Start Again (part 3)

Pastor Tyler finishes his sermon series "Start Again" on the subject of forgiveness. Taking Josephs story and tying it to the hit movie, "The Shack"... we see how we are not victims to our past but we are conquers through the work that Jesus Christ does through us and in us if we allow Him. This life isn't easy. It's filled with pain, betrayal, heartache and situations that don't often make sense. We have a promise though! That promise is Jesus is near and He will save us. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Nancy. Uh last time I saw you, you were playing bingo and beating everybody, I think. So I'm glad you're here today. Okay. It's good to see everybody. Look to your neighbor and say you look nice this morning. Look to your other neighbor you didn't like as much and say you look good too. Always make you choose a hard decision there. Man, incredible job by the worship team this morning. Can we give them a round of applause? Thank you, Father. There's a lot happening right now, as you can see in the bulletin. Soon with your app, and why it's important is you'll have the option to do online giving if you're not able to give in service for whatever reason that may be. Usually I'm speaking to my generation on that, but um we will still pass the plate. That's not a problem. Um we want to be the best in our community that we can be of believers. I've said this a million times and I'll say it again. I never aspire to be a megachurch pastor. That's not the goal. However, with what God gives us, we should do with excellence. Amen? What he gives you, what he blesses you with, how he operates in your life, we should live with excellence. And so we want to do the best for his kingdom that we can in all facets. Doesn't mean we'll be perfect in it. We never will be, but we want to do well. I want to say if you're a guest here this morning, welcome. Make yourself at home. Uh, we hope that you like it so much that you keep coming. Um, we're excited because next Sunday we'll announce a new family into the church membership. And then there's others and severals that will follow that, including in the next uh August with our new membership class. I say that because August 30th will be our next new membership class. So if you want to be a part of that, if you've not become a member before or you want to learn about the church, going to the class does not mean that you have to become a member. It just allows you to understand what our true beliefs are here, what our history is, and really what our movement for the future is going to look like. And so we encourage you, if you want to be a part of that, please uh do so. You'll see more on that throughout the summer. And there's a lot of things going on. So, where are my pole vaulters at? Are they in the house this morning? Are they back there? How do you get over the fear of that? Because it seems like it would terrify me horribly. Well, right now I'd probably break the thing, but that's that's incredible. Did one of you have one of them break on you recently? Yeah, was that you? Did you think about quitting? That's the mentality we need, right there. Mentality we need. Congratulations, guys. I want to say also before we go any step forward, I've been married as of tomorrow for 13 years to this wonderful lady. And um, yeah. At least five U-Haul trips, I know. Uh a lot of children. We always said we were only gonna have two, and then we had four. It's crazy how God does that. Um, yes, congratulations uh to putting up with me for 13 years. You you're you're incredible. Thank you. Also, uh, Jeff and Sonia, they just told me, so I don't want to be the only one left out here. Uh, they celebrate theirs on the 2nd, so give them a round of applause. Today is gonna be a little different. It's not gonna be expository preaching as much as it is going to be topical, but this is our last sermon on Start Again. It's been a mini-series, and next week we'll be discussing heaven. This will actually lead us perfectly into our heaven series as heaven is an exciting thing that I'm passionate about. In fact, I am committed to the kingdom of God because I believe in heaven so much. I do not believe heaven is a faraway place. John says in the scripture that heaven is an arm length away, for he preached, for the kingdom of heaven is near, which in our original text we know that means an arm length away. It's Stephen as he is being stoned and killed. He looks up and he sees Jesus Christ standing on the right side of the Father, looking down upon him from heaven. Heaven is not a million miles away, heaven is not a thousand miles away, heaven is right closer than you think. It's right here. In fact, when you die, the moment you die, you'll close your eyes and you'll open it, and you will be in eternity. You will be in eternity. That's how close heaven is to you. Over the next few months, we're going to spend the whole series in heaven, dissecting it and asking the questions that maybe you've always wondered. Will there be animals in heaven? Will I know my family when I get to heaven? Will I be able to remember certain things? What about heaven? Is it is there is there a new heaven? Is it somewhere else or or is heaven on earth? What does this really look like? And will my favorite things that I love to do, will I have access and be able to do those in heaven? Will heaven be greater than a three-hour church service? Maya hope so. What is heaven going to be? I hope you'll join for us, join us in that that season, in the session of the next two months of what heaven really is. Today, though, we're going to be discussing something that's deep for many of us, and it's pain and it's hurt, and it's it's those that have done us wrong. It's those that have become a problem in our personal lives, into which we've not been able to allow our relationship with the Lord to grow the way that he desires for it to. We have a little bit of weeds in our life, if you if you'll say it that way. Today's message is simple. God's plan is always restoration. We've been talking about starting again. We've been talking about being able to go again. You know? And over the past weeks, we've seen how God doesn't need our perfection. He uses the dysfunctional Jacobs in our lives and the sinful Judahs, and even the worst of the worst in Manesseh, King Manesseh, remember him? It's people like this that God uses to accomplish his purpose. And today we conclude this series by addressing something many of us carry, and that's deep pain from the past. Betrayal, loss, abuse, tragedy, failure, all these things that keep us stuck. Before we dive in, I want to talk about a movie, The Shack. I had posted on social media this week that if you've never seen it, I encourage you to watch it, and we're gonna see a little bit of it here this morning in a scene. But in this movie, we have a dad who has a family and he's faithful to God in the beginning, and he's going to church, he's taking his kids to church, and his name is Mac, and he carries this unbearable grief and anger because someone kidnaps his daughter and someone kills his daughter. His pain distorts his view of God and poisons his life. What happens in the shack is a powerful picture of what God wants to do in every wounded heart, and that's meet us in our pain, reveal his love, and lead us into forgiveness and freedom. Because the reality is, if you've lived long enough on this earth, you know that betrayal, failure, pain, people do us wrong. It's a part of it. Unfortunately, because we live in a sinful world. And this is why it's simple today, because it's always restoration, it's always God trying to seek his people into letting go and forgiving. But I think we could all agree sometimes it's hard to forgive, and sometimes it's hard to let go. And I think if we don't admit that, we're lying to ourselves and we're even in deeper denial. But it's through Christ that we can truly start again. So this morning we're gonna turn, and and once again, I told you this will be more topical than expository. So we're gonna start in Genesis.

