Intermission

The Story We Find Ourselves In Leaders: The point we are trying to get across this week is to challenge students with this idea: in our relationships we are to treat each other the way that God treats us. Sometimes this means learning how to live out the grace that weve received. God is the model for our relationships. Dont feel like you need to get through all the questions, but the goal of tonight is to have a good discussion about mercy with some application. Passage: Matthew 18:21-35 Week 1: On the Books Human nature is a funny thing. We like to receive grace, but we hate giving grace. Some of the most difficult passages in the Bible talk about the reciprocal nature of our faith: forgive just as you have been forgiven, treat others as you would like to be treated, be merciful just as I am merciful, forgive us of our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. In other words, in the same way that we experience Gods forgiveness, mercy, grace, and truth, we are asked to show that to others. The truth is: we like revenge. We like eye for an eye unless its our own eye. We like stories about revenge except when it comes to us. Heres an illustration: A couple years ago Andrew was driving home from a road trip and got pulled over for speeding in a mini van. As a result he had to go to traffic court and he realized a funny thing happen as they all started talking. After the class they all discussed how they had seen other people breaking traffic laws and seemingly forgot why they are there in the first place We all want mercy, but none of us enjoy living it out the mercy weve been given. How we live that out, says a lot about whats in our hearts. Discussion Questions:. Revisit the passage, was there anything that you found interesting or didnt make sense? Is it a difficult passage to read? Why? Have you ever had anyone who has wronged you? Not just someone who stepped on your clean white shoes, but really wronged you. What happened? Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone, but you sought to hurt them? Either emotionally (you know the right things to say to hurt someones feelings) or passively (Im not going to say Im mad, but everyone is going to know Im made and Im just not going to talk to them but Ill post it on Facebook with vague details) or outright (Im going to punch that foo in the face)? Why do we do that? If you did get your revenge did it make you feel better? o What do you do when you know youve hurt someone? Did you think they deserved it? How did that make you feel?

o Take us through your emotions when you get into a tiff with someone what do you normally do? o After reading this passage, what might you do differently? o Is it something that is easy or difficult for you? Why, why not? Have you ever done/said anything in the heat of the moment that you wish you could take back? What happened? Have you ever had to ask someone to forgive you of something? What happened? What was that like? o Its funny that we life receiving grace, but we have much harder time giving grace why do you think that is? Do you think we project how we handle conflict on how God handles us when we sin? I think how we handle conflict says a lot about how we view God because when it comes to conflict, as Christians, we have to ask, what would Jesus do? not such a cute quote now is it?

o I wonder if this doesnt influence our view of God. When we mess up, does God turn His back on you, as if Hes not going to say Hes mad, but He just wont talk to you? When we mess up does God just want to strike you down so you wait in fear? o Its also not just about forgive and forget this does not mean that you should become a soft serve ice cream cone and this being passive does not mean that you are dealing with it but it does mean from the core of your being forgiveness and reconciliation is your goal. Application So where do you start? o Start with your family. Why? Because they can be the hardest to forgive. Start by reflecting on these passages and what it might say about you and how that could apply to how you treat others: o John 1:12 o John 15:15 o Romans 3:24 o Romans 8:1 o Romans 15:7 o Galatians 4:7 o Galatians 5:1 o Ephesians 2:4-5 o Colossians 3:12

Notes:.

Last thought- Think about this quote: forgiveness is more like the air in your lungs. Theres only room for you to inhale the next lungful when youve just breathed out the previous one [your heart] if it is open, able and willing to forgive others, it will also be open to receive Gods love and forgiveness. N.T. Wright.