Dear Saddleback Family,
Use the Message Action Plan below to help put the things you learned this weekend into practice. If you missed last weekend's message, click here to watch it online.
THE SEVEN GREATEST WORDS OF LOVE – PART 1 (1-2 August 2015)
Great crowds trailed along behind him, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves" . . . Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. Finally, they came to a place called The Skull. All three were crucified there—Jesus on the center cross, and the two criminals on either side. Then Jesus said, "FATHER FORGIVE THEM, for they do not know what they are doing." And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. The crowd watched, and the leaders laughed and scoffed. "He saved others," they said, "let him save himself if he really is God's Chosen One, the Messiah." The soldiers mocked him too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"Luke 23:27-37 (NLT/NIV)
What We Usually Do With Out Guilt:
WE BURY IT.
"You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins." Psalm 32:3-5 (NLT)
WE BLAME OTHERS.
"Yes," Adam admitted, "but it was the woman you gave me who brought me some, and I ate it." Genesis 3:12 (LB)
WE BEAT OURSELVES UP.
"My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear . . . I am bowed down and brought low; all day long I go about mourning." Psalm 38:4,6 (NIV)
Action Step:Schedule yourself time this week to be alone with God and do a "spiritual inventory". Ask yourself if there is anything in your life that is keeping you from growing closer to him.
What Jesus Wants Us to Do With Our Guilt:
Admit it.
"The Lord gave us a mind and a conscience. We cannot hide from ourselves." Proverbs 20:27 GN
Accept responsibility.
"Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed." James 5:16 LB
Ask for forgiveness.
"If we freely admit that we have sinned, we find God utterly reliable…he forgives your sins and makes us thoroughly clean from all that is evil." 1 John 1:9 PH
Action Step: Choose one person whom you trust and who loves you to be your confidant. Accept responsibility and admit your faults and failings to this person and expect to feel the burden of guilt begin to lift.
What Jesus Does With My Guilt:
GOD FORGIVES ME INSTANTLY.
"God is merciful and quick to forgive." Isaiah 55:7 GN
GOD FORGIVES ME COMPLETELY.
"He has forgiven ALL your sins. He has utterly wiped out the evidence of broken commandments which always hunt over our heads, and has completely annulled it by nailing it to the cross!" Colossians 2:13-14 Ph
GOD FORGIVES ME REPEATEDLY.
"(Christ)…is always interceding on our behalf." Hebrews 7:25 Ph
GOD FORGIVES ME FREELY.
"For by the sacrificial death of Christ we are SET FREE, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the GRACE of God!" Ephesians 1:7 GN
Action Step: Write these four truths on a 3x5 notecard and put them somewhere that you will see frequently.
