God Forgives Our Sins

13 March 2013

Opening Prayer/Worship

Hymn: Amazing Grace Theme:

God’s Steadfast Love

Topic: God Forgives Our Sins

Reading: Psalm 32

¹ Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
   whose sin is covered.
² Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
   and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 

³ While I kept silence, my body wasted away
   through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
   my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.          Selah 

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
   and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’,
   and you forgave the guilt of my sin.          Selah 

⁶ Therefore let all who are faithful
   offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
   shall not reach them.
⁷ You are a hiding-place for me;
   you preserve me from trouble;
   you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.          Selah 

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
   I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
⁹ Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
   whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
   else it will not stay near you. 

¹⁰ Many are the torments of the wicked,
   but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
¹¹ Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
   and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Introduction

One of the problems with sin and sinful living is that it tends to separate us from the steadfast love of God.  However, the truth is that God’s love becomes more manifest when we turn to Him in repentance from our sins.  His mercy, love and grace are so abundant that He always forgives us.  There are consequences to falling into temptation, and sinning against God, but the good news is that it is for sinners that Christ came and died; and the Scripture makes it clear that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.  So when we are plagued with guilt and the consequences of our shortcomings, we should look up to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.  God will always receive us back to Himself and revive us again, to live for Him.

Questions/Discussion

1.  How does sin affect our relationship with God and the people in our lives?  

Proverbs 14:34

³⁴ Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

Isaiah 59:1-3

See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save,
   nor his ear too dull to hear.
² Rather, your iniquities have been barriers
   between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
   so that he does not hear.
³ For your hands are defiled with blood,
   and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
   your tongue mutters wickedness.

2.  Discuss some of the lessons in the parable of the prodigal son?

Luke 15:1-3, 11B-32

Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ ³ So he told them this parable: ¹¹ Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. ¹³A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶He would gladly have filled himself withthe pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.¹⁷But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” ²⁰So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” ²²But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;²⁴for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate. ²⁵ ‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” ²⁸Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.³⁰But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” ³¹Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”

3.  How do we apply God’s forgiveness in our lives? 

2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Psalm 32 (KJV)

¹Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
²Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
³When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
⁴For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. ⁵I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
⁶For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
⁷Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.
⁸I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
⁹Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
¹⁰Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.
¹¹Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ²and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness. ⁶ Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. ⁷Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.’ ⁸We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. ¹⁰And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹²So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. ¹³No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

James 4:4-10

Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? ⁶But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ ⁷Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.⁹Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

1 John 1:5-10, 2:1-2

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; ⁷but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

2:1-2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ²and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Intercession/Worship

Conclusion

Let us always remember that when we sin, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ; He is the propitiation for our sins and the sins of the whole.  May we seek Christ daily, to cleanse us from all our sins and shortcomings.

Closing Prayer

Thank You Lord for forgiving us our sins; grant us the grace to live as Your children, blameless and in holiness all the days of our lives.  We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.