Sunday Extra: Forgive Us Our Debts
The Hebrew word for forgiveness means “to have hatred in one’s fist and to release it.”
That is a powerful word picture for our own personal relationships and for our culture.
I heard that illustration recently from my good friend, Andrew Kasberg, who is walking his congregation verse-by-verse through the Lord’s Prayer. In Matthew 6:12 (ESV), Jesus teaches us to pray “and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Andrew refers to the “as we also have forgiven” as the “fine print!” We are comfortable with receiving God’s forgiveness. Most of us struggle with forgiving others. And Andrew says the struggle to forgive others can make it difficult for us to experience (feel, internalize, understand) God’s forgiveness of our sins.
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Kasberg is a dear friend who serves as Senior Pastor of the historic Dardenne Presbyterian near St. Louis. For the past few years he has journeyed with LFM through a visioning process for his church and he’s also a member of a mentoring community for missional pastors which I co-lead with Dr. David Swanson.
I invite you to join us this week in exploring … and experiencing … the power of forgiveness that only comes when we put our faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.
MINISTRY UPDATE: CITYWIDE CHURCH WORKSHOPS
Thank you for praying for LFM’s citywide church visioning workshops held recently in Dallas and Phoenix!
Pastors, elders, and lay leaders from several area churches joined together to explore the impact of culture change on their congregations and ministry, as well as how to guide their churches into the next season of vibrant ministry.
The Transforming Church: A Visioning Workshop is part of LFM’s new Transforming Church Cohorts initiative, with seed money from Lilly Endowment Inc.
Already, church leaders in Texas, Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan have expressed interest in partnering with LFM on cohorts to help equip smaller congregations to navigate social change, identify and strengthen their strategy and values, and thrive based on their theological traditions and unique code.
Thank you for continuing to pray … and for investing in mentoring healthy leaders and equipping thriving ministries for the sake of the Gospel!
Kevin Ford
Chief Catalyst
Leighton Ford Ministries
