What Forgiveness is NOT | Pastor Dave Kinney

How are we doing today at church, United City?

Come on, somebody.

I like it.

I like it.

And I want to take a moment to welcome all of those who are joining with us online, as well as all those who are streaming this service through the Pando app.

Church, could you help me welcome all of those joining us at our correctional facilities today?

We are so incredibly thankful for you.

I want to add my word of greeting to you along with David's.

My name is Dave Kinney.

I'm the executive pastor here at United City.

And before we dive in, there is nothing like the church when the church is operating the way it was meant to.

And this week has been crazy, it's been chaotic.

There's been a lot going on.

But to be a part of a church that has jumped into action the way that this one has, it's just special.

It's special how you have served your neighbor, served the community.

Someone came and got me at the end of our last service, and she said, I just appreciate you so much calling and reaching out and driving by the house.

And it wasn't me, it was other people in our church because I felt so loved and cared for.

If you're a first-time guest here at this church, I just want you to know something.

This place is special, and God is doing something amazing here, and I'm just thankful to be a member myself.

It's an awesome, awesome thing.

So, yeah, praise God.

You have a Bible, I'm gonna ask you to open it up to Luke 17.

That is where we're gonna start today.

Uh, we're gonna do a lot of scripture this morning, but uh that is where we're gonna begin.

And I want to ask you this question Are you easily offended?

Are you easily offended?

Uh a few weeks ago, uh my wife had a bunch of ladies over to our house.

She does this every month.

They play games, they talk, they hang out, all that stuff.

Uh, me and my two sons, we're not invited.

All right, we're not allowed to be there.

We're excommunicated from that party.

And so what we have to do is we have to go back into my bedroom and close the door, and we play board games or watch a movie or something like that because we're not invited to the party.

So we do this on this night.

We go back, we watch a movie.

It's getting late.

It's time for my kids to go to bed, so I bring them back to their bedrooms, get them in their bed, and make sure that they're asleep, and then I myself go back to my bedroom because I'm exhausted.

It's one of those things I've been looking forward to going to bed all day long, kind of a day.

And as I'm drifting in and out of consciousness, I am on that, in that moment where you're about to fall asleep.

You guys know the moment I'm talking about?

Some of you, you're like, that's been the best part of my day for the last week.

That moment that you are about to fall asleep.

That's where I was, just drifting into what was going to be the greatest slumber of my life.

And all of a sudden, what sounded like 80 women screamed at the top of their lungs in my living room at my house.

Now, in reality, it was only eight to ten women, but y'all know how it is.

They can get pretty loud up in here, all right?

It was insanely loud.

I jolted up, and as I jolted up, my wife runs into the master bedroom and she goes, she opens the door and goes, Dave, there's a bat in our house.

And just so you know, I'm not making it up because I know sometimes y'all think these stories are exaggerated.

I want you to see what we're dealing with.

We have video evidence, thank God for technology.

There was a bat in our home.

I ushered that bat out of our home, and then I went back to bed.

Twor hours later, Emily goes to a Bible study with a bunch of girls in our life group.

Emily uh goes there, the boys and I, we are at home in our living room, we're playing Uno.

As we're playing Uno, I'm winning by the way.

Um, as we're playing Uno, bat number two decides to show up.

And bat number two starts flying around our house.

Now, Emily is away at her Bible study, and so Emily and I share a calendar though.

So I add this into our calendar.

I'm freaking out.

I'm like calling people, like, what do I do?

I find out really quickly that there are companies that specialize in getting bats out of your home.

So I call one of these companies, I talk to this guy, this guy, we'll call him Batman for now.

And I talk to him, I make an appointment for him to come to my house and to seal my attic and make sure that I don't have any more bat issues in my home.

This notification pops up on Emily's phone that I have made an appointment for Batman to come to our home.

And Emily celebrates to her friends that she's with.

She says, I'm so glad that Dave is taking action on this.

I'm so I'm so glad that he's taking it seriously, that he's doing something about this.

