Embracing the Journey of Forgiveness and Freedom

1) "We're in week five of our collection of messages titled Freedom. Come on, everyone. Anyone just been blessed by this series? I'm believing that it's been impactful. I know for me, it was a life-changing series and essential to living out who God has called us to be. And so let's just recap really quick. The last four weeks we've walked through in week one, we talked about the two biggest questions in life. Who's God made me to be? And then the next question is, who do I believe I am? And you might answer that question by saying, I'm a parent, I'm a teacher, I'm a business person, I'm a student. And we said that the identity that God has given us is this. We are sons and we are daughters of God and we live to glorify him." [45:59] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "And so today, as we close out our series, we are talking about. We're talking about forgiveness. We're talking about forgiveness. You see, everything in weeks one to four are about you getting your heart free. And see, once we allow the Holy Spirit into these broken places, come on, to reveal the fears and the lies, we begin to find freedom. And this allows us to say what we can only say with his help. And that is this. God. If you. If you have forgiven me, if you have healed me, if you have helped me through this, I am going to forgive those who have wronged me." [50:09] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "See, none of us walk through life without having to grow in our ability to forgive. It's like a muscle that we need to grow and develop. And that's why. In Ephesians 4, it says this. In verse 31. Notice Paul, he doesn't say, if you have bitterness, and if you have anger, and if you have slander, put it away. No. Paul is writing to Christians saying, Hey, you've got some bitterness. Hey, you've got some anger. And you need to put that away. He's reminding us, you can be saved by grace and still be holding on to hurt. But there's good news today. God wants us to be free." [53:29] (62 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "And before we go there, I want us to listen to what Hebrews 12, one says. It says this. Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Another translation says let go of every wound that has pierced us. It's strong language, the word pierced, you know, you could picture an arrow maybe going through your leg and what the author wants us to see through that word is pierced, right? And there's a process of forgiveness that says letting go. Come on. It's the work of pulling out the arrow so that you can live free. The writer goes on to say, then we're able to run the race marked out for us. Or another translation, then you'll be able to run life's marathon race." [53:29] (65 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "And so today I want to talk about five steps to pulling out the arrow. Five steps to forgiveness. And as we're navigating this series, there might have been things that the Holy Spirit has brought to you, right? Fears or lies. And those fears and lies that you've taken into your heart might be a result of a deliberate action that someone else has done for you. You might have experienced an active wound where someone intended to harm you. And out of their own pain, they willfully chose to abandon you, to harm you, betray you. And if that's your story, that's what freedom is about. It's about pressing into those places and unpacking, what is the thing that I took into my heart? What did I take in? How did that make me feel? And what is the lie? What is the fear? And how do I forgive?" [53:29] (58 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "See, I believe forgiveness is something that we need to work hard on. See, otherwise it will contaminate everything. See, if we don't work on forgiveness, your kids will feel it. Because if you don't work on forgiveness, your wife will feel it, your husband will feel it, your teams will feel it, your staff will feel it, your friends are going to feel it. And what comes out of you will not be who God has intended you to be. We need to work through removing the arrow that caused the wound and work towards forgiveness." [56:52] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "And Joseph is often held out as this great pitcher of forgiveness, and no doubt it is. But like most of us, forgiveness wasn't automatic for Joseph. It was a process. And so really quickly, a summary for you. If you don't know the story of Joseph, you can find it in Genesis 37 to 50. It's 13 chapters. It's powerful. But Joseph is one of 12 sons. He's the second youngest, and he was the favorite. So much so that his dad, he gifts him a coat, a colorful coat. That is only for Joseph. Joseph is also a dreamer. And he has these dreams about how one day his other brothers, his 11 brothers, will bow down to him. And unsurprisingly, his brothers, out of their envy and their anger, they turn around and they sell Joseph to slave traders. And tell his dad that Joseph is dead." [56:52] (62 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "And so here's step number two of pulling out the arrow of unforgiveness, and it is this, surrendering our right to payback. We need to surrender our right to payback. Romans 12, 17 and 19 says, 'Never hold a grudge or try to get even. 'Beloved, don't be obsessed with taking revenge, 'but leave that to God.' We can end up thinking payback is what needs to happen for us to be free, but I want to tell you today, in God's plan for our lives, we don't need the person who shot the arrow to get an arrow before we are free, before we can be free. We don't need them to receive a wound before we can be free. We don't need them to be healed of our own, right? We've got to come to that place where we can say, God, I surrender my right to payback. I give it to you. I lay it at your feet." [01:07:26] (74 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9) "And so you might need to pray and ask God, would you put back what the enemy has taken? Would you put back what was taken from me? To pray and ask the Father to move in your heart, to put back what the enemy stole. And I'm believing that for some, God will give fresh vision to see where he has been moving this whole time, right? For some, there is actually healing and there is restoration and a new future. And so actually here's the prayer, and maybe you could all just close your eyes for a moment. If you want to pray this, in your heart or under your breath, but say, Heavenly Father, I humbly come before you as your son and daughter. I see where I have been carrying a wound. I see that holding onto this hurt is not what you wanted for me. So I ask you to put back in my heart all that the enemy tried to stem. Put back love, put back joy, put back peace, kindness, faith, hope, trust, worth." [01:10:30] (94 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)