Grace Church's Senior Pastor Randy Thornton preached again on the Lord’s Prayer
found in Luke 11:1-4 during his message for Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013, at Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C.
“One day Jesus was praying in
a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord,
teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’ . . . ” (Luke 11:1-4 NIV).
We should learn to be “un-offendable,” Thornton said.
He referred to George Washington Carver (1864-1943), an African-American
scientist, botanist, educator and inventor reportedly born into slavery in
Missouri. He developed about 100 products made from peanuts. According to
Wikipedia, “Carver viewed faith in Jesus as a means of destroying both barriers
of racial disharmony and social stratification.”
“He found forgiveness of sin,” Thornton said, indicating that
Carver’s acceptance of Christ’s forgiveness enabled Carver to forgive people
who discriminated against him.
“Most Christians are carnal,” Thornton said.
(“Carnal” is generally defined as “relating to the appetites and
passions of the body; sensual; fleshly.” Carnal Christians often behave “in the
flesh” and not “in the Spirit.”)
“The Lord uses others [often by their offenses toward us] to work
on us – to chisel away the surface,” Thornton said.
“ . . . until we all reach unity in the
faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to
the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
“Un-confessed sin clogs up
God’s conduit in our life,” Thornton said. “Walk in forgiveness.”
“For if you forgive other people
when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if
you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins”
(Matthew 6:14-15).
“Leave God’s vengeance up to God,”
Thornton said.
He told of a woman he counseled. She
prayed for 23 years for her father, who had hurt and abused her, to be
converted to Christ. Thornton encouraged the lady to memorize this Bible
passage:
Ephesians
4:25-32:
“Therefore each of you must put off
falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one
body. 'In your
anger do not sin': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must
work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something
to share with those in need.
“Do
not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful
for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who
listen. And do not
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and
anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each
other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
The
lady forgave her father, and within two months the father accepted Christ,
Thornton said.
“He
[later] died and went to heaven,” Thornton said.
Thornton laid out these guidelines as to how to receive forgiveness:
1. Ask
God to forgive you.
“Create
in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm
51:10).
“Teach
me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do so again” (Job’s
prayer to God, Job 34:32).
“God
is faithful,” Thornton said.
“If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
“Conviction
is a gift from God; condemnation is a gift from the Devil,” Thornton said.”
2. When
you want forgiveness, you have to show forgiveness, he noted.
“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?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven
times’” (Matthew 18:21-22).
The key to
relationships is finding God’s forgiveness and forgiving others, Thornton said.
His wife,
Sarah, and he celebrated 33 years of marriage on Oct. 5, 2013. He said there
have been many more than seventy times seven acts of forgiveness between them.
He encouraged the audience to pray everyday the Lord’s Prayer.
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