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Ridgecrest Baptist Church is located in Dothan, AL and exists to Reach the lost, Build the believer, and Connect people of God to the mission and purpose of God.
You know, we're continuing our series today on living on purpose in this year, and we're talking about things that will help us do just that, some things that we have to decide if we're going to live on purpose. Today you can see the topic, and that is to forgive and to know how to forgive, and today that's what I want to spend our time on. I believe that the need to forgive persons or the lack of forgiveness are two of the most important elements in our life in terms of how they affect us, how we respond, what it does to us spiritually. We'll look at a passage here in just a few minutes from Matthew's Gospel Sermon on the Mount, actually chapter six, just a couple of verses. The whole section I'll refer to, but we'll just read a couple of verses. Nobody was better and is better ever at forgiveness than Jesus. So when Jesus talks about forgiveness, he knows what he's talking about, wouldn't you agree? And so we'll see what he has to say.
Maybe you remember, a couple of years ago, an incident that occurred back in Dallas. Amber Giger, a former Dallas police officer, was found guilty of murdering a man named Botham Jean. The case gained national attention because of the circumstances that surrounded the incident, amber Giger, this Dallas police officer, mistakenly entered the wrong apartment. She entered the apartment of Botham Jean and she thought he was a burglar. She'd been dispatched for a burglar recall I am being in the wrong apartment. She assumed he was the burglar and an altercation occurred and then she shot him and he died. There are all kind of headlines about it and what happened and what should have happened didn't happen and she was taken to court finally, and she was convicted for and sentenced to, 10 years of imprisonment.
There are a lot of voices outside of the courtroom that said that that was way too lenient. She was white, he was black and that was just too lenient of sentence. But there was a different story playing out in the courtroom. There was another voice that spoke out. It was a young man named Brant. Brant was the younger brother of Botham Jean and rather than me try to tell you what happened, it's worth taking about two or three minutes for you to see what occurred in that courtroom. After she had been sentenced, brant, this young man, this brother of Botham, took the stands and he spoke. So, guys, if you'll bring the lights down, I want you to see this.
I can speak for myself. I forgive you and I know if you go to God and ask.
Him.
He will forgive you, and I don't think anyone could say it. Again, I'm speaking for myself, not even bad for my family, but I love you just like anyone else and I'm not going to say I hope you rot and die just like my brother did. But I see, I personally want the best for you and I wasn't going to ever say this in front of my family or anyone, but I don't even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you because I know that's exactly what Botham would want you to do, and the best would be give your life to Christ. I'm not going to say anything else. I think giving your life to Christ would be the best thing that Botham would want you to do. Again, I love you as a person and I don't wish anything bad on you. I don't know if this is possible, but can I give her a hug, please, please, yes.
Thank you, thank you. Well, you could hear in that courtroom that the tears and the weeping was palatable. In fact, what you didn't see was Judge Tammy Kemp sitting on the bench with tears rolling down her face. And as the rest of the scene was completed, as this Amber Geiger began to leave, the judge said before you go, I have a Bible. It's my personal Bible. I use every day. Please take my Bible and begin to read John 3.16. This is your assignment for the next month. It's what she said.
I think you can see an incredibly powerful and emotional act of forgiveness taking place there. Forgiveness is powerful, isn't it? Both the need for it and the expression of it. And I believe, if you're going to live on purpose this year, forgiving and dealing with resentment are most likely going to be necessary for all of us. You see, I personally believe that forgiving is far more important to our spiritual and our physical well-being than we often give credit. So I want to look at a passage this morning from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus speaks to this whole matter of forgiveness. If you're physically able to do so, why don't you stand with me this morning Just going to read two verses from chapter 6, 14, and 15.
It's at the conclusion of Jesus' discussion on prayer how to pray, modeling prayer. So keep your Bibles open. I'll refer back to a couple of thoughts that he shares with us in the previous verses. But verse 14, it says for if you forgive others, their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Lord Jesus, help us to learn to be forgivers. Father, it's easy to speak of harder to practice. Lord, you showed us what forgiveness looks like. You forgave all of us, father, when you prayed. Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. We thank you for the model of forgiveness. Teach us to be like you and, father, help us to forgive and to continue to forgive. Now speak to us from your word. This morning we pray in Jesus' name, amen, thank you, and you can be seated, as I said. These verses conclude a section of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is giving instructions about prayer and he's giving a model prayer, the Lord's prayer and he models it for us to help us understand how to pray, and in that prayer he talks about the necessity of forgiveness, and then he comes back to that after the prayer in verses 14, 15, the verses that we just read and he talks to us about how serious and important it is to forgive.
