Saying grace week one - receiving grace

Read Matthew 18
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my
brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle
accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him
ten thousand bags of gold[ was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to
pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he
had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he
begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on
him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who
owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him.
‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and
I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison
until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened,
they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had
happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I
canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you
have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his
master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back
all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive
your brother or sister from your heart.”
Transformational Truth:
“Out of the heart grace flows…”
Thanksgiving Story of Best Friend and Unresolved Conflict…
**There are two main functions associated with the heart in our everyday
language. Heart Beat and Heart Burn.
1. Heart Beat - Grace received causes the heart to beat.
a. I have learned that the hard heart beat, the thump, is what is most
important for life. This is what forces blood through the body. This is the bass drum of the trap set. b. EXAMPLE - Gil and the valve replacement
c. When we receive the grace that God has intended for us it causes us to feel alive! Maybe not fully alive at first, but at least aware and responsive, like being brought out from under anesthesia. Maybe not road race ready at first but at least able and willing to go to the gym and begin the process of recovery! d. EXAMPLE – The months of coming out of the fog of addiction.
e. Read Ephesians 2:4-7
Ephesians 2 Made Alive in Christ
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you
used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the
kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our
flesh[ and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature
deserving of wrath…
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
2. Heart Burn - Grace rejected causes the heart to burn.
a. When we refuse to receive the grace of God it causes our heart to go into arrhythmia or Atrial fibrillation.
b. The life-blood of our heart begins to pool instead of being forced out to our muscles and organs and brain. We walk through life out of breath and tired. c. Funny thing Heart Burn is avoidable with a little intervention d. EXAMPLE: Staple in my sock
f. So I am walking all around the house trying to work out this weird feeling in my toes. I am stretching. I am shaking my foot. I am “giving it time…” But only when I reach down and realize I have a giant staple in my foot do I realize that I have no hope of feeling better until I remove the thing that is causing me pain. Read Ephesians 2:8-9 8 For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
g. Thanksgiving story Continued…
Here’s the picture of my week this week. I am running around all week with my hair on fire! I am stepping in gum everywhere I go, and it is all because I see the time coming close to when I am going to have sit across the table from my best friend. I finally snap to everyone close to me. I begin to spew out because I can’t get this thing reconciled. I cannot take enough Prilosec or Pepcid to contain my heart burn. The blood of my heart is pooling and my organs and muscles are drying up. I have absolutely nothing to give anyone who needs a word of grace from me. I am literally dying on Friday. I can feel it. - Then Lee Robbins walks in. I am in tears and I ask him to pray
for me. I tell him I have been praying for peace with this situation.
I have been trying to find my place of peace with God, etc. Here is
what he said… “Pastor Brian. I want you to know that there is no need
for me to pray for peace to come to you…”
**WHAT? I THINK? WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT! OF COURSE
THERE IS!!!!**
- He continues… “Because the Prince of Peace is already in your boat!
- “Huh? I thought…”
- Then I remembered the story in Matthew 8
Jesus Calms the Storm
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Lee went on to say…
“And here is the TRUTH Pastor. He’s not worried! Actually he is asleep! God in the flesh full
of Peace and fully confident in His ability to calm the storm.And he simply wants more than
anything for you to come to him and rest with Him.”

Source: http://phoenixatl.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2012-11-11-Saying-Grace-Week-1-Notes.pdf