Welcome to the Weekend Sermon. It is good to be with you today after a night of terrible weather. We had severe storms last night. Thankfully, we had no damage. There are supposed to be more bad storms tonight, so please continue to pray about this. I hope that all of you who read this blog are having a good week.
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, I've been listening to some of the old music that I listened to a lot when I was younger. I liked to listen to contemporary Christian music when I was younger, and one of the groups that I particularly liked was the Imperials.
As I was listening to some of the old songs by the Imperials, I heard a song called "Forgiven". One of the lines in the lyrics says, "I'm forgiven, now a have a reason for living."
This song started me thinking about the subject of forgiveness. What have I been forgiven from? What is the result of being forgiven? What should being forgiven lead me to do? I hope to answer these questions in the sermon today.
The Bible makes it quite clear in verses such as Romans 3:23 that every person has sinned and done what is wrong in the eyes of the Lord. There is not a single person who is righteous. The Bible also tells us that the result of sin is death.
Jesus came into this world preaching a message of repentance and forgiveness of sins. In Luke 24:47 it tells us that Jesus desires that His followers preach the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the nations of the world.
Acts 10:43 lets us know that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His name. When Jesus takes away our sins and forgives us, His righteousness is imputed to us. I Corinthians 5:21 states, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Jesus tells us that we are like a person who owed a debt that could never be repaid. However, God in His mercy has forgiven us and freed us from our debt.
Now. what is the result of being forgiven by God. First of all, we have become new creations in Christ. The old has passed away and all has become new. We have been translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's light and life. As John 3:16 tells us, whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but will have everlasting life.
If we have repented of our sins and come to faith in Christ and received His forgiveness, we will be with Him for all eternity. He has gone to prepare a place for us, and we shall forever be with our Lord. Death has no more hold on us. We are set free from sin, death and hell by the forgiveness and the grace of our Lord.
Since we have been forgiven of a debt that we could not pay, the Lord expects us to be people who forgive others. Jesus tells us in the Lord's Prayer that we should pray that our sins be forgiven as we forgive others. In Luke 17:3 the Lord tells us that if our brother repents, we are to forgive him. Colossians 3:13 instructs us to forgive others as we have been forgiven by the Lord.
Because of the the love and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have been set from sin. Jesus lives in my heart. He is with me and helps me each day of my life. When I pass from this life, the Lord will take me to be with Him in Heaven, and I will live with Him for all eternity. The Lord Jesus expects me to forgive others since I have been forgiven of so much. As Jesus forgave others who did wrong to Him, I am to forgive as well in imitation of Jesus my Lord.
If you have never received the grace and the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus, I encourage you to turn to Jesus today. He will forgive you and grant to you eternal life with Him. Amen
Prayer and Other Matters
As you go to prayer this week, I would ask that you pray for me about a problem I am facing. Some very hurtful and mean things happened to me at my part-time job this week. I am feeling really low, and I am going to have to find other work. Please pray that the Lord will see my through and provide during this time.
Let us all continue to pray for those who were injured in the incidents in El Paso and Dayton. I believe that there are still some in the hospital, and we need to pray for their recovery. Pray for an end to the violence that is besetting the US.
Continue to pray for those in Congo who are dealing with the Ebola virus. I heard that the virus has been spreading within the country, so please pray that those who are sick will recover and that the illness will come to an end fast. Pray for those who are working with the sick.
We need to continue to pray for peace in the strife torn areas of the this world. Pray for peace in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and Libya. If you know of a place where there is conflict, pray for peace in that place.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those who live in the nations of Bhutan and Libya. Pray that many will receive the grace and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus.
Next week, the sermon will be posted on Saturday. I plan to bring one or two messages on the Old Testament book of Zephaniah. I will post the verses on Monday. I will post a review or poem on Wednesday if possible. May God bless you all. Amen
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