Big Red Dogs and Porcupines (3)

February 23, 2014

Scripture referenced 2 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Colossians 3:1-4 read aloud as a call to worship, about being raised to new life in Christ and setting sights on heaven

1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse

Matthew 18:21-22

Peter asking Jesus if he must forgive his brother seven times, and Jesus answering seventy times seven

21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”

22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

The recording captured only the opening portion of a guest sermon by Bud Searles, so this recap covers what was recorded. The message centered on forgiveness, beginning with the exchange between Peter and Jesus over how many times a brother must be forgiven, and was headed toward a broader treatment of the Sermon on the Mount.

What was said

Bud Searles was introduced by Pastor Ray as the father-in-law of church member Todd Grouse and the author of a book called "Journey on the Kingdom Road," which focuses on Christ's ministry and the Sermon on the Mount. Pastor Ray mentioned he had reread part of it that weekend.

Bud opened by placing himself in the congregation's life a little, sharing the story of the snowmobile retreat and his long-ago adventure pushing a snow machine to the top of Mount Washburn in Yellowstone. He offered it with humor and without pretense, as a way of saying he was glad to be among them.

He then named the subject he wanted to take up: forgiveness, and why it matters so deeply, both to us and to God.

He brought in the moment from the Gospels when Peter came to Jesus asking whether he must forgive his brother seven times. Bud noted that Peter was reaching for the perfect number in Hebrew tradition, trying to show he was willing to go as far as any faithful Israelite could. Jesus answered that the number was not seven but seventy times seven.

Bud's point was direct: if Peter had actually gone out and forgiven his brother 490 times, Jesus would have told him to do it again. The number was never the point. Forgiveness is not a quota to be met and then set down.

He connected this to the Sermon on the Mount, describing how the first time he read it he was angry at Jesus and at God, unable to see how anyone could be expected to live that way. That anger drove fifteen years of searching, and out of that search came his desire to help others work through the same magnificent and demanding sermon.

The recording ends as he was beginning to move toward the Lord's Prayer, which he said belongs properly to the disciples, as the one Jesus gave them when he taught them how to pray.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The speaker from Colossians 3 read that our 'real life is hidden with Christ in God.' What does it look like in practice to treat that as your real life rather than the life you can see around you?
The preacher described an open hand as a mark of trust in God. Where do you find it hardest to hold things with an open hand, and what does that reveal about where your trust actually sits?

and 3 more questions in the guide

Open the study guide

Read the full transcript 1,237 words

Find in this transcript

0:00 Speaker 2For our friend, shall we? God, we give you thanks for our friend and even as we've just met him, man, how like minded are we? And we want the gospel to go out all over the world and so we wanna send him and we wanna send him in your name. God, just as the apostles prayed, we pray for courage, for boldness. Amen.

0:19 For those relationships to be made naturally lord, make those connections and may your spirit move in power through my friend and through his family. We pray in the strong name of Christ. Amen.

0:33 Speaker 3Amen. I want to mention too that the missions committee is has has moved to support Justin and his family He's one of our folks. He's one of our missionaries and they are 99%, 98, 99% funded. But if you want to support them, he didn't ask but I will ask for him. So that's always available.

0:59 And just see him at the back in between services. And, well, stand with us if you would, and we're gonna keep on praising God.

1:05 Speaker 2From Colossians three one, it says, since you've been raised to new life in Christ, that's through faith, set your sights on the realities of heaven where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For and check this part out here. For you died to this life and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. That's our real life hidden with Christ in God.

1:31 And when Christ, who is your life, he's our life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all of his glory. Amen? You may be seated. And as the front line is coming forward here, let's let's pray together. God, it is you that gives life and breath and meaning and purpose, and we wanna pause to give you thanks that all things, all good and perfect things, they come from you.

2:02 And you have sustained us. You have kept us this far, and how lord can we not thank you? How can we not give back? And lord, this is a way. This is a way to give thanks.

