I was recently blessed with an opportunity to preach the first word at a Good Friday service here in brooklyn. "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" was the word for which i was responsible.
My sermon was on forgiveness - 15mins.
I started with a story about a time that my mom had forgiven me for an egregious offense that I had committed against her. I then spent the remainder of the sermon talking about how an understanding of the offense committed will help us to better appreciate forgiveness received.
Prayerfully i will get more opportunities to preach.
If given an opportunity to pick a topic for the next sermon I preach, I will probably cover something around a "wider view of worship" - addressing the fact that "worship" isn't just singing a ballady sounding gospel song...you know?
One of the applications that would come from that sermon would be to forgive others since we have been forgiven much. Another would be to love others since we have been loved much. The funny thing about those applications is that I need to take some time to apply them directly to my life - specifically to a relationship with a family member.
Please pray that the gospel would inform how I relate to others. Returning anger for anger is sin - and it does not reflect how the Lord relates to me. Crazy that i'm dealing with this after preaching a sermon on forgiveness...
hey jason ...
ReplyDeleteof course you're dealing with that after preaching a word on forgiveness! that's just how He works, isn't it? frustrating to the flesh to the point that it makes you want to hurl. but as charles stanley said this morning, our Maker wouldn't love us if he allowed us PEACE even in the midst of sin.
the gospel is amazing. conventional human wisdom says "hello? that person offended me! and now I'M the one who is being challenged to forgive???" while the gospel says "uh, yeah? had YHWH taken the same stance with you, you'd be in an eternity of trouble. and eternity is a real long time." lol.
gotta just let that flesh go -- with all it's contradictions, desire for soul-harming pleasure, and dumb pride all in the mix -- and let it dry out and DIE.
that's all it's good for, after all. mind-numbing death. death, death, death.
you said "I then spent the remainder of the sermon talking about how an understanding of the offense committed will help us to better appreciate forgiveness received." props for that, fam. reminds me of when we used to go watch you deliver sermons back in 2007 and 2008. that was a fun season :) but it's soooo critical to add that in, as you know. if people don't know how utterly offending the offense was, how can they appreciate the forgiveness?
if i got my traffic ticket for running a red light forgiven, i'd be happy. that would be about $90 back in my pocket. but if i later found out that after running the light i'd hit and killed a two-year-old who had run out into the street -- and i'd been forgiven for THAT TOO -- how much different would my joy at being forgiven be?
keep being a light, bro, and pouring it out in a life where not much else truly matters.
it appears fewer folks than we think have been given the benefit of a biblical faith.
to whom much is given much is expected.