She gets home and she tells me she said that, and I was like, Hold on.

What do you what do you mean by I'm so glad Dave is finally deciding to take action?

Like it's been a day, you know?

But what do you mean by I'm so glad Dave is actually taking action and doing something about this bat problem that?

And she assured me that she was paying me a compliment to her friends.

She struggles with honesty at times, all right?

I don't know if I'm buying that one, but either way, I I was just a little bit offended.

I took a little bit of offense to how she said what she said.

None regardless, uh, as that night goes on, I am now researching how in the world are we supposed to get rid of bats.

I I I get on the internet and I'm I'm Googling it and trying to figure out exactly what to do.

I come across this article, and this article is talking about how to get bats out of your attic.

And what you do, the most effective way to do it is that you buy this thing called a sticky trap.

Y'all know what a sticky trap is, right?

A sticky trap is something that you hang in your attic or you put it out so that the rodent, whatever critter that was going to enter into our home next, flies into it or steps onto it, and then it becomes stuck.

So what I'm what I'm told to do is I'm told to hang these up all throughout my attic, and then there is a scent to this thing.

The bat gets drawn to the scent, and bam, the bat gets stuck.

It flies right into it and it gets stuck, and it gets like really stuck.

Like there's no way for this bat to become unstuck.

No matter how hard it tries, it can't become unstuck.

It is stuck there, and that is the point of the sticky trap.

And today, as I was preparing for this message, I thought about how this so often is how we relate to offense.

How often we relate to when we are offended by somebody else.

See, offense, when you choose to be offended, it makes you a prisoner.

It holds you back, it makes you become stuck.

And look at what Luke chapter 17 says about it.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

It says Jesus talking to his disciples, he says, Temptation to sin are sure to come.

Another translation says it like this offense is going to happen.

You are going to offend other people, other people are going to offend you, and within that, there is an opportunity for you to sin.

But no matter what, offense is going to happen.

Here's the deal with offense: you never have to go looking for it.

Offense will come and find you.

See, offense that'll hold you back, it'll make you live your life stuck.

You become a prisoner of the own offense that you have taken.

We know what the Bible says about offense, right?

Proverbs 19, 11 says, good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

But just like the bat getting stuck in this sticky trap, it's really difficult for us to become unstuck when it comes to offense.

But there is a way.

And that way is called forgiveness.

I want to remind you at Easter earlier this year, we did a churchwide survey, and on that survey we asked you, what do you want to hear us talk about?

We gave you options like politics, end times, different books of the Bible, parenting, marriage, all of these different things.

The number one most voted for, most requested thing that we talk about is forgiveness.

And there was not a close second place.

All of us deal with offense.

All of us have an opportunity to forgive.

And we're in the middle of this taboo sermon series where we're talking about the things that we're not supposed to talk about.

So, what about forgiveness is taboo?

See, I believe that forgiveness is taboo because I'm confident that you are not going to like what God has to say about it.

Mark chapter 11, verse 25.

Mark 11:25

And whenever you stand praying, forgive.

If you have anything against anyone, that's powerful right there, anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven may forgive you of your trespasses or your offenses.

Luke 6.37, judge not and you will not be judged.

Condemn not and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

The reason forgiveness is taboo is because there is never a situation in your life where forgiveness is not the answer.

It's taboo because there is no offense that could ever happen to you where God would tell you that you need to be unforgiving to someone or something.

Nothing.

Your response when someone wrongs you, when they hurt you, is to be forgiving.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

This is not a suggestion.

You are called to be forgiving.

What I need you to understand, though, is offense leads to unforgiveness.

And unforgiveness will produce bitterness and anger and the desire to hold a grudge, and it becomes a big problem.

But you and I, we have a choice to make.

We can either be stuck in forgiveness, unforgiveness, or we can walk in the freedom of forgiveness.

And this morning I want to answer this question: what is forgiveness?

And the way that I want to answer it is by telling you what forgiveness is not.

So, number one, what forgiveness is not?

Forgiveness is not forgetting.

