Overcoming Offense: Embracing Forgiveness and Love

**Bible Study Discussion Guide**

**Bible Reading:**
1. Matthew 5:23-24
2. James 1:19-20
3. Colossians 3:13

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**Observation Questions:**

1. According to Matthew 5:23-24, what should one do before offering a gift at the altar if they remember a conflict with someone? How does this relate to the sermon’s emphasis on reconciliation before worship? [43:51]

2. In James 1:19-20, what are the instructions given regarding anger, and how does this align with the sermon’s discussion on avoiding self-righteous anger? [46:07]

3. Colossians 3:13 talks about making allowances for each other's faults. How does this passage support the sermon’s message on the power of forgiveness? [50:05]

4. The sermon mentions that offense can become a trap. What are some of the consequences mentioned if offenses are not dealt with promptly? [41:37]

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**Interpretation Questions:**

1. How does the act of reconciliation before worship, as mentioned in Matthew 5:23-24, reflect the priority of relationships over religious rituals? [43:51]

2. What does the sermon suggest about the nature of human anger versus righteous anger, and how can one discern between the two? [47:00]

3. In what ways does the sermon suggest that forgiveness is a continual process rather than a one-time act? How does this align with Colossians 3:13? [50:05]

4. How does the sermon describe the enemy’s agenda, and what role does offense play in it? How does this contrast with the way of Jesus? [43:16]

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**Application Questions:**

1. Reflect on a recent situation where you felt offended. How did you handle it, and what could you do differently next time to align with the sermon’s teaching on avoiding being easily offended? [44:55]

2. The sermon emphasizes the importance of reconciliation. Is there someone in your life with whom you need to reconcile? What steps can you take this week to initiate that process? [43:51]

3. Consider a time when you felt justified in your anger. How can you evaluate whether your anger is righteous or self-righteous, and what steps can you take to ensure it aligns with God’s righteousness? [47:00]

4. The sermon warns against gossip as a breeding ground for offense. How can you be more mindful of your words and actions to avoid causing offense to others? [52:38]

5. Think of a relationship in your life that could benefit from forgiveness. What practical steps can you take to forgive and move forward, even if full reconciliation isn’t possible? [58:45]

6. The sermon encourages responding to offense with love. Identify a specific relationship where you can practice this principle. What actions can you take to demonstrate love and break the cycle of resentment? [58:45]

7. How can you incorporate the practice of studying Jesus’ teachings and relying on God’s transformative power to live unoffendable in your daily life? What specific changes can you make to your routine to support this goal? [01:00:30]

Understood. I will now create the 5-day devotional based on the instructions provided.

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Day 1: Recognizing the Trap of Offense
Offense can become a default state in our lives, leading to bitterness and resentment. It is a trap that aligns with the enemy's agenda of destruction and division. When we allow offenses to fester, we are the ones ensnared, not those who have offended us. Recognizing offense as a warning sign, like a light on a car's dashboard, is crucial. Ignoring it can lead to catastrophic damage in our relationships and spiritual well-being. To avoid being ensnared, we must deal with offenses promptly and choose the path of life, peace, and unity that Jesus offers. [39:41]

Proverbs 19:11 (ESV): "Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense."

Reflection: Think of a recent situation where you felt offended. How can you address this offense today to prevent it from taking root in your heart?


Day 2: The Priority of Reconciliation
Scripture emphasizes the importance of reconciling with those we have offended before offering our gifts to God. This act of reconciliation is not about being right but about restoring relationships. Genuine worship and connection with God require us to prioritize restored relationships over religious rituals. By reconciling, we align ourselves with God's heart for unity and peace. This process involves humility and a willingness to let go of pride and self-centeredness. [43:51]

Matthew 5:23-24 (ESV): "So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."

Reflection: Is there someone you need to reconcile with before you can truly worship God? What steps can you take today to begin this process?


Day 3: Examining Our Anger
Human anger, often mistaken for righteous anger, does not produce the righteousness God desires. We must examine our motives and ensure our anger is not self-righteous. True righteous anger draws others to the grace and goodness of Jesus, rather than pushing them away. By dealing with pride and self-centeredness, we can avoid being easily offended and focus on drawing others to Christ. [47:00]

James 1:19-20 (ESV): "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when your anger may have been self-righteous. How can you shift your focus to respond with grace and draw others to Jesus?