Now I want to say to you this morning that I'm not naive to the difficulty that expressing forgiveness can present. I've had people tell me this many times through the year. Well, pastor, I just can't forgive them for what they did. I know there are people that are listening to me, either by television or radio or live stream or right here in this audience, who've been deeply wounded. I know there are people listening that have harbored resentment in their lives for so many years that the resentment has just become a part of who they are. I know there are people listening to me who simply do not want to give up their resentment and would rather suffer with it. In fact, for some people, resentment and unforgiveness have come to characterize who they are, and that's why getting free through forgiveness is so important, because if you don't deal with it, it will deal with you. It will shape your life, it will shape your other relationships, it will shape your self-image, it will shape your perception of God and it will even shape and affect your future.
I want to begin this morning by giving you what I consider are the effects or effects of unforgiveness and resentment that are devastating in our lives. These aren't on your outlines, so you might want to turn on the back and just write them down, but I want to give you four things that are devastating as a result of not forgiving or harboring resentment. The first thing is that it will make you angry and bitter. You know what bitterness will do Inheritance will make you become angry and anger will make you become bitter. If you are harboring resentment and unforgiveness, it'll make you hard to be around, it'll cost you worthwhile relationships and it will cost you friends that you actually need in your life.
I had a relative in our family and for all of their adult life that I can remember that I knew. I was young, growing up, I recognized they were bitter. Not only were they bitter, they were miserable and at times, I have to say, they were mean-spirited. I'm sure I had no idea what must have happened in this family member's life before I knew them, but whatever it was, it shaped them and it shaped others' perceptions, my perception even as a young, as a child, as a teenager. As I grew older, I firmly believe that this person had been wounded by someone whom they never forgave, and the result was that bitterness and anger were the unspoken byproducts that had shaped their life. It will make you angry. It will make you bitter. You know what bitterness is. It is like drinking poison intended to destroy somebody else, but it will only destroy you. That's what unforgiveness and resentment can do in your heart and in your life. It's why I believe we have to be so focused on not allowing it to take root. That's why I believe Paul wrote Ephesians 4.31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. It will make you bitter and angry. A second effect of resentment and unforgiveness is it will rob you of joy and make you miserable. It will rob you of joy in life. It will make you absolutely miserable. It will steal your life from you. It will rob you of the abundant life and fullness that comes in Christ Jesus. Misery is a byproduct of resentment. You ever been around a miserable person? You didn't want to stay around them long, did you? By the way, you ever been around a bitter person? You didn't want to stay around them long. That's what resentment and unforgiveness do. Max Locado writes this. He says resentment is when you let your hurt become hate. Resentment is when you allow what is eating you to eat you up. Resentment is when you poke, stoke, feed and fan the fire, stirring the flames and reliving the pain again and again and again. It is the deliberate decision to nurse the offense until it becomes a black furry growling grudge. You know, I think too many believers today are walking in their misery rather than rejoicing in the Lord. In the worst of times, habakkuk the prophet wrote. He said, though there be no grapes on the vine, there be no flocks in the field. It's the worst of times. Instead of getting bitter, habakkuk wrote and said I will rejoice in the Lord. Instead, in spite of, I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Listen, resentment and unforgiveness will rob you of joy. It will keep you from enjoying your life. It will keep you from experiencing the abundance that Jesus Christ wants you to have. You know, jesus said in John 10, 10, I have come, that you might have life and have it abundantly. You know what the difference is? Paul and Asylum, sitting in a prison, could sing in a very small, damp, musty, mildewy room, and they could sing praises to God and they could say I will rejoice in the Lord. Again I say rejoice. The joy of the Lord is my strength, the scripture says. And so, no matter what the environment is, if you know, and look, if anybody could have been resentful. You reckon the apostle Paul could have. You reckon Silas could have. You reckon Jesus could have. You reckon Peter could have Apostles? All of them could have been bitter. We're trying to do something good and all that's come our way has been suffering and difficulty and people attacking, and on and on it goes. But instead they learned the secret. The secret was that they found their joy in the Lord, not in where they had been, not in what others had said, not in how people had harmed or hurt them. It will rob you of joy resentment, unforgiveness. And then, number three, it will hold you, hold your emotions, your mind and your body hostage. It will hold your heart, it will affect and control your moods. It will weigh on your mind, it will keep you awake, it will alter your thinking, it