How many of y'all have ever heard that advice?

You just need to forgive and forget.

How many?

Come on, church, help me out a little bit.

Y'all know the drill.

I preach better when y'all preach back.

All right.

How many of y'all have ever heard the advice you need to forgive and forget?

And how is it working out for you?

It's not.

Why?

Because you haven't forgotten.

See, it's not, it's not even a biblical thing.

I want to take you back to the book of Genesis and look at the life of Joseph.

See, Joseph was the favored son of his father.

He had a bunch of brothers, and he was the favored one.

His brothers were jealous of him and they hated him.

And one day they got fed up, they took him out, beat him up, and sold him into captivity.

And while they did that, they took some of Joseph's clothes, they killed a goat, they dipped his clothes in blood, and then they brought those bloody clothes back to their father and said, Dad, a wild animal killed our brother.

He's gone.

That's exactly what they did.

While in captivity, Joseph decided to draw near to God.

Eventually, he built up influence with people, so much influence that he became one of Pharaoh's number one guy.

Like he was at the table with the king.

From the pit to the palace, is his story.

Years later, as Joseph is in a position of great power and great authority, great influence in the land of Egypt where he was, there was a famine throughout all the land around Egypt.

And everyone had to come to Egypt in order to buy food and the supplies that they need.

And Joseph was in charge of deciding how much of what who gets.

Joseph was in charge of if they get food, if they get supplies, how much of it that they get.

And as Joseph is doing this one day, divvying out supplies to people who came from all over to request them, guess who rolls up next?

His brothers.

And the Bible says that his brothers did not recognize Joseph, but what happens next is so powerful.

Joseph remembers his brothers.

See, he remembers the wrong that his brothers had done to him.

It says it multiple times in the Bible, Genesis 42, 24, 45, 2, and 50, 19, that Joseph, when he saw his brothers, he had to turn away.

He had to run away because he was crying and weeping and mourning what they had done to him.

He didn't forget.

But at some point, I don't know if it was while he was in the pit, while he was in prison, or while he was in the palace, at some point Joseph chose to forgive his brothers.

What happens next is they make a request for the supplies that they need, and Joseph says, I'm actually your brother.

I know you don't remember me, but I remember you.

See, you had hoped that I was dead, but I am alive and I remember you, and I'm gonna give you forgiveness and set you up.

They didn't, he didn't just give them what they needed, he gave them in abundance, more than they could ever need.

He set them up for generations and took care of them.

He forgave them, but Joseph never forgot.

And sure, you might be thinking, in some cases, in the smaller, more minor offenses, you can forget those, but it's very rare that you would forget the larger, more major offenses in your life.

That's why forgiveness, it's not a one-time thing.

The Bible commands us to walk in forgiveness.

And so that person that wronged you a few weeks ago, that person that uh wronged you a couple months ago or years ago or even decades ago, that thing, that situation, that every single time it comes up, every time you're reminded of it, it brings about this visceral reaction within you.

That thing, that person is a great opportunity for you to walk in the forgiveness that the Lord has commanded you to walk in.

And just like the Bible teaches how God's grace and his love and his mercy and his forgiveness crashes on us like the waves of the ocean onto the shore, that is how we are supposed to forgive people, but that doesn't mean that you forget.

I want to be clear about something though.

There's a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation.

See, forgiveness takes you, and reconciliation takes two.

And God's command is that we forgive.

And that is a powerful, powerful thing.

You you may never forget what they did to you, but forgiveness isn't about forgetting what they did to you, it's about remembering what God did for you.

Forgiveness is not forgetting.

Second thing, forgiveness is not free.

Forgiveness is not free.

It is always gonna cost you something to forgive somebody else.

Yes, I said that right.

It is always going to cost you something to forgive somebody else.

It may cost you money, it may cost you time, it probably will cost you your pride, it absolutely will cost you your surrender.

Here's what I mean by that.

Typically, when someone wrongs us, we want to get even.

Typically, when someone harms someone that we love, we want to get more than even.

