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FORGIVEN TO FORGIVE | Pastor Josh (70X7) · Northwest Students

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Anyway, back to the good stuff. All
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right, so I'm hyped for tonight's
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message because tonight we get to start
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something new for these last couple of
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weeks before we break for a couple weeks
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for Thanksgiving. Okay? And before you
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ask, no, I am not going to make you
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memorize stuff for this series. Okay?
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I'm going to wait until the new year
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before I make you memorize stuff and
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give you a chance for eternal glory. Um,
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okay. But just to to peel back the
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curtain for you guys a little bit, I
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know you're thinking like, Josh, what
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keeps you up at night? like what what
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makes your what makes you tick, right?
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So, just to peel back the curtain for a
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little bit, let you guys know, my my
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heart for student ministry is to try and
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help you guys uh have a big vision of
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God, right? Because if I'm up here every
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week and I spend every week telling you
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guys that you ought to live differently
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and you know, your your friends and
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classmates are going to be doing one
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thing and you should be doing something
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else, but then I give you this like
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teeny little picture of God, right? I
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don't think that that's going to take.
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So, so what I love to do is I love doing
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these series that are about big stuff,
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right? That it's about who God is. It's
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about the mission of Jesus. It's about
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the kingdom of God, breaking in the
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kingdom of darkness and Jesus kicking
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Satan's butt and like all of that stuff.
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Like, I love that, right? But sometimes
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we got to do more practical stuff, too,
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right? We got to talk about what it
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looks like to be a Christ follower in
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your daily life. Okay? But when we do
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the practical stuff like when we talk
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about forgiveness or anxiety or how
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Christians should handle money or those
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kinds of things, I don't want us to
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forget about the big vision of God that
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we serve. Right? So when the Bible says
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say not to be anxious, right? It's not
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because hey being anxious is bad. It's
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because of how mighty and loving and
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caring God our father is. When we talk
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about how Christians ought to handle
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money, it's because our God owns all of
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it already. So that means we ought to
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live and treat our money like we believe
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that's actually the case. If that makes
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sense. So for the next two weeks, and
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the graphic behind me is totally giving
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away what we're going to be talking
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about, but for the next two weeks, for
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this week and next week, we're going to
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be covering a very short twoe series on
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forgiveness. Okay? We're calling this
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series 70*
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7. Uh, and you guys, I've had this this
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series in mind for months because I
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think that the call to forgiveness that
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the Bible gives us is maybe one of the
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most countercultural things that we can
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do as followers of Jesus. Like, you may,
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you know, be nice to people because
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Jesus was nice to people. You may like
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love your enemies because Jesus loved
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your enemies, but I'm telling you that
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if you forgive the way Jesus forgives,
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you will look radically different from
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the world around you. Harbor, let's save
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it to a small group. Um, so I think that
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the instructions that we see for
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Christians uh in the Bible show radical,
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over-the-top, undeserved forgiveness to
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one another. And I think that that is a
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picture of the gospel. I think that that
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is a picture of the good news of Jesus
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being worked out in our lives. Right?
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That radical over-the-top undeserved
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forgiveness. And just psych up, I'm
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gonna say that about 18 more times.
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Okay? That radical over-the-top
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undeserved forgiveness that we show to
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other people is a picture of the radical
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over-the-top undeserved forgiveness that
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we've received from God. Or if I say it
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in a different like more punchy way,
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we've been forgiven to forgive. And it's
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on that slide in the little tiny corner.
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It says we've been forgiven to forgive.
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All right, I'll say that one more time.
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We've been forgiven to forgive. So
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here's the main scripture that we're
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going to be working with for the next
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week, for this week and the next week.
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uh if you know your Gospel of Matthew
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and as always I have two stacks of
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Bibles that are back there. I encourage
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you to grab one because we'll be reading
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quite a bit of it later on. Um but it's
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going to be from Matthew 18 21 and 22.
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So Matthew 18:21 it says, "Then Peter,
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one of the followers of Jesus came to
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Jesus and asked, Lord, how often should
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I forgive someone who sins against me?
