For my Homiletics class this past spring I had to write two sermon outlines and present one to the Pastor who was overseeing the class. He taught me a lot just in the time we had for presentation/discussion ❤️ Before now only my mom and the Pastor have seen my notes. He is the only one that has heard me speak out loud too. After a discussion last night, God put it on my heart to share the notes with someone. This morning I’m taking a huge step in sharing them here. It is raw and unedited. It is vulnerable. It is me.
Brooke Richards #18722
Homiletics Sermon Outline-Topical
A forgiving heart heals a hurt heart
We all have a testimony. Our personal story of how we encountered Jesus and He changed our lives.
Maybe you feel that you don’t have a testimony or that yours isn’t “amazing” The truth is all our testimonies are amazing in their own way.
Maybe you aren’t a believer (yet). That is ok. I have Faith that you will get there in time.
What I want to talk to you about is something near to my heart. Something that is a huge part of my personal testimony and my journey with Christ; Forgiveness and how it can heal a hurting heart
As a child I experienced events in in my young life that maybe some of you also experienced; sexual abuse by someone I know
Experts estimate that
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before their 18th birthday.
Most child victims never report the abuse.
30-40% of children who are sexually abused are abused by family members.
More than 90% of children who are sexually abused know their abusers
I fell into the never reporting the abuse (to authorities) and knowing my abusers. I say abusers because there were separate events- one occurring with a neighborhood older child and later with a “friend” of the family. Both occurred before age 11.
Why tell you about my abuse? Because, as I previously said, it is a large part of my testimony. It speaks to how God calls us to have a forgiving heart and it is that forgiving heart that can heal our hurt. I won’t lie and tell you that it was easy to do, BUT I can tell you that it was worth it
In order to learn to have a forgiving heart, we must understand what God’s word says about forgiveness
In Luke 17:3-4, Jesus tells us
“If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
What if they don’t repent? Or you never get the chance to have that conversation?
There are times when you can have that conversation and the person may indeed repent. Other times they may not. You may also never get to have the conversation for a variety of reasons. I never had that conversation so only God knows if my offenders have repentant hearts
Paul give us insight into this in Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Jesus also tells us to forgive those who seek our forgiveness and even those who may not when He says in
Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
You see When we forgive others, God forgives us of our sins. We must remember We are all sinners in some way. We are aren’t called to judge another’s sin nor decide if they are truly repentant. We are, however, called to forgive
Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Again, we forgive, not for the benefit of the offender, BUT because God forgave us
The question remains then How can forgiveness heal your hurt?
For many years after my abuse I did not tell anyone. In my hurt I grew angry and withdrawn. There was much unforgiveness and, dare I say, hate in my heart for those who hurt me. I viewed myself, not as God saw me, but as unworthy. Unworthy of love and acceptance. I saw myself as less than and damaged. It took accepting Jesus into my heart for God to start being able to work on renewing my clouded view of my worth and see myself as God sees me. A beloved child worthy of so much unconditional love.
It did not happen overnight.Even after I accepted Jesus in my heart I still found myself clinging to my unforgiving heart. I held on to who I thought I was because of the abuse. Over time, God showed me how He was there through all the pain and held me the whole time so that I could withstand and, eventually, forgive so that I could heal. He also showed me that my unforgiveness was hurting me and blocking our relationship and have a negative affect on many of my relationships. It truly took giving up, letting go, and giving over to God. Crying out saying “I can’t do this (life) without you in control”
It was in that moment that I handed over my unforgiving heart and God took it from me so I could heal and fully see myself as He sees me. How He sees each of you. Beloved, Worthy, Redeemed, Forgiven
When I finally forgave my offenders fully before God it was not to excuse them, but to release myself. As I said before I never sat down with the people who hurt even if I did it would have been to forgive them no matter if they repented or not. Their repentance is to God even more than it would be to me. God calls me, as His child, to forgive. In doing so…
A forgiving heart can be heard by God- not just heard, but healed.
You see, God longs for a deep relationship with each of us. He desires us to forgive others just as He forgives us. It is who He is- loving and forgiving.
Unforgiveness can blocks our relationship with Him. In Mark 11:25 Jesus tells us
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Now, Where do we go from here?
God calls us to have a forgiving heart and it is that forgiving heart that can heal our hurt
We do not forgive for the sake of the offender. We forgive because God calls us to have forgiving hearts like the one, He has for us.
Imagine if we forgave (and we forgiven by others) the same way God forgives us?
What an amazing, joyous, and love filled world that would be!?!
If you find yourself in a place where you are struggling to forgive- Try living out 1 Peter 5:7 – casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Cast your cares/concerns/fears/doubts/ worries about forgiving on Jesus. He can take them from you. You can leave them at the foot of the cross and NOT pick them back up
The beautiful message here is that Jesus can carry our burdens and carry our hurts.
As Jesus, Himself, tells us in
Matthew 11:28-30-
Come to Me, all you 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.”
Heavenly Father
I Thank you for your heart to forgive us of our sins and for showing us that our forgiveness of others can heal our hurts. Father I ask that if anyone is struggling to forgive someone in their lives that you comfort them Letting them know that they can cast their struggles upon you. They can be unburdened, and they can heal. Father, let them see that a forgiving heart does not make the actions of their offender right or the offender blameless, rather it releases them from being a slave to it so that they may heal. Thank you for being there for us in our times of pain and our times of joy. We love you and praise you. All that I ask I ask in the healing name of Jesus
Faith Grows Faith 