The Offenses of My Past

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¹⁹ Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. ²⁰ Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. (James 1:19-20)

Righteous anger self-righteous anger.

Does my anger help me the people around me, be more like ?

Do I want to make an ?

Do I want to make an ?

³ We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. ⁴ We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. ⁵ We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

²⁶ And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ for anger gives a foothold to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26-27)

Forgiveness: Choosing to release the that I believe you owe me for the wrong you did to me.

We will always have opportunities to be offended, but living offended is a .

Dealing with Offenses of the Past:

1. Remember that people are .

²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. (Romans 3:23)

You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. ² For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. ³ They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. ⁴ They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. ⁵ They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

2. Remember your have power.

²⁹ Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (Ephesians 4:29)

²⁷ But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. (Luke 6:27-28)

3. Be thick-skinned and .

³² Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)

¹² Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³ Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. (Colossians 3:12-13)

Additional Notes

What’s Happening at Crossroads

NEW HERE?

We’re so glad you’ve chosen to come to Crossroads today! We want to thank you for visiting and would love to get to know you. Stop by and say hello at one of our Welcome Centers, our First Step area, or check out ecrossroads.info for more. We can’t wait to meet you!

CHRISTMAS EVE GATHERINGS

Christmas is rapidly approaching. As you finish your shopping, and make your plans for family gatherings, be thinking about someONE God is leading you to invite. Invite them to join one of our gatherings. More information.

Downtown 
• Tuesday 12/24 – 5 p.m.

South
• Monday 12/23 – 6:30 p.m. 
• Tuesday 12/24 – 5 and 7 p.m.

Childcare will be available for our youngest age groups at each gathering.

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVING

You can help everyone feel welcome at our Christmas Gatherings. You can let us know digitally.

BLUE CHRISTMAS

Christmas isn’t always easy. Grief and other hardships can make it difficult. Bridgeway Church, 1401 E Hoffer St,, will be hosting a community service on December 21 at 7 p.m. You can find more details at bluechristmas.info.

DEC. 29 GATHERINGS

We will be having gatherings on Dec. 29th. At South, we’ll have one gathering at 10 a.m. and at Downtown, we’ll have our 10:45 a.m. gathering as normal. If you are on vacation and can’t join us in person, you can always join us via online at ecrossroads.tv, Facebook Live, and YouTube Live.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION GUIDE

We have a guide about resolving conflict and forgiveness. Available online.