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See seven times." Now, before I read the
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next verse, and if you actually have a
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paper Bible, you're already there. But
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before I read that next verse, I want
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you to answer that question in your
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head. Okay? I want you to think in your
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minds, how many times do you think you
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ought to forgive people who do us dirty?
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Okay? Here's Jesus's answer. He says,
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"No, not seven times," Jesus replied.
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But 70*
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seven. What did you guys say? Hands up
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if you thought you should forgive people
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at least three times.
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>> Wow. Most of you are like, "No, I don't
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want to forgive people at least three
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times." A couple of you. Hands up if
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you're like, "Yes, I think that people
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ought to forgive at least three times."
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Maybe a few of you. Okay. Who said at
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least seven times? A couple of you. Did
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anyone say, "Yeah, 490 times." Like,
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that's the number for me. A couple of
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you who have read this passage before.
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Okay. Okay. Okay. So, so hands down,
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you're good. So what Jesus is saying
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here is so countercultural both back
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then and today. Okay. In Jesus's day,
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the standard rule that the Jews had for
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forgiveness was that you ought to
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forgive someone three times. And they
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had like Old Testament Bible reasons to
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say three times, that's it. Then you're
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done. And Peter and Peter as he's
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talking to Jesus, he seems to have this
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awareness that the standard for
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forgiveness is higher for followers of
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Jesus, right? like this is the guy who
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says y'all got to love your enemies and
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pray for those who persecute you, right?
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So, so Peter goes, he's like, I'm going
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to I'm going to [clears throat] raise
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the stakes, right? He more than doubles
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the amount that their culture says you
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ought to forgive, right? He goes, Jesus,
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seven times is that enough? And I said
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did four with my hand, but seven times
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is that enough? And Jesus tells him,
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nope. 70 times seven. Some translations
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are going to flip-flop the words on that
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and they're going to say that Jesus
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actually said 77 times. The point is not
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that you're supposed to like keep track
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of how many times you forgive somebody
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else and then you're like, "Okay, 76,
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77, 78, get out of here. You're done.
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Uh, now I'm not going to forgive you."
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Like, that's not what Jesus is saying,
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right? The point that he's making is
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that we ought to show other people
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limitless forgiveness. He's calling us
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to show other people radical,
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over-the-top, undeserved forgiveness to
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the people around us and the disciples,
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to the people around them. In another
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place in the Gospels, Jesus says that
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even if someone sins against you seven
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times in one day and they come to you
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for forgiveness, you got to forgive them
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and be reconciled. That is so
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countercultural.
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both when Jesus was saying this and
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today, I can see on some of your faces
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that you're like, I'm not thrilled about
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this. And I think maybe the the most
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powerful example of forgiveness that
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that I have seen in the past few years
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and and that maybe we like culturally
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have seen in the past few years happened
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just a few weeks ago at the memorial of
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Charlie Kirk. And I I thought if you
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know the the moment I'm speaking of um I
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thought about showing this clip from the
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memorial so that you could see what I'm
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talking about, but I was in my office
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playing the clip on my computer and I'm
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like ugly crying like in front of my
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laptop, right? So I'm not going to do
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that. Okay, so I'm going to just
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describe it to you. Okay, so Erica Kirk,
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that's Charlie Kirk's widow. um during
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her speech, her eulogy for her husband
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who has been assassinated, she has a
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hundred,000 people in this big stadium
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listening to her give this speech and
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another hundred million people who are
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watching online. And Erica Kirk says
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this. She says, "My husband Charlie, he
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wanted to save young men just like the
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one who took his life." That young man,
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[clears throat]
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that young man on the cross, our savior
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said, "Father, forgive them for they
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know not what they do." That man, that
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young man, I forgive him. I forgive him
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because it was what Christ did and it is
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what Charlie would do. The answer to
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hate is not hate. The answer we know
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from the gospel is love. [snorts] Always
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love. love for our enemies and love for
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those who persecute us.