But here's genuinely what I believe how forgiving you are of people that wrong you is how trusting that you are that God is actually God.

You are called to surrender.

You are called to surrender your right to get even.

You are called to surrender your desire for control.

You're called to surrender your personal version of justice.

Romans chapter 12, verse 18 through 21.

Romans 12:18–21

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine.

Here's the promise.

I will repay, says the Lord.

To the contrary, instead of doing that, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he's thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing so you are heaping burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Let me boil this down for you.

What he's saying here is, I am God, you are not.

What God's Word is teaching us is God is saying, I'm gonna do my job.

I need you to do your job, which is to one, forgive them, and two, trust me.

See, forgiveness is gonna cost you.

Forgiveness is when you pay, vengeance is when you make them pay.

Forgiveness is never free.

Don't lose sight of that.

I want everyone to do this for me, real quick.

I want you to write down Matthew chapter 18, verses 23 through 35.

Matthew 18:23–35

I want you to find time maybe this afternoon, maybe sometime this week, and I want you to read this parable from Jesus.

Essentially, what happens here is there is a man who is in tremendous debt to his master.

Insane amounts of debt.

In fact, we know how much debt.

He's in 10,000 talents, which is a unit of measuring money, 10,000 talents of debt to his master.

One talent is worth 20 years' salary.

So this guy is a couple hundred thousand years worth of debt to his master.

And guess what?

It's collection day.

And the master calls him to him and he says, Hey, it's collection day, pay me what you owe.

And this servant falls down on his knees and he says, Have patience with me, I can't pay you.

And the master looks at him and says that he has pity on him, and he says, Today, your debt is forgiven.

As of right now, I forgive your debt.

Now, this man who just had all of that debt forgiven, then leaves the presence of his master, goes out, and finds one of his fellow servants that owes him 100 denarii.

A hundred denarii is not a lot of money.

The Bible says that he goes to this person who owes him a little bit of money, he grabs him by the throat and says, Pay me what you owe me now.

And that man, in the same way, falls to his knees and says, Be patient with me.

I can't pay you right now, but I surely will.

And this man, this guy who's already been forgiven, says, That's not good enough for me, and he sends him to prison.

A bunch of other people saw this take place and watched it happen and heard about it and reported it back to the master.

And the master summoned his servant that he had already forgiven to him, and he said, How could you be so forgiven and yet so unforgiving?

That's a sermon in there for somebody right there.

How can you be so forgiven and yet still so unforgiving?

Because you have done this, you will pay me the debt that you owe by being imprisoned.

And just by the way, for you and I today, that meant he was gonna be in prison for the rest of his life.

Forgiveness is gonna cost you.

This parable is perfect.

It shows us that forgiveness always costs.

We know forgiveness was gonna cost this man what?

A hundred denarii.

That is exactly how much forgiveness was going to cost him.

But what I think God is trying to teach us through this is forgiveness is gonna cost you, but unforgiveness is gonna cost you so much more.

Uh, forgiveness is gonna cost him a hundred denarii, but unforgiveness, choosing to walk in unforgiveness, cost him the rest of his life.

See, and nobody understands this more than the moment that Jesus was on the cross, and he says this in Luke chapter 23, verse 34.

Luke 23:34

Father, forgive them.

They don't know what they're doing.

Jesus in this moment is watching offense happen, watching the sinfulness of the world on full display.

And he says out loud to God, as he is actively paying the price for you and I to be forgiven.

God, as the payment of their sins, I am asking you to forgive them because my life covers the balance, it alleviates the debt, it satisfies the offense, paid in full.

Forgiveness is never free.

If you're a Christian in the room today, you need to have a greater understanding than anybody else that forgiveness isn't free.

Forgiveness costs God his one and only son, and it costs Jesus his life so that you and I could be forgiven.

And that is a powerful and meaningful thing that we all need to cling to today.

It's going to cost you something to forgive somebody.

But walking in unforgiveness always ends up costing so much more.

Forgiveness is not forgetting, forgiveness is not free.

