Sermon Resources on Forgiveness For The Past

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Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, Numbers 14:18-20, Job 42:10 , Matthew 18:21-22, Luke 23:34 , Psalm 103:10-12

Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.

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The Two Sides of Forgiveness

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, Exodus 34:6-7, Micah 7:18-19, Luke 7:36-50 , Matthew 18:21-35, Psalm 103:10-12

There are two sides to forgiveness: giving and receiving. Although at first sight giving seems to be harder, it often appears that we are not able to offer forgiveness to others because we have not be...

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Author

Thomas Fuller

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Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, Micah 7:18-20, Leviticus 19:18, Psalm 32:1-5, Luke 23:34

He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself: for every man has need to be forgiven.

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Author

Anne Peterson

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Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, Exodus 34:6-7, Job 42:10 , Matthew 5:43-45, Luke 23:34, Psalm 51:10-12

I have found it is impossible to be unforgiving toward those I am praying for. It’s not easy to start praying for them; it’s one of the hardest things I’ve done. But when I make that person an object ...

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Forgiveness Over Retaliation and Anger

Author

Laura B. Murray

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Scripture

Matthew 5:5, Matthew 5:38-39, Romans 12:17-19, 1 Peter 3:9, Matthew 26:50-52, Luke 23:34, Genesis 50:19-21

Almighty God, harsh words and personal attacks can bring out the worst in us. We find ourselves spending energy on thoughts of retaliation and plans to protect ourselves. Father forgive us. We long to...

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Author

Edward Herbert

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Scripture

Genesis 50:19-21 , Exodus 34:6-7, Proverbs 17:9, Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 23:34 , Psalm 103:10-12

He who cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself.

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For several years, Jason and I nurtured

Author

Bryan C. Loritts

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Genesis 50:15-21, 1 Samuel 24:1-12, Micah 7:18-19, Matthew 18:21-35, Ephesians 4:31-32, Psalm 103:10-12

For several years, Jason and I nurtured a friendship that led us to decide to work together because we knew each other so well. But things soon became complicated between us. I began to notice some tr...

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Author

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

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Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, Micah 7:18-20, Hosea 14:2-4, Matthew 6:14-15, Psalm 32:1-5

The man who is truly forgiven and knows it, is a man who forgives.

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We sometimes sing that hymn, “There is a Green Hill

Author

Christopher H. J. Wright

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Scripture

Genesis 50:17–21, Exodus 32:34, 2 Chronicles 7:14 , Colossians 3:12–13, Matthew 18:21–35, Psalm 103:8–12

We sometimes sing that hymn, “There is a Green Hill Far Away.” It has the line, “He died that we might be forgiven.” Amen! That’s true. But it’s also true that he died that we might be forgivers—forgi...

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Grace & Guilt

Author

Paul Tournier

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Scripture

Genesis 3:1-24, Isaiah 6:1-8, Genesis 50:15-21, John 8:1-11, Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 51:1-17

In Guilt and Grace , Swiss physician and Christian, Paul Tournier, writes… I cannot study this very serious problem of guilt with you without raising the very obvious and tragic fact that rel...

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Author

William Temple

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Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, Micah 7:18-20, Leviticus 19:18, Psalm 32:1-5, Luke 23:34, 1 John 1:9

Only one petition in the Lord’s Prayer has any condition attached to it; it is the petition for forgiveness.

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Author

Duke Kwon

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Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, 2 Samuel 12:13, Leviticus 6:1-5 , Luke 19:8-9 , James 5:16 , Psalm 32:5

How To Apologize • express sorrow (I’m sorry) • own guilt (I was wrong) • name specific wrongs (I did X) • name impact (I hurt u) • no IFs (sorry if I) • don’t blameshift/defend (but u) ...

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Author

Henry Ward Beecher

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Scripture

2 Kings 6:8-23, Luke 23:34, Genesis 50:15-21, Acts 7:54-60, 1 Samuel 24:1-22, Proverbs 25:21-22

Every time your enemy fires a curse, you must fire a blessing, and so you are to bombard back and forth with this kind of artillery. The mother grace of all graces is Christian good-will.

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Beyond the Darkness of Their Blindness

Author

Frederick Buechner

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Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21 , Exodus 16:2-15 , Jonah 3:4, Psalm 103:8-12 , Matthew 20:1-16 , Luke 15:11-32

One of the biggest challenges in the Christian journey is grasping the heart of grace. Oftentimes there is an internal battle between our theology and our lived experience. In this short excerpt, Fred...

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Receiving Mercy Instead of Wrath

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, Exodus 34:6-7, Lamentations 3:22-23 , Luke 15:20-24, Romans 8:1, Psalm 103:13-14

God does for you what Bill Tucker’s father did for him. Bill was sixteen years old when his dad suffered a health crisis and consequently had to leave his business. Even after Mr. Tucker regained his ...

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What Would You Erase?

