Speaker 1: 0:00

All right, let me ask a question to an answer. I'm pretty sure I know the answer to all right. Who in here has ever experienced a hurt, broken or damaged relationship? Yeah, I think we all have dealt with relational conflict, right, we've all dealt with that before. I think we've all experienced relational hurt, either from a boss, either from a friend, you know a little bit harder, from a father or mother, or from a child, or even a spouse. We have all dealt with relational hurts. Needless to say, relationships are complicated. Relationships can be complicated.

Speaker 1: 0:40

I remember this one time I was minding my own business. I was minding my own business doing in my garage, doing my Apple Fitness HIIT workout. I was doing some squats, some lunges, some burpees, minding my business on my journey to my hashtag, hsb, which stands for hot summer body. I haven't got it yet, but I think I'm getting closer, I'm almost there, but anyways, I was minding my business working out when, all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit, which is God's presence, the Holy Spirit nudges me, puts a person in my heart, and this person that he put in my heart used to be a part of the youth group that I led back when I was a youth pastor. Now, the relationship I had with this person ended on a very sour note. Ended on a very sour note. The long story short I had a plan for her life that I thought she should do after she graduated high school and she had a plan for her life that she thought she wanted to do, and they both didn't coexist, they both were different. And then me and I'm going to be honest, me I leveraged. I leveraged my title, my position as her youth pastor when I was her pastor for almost five years. I leveraged it as, hey, I know better than what you're talking about. The plan I have for you is the right plan. Needless to say, the conversation didn't go well. We both went separate ways and the relationship ended with a lot of pain. You know, for me, I thought to myself at that time man, I invested so much time and energy and resources and care into this person for her to kind of disregard my advice. That's how I took it. Now, what she ended up doing. She did end up doing her plan and fast forward five years, five years that she did her plan and her plan worked out very well for her. She was involved in her new church. She ended up, getting married, had a kid. She was very happy.

Speaker 1: 2:32

Now I was working out when, all of a sudden, god put her on my heart again and this was the message that God gave me. It was Jacob, I want you to call her and apologize for the way you tried to lead her, apologize for not listening to her and apologize for thinking that you knew the best way. And to that I said to God, I'm not doing that. I said you're not going to catch me doing that. I said God, that's weird. I haven't talked to her in about five years.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Like what a random call. Plus, everything's fine. Her life is good. Why did I need to? I don't need to do that. And so here's the thing. Here's the thing.

Speaker 1: 3:08

God kept bothering me all day, the whole day. God just didn't let it go. I'm like God, can you stop now? Like he didn't let it go. He wanted me to call. He didn't want me to shoot a text, he didn't want me to send an email, he wanted me to call her.

Speaker 1: 3:21

And so I'm on my way to the post office, which I have to do sometimes. I'm on my way to the post office and I call her and she answers the phone and she's like Pastor Jacob, and I'm like, yeah, it's me. And so then I begin to explain to her what you know what I felt and how I. And then I apologized, I said sorry for what I did. That wasn't right and I can't make this part up. You know what she said to me. She said, pastor Jacob, I've been wrestling with my faith, I've been wrestling with my relationship with God, and you calling me right now means everything, everything. See, relationships are complicated, but here's the cool thing about Christmas, here's the cool thing about the Christmas story. But here's the cool thing about Christmas, here's the cool thing about the Christmas story.

Speaker 1: 4:06

The Christmas story is God's ultimate way of saying I care about restoring relationships, I care about fixing relationships. See, it says this when the shepherds were out in the fields watching over their flock by night, an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and they were so afraid I would be too. But the angels were correct when they said we have good news of great joy for all people, for everybody, for all people. Today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born to you, and the doors to the kingdom of God have been thrown wide open for all people, for all people to enter. So on Christmas we celebrate the arrival of that way, the way, the truth and the life. We celebrate the way in a manger and Jesus says Jesus says, I am the way, I am the truth and I am the life. And no one comes to the Father except through me.

