Sunday 9th November, 2008

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78 STEPS TO INNER PEACE

• Read the parable in Matthew 18:21-35 once again. This is Jesus’ master class on forgiveness! Is there anything new that has started to stand out to you since we’ve been going through this series?

• Put yourself into the story as the servant forgiven by the King. What point in the story are you at when you think about your relationships with certain other people?

• Think about your relationships like a web spun out from you. Are there any broken strands? How did they get broken? What responsibility do you have? What have you done about repairing them?

• Do your relationships with other people feel relevant to your relationship with God? Read Matthew 5:23-24. When you come before God to worship, how easy do you find it to think that you are bringing your whole life – not just your ‘religious’ life before him? Read Romans 12:1-2 (the meaning especially jumps out in The Message, so try to read it from there)

• Forgiveness and reconciliation, even for small everyday things, is too difficult for us to do in our own strength. It requires supernatural effort, so we need God’s help. Read Romans 12:9-21 out loud. Try writing it out in your own words, as if you were conveying the ideas to a friend who doesn’t understand all the Christian terms. Look especially at verses 17 to 19. What did Paul bear in mind when he had to forgive people? Do you do the same?

• God wants us to be his children (many Bibles use the word sons of God, but it is for men and women!) Read Luke 6:27-36 and Matthew 5:9. How would you explain the difference between keeping and making peace?

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