Number three.

Forgiveness is not a feeling.

And this right here might be where some of you are today.

That even so far in the message, maybe God has brought to your mind that person, that situation that you need to extend forgiveness to.

And if you were honest with me, if you're honest with yourself, you haven't forgiven them simply because you don't feel like it.

See, what you feel like doing is getting even with them, getting back at them.

What you feel like doing is talking bad about them behind their back.

What you feel like doing is making sure everyone hears from you what they did and how it wronged you, and making sure that they end up on your side of the argument down the road.

You may feel like cutting them off.

That's what you feel like doing.

Hebrews chapter 12, verses 14 and 50.

Hebrews 12:14

Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.

Listen to this right here: that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.

Here's what I want you to understand.

If you are waiting for the day that you wake up and feel like forgiving somebody, you are going to be waiting and waiting and waiting.

And while you wait, you are actually watering a root of bitterness in your own heart.

And you may think that your unforgiveness is causing them damage, but what the Bible is actually saying is it's causing you damage.

It's doing more harm to you to be unforgiving of them.

In fact, and this is a sermon for a different day, if you are waiting for your feelings to lead you toward Jesus, then you actually have an idolatry problem.

You have put your feelings in the place of authority and lordship in your life, and you have a backwards understanding of how this faith works.

Proverbs 2.

Chapter 3, verses 5 and 6.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Instead of allowing your feelings to lead your faith, you need to make the decision right now to put your faith over your feelings.

Make your feelings surrender to the faith that God has called you to.

This can be difficult, can't it?

Anyone else have a hard time with that one?

You're not alone.

Go back to Luke chapter 17.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

See, I think this is so interesting.

I don't want you to miss this.

So Jesus has just told his disciples, offense is going to happen.

That is going to happen.

You are not going to be able to escape offense in this world.

And in fact, when offense happens to you, what I'm telling you to do is I am telling you that you need to be forgiving of them.

And you don't just need to forgive them once, you need to forgive them constantly.

You need to walk in forgiveness.

You need to be willing to forgive them over and over and over again, time and time again.

And what I want you to see is what the disciples say in response to Jesus.

Jesus tells them, walk in forgiveness.

Luke 17, verse 5.

Luke 17:5

This is how the disciples respond.

They say, Lord, increase our faith.

We don't feel like doing this, so increase our faith.

This is the one and only time that the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith.

They didn't ask for increased faith whenever Jesus told them that they were going to see opposition and persecution just because of their belief in him.

They didn't ask for increased faith whenever Jesus said, Now go and do miracles in my name.

Miracles like making blind people see, making deaf people hear, making lame people walk, making possessed people clean.

They asked for increased faith when Jesus said, You need to walk in forgiveness and forgive other people who do you wrong.

Increase our faith.

You look back at the garden on the night that Jesus was betrayed and arrested, leading to his death.

Luke chapter 22, verses 41 and 42.

Luke 22:41

Jesus withdrew from them about a stone's throw, knelt down praying, saying, This, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.

Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.

Here's what you need to understand.

Jesus didn't feel like being crucified.

Jesus didn't feel like being beaten and brutalized.

Yet, not my will, but your will be done.

Jesus is our example, and he is showing us, even though he didn't feel like it, he made his feelings surrender to the will of God the Father.

God, I trust in your ways, I trust in your plans, and I want to do things the way you have called me to do these things.

I surrender to your will.

I love the Tim Keller quote when talking about extending forgiveness to other people.

He says this.

Forgiveness is a form of voluntary suffering.

You're likely thinking about this message so far is that this would all be great if we lived in a perfect world.

And this is exactly how you would operate, but you've got unique circumstances.

And Dave, you don't know exactly what they did, so I think I get a break on this one.

I would love to operate like that, but my situation is a little bit different.

Or you may be okay with the idea of walking in forgiveness, but it would have to be on your terms.

Here's what I mean.

Well, when they realize their wrongness and they come apologize to me, then I'll forgive them.