2:14 It's a way to say I trust you. And so I pray God that this morning, just this little act here of of the worship of giving would be pleasing. We want all areas of our life to be pleasing, and this is just one. And so, God, may we be people who have an open hand, and and we give freely. We've been given freely.

2:38 May we give freely. Might we be grateful for what you have provided and how you have provided. Amen.

2:49 Speaker 3Amen. I want to introduce y'all. Finishing up Acts last week and starting James next week. Snowmobile Retreat. Picking up Justin, yes?

2:59 Children, you can go. Thank you, Renzy. I want to introduce y'all because normally Bud and Margaret Searles come to the second service, and so some of you might not know them yet. Todd and Holly, Grouse, Holly's mom and dad, Margaret and Bud have been here for a pretty good while now. Couple of years probably, about as long as I have.

3:20 And he's didn't ask me to do this but I'm going do it anyway. Journey on the Kingdom Road, he's written about Christ and his ministry especially the sermon on the mountain. Lots of other things. I loved it. I've reread part of it this weekend but he's going to preach this morning and I'm excited for you to be here.

3:37 So, would you come up and bring the word to us? Thank you.

3:55 Speaker 1I am really honored to be here. The occasion was the snowmobile retreat and I just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you outside of having a wonderful wife of fifty years this year and three wonderful daughters and seven wonderful grandchildren and some semi useful son in laws. They they we the most accomplished thing I've ever done was I was the first person to have ever pushed the snow machine to the top of Mount Washburn. Now notice the operative word there is pushed. We we got a call at 03:00 one morning and superintendent of Yellowstone said, hey, do you know nobody has ever been to the top of Mount Washburn in a snowmobile?

4:47 I knew exactly what that meant. And one of the great adventures of my life was was we started out with six snow machines and one made it to the top and there was six deadheaded rangers pushing that sucker up to the top. And in those days the oxygen and the and the carburation mix wasn't like it is today and that was about the only way we could get it up there. So anyway, that's my claim to fame. I thank you for Ray having me here today and I look forward to the opportunity to sharing a little bit with you this morning about something that's very, very important to me.

5:31 One day, Peter came to Jesus and he said, lord, must I forgive my brother seven times? Now, as you know, seven is the perfect number in Hebrew and Peter wanting to show the Lord that he was the perfect Hebrew came to him and and wanted him to know that he was willing to go out and forgive his brother seven times. And Jesus said, no, Peter. I say you are to forgive your brother 70 times seven And I can promise you one thing, that if Peter had gone out and forgiven his brother 490 times, Jesus would have said, do it again. What is it that makes forgiveness so important for us?

6:40 What is it that makes forgiveness so important for our lord? That's what I want to talk about this morning. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we want to give you thanks today for the opportunity to look at you closely, to understand you better, and to know you more. I thank you lord that I have this opportunity to share a piece of my life.

7:16 And I pray, Lord, that in this sharing, there will be hearing. And where there is hearing, there will be renewal of your church. And I pray these things in Christ Jesus name. Amen. Well, as Ray told you and and I told Margaret coming over, I wish I'd have brought a copy of the book to wave in front of you but but I didn't.

7:40 So, thank you for that, Ray and the the book is is about the Sermon on the Mount and the first time I read the Sermon on the Mount, I can promise you, I was angry. I was angry at Jesus and angry at God. You know, how can you ever expect us to live like that? And in my anger and in my searching, I spent the next fifteen years trying to figure out what the sermon on the mount was all about. And all of a sudden, one day I felt compelled to help people in that search, in that magnificent sermon.

8:23 The greatest sermon that has ever been preached. In that sermon, he gives us the enduring prayer. We call it the Lord's prayer in in Christianity but in reality, it's the disciples prayer. When you pray,

Topics

Forgiveness Giving Generously Lords Prayer Missions Support Sermon On The Mount

Recap

What was said

Doing a Bible study?

Topics

Share this message

Come find us