will alter the way you see the world, it will whip you and it will wear you out emotionally. One third of Americans say that they lie awake at least a few nights a week. You can try meditation, you can try medication, but according to a study published in the Journal of Psychology and Health, there's another practice that you could consider. This comes from the Journal of Psychology and Health. You know what they said Try forgiveness. Their researchers asked over 1400 American adults to rate themselves on how likely they were to forgive themselves for the things they did wrong oh yeah, by the way, forgiveness sometimes means you got to forgive you and they asked them how likely they were to forgive themselves for the things that they did wrong and forgive others for hurting them. They also answered a question about how they slept in the past 30 days, and the results suggested that people who were more forgiving were more likely to sleep better and for longer, and, in turn, to have better physical health. You see, the article goes on to say that forgiveness may help individuals leave the days, regrets and offenses in the past and then relax and sleep. Otherwise, as many troubled sleepers the article says have experienced, we might have too much on our minds to get any rest. It goes on to say that people who don't forgive tend to linger on unpleasant thoughts and feelings, such as anger, blame and regret. This can involve painful ruminations, repetitive thoughts about distress. That kind of resentment or bitterness can be distracting from sleep quality and well-being. Emotionally, the study suggests you see, look, that's a practical reason to forgive, because if you don't forgive, if you hold resentments, it'll take you hostage mentally, physically, emotionally. There are a lot of Christians, I believe, whose minds and emotions, and even their bodies, are being held hostage to resentment and unforgiveness. Their hurts have taken them captive. That's why your mind, what you set your mind on, is so important. Paul writes in Philippians 4-8 and says finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. How could Paul rejoice in a prison because he set his mind on the right thing? He didn't set on his mind. He didn't set his mind on the fact that we shouldn't be here. We've been falsely accused. What they're saying about us isn't true. What did he do? He said we set our mind on things above. We set our mind on the things that are pure, that are lovely, that are commendable, the things that are excellent, the things that are worthy of praise. These are the things where we put our mind. It's good counsel from the apostle Paul. Then, the fourth effect of resentment and unforgiveness is that it will stunt your spiritual growth and producing you a hard heart. It's important to understand that your spiritual life is enhanced or it is degraded by forgiveness, resentment or the lack thereof, the refusal to forgive, will produce a hard heart sooner or later in your life. Notice what Jesus said in Mark 11, 25. He said and whenever you stand praying, forgive. Whenever you stand praying, forgive If you have anything against anyone, so that your father also is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. You've heard of hardening of the arteries. You ever heard that phrase, hardening of the arteries? You know what that is. You can look that up. It's actually a term that's applied. It's applied to when your arteries to the heart begin to clog up. They get filled up with cholesterol and fat and other substances and it begins to block the flow of blood through the main arteries to the heart. If that plaque and cholesterol and fat and all that, if it builds up enough over time, not only does it block the blood flow but it will eventually begin to cause the artery to become hard or brittle and so hence hardening of the arteries. Well, the problem with unforgiveness and resentment is that it hides in your soul like cholesterol. It hides in your heart, your spiritual heart, and it's good at it too. It's really good. Resentment is good at hiding where, to the point, sometimes you become so accustomed to it that you don't even know that it's there any longer and that it's hampering and hindering your walk with the Lord Jesus. And if it's not dealt with over time, it causes our spiritual heart to atrophy and it narrows the path of the Holy Spirit's flow and influence in your life. It stunts your spiritual growth and that's why, for those reasons and others, we have to learn to practice forgiveness. Now you notice I keep saying practice forgiveness, because forgiveness sometimes it's an event. Sometimes you can just forgive someone for something, you can just forgive and go on, and sometimes it's a process. It's not just an event. It would be wonderful if it always was. But I want to tell you this you're going to have to practice forgiveness all of your life. You're going to have to practice it from now until the time when you're reunited with God in heaven. So I want to give you three things that Jesus gives us right here in the passage that we read this morning. The first thing that Jesus gives us is the exhortation to forgiveness. Look at verse 14, for if you forgive others their trespasses, this is a pretty straightforward kind of exhortation. And notice, it's optional because he puts he says if, if you forgive them. But it's pretty straightforward. Jesus is exhorting us to forgive others of their trespasses and the implication is against us. They've done something against us, it wasn't right, and it also implies that you're in the right, they're in the wrong. They've offended you, they have hurt you, they have wounded you in some way. But