perfection
should we
they wrong us three times
should we forgive them
three times
and what Peter's
expecting Jesus to say
is wow you're great
you're perfect
because the rabbi said
if you forgive somebody
three times
you're perfect
and Jesus says no
he says seven times 70
and what he's saying there
is that's like
the perfect number
that's what passage
what Jesus is saying
in his passage
is if your brother comes
and he sends
the perfect sin
against you
what would that be
get you fired
kill your children
destroy your marriage
lose something
of great value
Jesus says
even if that brother
comes and he does
the perfect sin
against you
you're to eat the debt
you're to take care of it
you're to forgive him
how's that sound
now it's impossible
to do
if we forget
that we're all made
in the image of God
if we forget
that we're all made
in the image of God
we're gonna say
instead of
my sister who sinned
we're gonna say
that sinner
and instead of
if we're all made
in the image of God
if we forget that
we're gonna say
my brother
who cheated me
we're gonna say
cheater
isn't that interesting
I'm just asking
talking about my own wife
when somebody else
lies or cheats to me
they lied and cheat to me
but when I do it
it's complicated
you don't know
what's going on
in my life right now
I grew up
and that wasn't
a swear word
and Jesus says
watch
your hearts
because we're always
gonna have this propensity
to explain away
our sin
and he says
if you do it
you're
you're lost
if we forget
that we're all
broken
and sinful
we can't do it
either
because we're gonna
call names
we're gonna say
I wouldn't do that
I would never do that
but what scripture
says here
is that forgiveness
is to all of us
that we're to give
everyone
that we're
forgiven
to the debt
actually it's the idea
of surrendering
what we owe
or what's owed
to us
surrendering
what's owed
to us
how we doing
how you doing
with the debt
I'm sure most of us
have these ice cream
buckets that are
pretty much scooped
out right now
what are we filling
them up with
the passage says
that Jesus wants us
to fill it up
with him
that he wants us
to fill it up
with him
forgiving debt
is always painful
it's always costly
it always costs
somebody
something
debt just does not
go away
except for in the
US government
and economy
but everywhere else
in God's realm
debt has to be paid
the question is
how are you gonna
pay it
and who's gonna
pay it
let's pray
Father we
Father we confess
that we are often
hard hearted people
with a desire
to get even
to be right
to be justified
not to forgive
to keep a score
to rejoice
when something bad
happens to that person
and say well I told you
so they'll get
what they deserve
but your word
says something
so different
that you
you've asked us
to forgive
you've asked us
to eat in the debt
Father would you
show us
your forgiveness
to us
would you show us
what it meant
for you to eat our debt
would you show us
what it meant
for us to
experience
your mercy
and your grace
Father's husbands
I'm sure that many
of us have become
embittered
angry
leery
of our wives
because they don't
do what we need
them to do
or when we want
it done
or they do
things in our
household
so much better
than we can do
them
Father would you
help us
to forgive
those wrongs
help us
to repent
of our selfishness
help us
to lead
our families
by first
going
to our wives
and apologizing
to them
because we
haven't been
the servant
leaders
that they've
called us
to be
that you've
called us
to be
help us
to say I'm
wrong
help us
to say please
forgive me
as wise
if any of us
have anger
or hurt
resentment
towards our
husbands
if any of us
have built
walls
that have not
long been
broached
for a long
time
Father I pray
for the wise
in here
that they would
take the debt
you would help
them to take
that understand
what that means
Father I pray
that they would
stop trying to
make their
husbands pay
for it
because he
deserves it
Father I pray
that you would
help them to be
servant helpers
that you've
called them to be
help them to say
I was wrong
help them to say
forgive me
Father show us
your forgiveness
to us right
now
before all of us
with so many
hurts so many
offenses against
us our parents
our bosses
our workmates
our schoolmates
our best friends
our boyfriends
our girlfriends
people we really
loved and cared
for and scooped
out our life
and hurt us in
ways that we
could never
think about
Father help us
to take that
debt
remind us
that they were
made in your
image
remind us
that we're
all broken
that we're
all broken
in the need
of you
of your
mercy
and your
grace
Lord please
just show us
this forgiveness
we know it's
costly
we know
that we can't
do it on your
own but your
word says that
you will do it
for us
and through us
Lord I pray
for every one
of us in this
sanctuary right now
as we meet
with you
that you would
show us
what it means
to be forgiving
people
but more
importantly Lord
as a community
on a journey
and relationships
is everything
Father show us
what it means
that you forgave
us
Father we need
you and we
thank you
and we pray
all these things
in your son
Jesus name
immediately after
hearing this
the apostle said
to the Lord
increase our
faith and the
Lord said
if you had
faith the size
of a mustard
seed you would
say to the
mulberry tree
be rooted
and be planted
in the sea
and it would
obey you
and what Jesus
is saying is
you don't need
any more faith
Jesus is saying
you already have
all the faith
that you need
that when you
came to me
it took faith
and that faith
that you had
when you came
to me
that's all you
need
the question is
are you going
to appropriate
that faith
are you going
to trust in it
are you going
to live in it
Jesus is saying
with just a little
faith the people
of God can do
amazing things
and so what he's
telling his disciples
here is you don't
need more faith
you need to use
the faith
that I've already
given you
don't try
to manufacture
more faith
it won't work
out
what happens
is that we
need to have
a simple faith
in an amazing
God and trust
him to walk
with us
verse 7
through 10
Jesus goes on
and he tells
this story
that everybody
would have
understood
because in
Jesus day
everyone had
slaves
did you know
that
it's not
slaves like
we think
but even
the poorest
people usually
had one
slave
slavery was
usually incurred
by debt
financial debt
and you had
two choices
when you made
