In this sermon, I discussed the importance of forgiveness and its role in our relationship with God. I emphasized that forgiveness is not a one-time act, but a continuous process, as Jesus taught us to forgive not just seven times, but seventy-seven times. I also highlighted the consequences of unforgiveness, using the parable of the unmerciful servant as an example. I stressed that we must forgive others as we are forgiven by our Father, and that we must humble ourselves and forgive others in order to receive forgiveness. I also touched on the importance of forgiveness in maintaining the presence of God in our lives and in our families, and the peace and joy that comes with forgiving others.

Key takeaways:
- Forgiveness is not a one-time act, but a continuous process. We should forgive not just seven times, but seventy-seven times. [ 01:36:23]
- Unforgiveness has serious consequences, as illustrated in the parable of the unmerciful servant. [ 01:38:41]
- We must forgive others as we are forgiven by our Father. [ 01:40:53]
- Humility is key in forgiveness. We must humble ourselves and forgive others in order to receive forgiveness. [ 01:42:31]
- Forgiveness is crucial in maintaining the presence of God in our lives and in our families. It brings peace and joy, and fosters healthy relationships with God's people. [ 01:51:59]

Small group discussion guide for "The Power of Forgiveness"

Bible Passages:
1) Matthew 18:21-35
2) Matthew 6:9-13

Directions:
Begin by reading Matthew 18:21-35 and Matthew 6:9-13.

Discussion Questions:

Observation Questions:
1) What does Peter ask Jesus in Matthew 18:21-22?
2) What is the response of the servant who was forgiven a large debt when he encounters a fellow servant who owes him a small debt in Matthew 18:28-30?
3) What does the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 tell us about forgiveness?

Interpretation Questions:
1) Why does Jesus tell Peter to forgive not just seven times, but seventy-seven times?
2) What is the significance of the servant's response to his fellow servant's debt in the parable in Matthew 18:23-35?
3) How does the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 relate to our understanding of forgiveness?

Application Questions:
1) How can we apply the principle of forgiving seventy-seven times in our daily lives?
2) What steps can we take to forgive others as we have been forgiven, as instructed in the Lord's Prayer?
3) How can we cultivate a heart of forgiveness towards those who have wronged us?

Day 1: The Necessity of Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a fundamental aspect of our Christian faith. It is not just a command, but a necessity for our spiritual growth and relationship with God. It is through forgiveness that we can truly experience God's love and extend it to others.

Luke 17:3-4 - "So watch yourselves. If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when you found it difficult to forgive someone. How did this impact your relationship with them and with God? How might you approach a similar situation differently in the future, keeping in mind Luke 17:3-4?

Day 2: The Consequences of Unforgiveness

Unforgiveness can create a barrier between us and God. It can hinder our prayers and rob us of the peace that God wants us to have.

Mark 11:25-26 - "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins."

Reflection: Can you identify a time when unforgiveness affected your peace or your relationship with God? How did this experience align with Mark 11:25-26? What steps can you take to ensure you are practicing forgiveness in your daily life?

Day 3: The Power of Humility in Forgiveness

Humility is a key ingredient in the process of forgiveness. It allows us to recognize our own shortcomings and to extend grace to others, just as God has done for us.

James 4:6-10 - "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.' Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."

Reflection: How has humility played a role in your ability to forgive others? Can you recall a time when you had to humble yourself to seek or offer forgiveness? How did this experience reflect the teachings in James 4:6-10?

Day 4: The Effects of Unforgiveness

Unforgiveness can lead to bitterness, anger, and a lack of peace. It can consume us and prevent us from experiencing the fullness of God's love and grace.

Ephesians 4:31-32 - "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when unforgiveness led to bitterness or lack of peace in your life. How did this align with Ephesians 4:31-32? What steps can you take to ensure you are practicing forgiveness and avoiding these negative effects?

Day 5: The Role of Forgiveness in the Mission of Families

Forgiveness is not just an individual act, but a collective one. It plays a crucial role in the health and mission of our families, helping us to live in harmony and to reflect God's love to the world.