SPEAKER_04 7:59

Turned it on. It's my fault. Could be me. I don't think so though.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

There we go. Here we go. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the ornament robe he was wearing. And when they took him and threw him into the cistern, the cistern was empty and there was no water in it. And as they sat down to ether mill, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilgled. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm, and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him. After all, he is our brother, he's our own flesh and blood. And his brothers agreed. That seems pretty sensible. So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

SPEAKER_04 9:13

Sorry. Hold on.

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And when Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, The boy isn't there. Where can I turn now? Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. And they took the ornament robe back to their father and said, We found his this. Examine it to see whether it's your son's robe. And he recognized it and said, It is my son's robe. Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces. And then Jacob tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and mourned for his sons many days. And all his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. No, he said, I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave. So his father wept for him. Now, this passage of scripture, when we read in it here, this is really important. Because what we're seeing here is crime upon crime upon crime. You remember we've gone through this, we've gone through the story of Jacob and Esau and the sins that would happen. And we actually talked about this in the high school, uh, high school Sunday school this morning. When we look at the history of Jacob and Esau and Joseph and all these things that predated, all the sinful things that happened. You know, we look at this story and we think, man, can it just keep getting more dysfunctional and more dysfunctional and more dysfunctional? Yes, it can. This is Israel we're talking about, which should be the marker for you and I to understand that in this life, because of sin, bad things happen because bad things happen. People do dumb things. People hurt people. You know that old saying, hurt people, hurt people? That's the world that we live in. People don't care for their brother and sisters the way that they should, oftentimes, because we get this whole idea of what the world is supposed to look like for us that sometimes we put people to the wayside. This is a real thing. And now we see that there's a situation that has occurred. A son is gone, and he believes that his son is dead. He believes that his son is completely gone. The brothers feel like they're riddled of their brother that was the favorite. He's the one, remember, hey guys, you're gonna bow down to me. I mean, you wouldn't even have taken in that very well. You wouldn't have. And it's at this moment, now we have one side of the equation that's in mourning, and then we have the other side of the of the equation that's in slavery. Look at Joseph. He was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and now his whole life, because of their action, is going to send him down another path. Down another path. This was not the path he would have chosen for his life. You know that, right? This was not the path. And what happens is oftentimes when brothers or sisters do us wrong, we get angry about it, don't we? Because this is not the path that I would have chosen. This is not the direction that I wanted to go. I didn't want to be sold. And it's not just being sold, but it's everything, domino effect, after it. Today we're gonna talk about this and we're gonna learn how do we stop the bleeding from going any farther? Because you and I have an obligation and our pain and in our hurt and everything that we face to allow God to stop the bleeding so that our children and their children's children won't have to deal with it. See, many of us in the movie The Shack, we see Mac who builds walls of anger, bitterness, or numbness to protect themselves, and yet God doesn't run from our pain, he steps into it. You know, my first point today is when pain is unaddressed, it it will it will control your future. But God meets us in our pain. You know, look at Joseph in this situation. Like I said, we're gonna be going back and forth, you'll see it makes sense in a minute. Betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused. I mean, the guy is literally trying to do the right things, and every time he tries to do the right thing, someone lies against him, someone steals against him, someone comes against him every time. It's in this moment he's falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and is accused of trying to rape this woman. I mean, and he and he's forgotten when he's sitting to prison. I mean, he's sentenced to prison, and and and the people that said they would remember him don't. And he had every reason to be bitter. You know, a lot of you have reasons to be bitter.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