Speaker 1: 5:00

Jesus' actions and reactions reflect it, not just the way of the Father, but the ways of the Father, the ways of the Father. And so his invitation here you go. This is important. His invitation didn't begin and it didn't end with believe in something or believe in me. Jesus' invitation to the first disciples and his invitation to us today begins and ends with will you follow me? Will you leave everything and come, follow me? Will you come where I'm going? And so he was more than simply a way to life, jesus, he says he was the way of life and he taught it and he modeled it and he illustrated this different way of life, this different way of living. And Jesus, he was so adamant about it, he was so upfront about it, because he knew he came from the Father and that we come from the Father. And if you follow what he does, then we can tap into the heart of the Father and when we follow him, we are following the way that God designed us to live, and so he was up front about it. And as everyday people, we can become everyday followers of Jesus, not just an everyday believer, not just everyday believers.

Speaker 1: 6:14

Following Jesus will make your life better. Following Jesus will make you better at life, will make you a better wife, a better husband, a better mother or father, a better son or daughter. Following Jesus will make you a better wife, a better husband, a better mother or father, a better son or daughter. Following Jesus will make you a better employee. Come on Following Jesus will See. We have all lived long enough to know this. When we live against that grain, when you live against the grain of the way you were designed to live, there is an unnecessary friction there. There's unnecessary heartbreak, unnecessary bad decisions and a lot of regrets. Your heavenly Father didn't just send Jesus to show us the way to the Father. He sent him to show us the ways of the Father. And again, jesus modeled a different life, to live a full life, a better life. Jesus even says this life is an abundant life. It's an abundant life. So let's be real.

Speaker 1: 7:12

If all we do is believe the right things check a box, say a prayer, show up to church. That doesn't change much of anything, does it? A box of beliefs doesn't make you look like Jesus. In fact, you might know some Christians who talk about their beliefs, post about their beliefs, tell everyone about their beliefs, but the way they live you don't think they believe what they believe. You might not even be a Christian right now because you have rubbed up against Christians who are so much about their beliefs. But you're like man. I don't know a lot about Jesus, but the way you're living doesn't seem like that's him. And so what do we do with this? You might not, and there's a problem when our faith stays in a box.

Speaker 1: 7:58

Jesus never gave us the option to just believe. Just believe. No, he called us to follow, to live His way, to love like he loved, to forgive like he forgave, and show the world who he was and not just talk about it. Here you go. Later, in that same conversation where Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Later in that conversation, he smiles and he looks at the guys, he looks at the disciples in front of him and he says if you love me? To which us?

Speaker 1: 8:31

We, today, we hear that and we say well, jesus, there's no ifs about it. There's no ifs. What do you mean? If we love you? Of course we love you. To us, in our ears today, we say I mean you died on the cross for us. You paved the way to God. We can live with a clear conscience. We know we will be reunited with loved ones again because of you. I mean, what do you? There's no if you can get the if out. There's no if about it. We love you. There's peace. I mean, jesus, it's Christmas. We love to celebrate your birth. Of course we love you, jesus. And just a thought, just a thought, just a thought though, just a thought to that Like most of us, I'm sure Jesus loves a good Christmas party and I'm sure he wants his birthday at Dave and Buster's, like most of us, you know, I'm sure that's what he wants.

Speaker 1: 9:17

But notice, but notice, he didn't finish it this way. He didn't say if you love me, you'll throw me the best birthday party. This way, he didn't say if you love me, you'll throw me the best birthday party. If you love me, you'll throw me. No, no, no, what did he say? He says if you love me, you will keep my commands. You'll keep my commands. In other words, if you trust me, if you really believe I am who I say I am, then you will keep my commands.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Christians who just want to be believers? They're like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, commands, commandments. Wasn't that all over with Jesus? You're not telling me I can't eat bacon anymore, right, like, can we just love Jesus and celebrate Christmas? Commands, what are you talking about? Commands? What do you mean? He go. In fact, I'm going to put some words in the mouth of Jesus, so don't take what I'm about to say too seriously. But I think Jesus will respond to that and say hey, if you got to choose one of the two, I would prefer you to embrace the way I live over celebrating the day I was born. Celebrating the day I was born doesn't mean you love me. It just means you're grateful for what I did for you, and that's good. Good be, be grateful. But if you love me, you're gonna follow me. You're gonna follow me the way in a manger came to show us the way we were created to live, and that's why he came as one of us and lived among us.