Colossians 3:12-15 - "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

Reflection: How has forgiveness (or lack thereof) impacted your family dynamics? Can you identify ways in which practicing forgiveness could improve your family relationships and align with the mission of God as described in Colossians 3:12-15?

- "How many people have you forgiven from their wrongdoings? At times you arrogantly say I know he is the one who is at fault. We need to forgive one another, so that God can move in us as missional families." [01:44:51]
- "In our workplaces, we need to forgive one another. According to the book, according to the instruction, 77 times the same boss. 77 times, I didn't write this, it's in the book." [01:46:28]
- "Unforgiveness brings about bitterness which consumes the individual. It generates these toxins in our systems that consume us. It doesn't affect the next person but it affects you who is not able to forgive." [01:49:08]
- "We must find God's forgiveness if we want to be saved from the consequence of sin. Many times we say it is too much, but what is the book saying? 77 times." [01:36:23]
- "When you experience Christ's gracious forgiveness, we receive peace and joy. We have healthy relationships with God's people once we forgive one another. It makes the mission of God to move and lack of it retrogresses the work of God." [01:53:31]

Um, as a way of background, you would find out that Zakariah in the New Testament offered sacrifices for men to be forgiven their sins. You know the story of Zechariah when he went into the temple to present incense and sacrifices. And then when he came out, he could not speak.

In the Old Testament, priests offered burnt offerings. Burnt offerings were presented before God for forgiveness of sin. Animals without blemishes were presented to the priests, who would go into the inner part of the temple and offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin. I would assume that because they wanted animals that were pure, that had no blemishes, inspectors would then come and see that they were not trying to get rid of a lamb that was already blemished or whatever that was not okay. They would say, "Okay, because I have wronged God, then I'll present this one because I don't want it anymore." So they wanted animals that did not have any blemishes. Amen.

Now, with the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, this practice was then abandoned because the Lamb of God, which had no blemishes, was sacrificed in place of animals. So with the coming of Christ, we see this practice was then abandoned, meaning Christ had come in place of the old tradition that was done through the spilling of blood through sacrifices. Amen.

We are now called sons of the Most High God as we believe in the Risen Christ. We are now sons of God once we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, having our sins and transgressions forgiven through the belief in accepting Jesus Christ. Amen.

I've just a visual here to demonstrate the old tradition. You know the story of Abram, the father of many nations. He was instructed at one stage to go and sacrifice his own son. But of course, you'd see the angel of God prevent him from killing his own son as it was instructed by God, and instead, a lamb was offered. So this tradition, this practice, is no longer in place; it was stopped at the time where we see Jesus Christ coming to redeem man. Amen.

So the sacrificing of animals has been replaced by Jesus Christ, who died for us on the tree of Calvary. Our main text today is from Matthew 18:21 to 35, and I draw this from the NIV. Like what Muruto normally says, we click and swipe and whatnot, but I belong to the old tradition of having the actual text. I mean, thumbing through and feeling the paper that this is the Bible, you know?

Anyway, if you are from the old school, please go ahead and look at your book now. Matthew 18:21-35 is a bit long.

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" Peter, the beloved disciple of Jesus, inquired from Christ how many times should we forgive.

And under there, up to seven times. Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."

Now, Jesus said seventy times. You know, forgiving somebody that much. Amen. Amen.

I'm talking about forgiveness unless you get carried away. Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants, and he began the settlement. A man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

Sure, yeah, I'm glad that this happened in this time. Yeah, it happened during this time. So this man who had ten thousand bags of gold could not repay, and the master ordered that his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

At this time, the servant fell on his knees before him. "Be patient with me," he begged, "and I'll pay back everything." The master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go. How beautiful is that? Amen.

The ten thousand bags of gold that he could not pay were all squashed, written off. Amen. And he was let go. But when the servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.

A hundred silver coins! Perhaps you can go and do research and find out the equivalent of the hundred silver coins and see how much worth it is compared to the ten thousand bags of gold. Amen.

He grabbed him and began to choke him. "Pay back what you owe me!" he demanded. He had just forgotten what happened to him. He choked him, demanding the hundred pieces of silver.

The next slide, his fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, "Be patient with me, and I will pay it back." But he refused. He went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged. You know, he was outraged. He was angry. You know, you forgot what was done to you, and now you are doing this to the same person. The moral is the same thing.