You have reasons to be bitter. People did you wrong.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

People betrayed you. We have every reason to be bitter in some ways. My childhood, I have every reason to be bitter. I have every reason to look at the narratives and say, why did this happen to me? God, if you're so great, why would you allow this to happen? We have every reason, but it's in Genesis 39 through 41 that we see that God was with Joseph in the pit, in prison, and in the palace. And here's what I'm trying to remind you of today is that regardless of what you've been through or what's happened to you, regardless of the pain that you feel inside of you or the unfairness of this world, can I tell you that we cannot become so hyper-fixated on the peaks and the valleys, but we have to give God time to show us the whole mountain range. Can I encourage you in that? That right now, in this moment, all we see is hurt and pain. And God, I don't understand why you allow this to happen, and God, I don't understand why I'm in a pit, and God, I don't understand why I'm being lied against, and God, listen to me. If we can fix our eyes on him in such a way that we trust that he's in this valley with us, I promise at the end of the mountain range, you're going to look back and say, Wow, you had a plan the whole time. You knew the whole time. You want to know why? Because in Psalm 34 it says, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in the spirit. That's a promise from God. That's a promise. Most people only fixate on the first half of that. They say, Lord's close to the brokenhearted, Tyler. When something bad happens when you lose someone, when someone hurts you, that's what you hear. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. I don't really care that much about that part. That sounds bad. But I hate cliches. I hate when people tell me everything happens for a reason, just because they can't come up with something smarter to say in the moment. That may be a jerk move on me, but that's how I feel.

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You know what I like to hear? That he's still going to save me.

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He's still gonna save me. He's near to me, praise God for that. How arrogant am I to say that's not enough that he would be near to me. But you know what I also see? That he saves those who are crushed in spirit. Some of us are going through things in our lives right now that we feel completely crushed, if we're honest. We don't know what's our left from our right, because all we can see around us is pain right now. And I'm here to tell you that not only is the Lord close to you in your pain, but he's going to save you from it. He's going to pull you from it, he's going to make a way for you. You want to know why? Because he's the God of restoration. He's not the God of letting go. That's his promise, and that's how good he is. So when you read Psalm 34, 18, or when somebody says it to you, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Yes, he is. Also, he's going to save me. He's going to save me. He's not going to let me go. I hope someone will take heart to that scripture this morning because it's very important. Isaiah says it like this When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. This is important for you to understand, and for I to understand as a Christian, is we will pass through the waters. We will pass through the waters. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. And when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze. Now, this is very important for us to understand that this does not say that we won't go through waters or we won't go through rivers. It does not say this. We are going to go through the waters. We're going to go through the rivers and we're going to go through the fire. That's not an if. That's a win. You and I, we're going to go through trials and tribulations. We're going to go through some of the worst things that we may could even experience on this earth. Why? Because it's full of sin. But don't be troubled, for God is with you and He will save you. He will save you. And it's not merely just words, but it's a promise. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they're not going to kill you, Tyler. It's not going to destroy you. When you walk through the fire, you're going to feel the heat.