Speaker 1: 10:44

Now, central, central to the idea of the way the Father invited us to live, is one single, solitary command that Jesus gave his disciples back then and he gives to us today. And this one command is sort of the umbrella command for all the other commands. Here is the one central idea is that if you're going to follow Jesus, we are called to do for others precisely, precisely what he did for us. That we do for others what God, through Christ, has done for us. And so what did he do for us? He reconciled us to God the Father. He reconciled us to God the Father. He looks at us and said he looks at us, who said we love him, we love you. And he says if you love me, you'll keep my commands.

Speaker 1: 11:40

And specifically, I want you to begin by reconciling with others, because I have reconciled with you and our tendency is to go. Thank you, God for allowing me to be in your presence. Thank you, god for loving me, thank you God for your grace, to which Jesus is like yeah, yes, but there's one more thing I want you to do. But there's one more. And Jesus is like we're not just done with that, now, I want you to turn around and do for your brother or your sister, or even your enemy, what I have done for you. And Jesus says if you love me, you'll do this. If you love me, you'll trust me in this, because you were created to live a life of reconciling relationships. You were not created to live a life with anger, with bitterness, with resentment, with unresolved conflicts, and though you can't control how they respond to you, you are created to open the door of forgiveness.

Speaker 1: 12:49

That reconciliation was the purpose of the way in the manger to begin with, to reconcile God with his rebel race that sinned against him. So we have been called to extend that same reconciliation to the people around us and friends, this is hard. Here you go. I'd rather be preaching about tithing today. That's how hard it is. But because it's hard, that's why I know I have to preach about it. Because one thing we say here at LVC I just don't want to like puff people up with like puffy preaching, because puffed up people get popped. But I want you to be able to face the difficulties of life knowing that you can follow Jesus and the relationship with Jesus. With your authentic relationship with Jesus, you can handle the complexities to life. And so this is hard, but this is the way of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 13:47

And as God took the initiative for God so loved the world he sent his son. As God took the initiative to reconcile with us we, as Jesus followers, are to take the initiative to reconcile with our brothers and sisters and our friends in broken relationships. And here's the good news If you're not a Jesus follower, you don't got to do this, but if you are, it's time to pray. Come Holy Spirit. And this is so important because, just as God worked to remove obstacles to reconcile them with us, we have been called to remove whatever obstacle we can to reconcile with people, kind of. Here's the bottom line the reconciled should be reconcilers, the reconciled should be reconcilers. This is the way of Jesus, and if we love him, it will become our way too.

Speaker 1: 14:35

Let me read something to you that Jesus says, and it is so inconvenient. Like it bothers me how inconvenient it is. Jesus, you're always saying something, and check this out. This is what Jesus. Jesus says something that's so inconvenient. He's like if you're offering your gift at the altar and remember that someone has something against you, leave your gift there and first go to be reconciled to them. Now pause for a second. This is a big. This is a big deal. This is, let me explain If you lived in Jerusalem at the time, it may not be that big of a deal, because it's a short walk to the temple.

Speaker 1: 15:13

It's not. It's not that big. But if you lived outside of Jerusalem maybe like in Galilee or something like that it would take you days to get there. It would take you days. You have to travel, you probably have to spend the night on the road and you have to carry your sacrifice with you. I mean, this was a process. So picture it.

