Not Another Day

Ed Newton @ Community Bible Church

Pastor Ed was in Alaska and invited to go on a 30 mile four-wheeler ride to a glacier and got into an accident because he got loose. He didn't have to pay for the damage that he caused. The owner of the 4-wheeler told him that he was forgive and a weight was lifted off of his shoulders because 4-wheelers are very expensive!!!

Forgiveness is choosing not to live in regret.

Genesis 45:1-5

1. The Reunion of Jeopardy:   "I am Joseph" (Genesis 45:1-3)
1. Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, "Out, all of you!" So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh's palace. "I am Joseph!" he said to his brothers. "Is my father still alive?" But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them.
1. The reunion was for Joseph's brothers, not for Joseph. Joseph had been egyptianized so the brothers didn't recognize him.
2. Joseph Wept:  This (v. 2) was the third of five times he wept over his brothers (42:24; 43:30; 45:14; 50:17; cf. 50:1).
3. Brothers Worry:  (bahal) be disturbed, alarmed, terrified.
2. Forgiving is Not Forgetting:
1. The only person who can forgive AND forget is God.
2. High School Student’s Experience
1. Mom and dad were getting a divorce because mom had been unfaithful. Mom living with boyfriend and dad is depressed. Student invited boyfriend to McDonald's and bought him dinner. Told him that her family's life will never be the same but she's not going to live in anger, bitterness, and rage so she relinquished the vengeance that she wanted.
3. Reconciliation is the goal
1. Take the initiative to eliminate the distance.  The command "come near" (nagaš) is plural indicates all the brothers are intended.
4. Revenge brings grief
1. The word "please" was a refusal to not be harsh.  
3. Forgiving is not overlooking the circumstances
1. actions have consequences.
2. The Request of a Juncture:  "Come near" (Genesis 45:4)
4. Forgiving is Not Settling:
1. Forgiveness is 1 dimensional and reconciliation is 2 dimensional.
2. Johnny and Jenny
1. Johnny Johnny  killed a duck with his slingshot and Jenny saw him! She said to him,  "I will remember the duck.”
2. Jenny used the duck to manipulate her brother into doing her chores.
3. Finally, Johnny couldn’t carry the weight and confessed what he’d done to his Grandma.
4. Grandma actually saw the entire incident.
1. Grandma is God and Jenny is the guilt that you carry
3. The Reassurance of Joy: "Do not be distressed or angry" (Genesis 45:5)
1. But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.
2. Happiness vs. Joy
1. Happiness is based on circumstances.
2. Joy is based on a concrete reality of something that never changes. 
1. We have to walk through difficulty and get healing from Jesus to have joy.
4. Forgiving is Giving:
1. Thomas Edison: Worked hours to create the first light bulb and his assistant accidentally dropped it. So they worked hours to create another lightbulb and Edison gave him another chance to carry the lightbulb to the test lab.
3.  
5. The Reason of Justice: "Preserve a life" (Genesis 45:5-7)
1. But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.
2. Robert Smith's son was murdered. He wrote the murderer a letter. The murders had received a lot of threat mail from family members so he was hesitant to reply to Robert.
1. God could have stopped your pain!  
2. God will never waste your pain, but will use it for a purpose bigger than you. 
6. Forgiving is trusting: 
1. The Release of : "Meant for Evil, God used for Good" (Genesis 50:15-21)
1. Forgiveness is Freedom from Fear. 
2. It was not Joseph living in fear, but his brothers.  
3. "For the wicked flee when no one pursues" (Proverbs 28:1)
7. Forgiving is Comforting:
1. Tractor Pull Analogy
2. Practical steps in offering forgiveness
1. Step One: Forgiving the Offender in Prayer
2. Step Two: Forgiving the Offender in Person

Praise & Worship

"Deep Cries Out" by Amanda Gilbertson, Christiann Koepke, and 

William Matthews

"Nothing But The Blood" by Robert Lowry

"Always" by Jason Ingram and Kristian Stanfill

"Jesus Messiah" by Daniel Carson, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves, and Chris Tomlin

The church provided this “listener’s guide” for us to follow along with the message and take notes

Let It (Unforgiveness) Go

Bishop T.D. Jakes @ Lakewood Church

If you don't give forgiveness well then you can't receive forgiveness well.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore bretheren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. And be not comformed to the ways of this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove that good acceptable and perfect will of God!

• Unforgiveness is when you get stuck in a place of pain.

• We have no provision for offense because we have developed a methodology for dealing with it.

• If you do well vertically but don't do well horizontally then are you really living a crucified life?

• If you don't think you are a good person then you won't like "me" thinking you are a good person, so you will find someone who sees you the way that you see yourself (i.e. Abusive relationships)

• Unforgiveness is not natural, it's a learned behavior (methodology) and if you can learn it then you can unlearn it. I NEED TO BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF MY MIND.

• When you hold yourself back people aren't meeting the real you. And you hold yourself back because of unforgiveness (i.e. remember what happened last time...)

• Unforgiveness is not attacking the other person, it's attacking you. (high blood pressure, sleepless nights, etc...) It's like drinking poison hoping the enemy dies.

• I'm commanded to forgive, I'm not commanded to trust. If someone has betrayed trust they have the responsibility to get it back.

• God is giving me time to unlearn destructive behavior.

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm Pre

...we’ve become a generation of overly sensitive people who refuse to tolerate anyone

I want to know, am I the only person who thinks that there are way too many rules?

I just ran across an article that said there is a new "no standing rule" for Kansas City Chiefs games…being a football fan this really bothered me. The whole reason I go to football games is to be in a crowd of standing yelling fans…It makes the game good for me. I don't understand people just sitting down…especially the entire time. I mean if I can't see the game, I'll just stand up too…lol…I love to see people excited and smiling and laughing. Some may think the fan "obstructing my view" is ruining the game for me…but me being upset that someone is excited about the event is what is ruining the game for me. That's a metaphor for life. LOL you hear that saying it's not what happens to us, but how we respond. Now if I need special concessions, most stadiums make those available. I guess rules like this are inevitable. It's like we've become a generation of overly sensitive people who refuse to tolerate anyone. OMG and who can forget the "sagging pants" ordinances. OF all the problems in the world you CHOOSE to be offended by someone else's choice of dress? How silly is that? No talking in movies. I realize I may lose a lot of you with this one. But I think "no talking in the movies" is a silly rule. You can always see the movie again in 2 weeks when it's on video! But you can't get that experience back. I love to hear people's comments and jokes…I love to make them too!? In the end it's just a movie… Who cares if you didn't hear that last line? Who cares if a baby is crying? That's what babies do! LOL Thank God babies can cry as to alert us when they have a problem…and thank God that the parents decided to take time out to do something for themselves. I want to encourage you to change your attitude about other people's actions…everyone who stands up in front of you or steps on your foot isn't being inconsiderate…I'm sure no one is bringing their baby to church or the movies so they can cry and annoy you (do you know how much daycare/babysitters are?)…not everyone who's cell phone rings in class left it on purposely to disrupt your education…lol