Freedom Begins With Forgiveness

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

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

23 “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 bags of gold 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.

26 “At this 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.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.

33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’

34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
- Matthew 18:21-35

Debt = Sin  
Sin is a capacity to break things.  
Sin is the competing desires in you.  
Sin is your contribution to the chaos.

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Mixer

Do you get Spring Fever?

‘Neighborly’ - Daily Devotional

To get the Daily Devotionals delivered to you every morning, text ‘dailydevotional’ to 97000.

1. In Pastor Ken’s, 3/15/21 entry, Making Ourselves Available, he asked us: Who needs you today? In Mike Foster’s message last Sunday, he said that we often strong-arm God and dismiss the opportunities He presents for us to be a good neighbor to someone. How will you tell God that you are now going to be available to Him?
2. In Pastor Pam’s 3/20/21 entry, Risky Faith, she used The Message paraphrase of James 2 with verse 17 saying this: “Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?” In our world, we are facing many situations where we can show up as the “Good Samaritan.” What is on your heart today that you can you step into with risky faith - a faith that is alive?

Sermon Questions

Scripture: Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 18:21-35

1. How does Jesus use the parable of the Master and the Servant to show that forgiveness is a heart issue? Why is forgiveness the crux of the Kingdom of God?
2. Do you understand the fact that God has canceled your debt? How do you see the gift of God’s grace post-forgiveness?
3. In what circumstances are you the Unmerciful Servant? How does your answer to Question #2 have any bearing on your current debt accounting ledger? Who is easy to forgive and who can’t you forgive?
4. Are you on someone else’s debt ledger (like the other Servant)? How does “plunging the toxicity of bitterness” in your own heart influence your response to this person? What is it that God wants His children to be spreading?

Go Deeper - with Goodbook

Dr. Mark Strauss and Pastor Ken Ingold
Week 10 || ​Chapter 1: History of the Intertestamental Period

1. In what ways was God supernaturally preparing the way for the coming of Jesus in history? What results of the conquests of Alexander the Great helped to advance the gospel? What did the Romans do that ultimately helped to advance the gospel?
2. What is the Septuagint? How did this translation prepare the way for the coming of the gospel?
3. Who were the Maccabees and what prompted their revolt? Can you think of some ways that Jewish independence and Jewish nationalism may have affected people’s expectations about the coming Messiah?
4. Can you give an example from your life where God used something that was negative or painful to accomplish good?

*Are you joining the Goodbook Q&A Zoom on Tuesday evenings? Email ken@thechurchrb.org

Serve

Mark your calendars! Our next Good Neighbor Day is Saturday, May 20! In the meantime there are other options for serving on our website at thechurchrb.org/serve or in the Church Center App!

Pray

God, thank you for being the God Who wiped my debts clean with the blood of Your Son. God, it is hard for me sometimes to fully understand why You would offer me forgiveness and grace when I turn around and can just be so unmerciful to others. Help me to fully understand how great, how high and how wide Your love is for me. I want to join You in bringing Heaven to earth in the here and now, and to spread love, grace and mercy. I give over my bitterness and anger to You to heal. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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