In verse 32, then the master called the servant in. "You wicked servant!" It's not me who said that; you wicked servant! He said, "I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?"

In anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father would treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart. Amen.

May God bless His word in Jesus' name. Amen.

So there is the story, brethren, of a man who did not forgive his brother. We need to be forgiven by God in order to be saved. So through accepting Christ as Lord and Savior and through His blood, our sins are forgiven.

So I'm talking about two forms of forgiveness. Once we have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, through accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, our transgressions, our iniquities, our wrongdoings are taken off. Amen. Amen.

Are you forgiven sitting here? Are you saved? Amen. Do you believe in this Lord Jesus Christ who died on the tree of Calvary? Amen.

We cannot save ourselves, but we can accept the plan that God provided for us. It will help us to understand His plan when we consider what He showed to His people, the Israelites, before Christ came. God told them to sacrifice animals. The lambs were slain, which pointed towards the perfect Lamb of God, which Jesus Christ would redeem all people by shedding His blood for their sins.

So I've talked about the tradition that was there where the sins of men were going to be removed through the slaughtering of lambs, and people were going to be forgiven. But the plan of God was to bring Jesus, a perfect lamb without any blemishes, and He is the one who took our transgressions, who took our iniquities. Amen.

This is the plan of God. The forgiveness that we receive once we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is one form of forgiveness that I'm talking about this morning. Amen. Amen.

So forgiveness comes from Christ's death and the spilling of His blood for the sins of men, which we find in the book of Hebrews, chapter number nine, verse 22. So through Christ, through the spilling of His blood, once we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, once we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, our sins are forgiven. Amen. Amen.

There is no one who is righteous, not even one. This is Romans 3, verse 10. No one is righteous, amen, except Christ. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Amen.

Then we need this Christ. We need the blood of Christ that we are washed. Amen. Once you accept Jesus Christ, we are washed and become new. Our relationship with God is then renewed. Amen.

We must find God's forgiveness if we want to be saved from the consequence of sin. Amen. We must find God if we want to be saved from the consequence of sin. Amen.

Let me go to point number one: How many times should I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me, who constantly wrongs me?

The answer here is up to seven times. But Jesus answered, "I tell you, not even seven times, but seventy-seven times." Amen.

I am assuming one person doing wrong to you, and you are forgiving this much. Hey! Amen. Amen.

Are we able to do that many times? We say it is too much. We can come up with even sayings like "once bitten, twice shy." You did this yesterday; today I'm not going to forgive you. But what does the book say? Amen.

I'm talking about forgiveness and no other story. Amen. At times we count one, two, three, and that’s it—no more. Amen. But what does the book say? Seventy-seven times. Amen.

In the place that I work, we also normally do that as well, where we give one chance, second chance. No, don't do that. Amen. In the judicial system, they also do that. They talk of the first offender, the second offender, the third one, you know, taking it, and the descendants are even harder. Amen.

Because they begin to count. But what does the book say? Amen. Seventy-seven times. I didn't write this; it was saying here. Amen.

Point number two: The consequences of unforgiveness. Verse number 29: His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, "Be patient with me; I will pay it back." This he said, but he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. Amen.

He refused, but what had happened to him? He was forgiven; everything was written off. But guess what? He forgot that. He said, "No, you can't do that." Amen.

The master, in anger, called the servant and said, "You wicked servant! I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me."

Verse 33: "Should you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?" The master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. Amen. Amen.

He refused to do what had also been done to him. Amen. We are supposed to be forgiving people. In fact, as families, we are supposed to forgive one another. Amen.

Point number three: Forgive others as we are forgiven by our Father. Amen.

I draw your attention to the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6, verses 9 to 13. Again, in the New International Version, this then is how you should pray:

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Amen.

The area that I'm interested in in that Lord's Prayer is verse number 12: "And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors." Amen.

It's conditional. You're forgiven because you're forgiving others. Amen. This means that if we forgive others, God will also forgive us. Amen. We are called upon to forgive this morning. Amen. Amen.

Point number four: We must humble ourselves and forgive others in order to receive forgiveness. Amen.