Day 4: Embracing the Process of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is not a one-time act but a continual process and a way of life for Christ followers. It involves making allowances for others' faults and forgiving as Christ forgave us. This act of forgiveness frees us from the chains of offense and aligns us with Christ's example. By forgiving, we experience true freedom, healing, and joy, breaking the cycle of resentment and retaliation. [50:05]

Colossians 3:13 (ESV): "Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."

Reflection: Who in your life do you need to forgive today? How can you begin to extend forgiveness as a continual process?


Day 5: Responding to Offense with Love
Love is not easily offended and seeks to cover a multitude of sins. It breaks the cycle of resentment and retaliation, allowing us to forgive and move forward. Responding with love protects relationships and fosters restoration, even if full reconciliation is not possible. By learning the ways of Jesus, who laid down every offense ever thrown at Him, we can live unoffendable and experience true freedom. [58:45]

1 Peter 4:8 (ESV): "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins."

Reflection: How can you respond with love to someone who has offended you recently? What practical steps can you take to protect and restore that relationship?

"We've got to deal with the issue of offense in our lives. The more offenses we take on and the longer we wait to deal with them, we are actually conditioning ourselves or training ourselves to be offended. I'm going to say that again. The longer we wait, the longer we allow offenses to lay on our lives, to be rooted into our hearts, the more we're conditioning ourselves and the more we're training ourselves to just automatically being offended." [00:39:41] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"Taking and holding on to offenses if not dealt with will eventually become your default. And everywhere you walk, you'll drag along chains of bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, and resentment. You'll bring gossip, pettiness, division, sarcasm, and cynicism to every table you sit at, and as a result, you'll leave a wake of destruction behind you." [00:40:49] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"And if not dealt with, offense can become a fence that encircles and entraps us, not the people that offended us. Fence, O-F-F-E-N-S-E, can become a fence that encircles and entraps us, not the people that offended us. And the more you don't readily and quickly deal with offense and the anger and hurt that comes as a result of the fence or as a result of the offense, you further fortify, a lot of F's in this sentence, you further fortify the fence." [00:41:37] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"The enemy's agenda is destruction, his strategy is division, and his tactic is offense. But there's another agenda, one of life, peace, kindness, love, and unity, and it's the way of Jesus. And the only way to know it is to know him. And the only way to know him is to know his word." [00:42:42] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"We must connect with the one whom the fullness of joy is found in, and that's who? Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, the whole triune. We've got to connect, right? But we can't, listen to me, we can't properly connect with God until we drop our offenses." [00:43:51] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"Proverbs 19.11 says, Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger, and it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense. Seeking revenge and harboring resentment. We see this in the Old Testament in the story of David and Saul. David had multiple opportunities to harm King Saul, who was unjustly pursuing and actually trying to kill him. But David chose to overlook the offense. Why? Because he was trusting God's timing for justice." [00:48:53] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"Colossians 3.13 says, make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Bottom line is Christ followers are called to forgive. And by doing so, we are actually following the example of Christ." [00:50:05] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"Love doesn't seek to expose faults or amplify wrongs. It seeks to protect relationships and bring restoration. But can I stop there and just remind you that, that it actually takes two people for restoration to happen. So what I'm saying is that if you respond in love, doesn't necessarily mean that the relationship will be mended. It doesn't necessarily mean that the relationship will be restored. But as far as you are concerned, you no longer are building a fence around your heart." [00:58:45] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"When we respond to offense with love, we break the cycle of resentment, retaliation, and holding onto offenses. Love allows us to forgive and move forward without harboring bitterness, just as God forgives us through Christ." [01:00:30] (16 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"You have to continually learn the ways of the one who laid down every offense ever thrown at him. You have to take what you've heard today, further study it, pray, and lean on God's transformative power to work in your life, and daily renew your mind to the way of Jesus, and not your own." [01:01:19] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"The truth is, we can't fully experience the joy of Christmas or the fullness of God's peace if we're carrying the weight of offense. Jesus came to set us free, not just from sin, but from the burdens that steal our peace and joy. Holding onto offense is like carrying chains that weigh us down. It builds walls around our hearts and keeps us trapped in bitterness, anger, and resentment. But Jesus offers us a way out." [01:02:45] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

You can go ahead and have a seat.

I'm thankful for the humor this morning, but I think we went a little bit too far. Because now when I see Pastor Terry doing this, I'm going to be like, "Oh no, he has diarrhea."

No, but I appreciate the humor today because this really isn't a feel-good message. So you're probably not going to laugh again, so I hope you got all your laughter and you feel like, "Okay, I'm okay now," because today I'm actually going to be a warning light on the dash of your life.

