18Sep 2017 by Kirsten Sauey Hofmann

Sermon from September 17, 2017

Pastor, Sermons
Gospel text: Matthew 18:21-35; Epistle text: Romans 14:1-12 Last week we got to reflect on how to handle conflict in the church. Today we move right along to the next set of verses in Matthew and get to reflect on forgiveness. Forgiveness is something we all struggle with, whether you are an active part of the body of Christ or not. I’m sure you can call to mind at least one person that you struggle to forgive. Maybe you’ve been holding onto that person for years, or maybe it’s a pattern in your relationship. “Often we do not really want to forgive someone or ask for their forgiveness, even though we know we “should”.” (Dudley Cleghorn, Feasting On The Word, 70) Forgiveness can be hard to practice! Why? We might…
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18Sep 2017 by Kirsten Sauey Hofmann

Sermon from September 10, 2017

Pastor, Sermons
Gospel text: Matthew 18:15-20 Let’s start off by articulating some things that Jesus does not say in Matthew 18 (articulated by my colleague, Nate Sutton): “If another member of the church sins against you, withdraw quietly yet in disgust, go home in a huff, and stew about it for a few months.” “If another member of the church sins against you, silently hold it against the ministries they love, and decline to support any of them for a year or two.” “If another member of the church sins against you, grumble about it to your friends, or better yet, to the pastor (but don’t mention the name of the offending person), or better yet, to your various online communities.” “If another member of the church sins against you, bottle up…
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