August 3, 2023
A friend of mine was visiting New York City recently and he passed by the sign for Madison Avenue Baptist Church. He snagged a picture and posted it online. I was doing my daily mindless scrolling when I came upon his post. The depth, truth, and sharpness of the message took my breath away: “The most influential person in your life is the one you refuse to forgive.”
Forgiveness is one of those topics that is easy to talk about and extremely difficult to actually do. Many of us have experienced wrongs so deeply personal and painful that the idea of offering forgiveness seems insurmountably unattainable.
But it isn’t just offering forgiveness that can be difficult; some of us also struggle with accepting forgiveness. We feel that the brokenness we have caused in others’ lives deems us unworthy of grace, compassion, or forgiveness.
Next Sunday we will start a five-week sermon series on forgiveness. We explore what God’s Word says about forgiveness and how forgiveness gets fleshed out in our relationships.
I hope you will plan to join us for this sermon series:
August 6 – Forgiveness from God (Psalm 130:1-8)
August 13 – Forgiveness in Marriage and Relationships (Colossians 3:12-17)
August 20 – Forgiveness for Our Neighbors (Matthew 18:21-35)
August 27 – Forgiveness in Families (Genesis 32:22-33:11)
September 3 – Forgiveness in Community (2 Corinthians 2:1-11)