Just like a car, if we don't pay attention to and tend to warning lights, which are actually indicators of a potential problem, we'll likely encounter catastrophic damage that we could have most likely avoided.

We've got to deal with the issue of offense in our lives. The more offenses we take on and the longer we wait to deal with them, we are actually conditioning ourselves or training ourselves to be offended.

I'm going to say that again. The longer we wait, the longer we allow offenses to lay on our lives, to be rooted into our hearts, the more we're conditioning ourselves and the more we're training ourselves to just automatically be offended.

Taking and holding on to offenses, if not dealt with, will eventually become your default. And everywhere you walk, you'll drag along chains of bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, and resentment.

You'll bring gossip, pettiness, division, sarcasm, and cynicism to every table you sit at, and as a result, you'll leave a wake of destruction behind you.

Because this is what I know: if you don't stop when you can stop, there will come a day that you will want to stop and you can't.

Let's let that sink in for a minute. Because we don't have to just be talking about offense in our life. We can be talking about anything in our life.

If you don't stop when you can stop, when it's small, if you don't stop when you can stop, there will come a day that you're going to want to stop. And because now you've conditioned yourself and trained yourself, and it's your default, you won't be able to stop.

If you allow yourself to hold on to something, you're going to be able to stop. If you hold on to offenses, you will wake up one day and you won't have offenses; they'll have you.

CPT spoke a few minutes ago about a trap. And when offense gets trapped in your heart, it becomes a trap that traps you.

And if not dealt with, offense can become a fence that encircles and entraps us, not the people that offended us.

Fence, O-F-F-E-N-S-E, can become a fence that encircles and entraps us, not the people that offended us. And the more you don't readily and quickly deal with offense and the anger and hurt that comes as a result of the fence or as a result of the offense, you further fortify—lots of F's in this sentence—you further fortify the fence.

Do you understand what I'm saying? If you don't deal with it, the offense is going to trap, or the offense is going to become a fence that's going to trap you.

The fence isn't erected around the person that offended you. In your offense, it encircles and entraps you.

And it's all really a result of the enemy's agenda, because the enemy's agenda is destruction, his strategy is division, and his tactic is offense.

The enemy's agenda is destruction, his strategy is division, and his tactic is offense. But there's another agenda, one of life, peace, kindness, love, and unity, and it's the way of Jesus.

And the only way to know it is to know him. And the only way to know him is to know his word.

If the whole point of this series is to find freedom from our past and to see joy restored to our lives, we must connect with the one who gives freedom.

We must connect with the one in whom the fullness of joy is found, and that's who? Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, the whole triune.

We've got to connect, right? But we can't—listen to me—we can't properly connect with God until we drop our offenses.

Now, this isn't a Pastor Andrea opinion. Look at Matthew 5:23.

So then, if you are presenting a gift before the altar, and suddenly you remember a quarrel you had with a fellow believer, leave your gift there in front of the altar and go at once to apologize to the one who is offended.

So essentially, what scripture is saying here is, you come into this place, you come in to worship and lift your hands, and God's saying, "No, I don't want to connect right now, because I need you to connect here. I need you to go back, and I need you to connect with the one that you offended or who offended you, and I want you to make it right."

And really, according to this scripture, whether you think you're right or you're not.

So let's talk about a few things that could help us today, and number one is this: avoid being easily offended.

Notice, I didn't say avoid being offended, because offense is coming. It's inevitable. You're going to get offended, possibly before you leave this campus today.

Possibly because of this teaching, to be honest, because sometimes the word, because it's true, can be offensive—offensive to our flesh, offensive to the sinful nature part of ourselves.

Yes, I'm a ma'am, not a sir. See, I won't hold on to that, but I said you're going to get offended. I'm just not going to hold on to it.

No, I'm just kidding, but it's a promise. You're going to get offended, but the key is, what do you do when you're offended, and how quickly do you deal with that offense?

In order to avoid being easily offended, we must deal with pride, self-centeredness, and anger.

James 1 says, "That in and of itself right there puts the focus on others. It doesn't put the focus on me."

And be slow to become angry, it says, "for human anger is never a legitimate tool to promote God's righteousness."

See, your human anger, according to Scripture, does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

But Pastor Andrea, you might say, "You don't understand. My anger is righteous anger because I'm angry over sin."

Well, let me just wade in a little bit. Have you ever noticed that the anger is often more towards someone else's sin?

No. So really, we could say that it isn't a righteous anger, but a self-righteous anger.