a financial debt
either you went
to prison
or you became
somebody's servant
often people
gave their kids
to people
as servants
or slaves
because they
couldn't feed
their kids
my grandparents
tell me of
growing up
in a depression
and where their
kids had
they had a big
family
and they had
to be
pushed off
to the aunts
and uncles
because they
couldn't afford
to feed their
family during
the depression
and so in
Jesus day
when he told
this story
what he's
talking about
within this
community
the how
the why
and the what
it all
centers around
this idea
of service
to serve
everybody would
have understood
the illustration
everybody would
have had a
slave
and everybody
in reading
verses 7
through 9
would have
said well
of course
they would
do those
things first
that's what
slaves do
what they're
supposed to
do
they do
all those
things first
there's no
expectation
as a master
my slaves
are always
going to do
what I
expect them
to do
that's just
what's said
and then
verse 10
Jesus turns
the tables
and he goes
okay now
in reality
God's the
master
and you're
the servant
how are you
going to
handle that
because everything
that Jesus
has asked his
disciples to do
in verses 1
through 6
watch out
for sin
rebuke your
brother
forgive
walk in
faith
serve
those aren't
special things
those are just
things the
people of
God do
does that
make sense
it'd be like
you doing your
taxes this week
and you fill out
your tax form
to the government
or to whatever
country you're
for and you
write out your
check and you
mail it in
and after a week
you get really
angry and I say
why are you angry
and you go
well they didn't
send me a
thank you note
you don't expect
a thank you note
when you turn
your taxes in
it's just
something
we do
and Jesus is
saying here
that all of
these things
are just
things
that we do
reprove
correcting
forgiving
being careful
of sin
loving our
neighbors
serving
all of these
things are just
things that we
do as a
family of God
it's nothing
special
but it's
what we do
Jesus is
trying to tell
his disciples
here that if
you and I
if they
understood the
gospel
if we understood
all that Christ
has done for us
if we understood
the massive debt
that God
forgave for us
at the cross
if we understood
that Christ
came from heaven
as the master
and he became
a servant
and he served
us
if we understood
that on the cross
his last words
in John
now my wife
got mad at me
last week
because I yelled
out
Eli Eli
Lama Sabachthani
and I said
oh that's too
loud too loud
okay
his last words
in John
were
just tell us
die
just tell us
die
it means
it's finished
it's completed
every debt
is done
I've paid
every debt
in your life
I'm continuing
to pay the debts
that you do
everything
just tell us
die
it's done
if we understood
that Jesus
on the cross
through his blood
took everything
what he's saying
here in this
passage is
then serving
would be easy
then forgiving
would be easy
then being
careful of sin
and not wanting
to lead people
astray
would be easy
then walking
in a community
on a journey
would be easy
because it's what
God has called
us to do
the four big ones
temptation
accountability
forgiveness
faith
service
Jesus is walking
to the cross
and he wants us
to realize
as his people
that this is
what it looks
like
to walk
with the people
of God
how we doing
does that make
sense
yes no
what do we
learn from this
about Christ
we learn that
Christ makes
our life
possible
we learn that
he
fixes
everything
that he
cancels the debt
he brings us
to the father
he enables us
to walk with
the father
through faith
through his spirit
and he brings us
together in a
community
that's to serve
him
to act
counter-culturally
to do amazing
things
in his kingdom
and the question
is do we want
that
do we trust
him
or do we want
to be God
do we want
to take our
debt
do we want
to sin
do we want
to cause people
to go
astray
father we
just thank you
for this day
we thank you
for this passage
which is
in some ways
a very
interesting
and hard
passage
as we look
at our lives
lord I pray
for those of us
in here who
struggle with
temptations
and sin
lord as a
community
we come
together
help us
to walk
with each
other
father help
us to be
involved in
each other's
lives
more than
just sunday
help us to
think the best
of each other
help us to
realize that
we are all
made in
your image
and that we
are all
broken and
we need
amazing amounts
of grace
and mercy
lord help us
to be a
community
that doesn't
shoot
our broken
brothers and
sisters
but be
a community
that brings
them together
for the
purpose of
restoring
and healing
father teach
us this week
what it means
to forgive
more importantly
lord we just
pray that we
would understand
more what
your son has
done for us
in forgiving
us
i know lord
that there are
some people in
here who have
no idea what
i just said
they could
care less
and they're
ready to go
eat
and lord i
pray for
them now
that whoever
brought them
why ever
they're here
we know that
there's no
mistake that
people are
here that
you would
speak to
them
pray that
your spirit
would open
their eyes
and their
hearts to
their need
for you
i pray that
they would
see your
son jesus
is beautiful
and true
and has
come to
fix their
life in the
brokenness
relationships
lord i pray
that they
would have
the courage
to say
well if
god is
real
god please
just make
yourself known
to me
i want to
see what
this is all
about
and lord for
the rest of
us who
struggle with
forgiveness
and mercy
and sin
we are so
thankful for
you
because the
journey isn't
finished here
we're still
taking step
by step in
relationships
the journey
is finished
in heaven
so lord as
we're on this
journey we
just cry out
and say that
we need you
we need your
hand in our
lives
we need your
spirit to
change us
and to
fulfill us
and to
make us
what you've
called us
to be
and lord i
pray for this
church your
church
to think of
the church
that jesus
was growing
up that
this is a
picture of
but two
thousand years
later after
he went to
the cross
and rose
from the
grave
lord help
us as your
people not
to forget
these things
help us not
to forget what
it means to
be your
children
help us to
love the
people around
us
and to point
them to
something wonderful
and beautiful
your son jesus
lord we need
you
we pray all
these things
in his
holy name
amen
let's
go to
what
love the
organisation
that
it
Oh
same
as
you
oh