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But you're not going to be burned. How is that possible? Because I'm with you. Because I'm with you. Because I'm with you.

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A lot of us feel the heat. A lot of us feel like we're drowning. Can I tell you to put your faith in Jesus? Don't be so fixated on the bitterness of what the world's done to you. And put your eyes on Jesus and know that he's going to make it all right in the end. That right now I'm in a valley. Or right now I'm trying to climb a mountain. But it's not about climbing the mountain. And it's not about surviving the valley. It's keeping my eyes on him, knowing that regardless of where I'm at, he's going to give me the full view in due time. This video on Mac leads us into our second point this morning. Forgiveness is not forgetting. It's releasing the debt to God. We'll get to it. God has a decision to make. And it's in this moment to forgive. To forgive. To practice forgiving. To practice letting go. To practice of giving it to God. A practice to give it to Jesus because the true reality is forgiveness is not forgetting. I wish I could forget all the horrible things that were done to me as a child. However, I cannot. However, I've forgiven the people that have done it because I've given it to God. It's practicing believing that his way is better than mine. And that if I keep holding on to this and I keep struggling with this and I keep walking with this, that it's going to be doing more harm to me than the person ever did to me. That's it. And at some point we have to see God the way that he designed us to see him. And that's to give everything that we have to him and trusting him that he knows the best for our lives. Now in Genesis chapter 15 and 20, we find Joseph, and he has been sold, he has gone through all the things in his life that have been really, really, really bad. And this is the difference between victim mentality versus those that have given everything to God. We don't allow the enemy to have place in our life. Do you want to know the truth? The things that have happened to me in my life may have been really bad. But the things that have happened in my life have allowed my dependency on God to even be greater to make me the man, the husband, and the father that I am today. I will not apologize for my past because God took what the enemy meant for evil and he turned it for his good. And he always wins and he always restores. And it's Joseph in this moment who is now encountered with his brothers, and his brothers are terrified that Joseph is going to seek vengeance upon them. And what does Joseph speak after this long journey? He says, You intended harm to me, but God God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done with the saving of many lives. This is Joseph. He's saying, I'm not giving foot to the enemy. You will not take credit for what's happened to me. For this is God's doing for his good purpose and for his goodwill. Can I tell you this morning that regardless of what you're going through and what's happening in your life, when you give it to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, he takes what the enemy means for evil and he's going to turn it for your good. You want to know why? Because he saves you. He saves you. He saves you. He believes in you because he created you. And so if you will give it up to him, he's going to turn it for his good. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good. The world intended to harm me. The enemy intended to steal from me. It intended to destroy me, just like it had all my other relatives and everybody else. But this time God became king and lord over my life. And therefore, you cannot defeat the king Jesus. I think if we can adopt that spirit this morning, what we could see happen in our lives, relationships that have hurt you in your life can dissipate. The pain can go away. It doesn't mean that you don't remember. It's just the idea of understanding that you don't hold the weight of it anymore. Jesus took that for you and I on Calvary. Matthew 6.14 says it like this for if you forgive other people when you sin against when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. That's a big deal for me. Because not only have I had a lot of hurt done to me, I've hurt a lot of people. Do you know that? Do you know if you've hurt people? The jokes, the things you say when you were a kid? Do you ever think about that? Do you ever think about the innocent things you thought you did in school, but it sent home a boy or a girl crying in the corner, feeling like they're not good enough? You ever thought about that? Have you ever thought about the things that you've said to your relatives or to your family or to those around you that maybe you've sinned against them? Do you think about the people that you didn't hurt, didn't mean to hurt, but you did hurt? Do you think about how much blood is actually on your hands? Are you just perfect in your own mind and what they got they deserved? Once again, you are not God, my friends. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the moment that you don't give it to Jesus is not the moment that you're getting revenge on them, but the moment the enemy is winning through you. You want to be forgiven? You better learn to forgive. You want to be forgiven? You better learn to forgive. Forgiveness does not mean relationship. I have forgiven people in my family, but I don't have a relationship with them. I don't have to do that. This is between me and the Lord and where he's leading me. There are things that would not be good for my children if I didn't do. However, I must forgive and I must walk that out in true repentance. Colossians 1, sorry, Colossians 3.13 says it like this bear with each other and forgive one another. If anyone has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. If we are Christian believers in this place right now and you have an issue with someone in this room, you need to go have a conversation, a private conversation. And after you leave that conversation, keep your mouth shut. That's between you and them. We need to do that. Because there's going to be moments that I do something really stupid and I offend you. And there's going to be moments you do something really stupid and you might offend me. I will let you know, I promise. We should live together in a community this way because I want you to go to heaven. And guess what? I want to go to heaven too. We should not. We should not seek to hurt each other, but to lift each other up. We must change the culture ourselves and how we live our life and an example to our family. If you have a grievance, go directly to that person. Not tomorrow, not next week, today. Today. I'm firm on that. Ephesians 4:31 through 32 says, get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. If you can't quit talking about something someone did to you, give it to God and get rid of it. This has been something for my own personal life because there's things that have been said about me in my life that I cannot control, things that have hurt me deeply that I cannot control. Guess what? I have had to give it to Jesus Christ and trust that He is greater than I. And let me tell you, I know it is so much easier said than done. I know that. But you know what? I'm tired of living with bitterness, rage, and anger. You want to know who suffers from my bitterness, rage, and anger? Not the people who have lied about me. My children suffer from it. And do they deserve that? No, they don't. Neither do your children, nor do those around you. So get rid of it. Get rid of it. Get rid of all the bitterness, the rage, the anger, the brawling, the slander. If you keep talking about someone in a negative way, you need to go talk to them. Let's have the conversation. Let's be children of God, not children of Satan. Let's be who he's called us to be. I say this not to preach at you. I say this to convince you through the Holy Spirit so that you can have a life that is free and worthy. That's why I preach it. We need that. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ God forgave you. I believe when Jesus Christ forgives someone and he did on the cross, I have no room to say I don't have the ability to forgive. We all have the ability to forgive because he had the ability to leave his throne in heaven and come down and bleed out for you and I.

