One Anothering: Forgive One Another

ONE ANOTHERING

Forgive One Another
Pastor Brandon Berg  

SERIES SCRIPTURE:

John 13:35 "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Sermon Scripture:
Luke 17:1-10 (CEB) "Jesus said to his disciples, 'Things that cause people to trip and fall into sin must happen, but how terrible it is for the person through whom they happen. It would be better for them to be thrown into a lake with a large stone hung around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to trip and fall into sin. Watch yourselves! If your brother or sister sins, warn them to stop. If they change their hearts and lives, forgive them. Even if someone sins against you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times and says, ‘I am changing my ways,’ you must forgive that person.' And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!' The Lord replied, 'If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Would any of you say to your servant, who had just come in from the field after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Come! Sit down for dinner’?  Wouldn’t you say instead, ‘Fix my dinner. Put on the clothes of a table servant and wait on me while I eat and drink. After that, you can eat and drink’?  You won’t thank the servant because the servant did what you asked, will you?  In the same way, when you have done everything required of you, you should say, ‘We servants deserve no special praise. We have only done our duty.’”

THE ANATOMY OF FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness is…

1. A choice
2. Both an event and a process

Forgiveness is not…

1. A feeling
2. A condoning of bad behavior
3. Reconciliation

7 A’s of an apology (From Ken Sande- “Peacemakers”; if you’re the one who caused the offense):

1. Address everyone involved you’ve hurt
2. Avoid “if”, “but”, and “maybe”
3. Admit specifically
4. Acknowledge the hurt
5. Accept the consequences
6. Alter your behavior
7. Ask for forgiveness

4 Things Forgiveness Means…

1. I’ll not dwell on this
2. I’ll not bring this up again to use against you
3. I’ll not talk with others about this
4. I’ll do what I can to not let this come between us moving forward

 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Has the hurt someone caused you been so painful that you didn’t know if you could forgive?
2. Have you ever thought about the distinctions between forgiveness and reconciliation? Is the distinction Pastor gave helpful? How so?
3. Pastor used the illustration of a catheter and how it used to help aid the body in the release of toxic build up in the body, have you found the practice of forgiveness to be similar spiritually?
4. What part of The Anatomy of Forgiveness stood out to you and why?