2. Roots Part 2: Bitter Roots Jeremy LeVan 01-24-16

4. Bitter Roots

5. “Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

6. “Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

7. Ruth 1:20-21 20 “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

8. Luke 15:1-2 1 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”

9. Luke 15:25-28 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ 28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in.

10. Luke 15:28-30 28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

11. Luke 15:31-32 31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

12. Bitterness weakens our love for God and our love for others.

13. 1 John 4:20-21 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

14. Hebrews 12:14-15 14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the L ORD. 15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

15. 1. Bitter roots deceive

16. 2 Corinthians 11:3 3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.

17. 1. Bitter roots defile

18. Hebrews 12:16-17 16 Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. 17 You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears.

19. Deuteronomy 29:18 18 So that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood;

20. Revelation 22:16 16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

21. Revelation 8:10-11 10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

22. Jeremiah 9:15 15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

23. Psalm 69:21 21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

24. Matthew 27:34 They gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.

25. Next Steps: (Connection Card)

26. Next Steps 1. Identify and Surrender your root of bitterness to God.

27. Next Steps 1. Identify and Surrender your root of bitterness to God. 2. Invite God to fill the hole in your heart with His love.

28. Next Steps 1.Identify and Surrender your root of bitterness to God. 2.Invite God to fill the hole in your heart with His love. 3.Ask God to help you trust His heart for you.

29. Next Steps 1. Identify and Surrender your root of bitterness to God. 2. Invite God to fill the hole in your heart with His love. 3. Ask God to help you trust His heart for you. 4. Invite Others into your life – Growth Group.

30. Next Steps 1. Identify and Surrender your root of bitterness to God. 2. Invite God to fill the hole in your heart with His love. 3. Ask God to help you trust His heart for you. 4. Invite Others into your life – Growth Group. 5. Choose love & forgiveness over the drink of bitterness.

31. Next Steps 1. Identify and Surrender your root of bitterness to God. 2. Invite God to fill the hole in your heart with His love. 3. Ask God to help you trust His heart for you. 4. Invite Others into your life – Growth Group. 5. Choose love & forgiveness over the drink of bitterness. Ask God to bless your “enemy” and to heal your relationship

32. “Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.