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And listen,
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you can hear pin drop, dude. Okay, so
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listen, you can like like Charlie Kirk
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or not like Charlie Kirk. I'm really not
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talking about him as a dude. Fair
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enough. My point is that this Christian
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woman, his wife, out of the overflow of
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forgiveness that she had been shown by
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Jesus on the cross, forgave the man who
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murdered her husband. Not because he
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deserved it, not because what he did
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wasn't wrong. Not because it wasn't
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probably the most evil thing that could
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possibly happen to any one of us, but
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because that is the kind of radical,
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over-the-top, undeserved forgiveness
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that Jesus calls us to show others.
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That's the way that followers of Jesus
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are called to show the world that we're
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different from the world. That we are
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not a part of the kingdom of this world.
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That we are living for a different
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kingdom. [clears throat]
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The other reason why I wanted to share
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this clo this quote here is because I
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think that the memorial actually gave us
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another picture of how the world looks
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at Christian forgiveness. Okay. So, I'm
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going to read you a second quote. This
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[snorts] second quote comes from another
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person who spoke at the memorial. And
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just for the sake of cuz you know this
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person is not going to look great. So
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just for the sake of not like throwing
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shade at this other person, I'm not even
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going to tell you who it is, okay? But
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so this person got up uh to speak after
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Erica Kirk had um and he said this. He
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said Charlie did not hate his opponents.
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He wanted the best for them. No, you
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don't. That's where I disagreed with
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Charlie. I hate my opponents and I don't
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want the best for them. I'm sorry. I am
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sorry, Erica. But now Erica can talk to
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me and the whole group and maybe they
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can convince me that that's not right.
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But I can't stand my opponents.
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That is a direct quote. [laughter]
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>> Thank you. Thank you. [snorts]
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I was practicing it earlier and it was
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way worse. Okay. So, so I am not I I I
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that is the president of the United
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States saying that
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y'all. [laughter]
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That's crazy. And listen listen.
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I'm not I'm not saying that because I
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want to like clown the president, right?
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I'm not I'm not doing that. Um I'm
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bringing that up because the call to
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forgiveness that Jesus gives us is
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countercultural.
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It was countercultural in Jesus's day
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and it's counterultural today. And when
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the world sees a Christian person stand
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up and offer that radical, over-the-top,
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undeserved forgiveness, there is
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something in us that doesn't like it.
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There is something in us that says, "No,
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I don't want to forgive. I want to hold
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on to my grudges against people. I want
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to hold on to the feeling that I've been
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wronged." Right? That is true for
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Christians, too. It's true for me, too.
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I was talking to Jeremiah earlier, and I
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was like, "Think about the person who
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bullied you when you he you were a kid."
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He's like, "Oh, dude, if I saw him
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today, I wouldn't be responsible for
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what happens."
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There you go. See, like there there is
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something in us that does not want to
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forgive, right? And that's when when I f
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that's why when I found that Erica Kirk
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clip on YouTube, there's literally
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Christians in the comments on that video
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who's like, "Nah, she shouldn't forgive
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the shooter unless he repents." There's
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other people who were in the comments
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who were like, "Nah, this whole
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forgiveness thing is fake." Like, it was
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staged because these people can't
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imagine this woman truly being able to
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forgive the woman who killed her
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husband. So, one more example and then
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we'll move on. All right, this is uh not
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a good Christian forgiveness example.
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Okay, so I I remember when I was 16 and
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I had this friend who was a girl and I
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had a little bit of a crush on her and
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[snorts] and there was this one evening
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where where I was texting this girl and
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she was watching a TV show and I could
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like feel from the texts that she wasn't
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being super attentive to our text
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conversation, right? Like I'd be texting
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her this like whole paragraph. Kind of
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like if Samuel ever texts you, you're
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like, "Paragraph message." And then
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she'd be like, "Yeah,
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another paragraph. No,
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another paragraph. OMG, another
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paragraph. Lol. That'd be it." And
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finally, I was like, "Dude, this this is
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bad." I was like, "I feel like you're
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just not super interested in this
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conversation right now." And she was
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like, "Yeah, I'm kind of trying to watch
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this show.