SPEAKER_04 28:11

Be kind and compassionate to one another.

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He chose to forgive you and I. We should choose to forgive others. Who are you still holding hostage in your heart? Can I ask you that question? Who are you holding hostage in your heart? Who is it? A parent, a spouse, a friend, or even yourself? Have you not forgiven yourself yet for the things that you've done? Can I encourage you? Forgive yourself. Seek repentance from the Lord and forgive yourself. Walk with the Lord and forgive yourself. Can I tell you right now that you cannot outstand the cross? I don't know what you've done or where you've gone or what you've been or what people say about you. But can I tell you forgive yourself? Today you have permission to forgive yourself. Walk in that. It doesn't mean you're gonna forget.

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You won't! But you don't have to carry it anymore. Let go. He's carrying it for you.

SPEAKER_03 29:09

Forgive yourself. I think it's important that not only are we compassionate and kind to others, we're compassionate and kind to ourselves. My last point is this you know, unforgiveness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. You ever heard that? It's true. Unforgiveness is literally like you're drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. Forgiveness is how we start again. And my last point is this it's God's restoration is greater than your devastation. God's restoration is greater than your devastation. I want that to be a theme that plays in your head this week. God's restoration is better than my devastation. Like I have to believe that. I don't know where you're at right now in life. I don't know what people have done to you, but can I tell you that God's restoration is greater than your devastation? He's got a plan for you. He does, I promise you. And God doesn't just patch up broken lives, he redeems them and brings beauty from ashes. And after all Joseph had endured, God elevated him to second in command in Egypt and used him to save a nation from famine, including the very family that hurt him. Can I tell you real quick? The reason why God brings restoration from your devastation is not just for you.

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It's for him to be able to work through you toward the people that hurt you. That's hard, isn't it? That's hard.