Speaker 1: 15:30

And then, when you get there, you got to choose the right line. You know, you ever been at the grocery store and you got to make sure you choose the right line. It's like, okay, they got a lot of stuff there, they got a lot. Oh, here's a good line, I'm going this line. And then you get into the line. Then the cashier is slow as dirt and then you look at the other line that you're about to choose and they're moving right through. You think, man, I picked the wrong line. You know like we got somewhere to be.

Speaker 1: 15:54

But this is what happened. They would get in line and they would be waiting to offer their gift so they can have a clear conscience with God and so their sins can be forgiven. And what Jesus is saying? While you're waiting in the line and all of a sudden you remember oh, my brother, my sister, that fight, we had that relationship that kind of went sideways. What does Jesus say? He says stop. He says put the pigeons down, tie up that poor little lamb. Look at the person behind you and say, hey, can you hold my spot? I got to take care of something. I mean, are you kidding me? This was extreme. You travel for days, you waited in line for hours and now I have to leave.

Speaker 1: 16:40

Yes, jesus says reconciliation comes first. Before you clear your conscience with God, before you check the religious box, go make it right. And let me be honest, this was completely backwards for them back then and it's completely backwards for us right now. You're telling me, you're telling me, jesus, you rather me. Before being right with God, you rather me try to be right with my crazy brother-in-law. You're telling me that this is what you want to do. Before I make peace with God, you want me to make peace with him. And to that Jesus would say according to his teaching not my words, but according to his teachings throughout the gospels. Jesus would say according to his teachings not my words, but according to his teachings throughout the gospels. Jesus would say well, you can't really have peace with God until you begin to make peace with him. This is a little bit heavy, because you are in reconciler, because you have been reconciled. This is the way of Jesus. This is the way of reconciliation with God, yes, with people around us and, when possible, even your enemies. Even your enemies.

Speaker 1: 17:55

I mean the same sermon that he told this story. He's like if you love your enemy, pray for them. Pray for those who persecute you. Now, why are we praying for people who are persecuting us? Why would we ever pray for someone who has hurt us? Why would we pray for someone that inflicted trauma in our lives? Why would I do that? Why would I? And the reason why, the reason why Jesus tells us to pray for those who persecute us, has nothing to do with the person that we're praying for, but has everything to do with bringing down the temperature of our hearts towards them, bringing down the temperature of that anger and that bitterness. Because here's the truth when there's anger and there's bitterness, you can't move forward in your life anyways. When you are just consumed with what they did to you and I'm not going to simplify or marginalize what people have done but when there is this anger there, this resentment there, man, god's like I'm trying to take you somewhere else, but you're not even letting go of that. And so he says we pray for those because it moves something in us. And this is the message of Jesus, this is the way of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 19:10

And here's the crazy part this isn't an add-on to the description of following Jesus. It's not like okay, I want his grace, yeah, I want his blessings. Reconciliation Nah, this ain't Disney plus with your Hulu bundle. Reconciliation Nah, this ain't Disney plus with your Hulu bundle. This is a part of the plan. Let's look at the Lord's Prayer. We're all familiar with the Lord's Prayer. Even if you don't go to church, you're familiar with the Lord's Prayer.

Speaker 1: 19:36

And listen to this phrase and maybe you said it a thousand times and you said it and you was like yes, I like this part. You said it. But look, it says and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors. Forgive us our sins, as we are in the habit of forgiving the people who sinned against us. It's assumed, it's an assumed rhythm of life, that I live in a place of forgiveness, that I live in a place of reconciliation, that I live in a place of forgiveness, that I live in a place of reconciliation, that I live in a place of this and again, again. You might not even be a Christian today, and one of the reasons why you're not a Christian is because you've seen Christians not do this well, you've seen Christians be some of the most hateful people and you're like man. I don't really want to do anything with those people, but imagine if we lived the way Jesus lived. And it's funny, it's assumed, it's assumed.

