Reflection Friday

If you are new to .Redeemed., I lead a middle school girls eGroup Thursday evenings with the girls is one of my favorite parts of the week. They are an amazing group of girls and they teach me as much as I teach them.
Last night, there was no structure to the evening.  Last week, we finished when God writes your love story.  Last night, we just celebrated the accomplishment.  They each went home with a journal from me which included a Bible verse.  We had lots of snacks, took pictures and made matching t-shirts.

It was a wonderful evening.  I am so proud of all of them.  They've come so far. 

Ephesians 4

This weekend at Elevation Church, we had the privilege of hearing from Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. His sermon was so powerful, that I had to spend the week exploring it on the blog. I hope you are able to gain something from it. If you are inspired by anything you read, please stop by the Elevation Network to hear the message. It plays every four hours all week! 

A Walk Through Ephesians 4:22-32

Ephesians 4:22-32 is the passage that Pastor Mark preached from on Sunday.  He said that this is the passage that he uses most when discussing forgiveness.  In these ten verses, Pastor Mark unpacked so much.  I had to take a day to post what he said.

Verse 22-24  - You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Pastor Mark made an analogy along these lines... When we get dress ourselves, we are trying to reflect our personality through our clothes.  We are clothing ourselves to be who we are.  In the same manner that we physically dress ourselves, we should spiritually clothes ourselves in Christ.  We should act as if we are dressed in Christ, because in a sense, we are!

Verse 25-27 - Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.  In your anger do not sin.  Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.  Do not let the devil have a foothold.

Anger is not a sin.  We all have a right to emotions.  We can be angry.  But, we need to watch our anger, because anger can lead to sin. 

Verse 28 - Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

We need to create new habits.  If we have been sinned against, and our natural response is anger, maybe we need to create a new habit.  Working out.  Serving someone else...  When you are in Christ, you act like Christ.

Verse 29 - Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

If you don't choose forgiveness, you chose bitterness.  If you didn't choose, you chose bitterness.  I will not choose bitterness. End of story!

Forgiveness is Not...

This weekend at Elevation Church, we had the priveledge of hearing from Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. His sermon was so powerful, that I had to spend the week exploring it on the blog. I hope you are able to gain something from it. If you are inspired by anything you read, please stop by the Elevation Network to hear the message. It plays every four hours all week!

Forgivness is Not...

1. ... denying or diminishing the sin.
2. ... enabling.
3. ... a response to an apology.
4. ... covering up sin.
5. ... forgetting.
6. ... trust.
7. ... reconcilliation.

Forgiveness is not a reponse to an apology. We are still called to forgive even if they don't apologize.

Forgivness is not trust. Trust is gained slowly and lost quickly.

Forgiveness is not reconcilliation. You can forgive without a friendship. Reconcilliation takes two people - the sinner has to apologize and the victim has to forgive.

I love that Pastor Mark said forgiving is NOT forgetting. We can't forget. We aren't supposed to forget. I believe that forgetting is naiive. Pastor Mark shared a time that a women in his church had been victimized by her father. She forgave him and then allowed her children to go spend time with him alone. He victimized her children. Forgetting is naiive.

Forgiveness is...

This weekend at Elevation Church, we had the priveledge of hearing from Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA.  His sermon was so powerful, that I had to spend the week exploring it on the blog.  I hope you are able to gain something from it.  If you are inspired by anything you read, please stop by the Elevation Network to hear the message.  It plays every four hours all week! 

Forgivness is...

1. ... cancelling a debt.
2. ... removing that persons control of you.
3. ... a gift for them and you.
4. ... forsaking revenge.
5. ... leaving ultimate justice to God.
6. ... both a decision and a process.
7. ... genuinelly wanting good for them.

When I see this list of seven things that forgiveness is, there is one person who comes to mind.  She did sometihng that hurt me more than I can ever remembering being hurt.  She lied about me.  Because of what she did, there was a period of time that I doubted what God was doing in my life.

She has control over me right now.  Everytime I sit down to send an email, I doubt what I am saying because of what she said about me.  I get an overwhelming sense of anxiety and doubt everything I am typing. I used to be confident in who I am and what I had to say.

I see this list and realize that I need to make the decision to forgive her, and understand that it will be a process.  Everytime I doubt myself, because of the things she said about me, I will need to forgive her again and move forward. 

I will choose to forgive her.  It may not be easy.  Now, I just need to pray through what forgiving her looks like.

Sermon Sunday

How to Hug a Vampire Week Two

What Happens When You're the One Sinned Against

Ephesians 4:22-32

 

This weekend, the amazing Mark Driscoll spoke to Elevation Church.  He pastors Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA.  I have had the privilege of hearing him speak two other times at the Newspring Leadership Conferences and knew that hearing him again was a high honor.  He preached a powerful message on forgiveness. 

- If you don't choose forgiveness you chose bitterness.  If you don't choose, you chose bitterness.

- God interacts with us for who we are in Christ, not who we are before Christ.

- God will straighten it out in the end.

Love what you just read? Want to hear more? The entire message can be found for free at 12:00, 4:00 and 8:00 (AM & PM) here, or you can download the podcast for free!

 

Personal Reflection: This message was so powerful to me, I will be spending the week blogging through the entire sermon.  Tomorrow, you will find a list of seven things forgiveness is.  Tuesday, you will find a list of seven things forgiveness is not.  Wednesday, you will read a walk through Ephesians 4:22-32. 

Pastor Mark's message hit home.  We all have people in our lives who we need to forgive.  There are a few people in my life who come to mind the moment that I think forgiveness, and the longer I think about it, a few more come to mind.  His message was perfect.  I can't wait to explore his message more with you this week.