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>> [laughter]
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>> So I never talked to her again.
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>> You applaud [gasps and laughter] y'all.
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Like what? That is crazy. Okay. Like I
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never talked to her again for what?
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Because you wanted to see what Jim and
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Pam were going to do. Like that's crazy.
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That is so petty. It's so stupid to just
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like completely ghost a friend over
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something that small, right? And and I
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will say, listen, if one of you guys
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texts me on like a Thursday night and
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I'm watching Planet Earth with Ava or
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something, you'll be lucky if you get a
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text back, okay? Like maybe you'll get a
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yeah, no, lol. Okay? Now, I I should
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have just let my friend watch the show
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and gotten over it, right? But my
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feelings were hurt and I didn't want to
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get over it, so I never talked to her
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again. That was before some of you guys
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were alive. Like that's that's how long
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ago that was. So moral of the story is
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don't be like me when I was 16. Okay? Be
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like Erica Kirk. Be like Jesus. Be so
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forgiving that people call you fake over
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it. We'll talk about why. I want to look
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at a passage from Paul's letter to the
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Colossians in chapter 3. Okay. Paul is
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writing to a church in the Greco Roman
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city of Colasse. And he has just given
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them this whole list of sins and told
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them that because these people are
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followers of Jesus, they need to not do
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all those things anymore. Okay? He tells
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them sexual sin is wrong, anger is
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wrong, dirty language is wrong, envy,
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slander, a bunch of other sins. He says
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all of these things need to be put to
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death in the life of a Christian. And in
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verse 12, he flips to the positive side.
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Okay? If [snorts] those are the things
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that we need to put to death, that we
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need to take off, here's what Paul says.
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we need to put on. Verse 12, he says,
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"Since God chose you to be the holy
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people he loves, you must clothe
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yourselves with tender-hearted mercy,
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kindness, humility, gentleness, and
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patience. Make allowance for each
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other's faults. And here's the important
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instructions for us tonight. And forgive
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anyone who offends you. Remember, the
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Lord forgave you, so you must forgive
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others. Above all, clothe yourselves
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with love which binds us all together in
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perfect harmony. He says to forgive
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anyone who offends you. If you read this
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passage out of the the ESV, the English
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Standard Version, he gives it a little
15:10
bit of a different flavor. It says if
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one has a complaint against another to
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be forgiving each other. I think that
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these verses are so significant because
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they come right at the end of this big
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list of all the things not to do, right?
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Don't do this, don't do that, don't do
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this. And then he switches over to what
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we should do. And it's all about how we
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handle conflict with each other. He says
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to put on mercy, kindness, humility,
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gentleness, respect. How? By being
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understanding and gracious with the
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people who we have problems with. By
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realizing that those people are works in
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progress, just like we are. and by
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forgiving them in the way we've been
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forgiven. And not not, you know, to be
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forgiven by them, right? Or not not, you
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know, because they deserve it or
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something like that, but because of the
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way we've been forgiven by God. Paul
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gives us two reasons for why we need to
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forgive each other. Verse 12, he says,
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"Because God chose you to be his
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people." And in verse 13, because the
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Lord forgave you your sins. So, first
16:20
reason, God chose you to be his people.
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If you are a Christian, that means as a
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follower of Jesus that you have been
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chosen by God to have a special
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relationship with him. You have been
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chosen by God to have your sins
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forgiven. You've been chosen to be
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adopted into God's family as a son or a
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daughter. You have been chosen to rule
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the world with Jesus when he comes in
16:43
power. You have been chosen to have your
16:46
body be a temple for the Holy Spirit of
16:48
God, to be the place where God's spirit
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lives. And you have been chosen to go
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out and share the message of forgiveness
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with the world. That anyone who would
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turn and and come to God can turn from
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their sins and trust in Christ for
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forgiveness and they can have it.
