Let It Go!

What is it in your life you need to let go?

So often we drag around with us these burdens that get in the way of our relationship with God.  Sometimes we ARE that burden to others in our life.  We need to find ways to forgive and to be forgiven.  That is the focal point of our sermon series – forgiveness.  Forgiveness isn’t forgetfulness.  It isn’t about letting bad things happen to us.  It’s about our ability to put the past behind us and move on.  That doesn’t mean the hurt we feel will disappear.  It just means we will not allow it to stop us from growing as people of faith.  We won’t let it damage the good relationships we DO have.  And we won’t let it control us.  Forgiveness is about restoration.

As we lead up to our all-church retreat focusing on this topic, we thought it would be a good idea to explore the meaning of forgiveness and why it is so important.  In worship at BMUC (and we hope you join us), we will be team preaching on the topic.  I’ll be opening up with a message about forgiving others while Mike will share about forgiving ourselves and Chai will share about receiving forgiveness from those we’ve hurt.  We hope you’ll be moved and touched by these words and feel inspired to have forgiveness enter into your heart in a new way.

• An Invasive Species – How can anger, bitterness, resentment, and hatred become an invasive species of the soul and what can we do about it?  In this message, we share about how forgiving others is helpful to ourselves and our relationship with God.
• Forgiving Yourself – If we are called to love others as we love ourselves, shouldn’t we forgive others as we forgive ourselves?  In this message by Rev. Mike, we explore the importance of forgiving ourselves in our challenge to move on and grow deeper in faith.
• There’s One Thing Lacking – What do we need forgiveness for? Do you challenge yourself to look in the mirror and realize YOU need forgiveness for things you have done – both to God and to those around you?  Find out more in this message from Minister Chai.