Being taught by grace, we are to be under the persuasion that every man is a sinner against God, and has also sinners against, or debtors to, himself.  

First, we are sinners against God, and we are such in great and damnable sins from which few of us are found to be free.  And even if any one be of such moral goodness that he is not as yet polluted with these greater sins, still he is a debtor to God; for he does not fulfill the law of God nor does he show forth the least gratitude or thanks unto God for all the gifts and benefits that he has received above others.And therefore, if God should contend with him, that which Job said would be proved to be true, that "If one wished to dispute with God, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times." (Job 9:3).  And clearly, then, it is humility alone that keeps even those who live under grace safe, whose own sins are not imputed unto them, because they judge and condemn themselves and plead for pardon, and mercifully pardon their debtors.  

Secondly,there are also those who are debtors to us.  For thus does God permit, in His management of things, that some one or another should rise up who may trouble or injure our property, or fame,or anything else of that kind which belongs to us; and thus He gives us an occasion for repenting of our sins and pardoning our debtors.  And here, turn your judgment upon yourself and commune with your own heart.  See who and what you are, and then you will forget all the evils of your neighbor, because you yourself will find both your hands full of, yes, even running over with,your own evils.

Lord, all our trespasses forgive,
That they our hearts no more may grieve,
As we forgive their trespasses
Who unto us have done amiss;
Thus let us dwell in charity,
And serve each other willingly.

View online at HERE.

The bible’s teaching on mercy is clear. Until God’s kingdom comes and everything broken is restored, there will continue to be suffering. As long as God chooses to give sinners one more opportunity to repent, the distress of living in a fallen world will continue. That is why mercy is an essential ingredient of any godly relationship. Mercy is what we have received and what we are called to give. Mercy is my commitment to live alongside you in this broken world even though I will suffer with you, for you, and because of you. I will do everything I can to relieve your distress.

Mercy means you expect suffering in your relationships and are willing to endure it.
Mercy means you are willing to live with the poor.
Mercy means you resist the temptation to favoritism.
Mercy means you are committed to persevere in hardship.
Mercy rejects a “personal happiness” agenda.
Mercy means you live with a commitment to forgive.
Mercy means you overlook minor offences.
Mercy does not compromise what is morally right and true.
A commitment to mercy will reveal the treasures of your heart.

Pages 135-139 of Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp.

• Pray and ask others to pray. 
• Support your church if it works through church discipline with one of your children. 
• Keep a relationship with your son or daughter if at all possible. 
• Do not make the sin the central issue of every conversation. 
• Don’t make provision for the sin. 
• Don’t enable the sin. 
• Grow your own marriage. 

You can read an expanded discussion of each point HERE.

We are all hard to love
Learning to love difficult people starts with understanding that you  (like me) are hard to love too. You might not be difficult to love in the same way as those around you are, and you may not cause the same amount of relational damage; but on the inside, in your own way, you’re just as difficult to love as everyone else.

Just like those difficult people, you and I sin and go astray (Isaiah 53:6,  Romans 3:22 -23). It took Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for God to welcome you and me into his family area God doesn’t love you because you make such a wonderful addition to its family; he loves you in spite of what you are like. And through his love for you, he changes you to be like himself. He makes you lovely, even though you didn’t start out lovely (2 Corinthians 5:17-1. You need exactly the same things from God — grace, mercy, kindness, and welcome — that others need from you.

If deep down you know you are lovable and God’s acceptance of you is completely undeserved, then you will have a welcoming attitude toward other unlovely people. But if you believe you’re basically a decent person who anyone would be privileged to know, then you won’t welcome others until they get their act together and become decent… just like you!

Learning the difficult skill of loving difficult people start asking God to show you how hard you are to love. When he answers your prayer, ask him to forgive you. Then because you have been forgiven for so much, you will be able to share the grace you have received with others (Luke 7:47)

from How to Love Difficult People: Receiving and Sharing God’s Mercy by William P. Smith

10:20 Service of the Word and Music
Acolyte: Joel Vojta
Ushers: The Lorangers
Offering: The Andersons

Bible Study : Luke 15:1-32

Purpose: To magnify the marvelous, undeserved forgiveness that God has given to us through Christ, and to inspire people to imitate that kind of forgiveness to others.

According to the parables of the sheep and coin (Luke 15:3-10), how does God respond when one of His valued creatures or treasures is lost (Luke 15:4, Luke 15:8)?

What do God and the residents of heaven respond when God finds a lost one (Luke 15:5-7, Luke 15: 9-10)?

Share of the estate (Luke 15:12). It was extraordinary for a son to request his share along with its income before his father’s death; it was equivalent to wishing the father’s death.

Pigs (Luke 15:15). Eating pigs was forbidden to Jews (Deuteronomy 14:8), and feeding them was unclean and "thoroughly degrading."

