Big Red Dogs and Porcupines (3)

In one paragraph

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. Bud Searles was introduced by Pastor Ray as the father-in-law of church...

Read together

1. Colossians 3:1-4 read aloud as a call to worship, about being raised to new life in Christ and setting sights on heaven
2. Matthew 18:21-22 Peter asking Jesus if he must forgive his brother seven times, and Jesus answering seventy times seven

Talk about it

1. 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?
2. 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?
3. Peter offered to forgive his brother seven times, which he thought was the perfect standard. What does Jesus pushing that number to seventy times seven say about the difference between a forgiveness that keeps score and the forgiveness God is after?
4. The preacher said his first reaction to the Sermon on the Mount was anger, and that he spent fifteen years trying to understand it. Have you ever been angry at something in Scripture, and what happened when you stayed with it instead of walking away?
5. He made the distinction that what we call the Lord's Prayer is really the disciples' prayer. Why does that distinction matter, and how might it change the way you approach that prayer?