Because as Christians, it's real easy to criticize their foul language, but ignore our own spiritual pride. It's real easy to judge their sexual sin and ignore our own gluttony.

Ouch. I'm going to stop there. I won't go on.

But how effective is your anger? Are you drawing people to the grace and the goodness and the love of Jesus because of your anger?

Is your anger bringing you more joy? The answer, I am 100% confident to those questions, is no.

When we get offended and angry, before we respond, we should ask ourselves this question: Do I want to make a point or do I want to make a difference?

Before you respond in anger, before you respond to the offense, ask yourself. This will help you. If we will stop and actually ask ourselves some questions, it will be helpful to us to be slow to speak.

Ask yourself, do I want to just make a point or do I actually want to make a difference here?

See, we should not want to just win an argument, but we should want to rather win people to the grace and the goodness of Jesus.

Proverbs 19:11 says, "Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger, and it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense."

Seeking revenge and harboring resentment. We see this in the Old Testament in the story of David and Saul.

David had multiple opportunities to harm King Saul, who was unjustly pursuing and actually trying to kill him. But David chose to overlook the offense.

Why? Because he was trusting God's timing for justice.

We see it in the life of Jesus. Jesus often overlooked personal insults and offenses, like when he was mocked and beaten before his crucifixion.

Listen to me. Look at me for a moment. His focus was on fulfilling his purpose, not on retaliating against his accusers.

Some of you have got to start focusing on the purpose that God has given you and stop putting so much focus and attention on all of the little barking dogs around you.

That they're just distractions. And it's a part of the enemy's agenda, which is destruction. His strategy is division. And his tactic is offense.

Not every slight or insult requires a response. Ask yourself, will this matter tomorrow, next week, or even next year?

If not, it's likely something you can overlook. In the scheme of eternity, what does this matter?

So number two, forgive and let go of offenses.

Colossians 3:13 says, "Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."

Bottom line is Christ followers are called to forgive. And by doing so, we are actually following the example of Christ.

Matthew 18 says this: then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"

Jesus said to him, "No, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times."

But forgiveness is not a mathematical equation. It's a continual process. And it's actually a way of life.

If this is something that you really struggle with, I did a teaching back in February, and it's called the F word.

F word being forgiveness. Some of your brains went, "What?"

There's a QR code on the screen; you can go ahead and scan that right now and it can be in your web browser ready to go if you want to listen to that later.

Or you can always go back to the Father's House and look into our archives, and it's a message from this year back in February.

So I'm not really going to talk too much more on that because you can get more on it by listening to that teaching.

Number three: now the first two we're dealing with when offenses come to us, right? When somebody offends us, when that situation offends us.

But we can't just talk about that side; we've got to talk about the other side.

And number three is we've got to guard against causing an offense. We got to look at ourselves in this.

We need to be mindful of our actions and our words to avoid offending others because not only can we take on the offense, we can obviously be the one to cause the offense.

But I don't really want to address hurtful words we express toward one another to cause an offense because I think to everyone in the room and for those of you that are watching online, I think that that's just a given.

We know the things that we do; we know the things that we say that push people's buttons that cause people to be offended, right?

I'd rather get down below the surface today. Here's where you may want to pick up your feet because I'm getting ready to step on some toes and I'm getting ready to make some of your flesh a little bit uncomfortable because I want to talk about gossip.

I honestly believe that offense can be a breeding ground for gossip.

Let me ask you this question: Have you ever been offended and not at least told one person about it?

Anybody? I don't see any hands raised in the room, so I'm in good company today because I know that there have been times when I've been offended that I have told someone about it.

So I'm not coming to you today with this teaching saying I'm this perfect person up here who never gets offended because guess what? I'm not there yet.

Anybody else?

Anybody else in the room, are you there yet to where you never get offended or you do get offended and you're like, "Ah, no big deal. I'm good."

Yeah, I know. Guess what? We're all in the same boat today.

This is not a message of condemnation. Remember, this is a message of I'm trying to be a warning light on the dash of your life.

How many of you are married in the room?

Okay, a lot of you, the majority of you. This can be hard when we're offended to not come.

And let me say this: I'm not saying by any means that you should shut off from your spouse and that you should never talk to your spouse about things.

That's not what I'm saying. But what I am saying is we have to be careful because your spouse loves you.

Your spouse wants to protect you. And if you come home talking about the situation that happened at work with your coworker, and then you forgive them, and you go on, but your spouse doesn't work in the same environment as you.