In the first two parables, The sheep (representing sinners) and the coin (representing sinners) just get lost and are found after the shepherd/women/God diligently for their lost valuables. What does this say about repentance..is it an act of God or of humans? In the third parable, what brings the son to repentance (Luke 15:14-17)?

Ran (Luke 15:20). A father could have seen his son a long way off only if he were intentionally watching for the young man from the roof of his house or from the village gate. It was considered extremely undignified and humiliating for a man to run, especially to greet someone. A man signified his own importance by waiting or at most walking to receive someone.

How does the father treat the son who insulted him and squandered his wealth (Luke 15:20-24)?

How does the older son respond his father’s generosity and mercy to his brother? Why does he respond that way (Luke 15:25-30)?

When you need to show others their fault, do not talk down to them as though you are faultless and they are inferior to you. Instead, talk with them as though you are standing side-by-side at the foot of the cross. Acknowledge your present, ongoing need for the Savior. Admit ways that you have wrestled with the same or other sins or weaknesses, and give hope by describing how God has forgiven you and is currently working in you to help you change … When people sense this kind of humility and common bond, they will less inclined to react to correction with pride and defensiveness.

Taken from  The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict
by Ken Sande, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2003) p. 172

Food for Thought

How do you respond to criticism and confrontation? As Ken reminds us in the above passage, our natural tendency all too often is to respond with pride and defensiveness.

• We emphasize our strengths and make excuses for our weaknesses. Then when we compare ourselves to others, we naturally think, “Hey! I’m not as bad as they are!”
• Rather than humbly listening to the criticism and striving to grow in wisdom and grace, we attack the person who is confronting us. Such arrogance blinds us and dooms us to immaturity.

There is a better way. Rather than focusing on our strengths or even focusing on our confronter, we can focus our passions, energies, and attention where they rightly belong–the cross of Jesus Christ.

When we gaze at the holiness of God and see the awesome price that had to be paid for our salvation–the very death of the very Son of God–we see beyond a shadow of a doubt that whatever criticism a person might lay on us, they don’t know the half of it. As Alfred Poirier reminds us in his article, The Cross and Criticism, the depth of our depravity is so great that our only hope is to rely solely on Jesus. And his death is sufficient. His resurrection is sufficient. Because he lived and died and rose again, we need never despair.

Even when confronted? Even then.

In fact, I would go so far as to say especially then. Whether the confrontation is gracious or graceless; redemptive or just plain-ol’ mean … we can humbly listen, give it its due, grow in grace, and move on. Because just as Ken reminds us above, “God has forgiven us and is working in us to help us to change.”

— Tara Barthel (Billings, MT) is a former attorney and director at Peacemaker Ministries, and the author of our new Women’s Study. She currently serves her family as a homemaker while regularly speaking at women’s events and blogging on God’s considerable grace.

PeaceMeal is a weekly e-publication of Peacemaker Ministries (www.Peacemaker.net). All Rights Reserved.
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As many of you know this week’s sermon was entitled Criticism and the Cross and it was aimed at pointing us to the Cross of Christ and how Christ enables us to overcome our natural tendency to resist correction and instead to learn to welcome criticism as a blessing from God and a means of personal growth.  

Because I believe that constructive correction is a sign of genuine love, I am writing to ask for a favor. As you know, we all have areas of weakness, areas where we need growth in character and in the ways we relate to others. I recognize that I am a sinner who is usually blind to my own weaknesses. So I am turning to those I minster to and with to ask for candid advice on where I need to change and grow. I am asking you because I hope that you are committed to my ministry, the ministry of this congregation, and the ministry of the entire Body of Christ. I want to hear from you because I believe these promises: "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses" (Proverbs 27:6), and "Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness" (Psalm 141:5).

As my brother or sister in Christ, please take some time to prayerfully answer the following questions. Please don’t be afraid to wound me! I know I will not like it but your candor will help me to grow. I will take your thoughts seriously as I ask God to help me plan for spiritual growth in the months ahead.

1. What characteristics do you see in me, or what areas of growth have you recently observed in me, that enable me to serve and relate well to others and have a positive witness for Christ? (I want to thank God for the gifts and strengths he has already given me and continue to build on them.)

2. Please describe three character qualities, attitudes, or behaviors that have disappointed, annoyed, or offended you or others, or seemed to undermine my witness for Christ. Please give specific examples if you can.

