Here are the notes from Sunday’s talk at Cityview.  You can listen to the audio later in the week.  I have included in the notes the song Forgiven, by Jacob Favela, that we watched and the link for the interview with Kim Phuc that I referenced.

New Testament Challenge:  The Challenge of Forgiveness

“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins
against us.”   Luke 11:4

The Big Idea:  When I forgive someone I decide that they don’t owe me anything anymore.

1.  Admit the debt pain/hurt creates in your heart.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of  life.”  Proverbs 4:23

“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.   Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.”
Proverbs 28:13-14

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’?  For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)  He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’  For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.'”   Mark 7:17-23

2.  Turn to Jesus who has paid it all and forgiven you.

“Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  Luke 23:34
“In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”  Ephesians 1:7-8

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.   2 Peter 1:5-9

3.  Choose to forgive the one who sinned against you.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  Ephesians 5:32

Matthew  18:21-27

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.   “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

4.  Make yourself available to God for His redemptive work.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  Romans  8:26-29