Speaker 1: 20:32

And one day, peter I love Peter Peter comes up to Jesus. Jesus had done a little teaching on forgiveness and Peter does what every single preacher loves Peter runs up to the teacher right after he's done preaching and gives him a little feedback. Every teacher loves that. I'm telling you love it. And so he gives him a little feedback. He said he says okay, okay, jesus, I heard what you just said. You know, you know forgiveness. Yeah, that was cool.

Speaker 1: 20:56

But there has to be like a limit to this right. There has to be a limit. Like to like, like to he's like he's, he's like Jesus. What if the limit was like like seven times? Like seven times. He's like that's the number of perfection. Boom, he's like, he's like seven times. So one day Peter comes to Jesus and asks him Lord, well, not seven times, but like 77 times. And they're like what they're like. And before they can even ask the question like, is that literal or is that figurative? I mean, who's going to count that high?

Speaker 1: 21:40

Jesus launches into this parable. He launches into this story where he makes the point that there is no limit to how much we should forgive others, because there's no limit to God's unconditional grace for us. He said there's no limit to it, and so we're going to do the same. And he says what God has done through Christ, the reconciled should be the reconcilers, and this one. Here's another one, one of my favorite narratives. If you've been at LVC for any point in time, you heard me preach this message before One of my favorite stories about a man named Zacchaeus.

Speaker 1: 22:11

He was a wee little man, he was a little guy, but Zacchaeus, he was a tax collector, chief tax collector, chief thug, chief thug tax collector. He was very wealthy, he was Jewish. He was a traitor to his own people. He was an outcast from the temple and Jesus has come into town. Everyone wants to see Jesus. Everywhere Jesus goes, people are following him. There's a crowd and Zacchaeus knows he's coming through to Jericho. He gets ahead, climbs up a sycamore fig tree which is just something that you do and so Jesus is passing by. Zacchaeus is in the tree. Jesus stops, he looks up at Zacchaeus and he says Zacchaeus, he calls him by name. He says come down, I'm going to your house today. To which everyone following Jesus would say he's going to his house, he's going to that. Why is he going to that guy's house? And so and so, and so now what? This is interesting.

Speaker 1: 23:14

Think about it. If you met someone famous and they're like, hey, I'm coming to your house today, you got two thoughts instantly that enter your head. Your first thought is wow, this is great. I can't believe I'm about to have a celebrity in my house. Then the second thought is going to be what does my house look like? Did I pick up my clothes? Is it dirty? And for Zacchaeus, he has a third thought. He has an extra thought. He's like what's he going to do when he sees the size of my house and my estate, because I got that from taking advantage of other people. And so Jesus goes home with Zacchaeus and they spend the day together and when he's finished, it's so powerful I want you to get this.

Speaker 1: 23:50

When he's finished spending literal, physical time with Jesus, zacchaeus comes out and makes an announcement to the people. He says, here and now, here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor and if I cheated anybody out of anything, I'm going to pay him back two times, four times the amount, four times. And here's what I want to say to this, and here's what I want us to get from this. And this is kind of like my caution to you, ashley. Ashley, this is my caution to you, lvc, because when you spend time with Jesus, you might start doing crazy things like that. You might start actually seeing yourself as not just a victim, but man. Maybe there's something in me that I have to reach out to other people. There's something that happens in you and you remember.

Speaker 1: 24:37

We all remember how Jesus responded right, we love how Jesus responded. He responded, jesus answered him and said unto Zacchaeus no, my friend, that is not necessary. God forgave you for cheating all those people. You're good to go. Wait, that's not what Jesus said. Jesus didn't say that.

Speaker 1: 24:56

When Zacchaeus said what Zacchaeus said, Jesus smiled. Because what was Zacchaeus doing? Zacchaeus was saying you know what? I can't control how the people I've mistreated respond to me. I don't blame them if they hate me for the rest of their lives, but I'm gonna do what I can do. I'm gonna make my best effort of restitution. I'm gonna make my best effort of reconciliation.

