Forgiveness in Christ

Colossians 3:13 - "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

***Are you more concerned about your rights than about your relationships?

***If you can't find and give forgiveness, you will never know love

***Love is the motivator and reward for forgiveness

***To forgive is to set a prisoner free and realize the prisoner was you

***Unforgiveness will destroy you, not the other person

Mattnew 18: 21-35 -"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 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.
"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

***Jesus taught the lesson of unlimited forgiveness, then He lived it out before them

Mark 11:25-26 - "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Matthew 6:14-15 - "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

***He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass

***Forgiveness does not overlook the deed - it rises above it

***The greater the offense, the more you need to forgive

***If you focus on the person or the deed, you will not be able to forgive

***Look to Christ - He will give you the strength to forgive

***When you are unwilling to forgive, it says more about your relationship with Christ than your relationship with the person

***Whose voice are you listening to?

***Freedom to live is on the other side of forgiveness

***You won't have abundant life in Christ until you forgive everyone who has sinned against you, whether you want to or not

Loving Others in Christ

Colossians 3:12-17 - "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

***God's love is best expressed in the family of God

***When you think on things below, you feed your sinful nature; when you think on things above, where Christ is, you feed your soul

***Believers are chosen by God, separated unto Him and deeply loved

***You are children of God by the will of God, so start living like it!

***Put on the new life - make choices that reflect your new nature
(tender mercies..heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another, love one another)

***Let the new life work in you

***Let the peace of God rule (reign, have dominion) - when the peace of God rules, we will be unified

***Let the word of Christ dwell in you and transform you

John 13:3-5 - "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him."

***To be confident in your salvation give you the freedom to serve

John 3:21 - "After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."

***Judas' betrayal....Jesus washed his betrayer's feet adn it troubled him...He loved even his enemy

John 13:34 - "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

***Don't wait for someone else to serve you....look for ways to serve others

***When you begin to love, you will find that it comes back to you

***We love the people that love us

***Are you loving one another as Christ has loved you?

***Love is not just words....it is action. Love will be expressed....it must be expressed

***Love in action is the only proof we've been born into the family of God

Choosing to Live in Christ

Colossians 3:1-17 - "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

***The Christian life is more than being saved from death....it is being saved for life

***Christianity is not just about the good things we receive, but choosing to live under the Lordship of Christ

***Every believer has a daily choice to make: Die to self and live for Christ

Luke 9:23 - "Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

***If you don't live for Christ, self will take over in an instant and the concerns of the Father go by unnoticed and rejected

***Jesus looks for ready obedience, not reluctant submission

Colossians 3:5 - "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."

***The nature of these sins move inward - they are self-centered sins that come into our life and destroy us - they eat away at who we are

Colossians 3:6 - "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."

***Put off all these things - the nature of these sins move outward and hurt others - they are spiteful, mean and antagonizing

***What you take in shapes who you are and the life you live is a reflection of who you have become

***You can tell a self-centered person by the way they treat those around them

***What are you taking into your life?

***What is feeding your soul?

***Choosing to live for Christ is not a one time thing - it is a daily decision

Colossians 3:10-11 - "..and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."

***To put off the old man and take on the new is to take your eyes off the things of earth and set your eyes on Christ

***It is the knowledge of Christ that renews your life

***No one can make you respond in anger

***Choose to be teh person God created you to be

Romans 12:1 - "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship."

***if you want to follow Jesus, it makes more than one step....KEEP WALKING!

Hidden with Christ

Colossians 3:1-4 - "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

***Christianity is not just being free from sin...it is new life in the family of God

***v.1 - Believers have been raised with Christ
**Believers already belong to the world above
**Believers already have knowledge of things above
**Believers are under the rule of Christ

***v.2 - Believers are 'hidden with Christ'
**The world cannot see believers as they really exist
**The world cannot ultimately harm one hidden with Christ
**The world cannot understand the strength of one hidden with Christ

***What does it mean (for us here on earth today)?
**Do not devalue life on earth
**Do not be so heavenly focused that you are of no earthly good
**Do not be afraid to stand out

Philippians 3:12-14 - "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

1 John 3:2-3 - "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."

***Christ will increase in our lives as we are hidden in Him...dead to self...alive to Christ

***Never allow anything in your life to distract people from seeing Christ

Free in Christ - Part 2

Colossians 2:11-23 - "In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."

***When you are in sin, you are dead

***Stay with Christ - He alone set you free from sin

Romans 6:22 - "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life."

***Are we still in bondage to sin or have we been set free by the power of Christ?

1 John 1:5-10 - "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
***If the light of God is in your life, it dispels the darkness
Ephesians 6:12 - "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
***The kingdom of darkness is all that opposes God
***When you are walking in darkness, you cannot clearly see your spiritual life (!!)
***If you are living in a constant state of sin, you are not living in the presence of God
1 John 1:8 - "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
***We tend to dwell on the ACT of sin rather than the NATURE of sin
***The trouble is not what is coming out of you, but what is already in you
***The secular world cannot help you if sin is your problem
***Romans 3 describes what sin has done in your life...
-we lose our desire to seek God
-we cause pain because our sin hurts everyone we come in contact with
-we do not understand spiritual truth
-we turnt to that which is empty
-we lose our fear of God
-we cause pain to those around us
***We need to repent:
-confess you were wrong and sinned against God
-say you are sorry you have sinned
-ask God to forgive you for your sin
-ask God to cleanse you of your sin
-ask God to empower you to walk in the Spirit
***Is is not a choice to do right, but to make Christ your Lord