Anatomy of Forgiveness—Part #3—Healing Wounds With Church 11-23-08

I Love God—I just don’t like His people

His father had an offense with LEADERSHIP (26:19)

· He got 'burned' by it

· So although Jotham loved God-- he kept His distance

· From the presence of God

· In the corporate gathering

Perhaps Jotham was disillusioned by what happened to his dad

· Maybe afraid

· Although he feared God, the enemy warped that fear--and he kept a distance from the presence of the Lord

· Maybe there was a wound-- what will happen to me if I enter that place

· So he distanced himself

There are those that say-- I love God-- but don't like the church

· They may even stay faithful to God-- fear Him--serve Him

· But when we avoid the corporate gathering we miss something that can only happen when we gather together

It affects more than us

· It affects the next generation

· (IT’S NEVER JUST ABOUT YOU!!!!)

· Something happens when our kids grow up not seeing the generations together worshipping

· Affected by breaks in relationship

And although we might feel we have a clear conscience in our personal relationship with God

· We abdicate our role as parents to raise children in the house of God

· Instead of living in the house under the scarlet cord

· We live in the house of our disillusionment with the body of Christ

· The house of our wounding

· The house of offense

· And for some, even the house of pride (we can do it better-- we don't need the house of God--we don't need God's people-- they're hypocrites-- we step away)

There's something unique that only can happen when we encounter the presence of the Living God in a corporate gathering

· That only happens when we journey TOGETHER on this walk of faith

When we cut ourselves OFF from

· Corporate worship-- corporate connectedness

· It opens a door

· That can bring a curse on the generation emerging

It's subtle-- it appears to not affect anyone—after all, we still love God-- we still love His ways

· But over time—there’s something that happens in the generations that follow-- our children-- their children-- something is eroded

· Something is lost

· And out of that open door-- a spirit of death and wickedness steals the next generation

Ahaz, Jotham's son

· Not only rejected God

· He nailed the doors to the temple shut

· He burned his sons (Jotham's grandsons) on the altar of idols (28:3)

· And led his generation into idolatry

ALL of this began with one generation picking up offense with Leadership

· The next generation served God at a distance

· But abdicating their mantle to raise children in the house of God and in the ways of the Lord

· And the result is the NEXT generation was poisoned, murdered and seduced by the idols of the day

· And an entire generation was shut OUT OF the house of God

· The presence of God

Feet of Clay Syndrome

· All heroes have ‘em

· What will we do when . . . . ?

Eat meat, spit out the bones

How do I forgive/boundaries—and still be hones

· Not enter gossip

· Spheres of transparency

· Honor

· Remember the good report—it IS there—fear God in it

Above all, guard your heart

Tough thing—disillusioned/grieving over failed, fallen, flawed leaders

· Saul is dead—move on (was that the quote)

· There is a time to look forward

Hard when the innocence is gone

· I trusted them

· It was so good

Truth is, it WAS so good

· It’s okay to treasure that

Conflict of child of divorce

· Mom nor dad all good nor all bad

· I betray one to love another

· We have some good histories of good things God has done

· Okay to honor those

· Human beings often make the mistake of judging and entire experience by how it ENDED

Feet—of clay

· John Dawson

· Explain/develop

Fluster

· Out of the box

· Beyond the controlled environment—in the heat of the moment

Flaws

· Nakedness—vulnerability

Falling

· Where they fail in a big way

· David

· Moses

· But how were they remembered

Look how GOD remembers:

· David—man after God’s own heart

· Saul/Jonathan—through David’s memories

He has shown you oh man what is good, what the Lord requires of you

· Do justly

o Don’t pick up bad spirit—be JUST

o Love Mercy—show it to others—show it to your enemies—show it to the ones that annoy you

§ Just because you show mercy doesn’t mean you need to make self vulnerable to them

§ Trust

§ SHOW MERCY

o Walk humbly with your God

Some of us have issues—not just forgiving former leaders/situations

· But forgiving ourselves in situations

· I used to be ‘name the ministry role’

· This is what I loved ‘name the victory’

· Failure/disappointment/etc—grieving over that thing