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So if we are chosen by God for all of
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those things, right, and to be the
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messengers of of God's good news of
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forgiveness, but then we have beef with
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someone and we refuse to forgive them
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ourselves, right? Or we hold grudges
17:23
against them or we ghost them, right?
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We're actually painting the opposite
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picture of the one God wants our lives
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to paint.
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The picture that God wants to paint with
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our lives is one of the radical,
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over-the-top, undeserved forgiveness
17:40
that God wants to offer the world. And
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the only way that we can paint that
17:45
picture in miniature is by offering our
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own radical, over-the-top, undeserved
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forgiveness to other people. And and
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here's the the even bigger picture or
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the even bigger reason why we're called
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to forgive others. Paul says it's
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because of how radically we have been
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forgiven. Of all the things that Paul
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mentions in these verses, right, this is
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the one that he doubles down and he
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gives you an extra reason for, right? I
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think he knows it's because it's I think
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he knows how hard it is for us to
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forgive others, especially when they
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don't deserve it. I imagine that there
18:20
are some of you guys who are sitting
18:22
here who like for the past 20 minutes
18:24
have been thinking of one person or a
18:26
couple of people who you just do not
18:28
want to forgive. I know Jeremiah is.
18:32
Maybe you're thinking, "Dude, that
18:33
person, they don't deserve to be
18:36
forgiven."
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And you know what? Neither did you.
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Neither did you. But because the God we
18:44
serve is so loving and kind and gracious
18:48
and gentle with you, he chose you and
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forgave you and has now sent you out
18:54
into the world to be a little Jesus and
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to forgive others. Not because they
18:59
deserve it, but because you didn't
19:01
deserve it, and God loved you anyway.
19:05
God forgave you anyway.
19:08
When I was in college, [snorts] uh, I
19:09
had a roommate who I had beef with for
19:11
the entire time that we lived together,
19:13
right? We, this is not just like every
19:15
relationship in my life to be clear. It
19:16
really sounds like it, but okay, giving
19:19
specific examples. So, I had this
19:20
roommate who I had beef with the entire
19:22
time we lived together, right? We had
19:23
been really good friends uh, before we
19:25
decided to live together, but as soon as
19:26
we moved in together, we started having
19:28
problems. Okay? And by the time we moved
19:29
out, we lived together for 2 years. By
19:31
the time we moved out, I had all of this
19:33
resentment and bitterness that had built
19:36
up in my heart over that time toward
19:38
this guy. And by that point, I had to
19:40
start I started to get serious about my
19:42
walk with the Lord. And I could feel the
19:44
Holy Spirit prompting me to forgive my
19:46
roommate. And you know what? I didn't
19:49
want to at all. I liked my bitterness. I
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liked my resentment. I liked my
19:56
unforgiveness toward him. It made me
19:57
feel like I had been wronged, like I had
20:00
been mistreated.
20:02
So I started praying for him. Not like
20:05
old school King David like God knock
20:07
some sense into this knucklehead type of
20:09
prayer, right? I not that. I started
20:12
praying that God would bless him in his
20:14
relationship,
20:16
in his career. He's a very talented
20:18
actor. I started praying that God would
20:20
like bless him with with parts and
20:21
acting roles. I started praying that God
20:24
would bless him in his studies. And over
20:26
time, I found that the anger and the
20:29
bitterness that I had been holding on
20:31
to, it slowly began to melt away. Y'all,
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it is very hard to be praying that God
20:37
would bless someone and also to stay mad
20:40
at them. And over time, I found myself
20:44
able to forgive this roommate. And now,
20:46
genuinely, I don't have any bitterness
20:48
in my heart toward this guy at all. Now,
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before I finish up, I said at the
20:53
beginning that one of my goals in
20:55
student ministry is to give you guys a
20:56
big vision of the God we serve. Okay? I
20:59
think that extends to this conversation
21:01
about forgiveness here, right? I think
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that when it is hard to forgive, it's
21:05
because we have a view of forgiveness
21:07
that is too small. It's focused on me
21:11
and this other person and like maybe a
21:13
little bit about how God tells me to
21:15
forgive 70* 7, but I don't want to.