As long as they know what they did was wrong and they admit their mistake, then I'll forgive them.

If they pay me back, I'll forgive.

If they redeem my reputation, I'll forgive.

If they truly understand the hurt that they have caused me, then I'll forgive.

If they struggle for a little while at my hand, then I'll forgive them.

If they somehow pay their relational debt to me, then I'll forgive.

See, here's the problem with that.

That's pursuing what's fair.

And forgiveness isn't fair.

It's just not.

Why do we cling so tightly to what is fair?

I ultimately believe it's because of this, and you maybe have never verbalized it like this or not, but we cling to what is fair because we feel like uh if we forgive them, then it minimizes what they did to me.

If I let them off the hook, it almost excuses their behavior and the wrong that they have done.

Dave, you don't understand.

I'm choosing to not forgive them because if I forgave them, they would never know or understand the hurt that they have caused me.

I want to just give you some theology this morning.

Can I do that, church?

God isn't fair.

He's just.

Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 4.

Deuteronomy 32:4

The rock, speaking of God.

The rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice.

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Listen to me.

Your forgiveness isn't based on their apology.

Your forgiveness isn't based on their level of remorse.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

And this is a beautiful and powerful thing because the crux of our faith is built on what is unfair.

It's unfair that you and I could have hope.

It's unfair that you and I could have a right relationship with a perfect God.

It's unfair that Jesus would have to suffer and die for you and for me.

It's unfair that all of our sins could be forgiven, no matter how bad, how messy, or how wrong we were.

Church, aren't you glad today that the unfair is on the table for you through the blood that Jesus shed, through the suffering that he endured, through the death that he died, and through the victory over death that he alone holds in his right hand?

That is a powerful thing for all of us.

You and I can be forgiven, and that isn't fair.

There's nothing that you can do to earn it.

You can't good works your way into his forgiveness.

Psalm 103, 12.

As far as the East is from the West, so far does he remove our transgressions, our sins, our offenses from us.

It's not fair that the sin could be cast so far away from the one who committed it.

So that thought, if I forgive them, then it minimizes what they did to me?

No.

It maximizes what Jesus did for you on the cross, where he bought your forgiveness, and he calls you to walk in it, extending forgiveness to all of those around you, regardless of what they've done.

Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray.

The Lord's prayer.

If you know it, I'm gonna ask you to follow along and say it out loud with me.

Ready?

Here we go.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread right here.

And forgive us as we have also forgiven our debtors.

That's a bold prayer to pray.

God, forgive me in the same way that I forgive other people.

What I love most about all of that that is wrapped up in the Lord's Prayer, and there's so much there.

There's one line that Jesus provides a commentary on.

One line.

Guess what one it is?

It's about forgiveness.

It says this, Matthew 6, 14.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, their sins, their offenses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others their offenses, their trespasses, their sins, neither will your father forgive you.

See, forgiveness isn't forgetting, forgiveness isn't free, forgiveness isn't a feeling, forgiveness isn't fair.

So what is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is obedience to God Almighty, who reigns above all.

And at some point, church, that has to be enough.

It is obedience to what he has commanded.

This is not a suggestion from God, it is a command from him to walk in forgiveness.

Today I'm gonna ask you to do something for me.

Just bow your heads right where you are, and all of you have a piece of paper on your seat and a pen.

And you can see the sage of your 1130.

God has done so much work today.

I want you to take that piece of paper.

I want you to think for a moment.

Who do you need to forgive in your life?

Who's offended you?

This could be for a big offense, something major in your life that you've never let go of, and you're still stuck.

You're stuck in unforgiveness.

This could be for a very minor offense, something that happened on the drive to church today.

Either way, I just fully believe God has a next step for every single person in this room regarding forgiveness today.

It could be a family member that you need to forgive, could be a coworker, could be a friend, it could be yourself.

But what I want you to do is I want you to take that piece of paper and I want you to write down the initials of the person that you need to forgive today.

And I want everybody to do this.

And in just a moment, I'm gonna pray and we're gonna sing.