it's pretty straightforward. He says if you forgive others their trespasses it's kind of like the old Nike slogan just do it. That's kind of what Jesus is saying there Just do it, forgive them. You save a pastor. You don't know how bad I've been hurt by someone, that's true, I don't, but Jesus does. Jesus knows how bad you've been hurt and even though he knows how bad you've been hurt or wounded, he exhorts you to forgive. Now, as I said, I know it's not always an event, I know that sometimes it's a process and sometimes it's a long process. And listen, sometimes it's a repetitive process. What do I mean by repetitive process. You say, okay, I'm practicing forgiveness, I forgive this person for what they've done, I forgive them, and so I have forgiven them. And then the next day I get up and it's all back on me or it's all back in me. Right, you had that before. And you say but I forgave them, it just doesn't work for me. No, this is the process. So guess what you do. Again, jesus, I forgive them. Peter said Lord, how many times shall we forgive our brother? Seven times, that seems pretty noble, right? Seven times. Well, I forgave them seven times. I'm not doing it eight times. You know what Jesus said, right, how many times? Jesus said 70 times seven. Let's multiply that out Now. By the way, some of you mathematician types are calculating that. Probably right now that's an X number. I don't even know what it is, but I hate to burst your bubble. Jesus wasn't being literal. He wasn't saying 70. If you can get that far, then you're done. If you still hadn't forgiven after that, what he's saying is infinitely, 70 times seven. How often shall I forgive my brother 70 times seven? So tomorrow you get up and you need to forgive them. It's all back God. I thought I got rid of that. I thought I dealt with that yesterday. You did, you need to deal with it today. You need to deal with it the next day, and you know what happens. Now. Look, I know this works because I've had to practice it and I've practiced it and it worked. And then what happens over time? Eventually, guess what? You find out that the gaps are getting longer and longer. The practicing for at least that person just hang on. The devil will bring somebody else in your life that you'll have to start over with, right, but you practice it, you practice and practice and practice. And this is in the present tense in the Greek, which means that you just keep on forgiving and forgiving, and forgiving and forgiving. So I know, I know you say well, if you knew how badly I've been hurt, then you'd understand why it's so hard for me to forgive one day at a time. Forgive today. If you need to forgive tomorrow, you forgive tomorrow. If you need to forgive the day after that, you forgive the day after that and then set your mind on the things of God. It sometimes is not just an event, sometimes it's a process. Does that make sense? Y'all do like this. Because you need to get this pointer, I'm gonna preach another 45 minutes. Thank you, robert. Now that is the exhortation that Jesus gives us of forgiveness. The second thing I want you to know that Jesus gives us is the expectation of forgiveness, again in verse 14, look there, if you will, for if you forgive others they're trespasses. That's the exhortation. Your heavenly Father will also forgive you. This is a divine kind of reciprocity. Jesus is saying to us that it is irrational for us to expect God to act toward us in a manner that we will not act toward others. It's irrational to think well, god, you'll forgive me, but I'm not gonna do what you do. I'm not gonna act toward others like you have acted toward me. You see, jesus takes for granted that we all know that we ourselves are in need of forgiveness. Hello, I mean, jesus takes for granted that we know that we are sinners in need of forgiveness and, as a result, we want and expect God to forgive us. Right, he said he would if we'd ask him. And so we expect God to forgive us. Even the most mature spiritually among us understand it. But Jesus is saying if that's what you expect, then practice being like that with others, and not just those who have offended you. He broadens it. He says centers, far and wide Centers, forgiving centers. You know, you can hold grudge and resentment against people that have never contacted you or connected in your life and you can hold a grudge against them out there for some reason or something. Listen, I've told you this before never get angry at lost people for acting lost. And so Jesus expands it. He says it's not just those around you. The expectation is to forgive centers of sin, just like God. That's the expectation of forgiveness. But there's one third and last note that I want you to see, and that's the exception to forgiveness. The exception to forgiveness found in verse 15, there is that statement, but Jesus says but if you do not forgive others, their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. This is what we call an exception clause. Jesus makes an exception clause and it is an incredibly serious warning. You see, the child of the kingdom of God who has a fractured relationship with someone else in the community or in their life has also fractured his or her relationship with God. Now, obviously, this statement is not meant as an absolute. Jesus here is speaking of a bitter person. He's talking about the person who refuses to forgive and who wants to carry a grudge. Ever seen a person that wants to carry a grudge? That's become kind of who they are. In fact, they don't want to get rid of it because they no longer know who they are without it and so they want to carry the grudge. This is who Jesus. Jesus is talking about, the person who