THE SCENE: 65 and drizzle
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Skipped
WARM-O-RAMA:
Stretch and warm-up OYO
Mosey to the portico behind the senior center
THA THANG:
Do 7 sets of 10 – exercises were;
- 10 Blockees
- 10 CMU Swings
- 10 Single arm presses (10 each)
- 10 Goblet squats
- 10 Plyo merkins
- 10 single arm rows (10 each)
- 10 curls
15 ball slams between each round
Repeat for a total of 7 rounds
Then…
Do 7 sets of 10 – exercises were;
- 10 Tricep extensions
- 10 Thrusters
- 10 Alpos
- 10 kick-out curls
- 10 lunge with knee up (10 each)
- 10 good mornings
- 10 pullovers
Slam ball hurls between each round – down and back
Repeat for a total of 7 rounds
MARY:
No time
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The Word this morning was inspired by our never-was-named FNG from two weeks ago, Swayze, who sprinted like a rabbit then hurled like a drunk. We hope to see that dude back soon…
June 3rd is National Repeat Day – the Word on my heart this morning is something that Jesus has told us to do over and over again.
In Matthew Chapter 18, Peter approaches Jesus and says, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?” Their culture was keen on defining and limiting moral obligations, as if they could be accurately prescribed by number. Some rabbis had fixed a limit of “3 forgivenesses” – from their interpretation of the book of Amos. Peter doubtless thought that he was being unusually liberal and generous in proposing such a measure of forgiveness – “Seven times…”.
Verse 22, “Jesus answered, “Not seven times, Peter, but seventy times seven times!”. Christ demolishes this attempt to quantify the measure of grace. He commands us to forgive – and to be willing to live the forgive/offended/forgive cycle on repeat. Whaaa???
Earlier, Jesus was teaching these same men and women to pray – Matthew Chapter 6, the Lord’s prayer,
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, a but deliver us from the evil one.”
I find it interesting that the first thing Jesus says after reciting the Lord’s prayer – as if this is the point that He needs to hammer home – is about how critical forgiveness is to your relationship with your Heavenly Father. The very next verse after Jesus’s prayer (verse 14), “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
How do we forgive those who have wronged us? What if they have offended over and over?
Two thoughts from the Lord’s prayer…
- The first word of the prayer may offer us a clue. Jesus does not start with “My Father…”, but with “Our Father…”. We can work toward forgiveness by having an awareness that the offender is also a child of God, just as much as we are. When my children are unkind to each other, nothing upsets me more – when they respect each other and build each other up, nothing brings me more joy. Perhaps God feels the same about us as His children.
- The Greek word rendered “forgive” in this text is aphiemi (ah FEE ay mee). It does not mean to sweep it under the rug, or pretend like you were not hurt. In the Greek, aphiemi can literally mean, “to HURL”. Not in the way that our FNG did two weeks ago 😊 – but like we did to the slam ball this morning. Throw it with all your might. HURL away the offense. Heave that poisonous resentment as far as you can (because, 99.9% of the time your unforgiveness hurts you more than anyone else!). Aphiemi – hurl it! That is how our Father forgives our trespasses – and it is how we are to forgive those who trespass against us.
BB reader – if you are harboring unforgiveness in your heart, consider doing this symbolic gesture today. Get something that is unbreakable or that you don’t mind breaking (we used the slam ball) – pray about the offense and for the offender – ask for God’s help to give forgiveness – now APHIEMI…HURL that sucker as far as you can…
MOLESKIN:
Hat tip to the pulpit commentary for the historical context above. Hat tip to Craig Groeschel.
PRAYERS / ANNOUNCEMENTS:
