I think it was Al Capone, the famed gangster of the 1930’s, who said, “The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog.” Whether he said it or not, the reality is that relationships with people require unusual efforts. And sometimes, even when we cross our t’s and dot our i’s—still the relationship goes south, or worse, explodes in our hands. The Christian Scriptures talk a lot about relationships—good ones and not so good ones. The recipe for healthy, on-going relationships (even those with tension and conflict) is not guaranteed…but the odds for relationship success increase significantly when the following key ingredients are part of the relationship mix: grace, honesty, patience, forgiveness, confrontation, accountability, repentance, taking responsibility and more grace.
That is where this sermon series, Deep Forgiveness, will take us. But please understand: there are no shortcuts or denials in this formula. Too many churches and church people think that if we simply forget about the pain, the conflict, the tension, the sin or whatever you call whatever created the relationship strain, and instead simply ooze kindness and a Mona Lisa grin—then that is forgiveness and all will be well in their world. The reality is, wellness is the last thing this “concocted potion” will produce. In fact, instead of wellness you will spawn pretense, shallowness, division and the “disease of me,” as those who can get away with unacceptable and sinful relationship behaviors will learn that they do not need to worry about anything but themselves in this brave new world. No one will challenge them or correct them—they have stumbled upon diseased relationship utopia.
This series will walk us through appropriate forgiveness and relationship health, beginning with forgiveness with our God and from there—forgiveness and real world relationships with one another. I hope you will make every effort to join us in this study…as we take a long biblical look at the subject of Deep Forgiveness.