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Can I tell you that he wants to use you in such a way, but you just have to let go? I don't know who I'm preaching to right now, but I know you've been faithful. I know you've been doing the best you can. I know you're trying to figure it all out and you're you're you're hyper-focused on the valley you're in. But can I tell you if you could just one day see the full mountain range of all the valleys and all the mountains and the plan that he has for you, if you would just let go. I promise you, his plan is great for your life. The mirrors, the mirrors of what God wants for you. Restoration is a part of his plan. And Joel says it like this I will repay you for the years, the locusts of Eden, the great locusts and the young locusts, the other locusts and the locusts swarm, my great army that I sent among you. You and the Lord, you will have plenty to eat until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you. Never again will my people be shamed. These are the prophetic things that we have from the Lord, regardless of the seasons that we face and all the things that have been stolen from us, all the things that have been taken from us, he's going to restore you. Romans 8 28 says it this way. And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Listen, today may not seem so great, but I promise you tomorrow's coming. And God always gets his way. For those who who love him and who've been called according to his purpose, that is a promise for you and I. And I think it's important for us to understand that we don't have to be the same person we were this morning or yesterday or the day before. For when we let go, when we give God and the Holy Spirit the full capacity to work in us and through us, we are then a new creation. For if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone, the new is here. And I say this verse often because it's one of my favorites, but let me tell you right now, Christ wants to break in so you can break out so he can break through. You will become a new creation in him. In your relationship with him, it will feel brand new because all the weight you've been trying to carry while you're also in a relationship with him will not be upon you anymore. But you will have freedom in knowing that God has a plan. We need to understand that the story isn't over when tragedy strikes. I'm gonna tell you right now.

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I've walked with many families.

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You know, I know Jeff and Masonia would relate to this, but I was in the funeral home ministry for two and a half years, and there's some people that make it a business, but it's a ministry. It's a ministry. Walking with people on the worst days of their lives. Pastoring for 13 years. I I told someone this week, I've done 49 funerals, I've done seven weddings. I've sat with families in rooms that were devastated, families that they thought, you know, they expected loss. I've sat with families that never saw it coming. Tragedy strikes in this life. It could be me next, it could be you next, it could be any of us. But tra tragedy strikes, and you know when you give it to God, we understand that mourning is a part of this life, but God turns mourning into dancing. It's what he does. I got four beautiful kids. The parents worse fear if something ever happens to them. But you know what? I don't live out of fear that something could happen to them. I live out of fear that do they really know Jesus the way that they should? Because here's the reality. If my children know Jesus the way that they should, we don't have nothing to worry about. We got the best life insurance in the business. And it's not a life insurance that says, just keep me out of hell. But it's an insurance of understanding that we have a relationship with the king. And because we have a relationship with the king, our life isn't ending here. It's just beginning here. And for a lot of us, we get struck with the situation and tragedy and death and things that consume us, that we oftentimes, the the stark reality of death, when we see it, death should be a reminder that death is very real. And because that's real, we know something else is very real. That is the reminder that keeps me going each day and every day with my Lord, of knowing that while there may be mourning, there is beauty coming. He says it in 61 and 3, Prophet Isaiah, and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair, and they will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting for the Lord of display of his splendor. Can I tell you that I'm not sure what you've gone through or what you're going through, but while you may feel of a day of mourning, can I tell you soon you will be dancing? For in a hundred years you will not be here.

SPEAKER_04 36:26

In two hundred years, they won't even remember your name. Can I tell you you'll be in eternity?

SPEAKER_03 36:35

The morning will no longer be morning, it will be dancing. And that is why I'm so excited to preach to you over these next few months on heaven. The same God who restored Jacob's dysfunctional family, used sinful Judah and the Messiah's lineage, and heard Manisa's desperate prayer in prison and turned to Joseph's pain. He turned Joseph's pain into provision. He's the same God who wants to heal you today. He's the same God that wants to heal you today. If you go home and watch the shack, you'll see how God works in his life and how the ending really turns out. I won't spoil that for you today. But I want you to understand that your life is not a valley or a mountaintop. It's many mountaintops and it's many valleys. But God is building a mountain range through you.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

And it's not just for you, it's for him.