And what I want you to do is I want you to cling to obedience today.

I want you to take that piece of paper and fold it up and bring it up here.

And while you put it on this stage, while you put it on this altar, I want you to pray something like this.

God, I don't feel like forgiving them, but I choose obedience to you.

Help me walk in forgiveness.

Or you can take that piece of paper, you can write those initials on it, and you can take it with you from here.

And you'll continue to live stuck, it'll weigh you down.

Instead of obeying God, come to me, all who are weary and heaven laden, and I will give you rest.

So, do you have your piece of paper?

There's also another group of people in the room today, and you've never received the forgiveness that Jesus offers you.

And today, if you want to receive forgiveness for your sins, if you want to make Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life, if you want to go to heaven when you die, if you want to experience the forgiveness that He bought on your behalf, our team is gonna come forward and we're gonna be lining the walls on the sides.

And all I want you to do, if that's you today, I want you to go up to somebody on our team, and all I want you to say is this I want to be forgiven.

That's all I want you to do.

I'm gonna pray.

You're gonna bring your cards up here.

Respond how God has called you to respond.

Lord Jesus, I do pray a spirit of boldness over this room.

Most of all, God, I pray a spirit of obedience.

God, would we care more about being obedient to you than unforgiving of somebody else?

God, would you do a work in the hearts of the people here where they wouldn't cling to the things of the past, they wouldn't be stuck in unforgiveness, but instead they would experience the freedom of forgiving other people.

God, I pray for their hearts.

I pray that they would understand that you have so forgiven us, therefore we are called.

It is a blessing for us to forgive others.

God, I do pray for the person who's about to let go of something really heavy today.

Where they've been wronged, they've been harmed, they've been hurt, and they're about to forgive.

God, would you meet them right where they are?

Would you be their comforter?

Would you be their source of power?

God, would you be present with them?

And God, ultimately, I pray for the people who need to experience your forgiveness today.

Would you give them a boldness today to walk in obedience, to come and talk to somebody on our team?

Would they love to experience the forgiveness that you have freely offered to them?

Would this day be the day of salvation for many people?

Ultimately, God, we give you these moments and we ask that you would do with them what only you could do.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

And each one of these cards was put out by someone who came to church today in a step of obedience to what God was telling them to do.

And that's a powerful thing.

So I'm gonna ask you to do this with me.

I'm gonna ask that you would pray with me and that we would give God praise for what He's done in this church today.

Lord, thank you so much for showing up in a way that only you can.

Thank you for the freedom that people found today.

Thank you for the strongholds that have been holding people back for so long, feeling stuck.

And now you have, God, you have granted them freedom.

You have allowed them to walk in the forgiveness that you have provided for us.

Thank you for doing what only you can do.

Jesus, we pray that you would continue to give us the strength, even when we don't feel like it, to forgive others, to take no offense.

God, ultimately, above it all, to prioritize obedience to you and your word.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Uh, church, it's been a long week uh for many of you, and uh, we have so many different serving opportunities even going on this week.

And if that's you, if you need help with some sort of debris cleanup or you would like to help clean up debris because of Hurricane Barrel, uh, then please go to UnitedCity.church, and right there on our homepage, you can sign up to serve, or you can sign up for help if you need help.

And lastly, I just kind of want to end on a funny note here.

Someone came up to me after the 8:30 service and told me that on their card, they wrote down their electricity provider on that card, and they are extending forgiveness to that person.

All right, so praise God.

Love y'all, have a great Sunday.

Wow, what an amazing message we got to hear this morning.

I hope the Lord showed himself to you in a fresh, new way.

Hey, if you made a decision today to follow Jesus or a decision for Christ, we would love to process that with you.

And so text the word next to 55498, and someone from our team will be more than happy to reach out and process that with you.

If you missed the message or you missed a note or two and you want to go back, don't worry.

We've got the option for that as well.

It's going to be available on Spotify as well as Apple Music.

This has been an amazing morning.

We love you guys so much, and we hope to see you next week.

Bye bye.