just refuses to forgive and does and wants to carry around that grudge, a person who has decided that their bitterness is what defines them. And this person also doesn't mean that everyone who is angry is headed for eternal punishment. That's not what Jesus is talking about here. But when we've been seriously hurt by another person, it takes a great deal of time to come to the place where we can forgive the one who hurt us. But we are to engage in the process. We're not to say I'm not going to, I'm not gonna practice, as we talked about a minute ago I'm not gonna engage in the process, I am so hurt I'm not even gonna try. That's serious and that's who Jesus is talking about. To the person who absolutely unequivocally does not want to pursue forgiveness. And listen, let me just insert something here Forgiveness and dealing with resentment is more about you than it is the person, the other person. Because you know the devil loves to get you better, angry, resentful, unforgiving. You know why? Because he can control you with that. He can control your emotions, as I've already said, your mind, and even destroy you physically, your health. And so the devil loves it when you don't want to forgive. He loves it when you carry around resentment. So dealing with resentment is more about you getting free, even than it is someone else out there being forgiven. Now I didn't just say, okay, well then I don't have to forgive them, I just gotta figure out how to get free. That's part of the freedom. Is the forgiveness. Does that make sense? So the devil will tell you they don't deserve they don't. But neither did you. See, that's his whole point. You didn't deserve the forgiveness of God and yet he offered it to you when he hung his son on a cross for your sin. If he can do that, you can do that, you can forgive. You say, well, I'm not God, I'm not perfect. No, that's why you gotta practice it. God doesn't have to practice it. That's why you've gotta engage in the process and be active. First, john 4.20 says if anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. You say well, pastor, does that mean if I forgive somebody I gotta start hanging out with them? No, look, there are a lot of people you need perhaps to forgive, but you don't have to go to McDonald's with them. Forgiveness doesn't mean yet you have to become best friends. You might I have seen that happen but forgiveness is about getting free, hello. It's about your freedom. It's about being like Jesus Christ. Stephen Olford tells a story of Peter Miller. Peter Miller was a Baptist preacher during the American Revolution and he lived in Epaphrodah, pennsylvania. And one of his dearest friends was General George Washington. And in the town of Epaphrodah there was a man by the name of Michael Whitman. He was a spiteful troublemaker and he did all that he could do to oppose and humiliate Pastor Peter Miller. And one day Whitman was arrested for treason and subsequently sentenced to death. When Peter Miller, this pastor, heard the news, he set out for Philadelphia to plead for the life of his enemy and after walking 70 miles on foot, miller petitioned his friend, general George Washington, and asked him to spare Whitman's life. Washington told his friend Peter said no, peter, I can't grant you the life of your friend, he's a traitor. To which Miller replied back to Washington my friend, he's not my friend, In fact, he's the bitterest enemy that I have. What Washington said you've walked 70 miles to save the life of your enemy. Well, that puts the whole matter in a different light. And so I'll grant you pardon. And Washington did. And that day Miller and Whitman walked back home to Epaphrodah together, and when they arrived home there were no longer enemies, they were friends. I wonder today is there anyone that you need to forgive? Is there anyone in your life that you need to forgive? Maybe multiples? Two summers ago, allison and I went to the Billy Graham Conference Center for a week to sit under one of my favorite Bible teachers, and in one of the sessions he went off topic and he began to talk about forgiveness, and he asked a question in that session. He says by the way, is there anyone here harboring resentment and unforgiveness against someone? He said why don't you take a moment and ask the Lord is there someone that I'm harboring resentment or unforgiveness? Well, so I did. I did Everybody in that room, a large auditorium, all of us sitting there, and I'm sure everybody else did and I thought, yeah, immediately God put three names on my heart and I thought I remember thinking this I didn't know I had resentment. I had so pushed that aside through the years. I had so pushed it aside. It hides, remember, I said resentment can hide. And I had shoved it down and I didn't think it. I thought I was in pretty good shape. And then I realized and I thought, well, so what's he going to ask us to do? And the next thing he says now, do you have someone like that? He said if you do, I want to ask you to stand up. Well, I'm a pastor, I'm supposed to have dealt with these things. But in that moment the Spirit of God moved upon me and Alice and I were sitting there and I stood up and he said I want you to give that to God, give that resentment to God, give that unforgiveness. And I called their name as I prayed silently, I called their name and for the offense and the resentment that I realized suddenly I have been harboring resentment against them and I gave it up. I gave it to the Lord in that moment and I have to tell you something a burden was lifted off of me that I did not even know I was carrying immediate left freedom. I want to tell you something else that happened. I know this sounds