Listen to the sermon here: http://sermon.net/fumcoutofthebox/sermonid/1199963518
My God Forgives Me
As I have studied and prepared and talked to people, I have become more and more concerned that we need to make sure that everyone understands “Forgiveness” before we get into “The End.” I discovered that a lot of people are concerned about what is going to happen to them in “The End.” Now, it isn’t that people are necessarily afraid they won’t go to heaven, they are afraid of the Judgment the Bible speaks about in “The End.”
Polls show that 90% of Americans believe there is a heaven.
When you ask them if they are going there when they did, the #1 answer is…I hope so..
The #1 belief by humans about how you get to heaven is, you have to be Good Enough…
I have a question for you…If you have to be Good Enough, then how good is good enough?
Mark 10: 13-15
13 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15
LIKE A LITTLE CHILD…
Kids understand Forgiveness. It makes sense to them.
A child simply believes that forgiveness means forgiveness…..
MY GOD FORGIVES ME
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
HOW DOES GOD FORGIVE?
1) GOD REMOVES OUR SIN COMPLETELY
He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
Psalm 103:12 NLT
REMOVED – What does REMOVED mean???
They are gone…
East to West – If you travel North, eventually you will start going South but if you travel East, you will never start going West.
“God throws our sin in the deepest ocean and he puts up a “No Fishing” sign.” Corrie ten Boom
2) GOD FORGETS OUR SIN IMMEDIATELY
“I, I am the One who erases all your sins, for my sake; I will not remember your sins.
Isaiah 43:25
The God of the UNIVERSE, the omnipotent, all knowing, ever present God –When you ask for forgiveness, God Hits the DELETE Key.
Grace feels too easy. Grace seems too good to be true. It makes me feel better if I add a little something to it.
God’s grace + anything else= isn’t God’s grace at all.
14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law.
Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
Romans 6:14
LIVING UNNDER GRACE: I LIVE IN CONSTANT AWARENESS OF WHAT I’VE BEEN GIVEN IN LIGHT OF WHAT I DESERVE.
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.
Luke 7:36-39 NIV
LIVING UNDER GRACE PROPELLS US TO…
1. CHANGE OUR HEART’S AFFECTION
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 7:44-48 NIV
2. CHANGE OUR LIFE’S DIRECTION
A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
Luke 7:37-38 NIV
