Tuesday's Bible Study Message, June 29, 2021 - Openforgiveness

 Hello Family of God,  

Love and forgiveness go hand in hand.  You can't have one without the other.  Journey through tonight's lesson on openforgiveness to see the depth of God's love He desires His children to walk in.

God Bless!

Scripture References & Highlights

Prayer for 2021:  This year will be a year of Light; that Light will shine and darkness will not dispel it. 

In Jesus' Name

I Hear His Whisper..."Find Me in the pain..."

Message Scriptures

• Philemon 1:1-25
• Philemon...
•  was a believer and prosperous business man
• church met in his house
• slave owner
• Onesimus
• Philemon's slave
• fled to Rome perhaps stole from Philemon
• met Paul in Rome and became a believer
• Paul encourage Philemon to look beyond who he knew Onesimus to have been and now see him as a brother in the Lord
1. Paul was in prison as he wrote this letter, focused on reconciling the family of God and not his present circumstance
2. Onesimus was helpful to Paul who turned his attention to Christ and Philemon. Paul didn't cancel Onesimus' debt but offered to pay the debt.  Paul being an example of Jesus who paid our debt freely
3. Philemon, Paul submitted to him, not exercising is spiritual authority as apostle to "make" Philemon receive Onesimus.  
• both Philemon and Onesimus received the message of the gospel from Paul so Paul indicated for them to use his life as an example of receiving one another with forgiveness, submission, and love for one another.
• Paul didn't guarantee Onesimus a life forgiven by Philemon
• Walking in forgiveness
• Matthew 5:21-26,n*vs. 23-24
• Matthew 18:15-20

 Nuggets for the Week

• Pieces to steward together
• do not neglect the piece that someone else brings to the puzzle or revelation
• neglecting can lead to not honoring one another and therefore not honoring God
• each member of the body is needful
• trust God to put all our pieces together to make something glorious
• trust the God in one another
• coming close together as we come close to God
• blemishes can appear when we come close but we have to look past that to come together spiritually
• submitting to God and one another
• submitting your piece to others can be challenging; that's when hearts are exposed
• proximity can lend to offense coming in (we can choose to remain at a distance or engage)
• giving others the liberty to work in the manner in which they were created
• there is a beautiful harmony to the diversity of gifts
• we have to encourage and build one another up, not taking things personally
• if offended, must be willing to forgive and submit again
• vocabulary or language of the heart we should avoid "I'm not there yet"
• we can't hang on to that and grab hold of our new life in Christ
• we are seated in heavenly places not because of what we did but because of Christ
• by faith and grace we are to grab hold to the truth of who we are in Christ, living a transformed life
• choosing to live from our spirit vs. our soul
• there must be an insistence from us to live out our new life in Christ
• Teaching and Learning (observations from the video Bob the Builder)
• Bob...
• wasn't perfect
• his demeanor towards Leo never altered.  he was patient
• His heart didn't get offended by Leo's challenges or process of growing
• still gave Leo the liverty to grow/learn in the process
• never showed signs of losing hope in Leo
• taught Leo in the manner of he will succeed on this next project
• short memory on what Leo did wrong and a long hope in what Leo will get right
• was apt to teach and be patient in doing so
• Leo...
• wouldn't quit
• wouldn't get down on himself
• wouldn't live in guilt and shame
• showed up with a willingness to learn
• didn't quit but lived as if the next assignment would be amazing
• took chances
• confident not rattled by failures and mistakes
• seemed to be some levelo of trust between he and Bob that gave a confidence to make mistakes
• made more errors in trying to make adjustments instead of heeding instruction in the beginning
• First and Second Commandments
• loving God
• loving others
• all done through the eyes of God
• it helps to see where we are in Christ
• helps to see our journey along the way to help or view others
• being able to see where we were headed apart from God's love, grace, mercy, truth, etc.
• can't help to respond to the One who forgives over and over and loves unending
• sometimes it's easy to forget what God has done expecially when looking at our present circumstances
• be reconcilers, reconciling others to Christ

Reflections

• What are we looking for in each other?
• What do we see in ourselves?
• How do we think God is viewing us?
• Are we truly hopeful in God's work in others?
• 
  

 Key Takeaway for the Body

• praying for others helps fill our heart with compassion for them
• God chooses to extend Himself, who is Love, to us
• he who has been forgiven much loves much should lead to a greater compassion for others and love back greatly (Luke 7:47)
• Tension between demanding urgency to respond yet patient with yourself in the responding/growing/waiting process
• as Christ is being formed in us, we must be transformed
• we don't walk in open forgiveness if we block our hearts off from one another
• we can't hide the elements of our hearts.  It/we will get tested.
• Our worship, work, ministry will suffer if we hide our hearts from each other
• adjustment and alignment must comein to move in the wave of love
• God will work with us, and in us but not through us to the extent that we may desire because it will be a distortion of His heart

Prayer Time

In your times of prayer this week (9am,12noon, and 6pm) we encourage you to include the following scriptures located below and in the article 7 Verses and 7 Prayers for your Pastor/

Ephesians 1:17-19, 3:16-17

Philippians 1:9-11

Colossians 1:10-12

Worship Highlight