Communion Sunday: Forgiveness - Audio

This week we will take a break from 1 Corinthians and step into Matthew’s gospel with a special look at the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in chapter 18.  Unless you live under a rock, you are at least exposed to the news in some small form or another. You, as well as I, can see that we are living in a culture of divisiveness, polarization, guilt and punishment and judgement.  The prevailing attitude of the day can be summed up in phrases we hear, like: "I have been hurt/offended/violated. Someone else is to blame. We are angry. We won’t stand for it any more. They need to be punished. Justice needs to prevail…for me. You can’t get away with this!" That is where we are, and it appears it is only getting worse. Now, the age old response to our predicament is “Why can’t we all just get along?” The focus of today's message is that the reason we can't is that we are leaving a very important word out of all these conversations. This word may be the only way to resolve conflicts, heal nations, and mend brokenness.  As Christ’s followers, we can interject this word and thought into the cultural conversation and demonstrate it with our lives! What is that word? And how can it bring healing to your life and soul? You can shout it from the rooftops and teach it to your kids and grandkids. Jesus Himself taught us to pray about it and without it you cannot have a relationship with God. Listen in as Pastor Steve opens up the parable in Matthew 18 with a powerful study on this word: forgiveness.