3. I believe that lasting changes in behavior require genuine changes in the heart (Matthew 15:19; James 4:1). Please click HERE to read the online article Getting to the Heart of Conflict. This article explains how our desires control our behavior, and describes a biblical dynamic called "the progression of an idol." Reading it will help you to answer the following three questions, which will help me to identify desires that may be ruling my heart.

a. What things have you seen me make idols out of? (An idol is any desire–even for good things–that I have elevated to a demand, become excessively preoccupied with, looked to for security, had to have in order to be content, or allowed to control me.)

b. How have you seen me judge or criticize you or others when my desires were not satisfied?

c. How have you seen me manipulate or punish you or others in order to get what I want?

4. If there were just one change God would bring about in me in the next six months, what would you pray it would be?

5. I know that I am dependent on God’s grace. I am in great need of God’s wisdom and encouragement, especially when I stumble. What word of promise or hope from God’s Word would you suggest that I keep in mind as I seek to grow?

Thank you for your help. Please pray for me as I seek to understand myself more fully and glorify with God as he works to free me from worldly desires and help me to be more like Christ.

Sincerely

Pastor Dan Vojta ..Click HERE to send me a message.

A Conciliator’s Prayer by Ken Sande, President of Peacemaker Ministries

Oh Lord God,

Today I am called to be a peacemaker, but I am unfit for the task.

By nature I am a peace-faker and a peace-breaker, so I myself need help.

Others ask me to understand and guide them, but my ears are dull, my eyes are dim, and I lack the wisdom they need.

But you, Lord, have all they need, so I come to you for supply.

Make me fit for your purposes, so I might serve them and honor you.

Cleanse me from my own sin so I will not add to their problems;
take the logs from my eyes, so I can remove the specks from theirs.

Fill me with your Spirit so they may benefit from your fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Give me wisdom from above so I might be pure and peace-loving, considerate and submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Open your Word to my eyes and to my heart, so I will have a steady lamp
to light our path.

Strip me of my own agenda and desires, so I might look only to others’ good and be absolutely worthy of their trust.

Help me to model everything I teach, so others can see the way.

Give me humility to admit my weaknesses and confess my wrongs,
so others might do the same.

Draw me again and again into prayer, where you can strengthen and correct me.

Make me submissive — help me to show that I myself am under authority.

Help me to treat others as I want to be treated, so they may see the essence of your Law.

Make me creative, versatile, and adaptable so I can adjust to the surprises ahead.

Help me to accept others as you have accepted me, and thus bring praise to your name.

Give me faith and perseverance so I will not doubt your provision or abandon your principles, even when others fight against them.

Grant me the gift of encouragement, to give others hope and help them believe
that our labor is not in vain.

Help me to model your forgiveness so relationships are healed and your Gospel is revealed.

Grant me discernment so that I may read the deep waters of others’ hearts, sort fiction from fact, and know when it’s time to act.

Give me boldness and courage, tempered with kindness, to confront others in love so they might see their errors and find their way back to you.

Help me to prepare thoroughly and not presume upon your grace.

Make me just and fair, so that even if people disagree with my counsel they will believe that I treated them well.

In short, Father, please give me the Spirit of Christ so that I might walk in his steps
and guide your people into the path of your peace.

Bible Study

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:13-15

Read Genesis 3: 1-13. When God confronts Adam and Eve after they sinned how do they react? In what ways does this pattern of behaving repeat itself in our society and even in our daily lives as individuals?

Read Genesis 37:1-24. what kind of behaviors do Joseph’s brothers engage in and how do these behaviors fan sibling jealousy into a murderous plot. In what kinds of situations do you find yourself engaging in the same behavior?

Read Psalm 73:21-22. How does this text help us understand why Jesus so forcefully responded to the question from the upset sibling with the command watch out!

Read Luke 12:15 and Matthew 7:1-5. What is Jesus telling us to do when we see someone else sin? Does Jesus forbid us to challenge others? Under what circumstances should we go to a brother or sister in Christ and confront them?

Read Luke 12:15, Matthew 15:18-19, James 4:1-3, and Ezekiel 36:25-27. What is required for us to experience genuine reconciliation and lasting change?

Jesus Said: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

The Peacemaker is a book that has been around for awhile and has earned an excellent reputation as a manual for resolving conflicts in a Biblical manner. In this most current edition, the author has put a stronger emphasis on the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the foundation for true peacemaking and in doing so has provided the readers with a powerful model of Christian discipleship. The section on "Get the Log Out of You Own Eye" is particularly effective in helping readers identify the desires in our hearts that fuel conflict. Sande is also very good at giving clear ideas of how to  practice forgiveness and use it to point others to Christ. This book is practical and Christ-centered. After reading this book I am seriously considering preaching a  sermon series on what God’s word has to say about Jesus Christ as the ultimate peacemaker (Prince of Peace) and what it means to share his peace with others. While many pastors have done this as a way of dealing with specific conflicts with in a congregation, I think it would be helpful for us to start thinking about the ways our mission to be a Christ-centered cross-focused community of servants can be enhanced as we work to create a culture of peacemaking within our congregation and larger community. Sande describes what it looks like when the Peace of Christ works its way through his disciples in his preface to the book: Peacemakers are people who breathe grace. They draw continually on the goodness and power of Jesus Christ, and then they bring his love, mercy, forgiveness, strength, and wisdom to the conflicts of daily life. God delights to breathe his grace through peacemakers and use them to dissipate anger, improve understanding, promote justice, and encourage repentance and reconciliation. This sounds like an excellent way for the people of Peace Lutheran Church to live out our lives in this world.

