2. the journey of forgiveness with now?
Call to Faith:
Who do you need to begin
the journey of forgiveness with now?
Is it yourself?
Someone else?
A group of people?

3. Matthew 18:23-35

4. “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 bags of gold 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.
“At this 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.

5. “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.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it 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 outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

6. “Then the master called the servant in
“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 handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

7. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

9. There has been some confusion about our community’s forgiving attitude, (but) if we do not forgive, how can we expect to be forgiven? By not forgiving, it will be more harmful to ourselves than to the one that did the evil deed.
Unsigned Letter from Amish Leaders

10. There has been some confusion about our community’s forgiving attitude, (but) if we do not forgive, how can we expect to be forgiven? By not forgiving, it will be more harmful to ourselves than to the one that did the evil deed.
Unsigned Letter from Amish Leaders

11. Where have we been?

12. Learning from the Amish

13. Carrying the Tune
of Forgiveness

14. The Journey of Forgiveness
Step 1 - Name the Sin

15. The Journey of Forgiveness
Step 1 - Name the Sin
“When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it.”
Lewis B. Smedes

16. The Journey of Forgiveness
Step 1 - Name the Sin
Step 2 - Recognize the Humanity

17. The Journey of Forgiveness
Step 1 - Name the Sin
Step 2 - Recognize the Humanity (i.e. reality)

18. male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27
for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God
Romans 3:23

19. male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27
for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God
Romans 3:23
The two truths:
All of us are created in the image
and we all fall short of the image.

20. The Journey of Forgiveness
Step 1 - Name the Sin
Step 2 - Recognize the Humanity
Step 3 - Let It Go

21. How?

22. Let It Go

23. Let It Go
Give up the dream of a different past.

24. Let It Go
Give up the dream of a different past.
Commit to Grace.

25. Learn from the Amish

26. Let It Go
Give up the dream of a different past.
Commit to Grace.
NEVER settle for bitterness.

27. Resentment is like taking poison
and waiting for the other person to die.
Malachy McCourt

28. 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?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

29. 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?”
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…”

30. the journey of forgiveness with now?
Call to Faith:
Who do you need to begin
the journey of forgiveness with now?
Is it yourself?
Someone else?
A group of people?