Forgiving - Mark 2:1-12

Posted by Amber Bruce |  Print This Post

This is week 5 in the sermon series Go: With God, looking at the attributes of God from Exodus 34:6-7 and the way Jesus embodies them in the gospels so that we can worship Him for them, be transformed by them, and live them out as we go to The 13. This week’s topic is Forgiveness. Those who want to delve into this subject more are invited to the Shame and Forgiveness Seminar Monday, May 13 at 7pm in the Fellowship Hall. Those interested in a 3-week class on forgiveness hosted by Brian Clemmons can mark interest on their welcome cards or call the church office at 628-0150.

1. What are the advantages of being in a small group?

There are many! Think of ones that you have seen in your own group or your own experience. For example, supporting one another, praying for one another, meeting one another’s needs, holding one another accountable.

2. How do people try to deal with their sin? Why is it so important to know that God forgives sin?

Ways people try to deal with their sin without God include: make up for it (performance, prayer, doing good works, punishing yourself), ignore it, hide it, deny it, compare it with others who are worse, minimize it, reject God (to whom the debt is owed).

It is important to know that God forgives sin because that is our salvation, the way we know we belong to God. Without it, we would wallow in our sin, handle it in ineffective ways, like those described above. God is the only one who can truly forgive sin and deal with it effectively.

3. Read Psalm 32:3-4. Pastor Dave listed some symptoms we experience when we don’t receive God’s forgiveness (below). How could these affect our outreach as we go to The 13?

• Physical troubles
• Anger
• Authority resistance
• Avoidance
• Critical spirit
• Driven-ness
• Strife
• Hardness
• Loss of motivation
• Thought life escapades

The sermon list is not comprehensive. If you have time, brainstorm other things from your own lives, like stress.

As we reach out to Aid Captives, Build Churches, and Change Cultures, our enemy will be fighting back. One of his strategies is to keep us in our guilt and shame so that we are ineffective in reaching others with grace and hope. How can we bring freedom when we are held captive? How can we share the grace of God when we have not received it? How can we be effective when we are unmotivated or distracted by sinful thoughts? How can we keep up the daily sacrifices needed to reach others when we have physical ailments from guilt and shame that slow us down or debilitate us?

4. Read Mark 2:1-12. Why is forgiveness from God a higher priority than physical healing?

Forgiveness from is both more important and more urgent. Forgiveness from God gives us inner peace that can lead to physical healing. Forgiveness from God guarantees our eternal security in Christ.

5. Read Psalm 32:1-11. What are some signs that we are receiving God’s forgiveness for our sins?

We have gladness; we pray, we teach others, we rejoice. It results in praise & thanksgiving. It makes us more humble. It makes us more forgiving of others.

6. Read the article “10 Things That Forgiveness is Not” in your toolkit before group. Of the 10, were there any you don’t understand? Any that were new to you? How were they helpful?

7. What are some signs that we have forgiven others?

Some signs could include praise & thanksgiving, joy, peace, compassion, ability to pray and care for them, serving, concern, selflessness, a feeling of freedom.

Break into gender groups to answer the following:

8. For believers, how do 1 John 1:9, James 5:16 and Ephesians 4:32 equip us to receive and offer forgiveness?

We know that God will always forgive us and cleanse us in Christ from 1 John 1:9, so we can be confident in accepting His forgiveness. We can also find reassurance of God’s forgiveness from others when we confess our sins to them and they pray for us (James 5:16). Ephesians 4:32 highlights the link between the forgiveness we receive from God and the ability to forgive others: when we have been forgiven, we are enabled to forgive others.

9. Do you have any relationships in which you are finding it difficult to be forgiving? What principle or idea from the article/sermon helps you become more forgiving in that relationship? How can your group help you?