SPEAKER_03 37:36

Today, can I tell you that that mountain range is so much more beautiful when you learn to let go and let him for he wants to restore you, he wants to touch you, he wants to restore those around you. Watching the shack reminds us that God is not distanced in our suffering. Listening to Jacob's story, listening to Joseph's story reminds us that God is not distant in our suffering. He was there the whole time. Can I tell you when you cry yourself to sleep because of whatever you're going through? He is not far from you. He's near to you. And he's not just near to you, but he's going to save you. Today's call is this if you're carrying pain from the past, this is your moment to start again. I'm going to ask us to do three things today, and I'm going to challenge us in this. One, bring your pain honestly to God right now. That's it. I'm going to challenge us in that. Right where you're at. I'm going to play a song here in a moment, and the worship team will come up. But bring your pain to God honestly right now. What is it in you that hurts? Talk to him. He wants to hear from you. Two, make a decision to forgive right now.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

Ask the Holy Spirit for the power to release it. It may not feel like much right now, but it's a start. Do it.

SPEAKER_03 39:10

Practice it. Three, trust God's restoration plan, even when you can't see the full picture yet. Trust it. My final scriptures, and it's here. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fell. They are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness. Please know that. Revelation 21 and 5 said, He who is sitting on the throne said, I am making everything new. Then he said, Write these down, for these are words and trustworthy and true. I'm making everything new. I'm making everything new. In Jeremiah 31 and 3, he said, The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. This is true. You and I have been loved, we have been forgiven, and we have been adopted. Let us take the opportunity to respond with the same heart that says, God, I don't want to allow things of this world to keep me from you. That should be our prayer. I'm going to play this song, and oftentimes I'll do a song at the end, and it's not because I don't want our worship team up here. It's because I want everybody in the room to have time to focus. Focus their hearts. Oftentimes we can make church a production, and I don't want to do that. I want it to be real and authentic and truly allowing each person to have the opportunity to respond to the kingdom of God. So as this song plays, I want you to think about those things. I want you to identify in your heart what is the pain that you need to bring to God right now? What are the decisions you're going to make to forgive within yourself? And then three, will you trust God and knowing that He has a restoration plan for you? Will you just bow your heads with me? We're going to listen to this and we're going to pray.

SPEAKER_04 41:02

Would you stand with me as the worship team comes?

SPEAKER_00 41:23

I hope today that you'll start again. Hope today you'll free yourself from the snare of snare of unforgiveness. That you would allow God to do the work in your life and through you that He wants to. That you would see that your story is bigger than just your story.

SPEAKER_03 41:41

But when you give your life up to Him, it's His story. And I promise you, His story is better than any story that you and I could ever write.

SPEAKER_00 41:51

His story wants to bring restoration.

SPEAKER_03 42:00

It's what he wants to bring. And oftentimes, if we would just get out of the way and we would just let him to be God, and we would just trust him, trust him, trust him.

unknown 42:12

What can happen? What can happen?

SPEAKER_01 42:16

What can happen? Too many times I want control. Too many times I want it my way. Too many times I want people to say.

SPEAKER_00 42:53

But I'm merely a man trying to do what you call me to do every week. This is a big task. For us to truly like to forget. To forget. To trust that you make it right, not us. Can I pray that you would touch every heart in this world? For people who feel like they've been shaded by life. You know, the people that do it all right, but for some reason they they get the shaft, you know, like what the heck? That's how it feels.

SPEAKER_03 43:27

Lord, remind us that you're near to the broken hearted, but also you're gonna save us. Lord, let us be authentic and real. Lord, in our relationship with you.

SPEAKER_00 43:39

Lord, we don't have to have elegant words. Just you and I. Just us. Oh, Father, let them be reminded that you are a friend and you are close and you are near, and that you know their pain, and you know their struggles, and you know the strife.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

Lord, you know their home, you know their marriage, you know their children, you know what the situation is.

unknown 43:59

God

SPEAKER_03 44:00

Let us forgive quickly so that we don't have to harm each other anymore. Let us forgive quickly so we can be in full pursuit and alignment with you, God. Let us forgive quickly because we need forgiveness too.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

God, I love you. I glorify you. I thank you. In your name we pray. Amen.