Speaker 1: 25:17

And to that Jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house. Freedom has come to this person. Breakthrough has come to this house. Freedom has come to this person. Breakthrough has come to this person. Something has changed on the inside of him. And I'm going to tell you this, lvc oftentimes we're looking for things to change on the outside, but Jesus, he is interested in working in our hearts. From out of the overflow of the heart, we speak and we say and we do things. And Jesus is interested in that. Because of what Zacchaeus believed, nope, but because of what Zacchaeus did. He obeyed the command of his Savior, he became a reconciler, he accepted the invitation to follow Jesus.

Speaker 1: 26:13

And here's the thing I want to caution all of us. We're not going to fall for this crazy Christianity. That's not real. That says as long as me and God are okay, then that doesn't mean I got to treat people right. No, no, no. The way we treat people is a direct reflection of what we believe about God. Let me say that one more time the way we treat people is a direct reflection of what we believe about God. So Jesus doesn't leave the option to us to not the reconcilers initiate. The reconciled are reconcilers. That is the way of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 26:52

And then Paul. Paul comes onto the scene of history. He steps into the pages of history as a Pharisee, and a good Pharisee, a law-abiding Pharisee, and his mindset, his worldview, is a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye and an uppercut for an uppercut. That's his thought process, until he's on his way to arrest members of the way. And then he became a follower and leader of the way and Jesus appeared to him, the resurrected Christ, and the apostle Paul embraces Jesus as the way. And then we're still reading his letters to this day and check out what he says to the church.

Speaker 1: 27:33

He says be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, to which someone in the crowd is like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Forgiving one another forgiving each other. Paul, you don't know my story. Paul, don't give me some blanket statement about forgiving people when you don't know my story and the pain they put me through and the hurt they put me through and the things I still deal with today because of what they did. You don't know my story, paul. Don't tell me that. And to that, paul, paul the apostle, he would respond to that and he would say no, I can make that statement because what I'm asking you to do, I'm not asking you to forgive based on the worthiness of that person. Here's why I say forgive. He says why I can write you a letter without hearing your story and with confidence say you need to forgive. I want you to forgive just as in Christ, god forgave you. This is why we forgive, not because somebody deserves it we didn't deserve it either but just as in Christ, god forgave you. And then, paul, he's so consistent he writes to the church in Colossae and he says this to them he says bear with each other, forgive one another and if anyone has a grievance against someone, forgive, as the Lord forgave you. Why do we forgive? Because we're forgiven. And why do we reconcile? Because we've been reconciled and so the reconciled are reconcilers.

Speaker 1: 29:18

And now, stepping back from first century culture in our world today, is this relevant at all? Is this a big deal to our culture today? Is this something that we and our society struggle with today? I would say this Most of the grief, the trauma, the heartache, most of the sin in our lives that we have, it stems from relational brokenness. It stems from relational brokenness. See, this isn't complicated, it's just really difficult. It's not complicated, it's just really, really hard. It's really hard stuff.

Speaker 1: 30:04

But being a Jesus follower isn't about just doing things easy. It's not just like an easy pathway, but it's dealing with things Instead of numbing ourselves to pain. We deal with it Instead of just going off with this thing and I'm not going to pay. We confront it because greater is he who lives in us than he who is in the world. There's power in us than he was in the world. There's power in us. And some of you are listening today and I know what you're thinking and I get it, because I'll be thinking the same thing. You're like Jacob, you need to hear my story first and I understand that. I understand that and this is what I want to encourage you with, because it's not complicated, it's just hard.

Speaker 1: 31:03

Because me personally, I'm a divider by nature. You, you and I, we're dividers by nature because we're sinners. We sin, we sin, and sin always divides. The very first sin divided the human race from God. The very first sin divided the first man from the first woman. Sin always divides, selfishness divides, fear divides, pride divides. But if the Spirit of God lives inside of you, then sin is no longer your boss. You don't have to live a life of division. You can live a different path.