Some of you work in the same environment, but most of you probably don't, okay?

So you didn't get to see the interaction where things, maybe relationship was restored.

What has happened is you've left your spouse with this sort of a tainted picture or frame of mind of someone that encountered you and hurt you.

So what do you naturally, instinctively want to do? I want to go punch them in the face.

I mean, I don't know if you're more holy than I am, but when there have been times where, again, Vance and I, my husband and I, we have come home and talked about things that, you know, we don't want to do, we don't want to do, we don't want to maybe have offended us.

And there was a time specifically where he was telling me about something, and I literally wanted to go in the car and go make it right with this person.

Like, how dare you talk to my husband that way, who is so kind, who is so patient, who is full of peace and all of this?

So do you understand what I'm saying? Do you see where I'm going?

We have to be careful. Because do you understand what I'm saying? Do you see where I'm going?

Do you know what you do when you gossip? You give the enemy a chance to work and further his agenda.

Because not only was he working on you, but now every person you bring in on the offense has the opportunity to take on that same exact offense right along with you.

And Jesus actually warns against actions that lead others into sin.

Matthew 18:6 says, "But if anyone abuses one of these little ones who believes in me, it would be better for him to have a heavy boulder tied around his neck and be hurled into the deepest sea than to face the punishment he deserves."

That's not a feel-good verse.

But Jesus isn't talking about going around abusing children in this passage. I will say he doesn't want us to abuse children, so don't get that twisted.

But he used the term "little ones" because in verses one through five, he was trying to teach the disciples that unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become humble and teachable like a little child, you'll never enter into the kingdom.

See, children depend on someone to take care of them. They are trusting, loving, forgiving.

Are you following with where I'm going with that?

The Greek word in verse six for "abuses" is scandalizo, which Pastor Terry talked about a little while ago.

Scandalizo, which can also mean to scandalize, to put a stumbling block before them, to offend, or to cause to sin.

So the next time we are tempted to open our mouth about someone or a situation, we may want to take a moment and pause and reread Matthew 18:6 for ourselves before we make the decision to gossip.

But let's also not go looking for gossip either.

Ecclesiastes 7:21 and 22 says, "Don't eavesdrop on the conversation of others. What if the gossip's about you and you'd rather not hear it?"

You've done that a few times, haven't you? Said things behind someone's back you wouldn't say to his face.

As Christ followers, hear me, please hear my mind and heart. We have played around far too long with this.

We've got to take ownership. We've got to take responsibility. We've got to stop trying to make it look like prayer.

Call it what it is and stop partnering with the tactic of the enemy in this area.

And if iron truly does sharpen iron, we need to hold one another accountable because by you not shutting it down, you might as well just join right along with it.

Number four is we've got to respond to offense with love.

First Corinthians 13:5 says, "Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense."

First Peter 4:8 says, "Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of things."

Now, don't let the enemy twist the meaning of that scripture for you because love covers a multitude of sins does not mean to excuse or ignore sin, but rather responding with grace, forgiveness, and understanding.

Love doesn't seek to expose faults or amplify wrongs. It seeks to protect relationships and bring restoration.

But can I stop there and just remind you that it actually takes two people for restoration to happen.

So what I'm saying is that if you respond in love, it doesn't necessarily mean that the relationship will be mended.

It doesn't necessarily mean that the relationship will be restored. But as far as you are concerned, you no longer are building a fence around your heart.

You are no longer being trapped by offense if you will let it go and you'll respond with love.

When we respond to offense with love, we break the cycle of resentment, retaliation, and holding onto offenses.

Love allows us to forgive and move forward without harboring bitterness, just as God forgives us through Christ.

So do you want to be able to live unoffendable today? Or unoffended?

It really boils down to this: you can't expect to have listened to today's message and magically never be offended again.

You have to continually learn the ways of the one who laid down every offense ever thrown at him.

You have to take what you've heard today, further study it, pray, and lean on God's transformative power to work in your life, and daily renew your mind to the way of Jesus, and not your own.

The truth is, we can't fully experience the joy of Christmas or the fullness of God's peace if we're carrying the weight of offense.

Jesus came to set us free, not just from sin, but from the burdens that steal our peace and joy.

Holding onto offense is like carrying chains that weigh us down. It builds walls around our hearts and keeps us trapped in bitterness, anger, and resentment.

But Jesus offers us a way out. A path to freedom, healing, and joy.

Let's pray.

