The Transforming Grace of Forgiveness

Forgiveness and Christianity go hand in hand. To be Christian is to be forgiven and in turn to be Christian is to forgive others. But life can get messy as we deal with a variety of situations. Thankfully God grants to us forgiveness on account of Jesus. Even though we do not deserve it, He gives it anyway. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). Forgiveness comes to us as a gift from Jesus. Thanks be to God who forgives us such a huge debt of sin (Matthew 18:23-27)! 

Having been forgiven, God now calls us forgiven Christians to go and forgive others just as He has done for us. Consider Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” But life gets messy. We live in a world where we and others don’t like to admit wrongdoing and where we do not always forgive. Sometimes we like to keep score and hold the wrongs of someone against them. At times people may be sorry and ask for forgiveness and at other times they don’t. Sometimes it may be easy to forgive and other times it can be difficult. On occasions we may think that a person does not deserve our forgiveness; the sin is to great or they are not sorry enough. We may act as if someone needs to earn our forgiveness and meet our demands. But forgiveness as God teaches it in the Bible is vastly different than what we may experience in our world. 

When forgiveness engages our lives and our world, there may be many questions that arise. Therefore, I invite you to join me in a new sermon series titled, The Transforming Grace of Forgiveness. We will begin this sermon series on the weekend of September 7 & 8. Throughout this series we will explore such topics as: 

• What is forgiveness and what is the key to forgiveness? 
• Am I in the place of God? 
• Who is the Ninevite in your life? 
• How does anger impact forgiveness? 
• How can we escape from the cycle of unforgiveness? 
• What if a person does not repent? 
• What if I have forgiven someone but I still feel hurt and angry? 
• What about Consequences? 
• Why not forgive and forget? 
• What if I can’t forgive myself or others will not forgive me? 
• How do I proclaim forgiveness to someone? 

Life gets messy. So let’s open our Bibles and see what God says to us about forgiveness. I invite you to join me for a new sermon series as together we will explore The Transforming Grace of Forgiveness. Each week we will explore a different aspect of forgiveness. Plan on attending every week and let this be a time in our lives where we all grow in the area of forgiveness. 

This is also a great opportunity to invite someone to join you and attend this sermon series with you. We live in a world that is deeply divided and displays resentfulness, bitterness, rage and anger, and the desire for vengeance. We live in a world where many people practice unforgiveness. We live in a world where we have many opportunities to forgive. By God’s grace as the Holy Spirit works through His Word, may God transform our lives and the lives of many people around us with the grace of forgiveness. It is a big part of being a Christian. I look forward to seeing you there. 

- Pastor Schoenfeld