Author

Kyle Idleman

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Scripture

John 16:33, Genesis 50:20, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Psalm 119:71, Isaiah 43:2

Recently I read about an experiment done by psychologist Jonathan Haidt. He came up with a fascinating hypothetical exercise, which went something like this: Participants were handed a summary of a p...

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The Two Great Questions

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 50:19-20 , Job 19:25-27, Isaiah 25:7-8 , John 11:25-26, Romans 8:38-39 , Psalm 23:4

In a poignant tribute written after his son’s passing in a climbing accident, Nicholas Wolterstorff reflects: When we have overcome absence with phone calls, winglessness with airplanes, summer he...

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Good and Gracious Lord, You hold us in

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Isaiah 41:10, Romans 8:28, Psalm 46:1-2, Micah 6:8, Psalm 34:18, Genesis 50:20, Mark 4:35-41

Good and Gracious Lord, You hold us in the palm of Your strong hand, working all things for our good and to Your glory. There’s no place we can go that escapes Your notice and is hidden from Your lovi...

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Author

Ovid

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Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, 1 Samuel 1:1-20, Lamentations 3:19-24 , John 11:32-35 , Luke 7:36-50, Psalm 56:8

Truly, it is allowed to weep. By weeping, we disperse our wrath; and tears go through the heart, even like a stream.

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Therese of Lisieux's Prayer

Author

Richard J. Mouw

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Scripture

Exodus 34:6–7, Genesis 50:19–21, 2 Samuel 9:1–13, Luke 18:1–8 , Luke 7:36–50, Psalm 103:8–14

I personally get some inspiration for getting at the nature of this work from a story told by one of my favorite spiritual writers, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Thérèse was born in 1873, to a devout Cath...

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Author

Nelson Mandela

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Scripture

Ephesians 4:31-32, Psalm 34:18, Luke 23:34, Genesis 50:20-21, Exodus 14:13-14, Job 42:10

As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.

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Effective Change through God's Power

Author

John Stott

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Scripture

Psalm 27:13-14, Romans 12:21, Genesis 50:20, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 60:1-3

Faith and pessimism are incompatible. To be sure, we are not starry-eyed idealists; we are down to earth realists. We know well that sin is ingrained in human nature and in human society. We are not e...

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The Hardest Fruit of the Spirit

Author

Christopher H. J. Wright

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Scripture

Exodus 34:6, Genesis 50:19–21, Proverbs 19:11, Colossians 3:12–13, James 5:7–10, Psalm 37:7–9

The first three items in Paul’s fruit basket sound very spiritual. Heavenly almost. Very nice for Sundays, at least. But his next one, patience, brings us back down to earth on a Monday. What are we l...

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Do Christians Live Differently?

Author

Christopher H. J. Wright

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Scripture

Genesis 50:20, Leviticus 19:18, Ruth 1:16–17 , John 13:34–35, Acts 2:44–47 , Psalm 133:1

Now of course, none of us is perfect, and all of us fail in all kinds of ways. That is why we often protect ourselves a bit when we say things like, “Don’t look at me, or don’t look at Christians; loo...

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A Terrible Accident

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Job 1:2; 38–42 , Genesis 50:15–21, Lamentations 3:19–26, 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, Psalm 34:18, Romans 5:3–5

When John Stuart Mill—the influential philosopher and political economist—arrived at Thomas Carlyle's door that evening, his face drained of color, bearing the devastating news that the manuscript...

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Author

Kay Arthur

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Scripture

Genesis 50:20

In any trial, in any bitter situation, you are not alone, you are not helpless, you are not a victim. You have a tree, a cross, shown to you by the Sovereign God of Calvary. Whatever the trial or temp...

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A Mission-field Tragedy Turned to the Glory of God

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:28, John 12:24, Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28, Acts 1:1-11, Acts 8:4-5, Acts 13:13-52, Acts 6:9-10, Acts 16:25-34

Sometimes what seems like a failure is actually the seed of God’s work. As Mark Batterson tells the story, it started with David and Svea Flood. Sent to the Congo by a church in Sweden, they helped es...

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Faithfulness in the Darkest Places

Author

Ben Lansing and D. J.Marotta

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Scripture

Exodus 3:7–8, Genesis 50:20, Isaiah 61:1, John 8:36, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 34:18

Josephine Bakhita’s life is a testament of God’s faithfulness in the darkest circumstances. She was born in Darfur, Sudan, among the Daju people. Her first years were happy, but at age eight she was k...

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Walking the Dog as an Analogy for Adversity

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 50:20, Exodus 14:13-14, Job 23:10, Psalm 37:23-24, Romans 8:28 , 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

In C. S. Lewis’ classic work Mere Christianity , the English apologist compares God’s use of adversity to walking a dog on a leash. When the dog wraps its leash around a pole and tries to move fo...

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Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:18-19, Genesis 50:19-20, Job 42:10-12, Psalm 116:15, John 12:24

This is the end - for me the beginning of life.

Sermon Resources on forgiveness for the past

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