Speaker 1: 31:33

So initiate, be the first to apologize, whether they deserve it or not. You didn't deserve it, but God initiated with us. Be quick to forgive, just don't sit on it. And those imaginary conversations where you come out looking great and they come out looking awful, get rid of them. Because what do those imaginary conversations do? They just rob you of your energy. So make that call you've been putting off, Write that note you've been putting off. Refuse, refuse to return evil for evil, but do what Jesus did and return good for evil.

Speaker 1: 32:07

And again, I'm going to put words in the mouth of Jesus one more time. But he might say to us if you're on your way to the LVC holly, jolly Christmas. If suddenly you remember your brother or sister that has something against you and maybe it's your fault, maybe it's their fault, maybe it's everyone's fault, who knows? Perhaps he would say to us first, first, before you celebrate, with some good hot chocolate and your fun sweater, before you start singing songs about how much you love me, how about you keep my commandment first, first go and be reconciled, then go and celebrate my birthday. And it's so inconvenient and what I'm telling you guys today, there's no guaranteed outcomes. For some of us in here, we already made that step and it was hard and it actually left us in a harder spot.

Speaker 1: 33:08

But I'm going to tell you this the way of Jesus isn't always the way of convenience Rarely it is, but it's a way of liberation, freedom for you and your life and for the people around you. And so, friends, the reason why we celebrate Christmas is because we celebrate the birth of a Savior who reconciled this world back to God, and we're going to follow in His footsteps and we're going to celebrate with Him. So, god, jesus, holy Spirit, we thank you for your love, lord, we thank you for your goodness and your favor, and we say more of you, jesus, more of you. I can even just feel the heaviness of this message. So we just dial down real fast. We say, come Holy Spirit. We say, come Holy Spirit. Maybe you're in here today, yeah, and there's some broken relationships, some things that are really hard, and I feel like the Holy Spirit is making something very clear that I want to share.

Speaker 1: 34:35

Forgiveness does not mean forgetfulness Not in the sense of you're still holding on to what they've done but forgiveness can also mean healthy boundaries, because if the other person isn't willing to make the journey of healing, the Holy Spirit wants to protect you. So you can forgive and say okay, I feel like that's for someone specifically in here today. You haven't forgave because you thought if I forgive, then that means they're clean, they're finished with all the stuff they've done, and I can't. You haven't forgave because you thought if I forgive, then that means they're clean, they're finished with all the stuff they've done, and I can't. I feel like the Holy Spirit is saying let the Lord worry about that part. Holy Spirit's saying let God worry about that, but with you, let the temperature come down in your heart. I feel like Holy Spirit's saying he doesn't want you to make one more single decision based on that anger and that resentment and that bitterness, but he wants you to make decisions based on following him and what he has for you. And so, god, we thank you for that. And so, god, we thank you for that.

Speaker 1: 35:50

So, lord, we pray. Reconciliation of broken relationships. In Jesus' name, god, we pray for miracles to happen. Relationships that have been just man damaged, lord, we pray that you restore relationships in Jesus' name. Miracles to happen, lord, we pray for your miracles. And if you're in here today, you're like Jacob. That sounds good, but I don't know if my relationship with God has been reconciled. I don't know where I stand with God today.

Speaker 1: 36:25

If you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life, ask him to come into your life, just right where you are. I want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life. Ask him to come into your life, just right where you are. I want to pray for you. I just want to see who I'm praying for, and so, if that's you, if you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life or trust him again, I just want you to shoot your hand up in the air real fast so I can see. I'm going to count to three. You can just toss your hand up. I won't call you out or nothing like that. I just want to see who I'm praying for. So if you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life or trust him again, one, two, three, let's shoot your hand up. Bless you, bless you all across this room. Bless you. Bless you.

Speaker 1: 37:02

You can pray this prayer with me. You can say it out loud or you can say it in your heart. You can pray this prayer with me. You can say it out loud or you can say it in your heart. You can say Jesus, forgive me for my sins, make me new Today. I follow you. Today. I trust in you In Jesus' name. Amen, amen, amen. Let's give God some praise in here today.