Confirmation Sunday: Choosing Forgiveness Over Walls of Hurt

To build a wall against us, to say, forget those people. They're just awful. They just do awful things over and over. And what does Jesus do instead of build a wall? He goes to the cross for you and for me, and there he suffers and dies for your sin, your sickness, your shame, your grief, your mistakes, your failures, your evil thoughts, all of it. And instead of building a wall against you, he tears the temple curtain in half and he says, approach the throne of grace with boldness. You are loved by God. [00:42:46] (33 seconds)  #GraceNotWalls

And he said, I noticed that the Christians seem to take care of stuff, and he told me, I used to be a Christian. And I said, used to be? What happened? And he said, well, I was going to this one church, and they they kept getting after me because they didn't like the way I prayed because I pray at home. And I it takes seriously the passage that tells you to to pray privately, and they were always telling me, you gotta pray out in public with us and and get your hands up and all this kind of thing. And and they eventually told me I should leave the church. [00:31:42] (33 seconds)  #RespectPrivatePrayer

Many of you have been burned by the church at some point in your life. We have people here today because you're here for a confirmation. Right? You don't normally come to church, and you don't like coming to church because at some point you got burned by the church. Well, today is the day to tell you don't be let that be the thing that drives you away from Jesus. [00:36:13] (20 seconds)  #DontQuitJesus

But what we do is we look to the cross because Jesus says, hey, every mistake you've made, every bad thought that you have had, I took it all upon myself at the same time, times billions of people across the world, and throughout time, I took it all for you. And you know, more than anyone else in the world, the person who deserved to build a wall is Jesus. [00:42:21] (26 seconds)  #JesusTookItAll

See, Jesus is telling you, when you're suffering unjustly, the place that I want you to look is not to revenge or anger or separation. Instead, I want you to look to the cross and what I have done for you. See, Jesus is telling you, I know everything, everything that you have ever done, every awful thing that you have said, and not just that, even worse, everything you ever thought. [00:41:31] (30 seconds)  #ChooseGraceNotRevenge

Now, be a part of the family of God. Be a part of the church as one redeemed in the blood of the lamb. Be a part living out the grace that you have been given. That's God's call. He loves you. He's overcome for you, and he's ready to work in and through you. Sometimes, it's gonna be hard, but he'll walk the journey with you every step of the way. Amen? [00:47:35] (27 seconds)  #LiveOutGrace

Sometimes when I pay attention to that, it makes me uncomfortable because I also know the things that I've done and the things that I have thought, and some of it's really bad. And I bet if you knew everything that I have done and thought, you wouldn't want me to be your pastor anymore. You might start making a list. Build no wall. [00:42:01] (20 seconds)  #HumbleConfession

so he told me about all the things he didn't like about church. He made a list. And really, what he's doing, he's building a wall between him and church. And I told him, you know what? That is wrong of them to do those things. But I hate that you're running away from Jesus because a few of the people said some things you don't like. And I told him I was gonna be praying for him. I tried to pray for him there, but he wasn't having it right then. But it's one of the things we tend to do. [00:32:40] (31 seconds)  #PrayDontWithdraw