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Right? But when we zoom out and we see
21:22
that the forgiveness we've been given is
21:24
so much bigger, so much more radical,
21:28
over-the-top, undeserved, because the
21:30
wrongs we've done are so much worse, and
21:34
our wrongs against the king of the
21:36
universe.
21:38
When we see that the forgiveness we've
21:40
received is so much more radical and
21:43
over-the-top and undeserved because
21:45
Jesus himself let himself be hung on a
21:48
cross to buy us that forgiveness. That's
21:52
how we can forgive. That's how Erica
21:55
Kirk could forgive because her
21:57
forgiveness was out of the overflow of
22:00
the forgiveness she'd been given by God.
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So, as we finish up tonight, I want to
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leave us just by meditating on Psalm
22:08
103. Okay? I'm not going to give a bunch
22:11
of commentary on it, uh, on those
22:12
verses. I'm going to just read them
22:14
slowly, and I'm going to let us sit in
22:15
silence for like a minute or two. Okay?
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And while I read them, what I want you
22:19
to be doing is I want us to be thinking
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about the radical, over-the-top,
22:24
undeserved forgiveness that God has
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given to us. And if you are in this room
22:30
and you are not a Christ follower,
22:32
right? If you have never received the
22:34
forgiveness of your sins, if you have
22:36
never put your trust in Christ, I want
22:38
to invite you in this time to pray in
22:40
your heart. Lord, I know I am a sinner.
22:43
I know that I need your radical,
22:46
over-the-top, undeserved forgiveness.
22:48
Jesus, I am trusting in you for your in
22:52
your death and resurrection for
22:53
forgiveness and eternal life with God.
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So, I'm going to read Psalm 103. You can
22:58
close your eyes. You can bow your heads.
22:59
You can read along. It's up to you.
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Psalm 103
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says, "Let all that I am praise the Lord
23:07
with my whole heart. I will praise his
23:09
holy name. Let all that I am praise the
23:12
Lord. May I never forget the good things
23:16
he does for me. He forgives all my sins
23:21
and heals all my diseases. He redeems me
23:25
from death and crowns me with love and
23:27
tender mercies. He fills my life with
23:30
good things. My youth is renewed like
23:33
the eagles. The Lord gives righteousness
23:36
and justice to all who are who are
23:39
treated unfairly. He revealed his
23:41
character to Moses and his deeds to the
23:43
people of Israel. The Lord is
23:45
compassionate and merciful, slow to get
23:48
angry and filled with unfailing love. He
23:53
will not constantly accuse us nor remain
23:55
angry for forever. He does not punish us
23:58
for all our sins. He does not deal
24:01
harshly with us as we deserve. For his
24:04
unfailing love toward those who fear him
24:06
is as great as the height of the heavens
24:09
above the earth. He has removed our sins
24:11
as far from us as the east is from the
24:14
west. The Lord is like a father to his
24:18
children, tender and compassionate to
24:20
those who fear him. For he knows how
24:23
weak we are. He remembers that we are
24:25
only dust. Our days on earth are like
24:28
grass, like wild flowers. We bloom and
24:30
die. The wind blows and we are gone as
24:34
though we had never been here. But the
24:36
love of the Lord remains forever with
24:38
those who fear him. His salvation
24:41
extends to the children's children of
24:43
those who are faithful to his covenant
24:46
of those who obey his commandments.
24:49
The Lord has made the heavens his
24:50
throne. From there he rules over
24:53
everything.
24:55
Praise the Lord you angels, you mighty
24:58
ones who carry out his plans, listening
25:01
for each of his commands. Yes, praise
25:04
the Lord you armies of angels who serve
25:07
him and do his will. Praise the Lord.
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Everything he has created, everything in
25:14
all his kingdom. Let all that I am.
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Praise the Lord.