crazy to you, but it was. I'm not saying this has to be the rule for everybody, but in short order I could no longer remember who they were. I cannot stand here today and tell you who it was. I've tried to. I don't know if this is good. I've tried to pull it back up. I don't, and I haven't been able to. I mean that before God Almighty, when he took it, he took it. When he took it, he took it and I got a freedom there that I didn't know I didn't have. You know most people, when their arteries get blocked, they don't know it for a long time until something happens Traumatic. Look, if you're harboring resentment or unforgiveness, you can push it down. Shove it down. You can live your life and you can cover it from a lot of people, but you can't hide it from God. And somewhere along the line it will either restrict or stunt your spiritual growth or it will do some kind of severe damage and you may get so used to it that you think the damage it has done is normal. And it's not, and Jesus shows us and tells us and teaches us how to get free. Maybe there are some of you here today, or some of you watching on television live stream or listening by radio. I want to give you a chance to give your resentment and unforgiveness to God. Can I ask you in this place to bow your head, close your eyes. Nobody is looking about in this place Now. Some of you I would think at some point most of us have battled with some of these things. Some of you, when I began to mention there's somebody in your life, you already knew. You knew immediately. Maybe several others of you may need to ask God right now. God, would you show me if there is someone or someone that I need to forgive? Would you do that right now? God, is there someone in my life, someone that I've harbored resentment toward? Would you show them to me right now? Now, listen, don't argue about it with God. Don't say, well, I know who it is, but they don't deserve my forgiveness. That may be so, I don't doubt that. But remember, it's not just about them. It's about you even more than it is about them. It's about you experiencing the freedom that Christ can bring through forgiveness. Now, if there's someone, or even several, I want to ask you to stand. Would you stand and say, yep, I've got somebody in my life. I want to stand because I want to pray. I want to lead you in a prayer of forgiveness. I want you to tell God that you forgive and that you will continue, in some cases, to forgive. Would you, right now, join me, if you're standing in your heart, offer this prayer to the Lord, something like this Lord Jesus, thank you for your forgiveness to me. Lord, I've been harboring hurt and pain and anger and bitterness toward and you. You fill in that name to God or names. Lord, it has affected me. Lord, it has changed me. Lord, it has made me weary. Lord, has robbed me of my joy in the Lord and has affected my spiritual growth. Lord, I forgive and I will practice forgiving. You call their name to the Lord. I forgive them for the hurt, I forgive them for the abandonment. I forgive them for the harshness. I forgive them for the criticisms. I forgive them for the physical and emotional attacks or whatever it may be. You just tell the Lord whatever it is that you have dealt with and say, lord, I don't want to carry this burden of resentment anymore. In your Word you say come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So, lord, I come to you today and I want the rest that comes with forgiveness. So I forgive, and, lord, would you help me to continue forgiving them in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I'm so glad that you have tuned in to the broadcast today. I hope you've been encouraged by God's Word. Sure has been a joy to share it with you. And even now, people at Ridgecrest are making decisions for Christ. Christ says. You've watched this broadcast. You've recognized the need for your own decision for Christ. The prompting of the Spirit has caused you to recognize that you need Christ as your Savior, and the good news is you can receive Him right where you are. The Bible says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Right where you are, you can call on Him. Say something like this from your heart to Him Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. I know I'm a sinner and I know that you came into this world and died on the cross for my sins, and right now I invite you to come into my life, forgive me and be my Savior. I can assure you, if you'll call on Him, based on what God has already told us in the Bible, that He'll hear that prayer and He'll answer that and he wants to begin this new journey in your life with you, transforming you into His image. We'd love to help you with that decision as well. You'll see a QR code on your screen and if you would scan that or you'll see contact information, or if you'll contact us about your decision today, we'd love to help you take next steps. There are no strings attached, no fees involved. We'd just like to help you begin that journey with Christ. You may be watching this broadcast today and say I need a church family to belong to. I already know Christ as my Savior and I'd like to be a part of the Ridgecrest family. Also, if you will scan that QR code, that'll take you to a location and we'll be able to help you make those kinds of decisions, like becoming a member here or if you've never been scripturally baptized, those kinds of things. So contact us through that QR code or through the contact information on the screen. Well, again, it's been a joy to have you with us today and I hope you've been encouraged by God's word. Whatever decision we can help you with, by all means contact us. May the Lord bless you.