You can learn more about Peacemaker Ministries by clicking HERE.

You can read the Peacemaker blog by clicking HERE.

You can download a copy of the preface and chapter one in PDF format by clicking HERE. I STRONGLY encourage, beg, and exhort  you to take the time to read this first chapter.

I am also seriously considering using the The Peacemaker Student Edition: Handling Conflict without Fighting Back or Running Away as a part of the confirmation program this year. You can download the Table of Contents and Chapter One: Your Amazing Opportunity in PDF format by clicking HERE.

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Peacemaker’s Pledge

Commitment to Biblical Conflict Resolution

As people reconciled to God by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we believe that we are called to respond to conflict in a way that is remarkably different from the way the world deals with conflict (Matthew 5:9; Luke 6:27-36; Galatians 5:19-26). We also believe that conflict provides opportunities to glorify God, serve other people, and grow to be like Christ (Romans 8:28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1; James 1:2-4). Therefore, in response to God’s love and in reliance on his grace, we commit ourselves to respond to conflict according to the following principles:

Glorify God — Instead of focusing on our own desires or dwelling on what others may do, we will rejoice in the Lord and bring him praise by depending on his forgiveness, wisdom, power, and love, as we seek to faithfully obey his commands and maintain a loving, merciful, and forgiving attitude.

Psalm 37:1-6; Mark 11:25; John 14:15; Romans 12:17-21; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Philippians. 4:2-9; Colossians 3:1-4; James 3:17-18; 4:1-3; 1 Peter 2:12.

Get the Log out of Your Eye — Instead of blaming others for a conflict or resisting correction, we will trust in God’s mercy and take responsibility for our own contribution to conflicts—confessing our sins to those we have wronged, asking God to help us change any attitudes and habits that lead to conflict, and seeking to repair any harm we have caused.

Proverbs  28:13; Matthew 7:3-5; Luke 19:8; Colossians 3:5-14; 1 John 1:8-9.

Gently Restore — Instead of pretending that conflict doesn’t exist or talking about others behind their backs, we will overlook minor offenses or we will talk personally and graciously with those whose offenses seem too serious to overlook, seeking to restore them rather than condemn them. When a conflict with a Christian brother or sister cannot be resolved in private, we will ask others in the body of Christ to help us settle the matter in a biblical manner.

Proverbs 19:11; Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8; Galatians 6:1-2; Ephesians. 4:29; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; James 5:9

Go and Be Reconciled — Instead of accepting premature compromise or allowing relationships to wither, we will actively pursue genuine peace and reconciliation—forgiving others as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us, and seeking just and mutually beneficial solutions to our differences.

Matthew 5:23-24; Matthew 6:12; Matthew 7:12; Ephesians 4:1-3, Ephesians 4:32; Philippians 2:3-4.

By God’s grace, we will apply these principles as a matter of stewardship, realizing that conflict is an assignment, not an accident. We will remember that success in God’s eyes is not a matter of specific results, but of faithful, dependent obedience. And we will pray that our service as peacemakers will bring praise to our Lord and lead others to know His infinite love.

Matthew 25:14-21; John 13:34-35; Romans 12:18; 1 Peter 2:19; 1 Peter 4:19.

Adapted from The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict. © 1997, 2003 by Ken Sande. All Rights Reserved.

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Four Promises of Forgiveness

Through forgiveness God tears down the walls that our sins have built, and he opens the way for a renewed relationship with him. This is exactly what we must do if we are to forgive as the Lord forgives us: We must release the person who has wronged us from the penalty of being separated from us. We must not hold wrongs against others, not think about the wrongs, and not punish others for them. Therefore, forgiveness may be described as a decision to make four promises:

1. "I will not dwell on this incident."
2. "I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you."
3. "I will not talk to others about this incident."
4. "I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship."

By making and keeping these promises, you can tear down the walls that stand between you and your offender. You promise not to dwell on or brood over the problem or to punish by holding the person at a distance. You clear the way for your relationship to develop unhindered by memories of past wrongs. This is exactly what God does for us, and it is what he calls us to do for others.

Taken from The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict, by Ken Sande (Updated Edition, Baker Books, 2003).