Following Jesus Son of God …

Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt.

A Prayer for Trust and Confidence

O Lord, we ask for a boundless confidence and trust in Your divine mercy, and the courage to accept the crosses and sufferings which bring immense goodness to our souls and that of Your Church.

Help us to love You with a pure and contrite heart, and to humble ourselves beneath Your cross, as we climb the mountain of holiness, carrying our cross that leads to heavenly glory.

May we receive You with great faith and love and allow You to act in us as You desire for your greater glory.

O Jesus, most adorable Heart and eternal fountain of Divine Love, may our prayer find favor before the Divine Majesty of our heavenly Father.

(by St. Pio of Pietrelcina)
From Prayer Book App

A Work Prayer
Lord, I offer you my work
I give you the disappointment I feel
I surrender my disillusionment
I confess my weakness
Reconnect me with You
I want to live again
To be fully alive
Stir in me a new song that
I may sing for joy
Envision my mind
Equip my hands
Anoint my feet
Empower my voice
For your service
and your work
This day and everyday
Amen

Preaching on forgiveness this week. So many good sources including secular sources. Isn’t it interesting that so many people with no ties to Jesus Christ “get it” better than some who sit in the pew every Sunday.

One such secular source is psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky. Here is an excerpt of her article on PBS. Link to full article.

And some of the greatest insights I found was that which I gleaned from various researchers thoughts on “What forgiveness is not.”

Understanding forgiveness 

In “The How of Happiness” by Sonja Lyubomirsky she states …

Researchers are very clear about what forgiveness is not:

• Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. Forgiveness is one person’s inner response to another’s perceived injustice. Reconciliation is two people coming together in mutual respect. Reconciliation requires both parties working together. Forgiveness is something that is entirely up to you. Although reconciliation may follow forgiveness, it is possible to forgive without re-establishing or continuing the relationship. The person you forgive may be deceased or no longer part of your life. You may also choose not to reconcile, perhaps because you have no reason to believe that a relationship with the other person is healthy for you.
• Forgiveness is not forgetting. “Forgive and forget” seem to go together. However, the process of forgiving involves acknowledging to yourself the wrong that was done to you, reflecting on it, and deciding how you want to think about it. Focusing on forgetting a wrong might lead to denying or suppressing feelings about it, which is not the same as forgiveness. Forgiveness has taken place when you can remember the wrong that was done without feeling resentment or a desire to pursue revenge. Sometimes, after we get to this point, we may forget about some of the wrongs people have done to us. But we don’t have to forget in order to forgive.
• Forgiveness is not condoning or excusing. Forgiveness does not minimize, justify, or excuse the wrong that was done. Forgiveness also does not mean denying the harm and the feelings that the injustice produced. And forgiveness does not mean putting yourself in a position to be harmed again. You can forgive someone and still take healthy steps to protect yourself, including choosing not to reconcile.
• Forgiveness is not justice. It is certainly easier to forgive someone who sincerely apologizes and makes amends. However, justice—which may include acknowledgment of the wrong, apologies, punishment, restitution, or compensation—is separate from forgiveness. You may pursue your rights for justice with or without forgiving someone. And if justice is denied, you can still choose whether or not to forgive.

Ezra gets put off for one more week. My “schedule” has been blown to smithereens anyway, and God has really put this week’s message on my heart. Just happens to hit around Valentine’s Day but was not planned (at least by me). 🙂

FORGIVENESS …

Something that as Christians we should excel at … but we all know that is too often not true.

Sometimes secular psychologists, well, it doesn’t have to be a psychologist, sometimes the guy down the road or our unsaved work friend knows forgiveness better than we do.

Does that ever just bewilder you as it does me?

FORGIVENESS …

We should have it down, but we don’t, but when we do, how amazing!

MESSAGE TITLE: FORGIVEN!

MESSAGE TEXT: Ephesians 4:31-32 & Selected

• PDF Forgiven 020714 HANDOUT ONE
• PDF Forgiven 020714 HANDOUT TWO

http://bible.com/100/ACT10.42.NASB

And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

Bible.com/app

■ Does God still stir the hearts and spirits of his people to do his work?

■ Do I believe that?

Here are our handouts. We continue in Ezra as God stirs the spirits of the people to return to Jerusalem for his rebuilding project.

Lessons in the Sovereignty of God: Building with God’s Blessing in a Pagan Land!

Message Title: The People Answer the Sovereign Call of God!

Message Text: Ezra 1:5-2:70

• PDF The People Answer the Sovereign Call of God  Ezra 1-5 – 2-70  Dave Scott  FFC  020214 HANDOUT ONE
• PDF The People Answer the Sovereign Call of God  Ezra 1-5 – 2-70  Dave Scott  FFC  020214 HANDOUT TWO

I have learned a new word this week: anachronism.

Anachronism  … 

• A thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, esp. a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.
• Something (such as a word, an object, or an event) that is mistakenly placed in a time where it does not belong, such as in a story, movie, etc.; a person or a thing that seems to belong to the past and not to fit in the present.

Example 1: Seeing a cell phone on the bedroom dresser in a 1940’s movie.

Example 2: The following instance in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a popular example of anachronism. (From Act II, scene i : lines 193 – 194 of Julius Caesar)

• Brutus: “Peace! count the clock.”
• Cassius: “The clock has stricken three.”
• The year was 44 AD, and there were no mechanical clocks at the time of Julius Caesar but were present in Shakespeare’s times that is, when the play was written.

Example 3: Another dialog from the same play is a prominent anachronism example.

“he plucked me open his doublet and offered them his throat to cut”

• A doublet is a garment that was worn during the time of Shakespeare, and not during the time of Julius Caesar.

———————————-

So we ask … ?

■ Is God merely an anachronism in 2014?

• Does God belong in our story now as he did in the Old Testament?
• Is the mighty hand of God “a thing of the past”?
• Does the Sovereign LORD of Ezra’s time not fit our current perspective of God?
• Is this Sovereign LORD too old-fashioned, out-dated?

http://bible.com/100/PRO4.18.NASB

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

Bible.com/app

http://bible.com/100/EXO15.2.NASB

The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name.

Bible.com/app

We begin our study of Ezra this week.

Lessons in the Sovereignty of God: Building with God’s Blessing in a Pagan Land!

Message Title: King Cyrus Bows to King God!

Message Text: Ezra 1:1-4

Here are our HANDOUTS/WORKSHEETS for Ezra 1:1-4 for Sunday January 26, 2014.

• PDF Cyrus Bows to the Sovereign Command of God Ezra 1-1-4 Dave Scott FFC 012614 HANDOUT ONE 012614
• PDF Cyrus Bows to the Sovereign Command of God Ezra 1-1-4 Dave Scott FFC 012614 HANDOUT TWO