“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. ¹⁶ But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹ Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” ²¹ Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:15-22

So we have been talking about the phrase “OK, Boomer”, and digging deeper into the reasons for why people from different generations do not always agree with one another. At first we were looking at why people resist change – and one of the reasons we were examining revolved around trust. Trust in necessary in all relationships – our trust in G-d – our trust in each other. And, so we are examining different aspects of trust. So we are on reason three you can follow to help you choose to trust again after a painful experience.

1. Choose To Forgive: Forgiveness is important – but as Jesus teaches, forgiving others is a necessity, not a suggestion – and forgiveness is unlimited. So, yes, forgiving others is important – and that usually begins with learning to forgive yourself. It is natural for humans to blame ourselves for so many things. I talk with a lot of our older members of society who seem to have a problem with just this – they have held on to something they did to a spouse or a child for which they cannot forgive themselves. Look, we make bad decisions – we say dumb things – we forget to say thank you or to show appreciation. And we all have but one judge for whom it is important to confess our sins – and Jesus knows a contrite heart – and Jesus also has forgiven your past sins, your present sins, and your future sins.

No relationship, no person, no situation is perfect. Don’t try to convince yourself  otherwise. Instead, forgive yourself, and then allow that forgiveness to spread to others. Remember, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “forgive us our sins as we have already and actively been forgiving the others in our lives”. Yes, that is not how it is written, but that is how it is intended – it is what we are saying, praying and promising. Forgiveness is a way of life – not just a formulaic prayer – it is to be lived – not just spoken.

Pastor Dave

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. ² There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? ³ When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. ⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.”⁵ “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:1-6

So we have been talking about the phrase “OK, Boomer”, and digging deeper into the reasons for why people from different generations do not always agree with one another. At first we were looking at why people resist change – and one of the reasons we were examining revolved around trust. Trust in necessary in all relationships – our trust in G-d – our trust in each other. And, so we are examining different aspects of trust. So we are on reason two you can follow to help you to trust again after a painful experience.

1. Learn To Trust Your Choices and Decisions – so after deciding to allow yourself to be vulnerable, it is time to learn to trust – trust your decisions and your relationships, and trust G-d to always be there in your decisions, your relationships and your decisions about faith. Too many people give up their trust in G-d because they believe G-d does not give them what they want, or ask. The question we need to ask is not “G-d what have you given me lately?” – instead we should be saying “G-d thank you for all the blessings you have given me today.” A good exercise to try if you want to rebuild trust in yourself is to look at all the decisions you have made that have had positive outcomes – decisions around financial choices, career choices, health choices, and good friendship choices – make a list and remind yourself how you see G-d in these decisions. If you do not see G-d in your decisions and your choices, then perhaps you need to re-examine your decision making processes.

In our lesson today, Jesus tells his disciples: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. ² There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” Jesus promises his presence not only in our faith, but in our decisions, and in our lives – including our eternal lives. But that requires that we put our trust in him. This is all Jesus asks – we are to trust G-d, which leads to trusting Jesus. Everything else that seeks our loyalty and trust will end up being nothing less than sinking sand – for Christ is the solid rock upon which we stand.

Pastor Dave