Father, these kinds of messages can kind of be hard because if each one of us are honest, it's never really fun to take a look at ourselves in the mirror and areas that you want to correct, things that you want to break off of our lives, things that you want to prune from our life.

The pruning process is not fun and it's not easy, God, but it's necessary for growth. It's necessary for us to get to the place that you want us to be if these areas are pruned off of us.

So Father, I just pray for each and every one of us that are in the room today. For those of you that are joining online, I pray for, and I'm including myself in this prayer, that Holy Spirit, that you would help us to not be so easily offended, that you would help us in the area of pride, of self-centeredness that produce and lead to anger because that's not your agenda, Father.

That's not who you've called us to be. So Father, help us in those areas, Holy Spirit, that you have touched on in each one of our lives.

God, I pray that we would have the courage and the boldness to actually do something about it, that we would not feel condemned today because if we're feeling condemnation here in the room, it's not of you, it's of the enemy, and that just furthers getting us stuck in where we are because we'll feel like we can't do anything about it, but that's just not true.

Because there's a choice. We can choose the enemy's agenda, or we can choose your agenda, God. So help us to choose your agenda.

While heads are still bowed and eyes are closed, there's some of you in the room who are so chained and so weighed down with bitterness and anger and offense.

But it's really because those things you haven't allowed to be broken off of your life because you haven't accepted forgiveness from the one who gives complete forgiveness, from the one who went to the cross, he died, and his blood covered all of sin.

It didn't just cover sin and disease and things that are not of the Father, but it obliterated it all.

And the truth of the matter is that before Jesus and his ultimate rescue, each and every one of us were destined to death.

But because of what Jesus did on the cross, he made a way for us to get back to the Father because scripture says that there's only one way to the Father.

There's only one way to heaven, and that's through Jesus. That's through accepting his sacrifice, accepting his forgiveness, accepting the peace that only he can give.

So if you're here today and you want to experience that, maybe you want to experience it for the first time.

Maybe some of you have made that decision a long time ago, but you find yourself right now sitting in that seat today. You're watching online and you're like, "I have gotten so far away from the agenda of the Father, and I really see that I've been partnering with the agenda of the enemy. And I need to resurrender my life."

If that's you in either one of those categories that you need to make that decision for the first time, or you need to recommit your life to Christ, I just encourage you to raise your hand only because I want to see who you are, because I want to include you in a prayer today.

It's the best decision that you'll ever make. Will it make your life perfect? No, because we still live in a broken world.

But what I will guarantee for you is that if you will make that decision, you will get the one who is peace.

Your hand. Thank you, ma'am. You will get the one who is peace, the one who is, as the song that we sang, that our sin was great, but your love was greater.

This is who you will get. It's not a thing you will get. It's a person you will get, and that's the person of Jesus.

Is there anyone else in the room that that's you? I'm just going to wait a few more minutes.

I see your hand. Thank you. I want to include you.

Anybody else? If you're watching us online, just type that in the chat. "That's me. I need to make a decision."

I see your hand. Thank you. I need to make that decision. Just type that in the chat, and we've got someone that wants to pray with you right there on the chat.

Let's all say this prayer together with the three or four that raised their hands today, because we're a family, and no one should have to do anything alone in a family.

So repeat after me:

Heavenly Father, I come to you today acknowledging that I need you.

I confess that I have sinned, and I've fallen short of your glory, but I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose again, offering me forgiveness and eternal life.

Today, I surrender my life to you, Jesus.

I repent of my sins and ask you to forgive me.

Cleanse me and make me new.

Jesus, I declare you as my Lord and Savior, and I give my life fully to you.

Thank you for giving me victory over sin and death.

Fill me with your Holy Spirit, guide my steps, and help me to follow you all the days of my life.

In Jesus's mighty name, and all of the church, and all of the church family said, "Amen."

Come on, church, let's celebrate. Their eternities have been changed. Their lives have been changed, amen.

Well, if you made that decision today, over on each side of the auditorium, you'll see something that says "First Step."

We want to put tools in your hand because it's not just about saying a prayer. It's about a relationship.

It's about people coming alongside you and helping you on the journey of life. We want to put a Bible in your hand. If you don't have a Bible, we have that for you.

We want to give that to you. And if you aren't able to get over here, there are people outside that would be happy to connect with you and to give you any tools that you need because we want you to be successful at this thing called life, right?

It's going to take us all, amen.

Let's stand to our feet. Let's not rush out. Let's worship in one last part of a song and wait until the worship team dismisses you this morning.