How many times have people wronged you in the past? You know it. Pastor normally gives you homework, and I'm not giving you homework, but at least you have it as I'm talking here. Amen.

I, in the morning up to sunset, normally also do the same; I give people homework. Amen. How many people have wronged you? You can literally say that one, that other one, the other one. Okay. Amen.

Now, how many people have you wronged as well? I've talked about the people that have wronged you; now you also know the people that you have wronged. Amen. Amen.

Now the question is, how many people have you forgiven for their wrongdoings? I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands and give me the answer. Amen. But you know. Amen.

How many times have you said, "Sorry, please forgive me"? You know, at times you arrogantly say, "I know he is the one who is at fault." This one was at fault, man. I'm aware of the impact of the scars that people are having today, emotional and physical.

As we walk, as we move, as we journey in Christ, we may also be having scars in our marriages, workplaces, and in our social life. We may have scars. We need to forgive. Amen.

We need to forgive one another. You need to say, "Hey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I did this out of ignorance. I'm sorry. Forgive me." You know what I'm talking about. Amen. Amen.

We need to forgive one another as husbands and wives. Amen. So that God can move in us as missional families. Amen.

In our workplaces, we need to forgive one another. You then say, "Because this boss did this to me, I'm not going to forgive him." But we need to forgive according to the book, according to the instruction: seventy-seven times.

The same boss, the same boss, huh? Seventy-seven times. At times we run out of patience. December, seventy-seven times. The same wife, the same husband, seventy-seven times. Amen. Amen.

Seventy-seven times. I didn't write this; it's in the book. Amen. Seventy-seven times. I'm sorry, but be sincere. Amen. Be sincere. I'm sorry and seek the face of God.

Amen. Church, at times we may not also forgive so-and-so. Don't talk to each other. Amen. We need to forgive one another. Amen.

A church, we need to forgive one another. I've wronged you; please forgive me. Amen. Amen.

Because we are expecting to go to heaven after all, and I'm tempted to think that when you are in heaven, how are you going to... you know? Amen.

But of course, we are told that when we're in heaven, we are equal to angels, and we'll be in a different form and that kind of thing. Amen. Amen.

If you want to go to heaven, let's forgive one another. Amen. In church, in our homes, at your workplace. Amen.

So that God will move in our midst as missional families in Jesus' name.

The next slide: What does unforgiveness bring to the mission of families? Lack of peace. We don't have peace; we are bound. Amen.

Unforgiveness brings about bitterness, which consumes the individual. Hmm. Unforgiveness brings about bitterness, and it consumes the individual. It brings in toxicity. Sorry, it generates these toxins in our systems that consume us. It doesn't affect the next person, but it affects you who is not able to forgive. Amen. Amen.

Let's forgive one another in Jesus' name according to the instruction: seventy times. It brings about strife, a lack of progress. The presence of God will not be seen when we hang on to things. Amen.

The presence of God will depart from us when we hang on to things, cling onto things, and say, "Ah, he did this to me; she did this to me." We need to release. Amen.

The presence of God will depart from us. Lack of God's presence. You know, in Acts of the Apostles, chapter number one, verse 14, they were always in one unity, in one accord, doing one thing, and the presence of God was among them. Amen.

But when someone is holding something against the other, I don't see the presence of God in their midst. Amen. It will also stop the mission of God in the family, in the church, in every family. Amen.

When there is that bitterness, amen. Are you still here? Amen. Amen.

What does forgiveness bring to missional families? When you experience Christ's grace, our gracious forgiveness, we receive peace and joy. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

We receive peace and joy once we forgive one another. We retain this peace. It is necessary to forgive each other. Christ tells us in Matthew 6:14 to 15, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Amen.

We have healthy relationships with God's people. We have a healthy relationship with God's people once we forgive one another. Amen.

We'll see the hand of God in our relationships, and there will be growth in individuals. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

It makes the mission of God to move, and lack of it retrogresses the work of God. Amen.

Hallelujah! In conclusion, I'm ending. I'm out of your way in a second. I'm going to testify. I'm going to testify quickly.

Many years ago, in the early 2000s, we got a piece of land somewhere very far away from here.