Sometimes we know that our sins are forgiven but we have trouble forgiving ourselves. 

8 Truths of why we can forgive ourselves of the shame and guilt of our past sins (and an item to help us remember it):

#1) Chains - Foundation of God's forgiveness … When we receive forgiveness from God, we are set free  from the chains of our in. 

#2) Map - God forgives our sins and forgets them (Hebrews 8:12; Psalm 102:10-12; Micah 7:9) …As far as the East is from the West, that’s how far our sin is taken from us. They are cast into the depths of the sea. God doesn’t hold our sins against us when he forgives them. 

#3) Heart - Character of God (1 John 1:9) … God is loving, forgiving, kind, just, and all good things. We are made in the image of God and have the capacity to reflect or emulate those same qualities in our lives. 

#4) A picture of Jesus - Imputation of Christ (Romans 3:21-22; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 2:13-14) … Jesus’ righteousness has been transferred to those who put their faith in Him. We could not achieve righteousness on our own because of our sin, but Jesus took on that sin debt and gave us His righteousness. 

The first 4 are all about what God has done for us. The next 4 are our responsibilities and how we should respond to what God has done for us. 

#5) Backpack - Shame and guilt we carry (John 8:44, 36) … We all carry around some shame and guilt due to our sins. God may forgive and forget, but Satan doesn’t, and he uses those sins to weigh us down with shame and guilt, constantly reminding us of it. Satan wants us to be weighed down, but Jesus says we are free. 

#6) To-do list - Remembering sin can be good (Psalm 51:1-3, 10-12) … We learn from our past mistakes. Often we learn more from failures than from successes, and sins are certainly failures. It’s good to remember how bad sins make us feel so we avoid them in the future. Remembering our sin also allows us to remember God’s grace and how we have grown as people since those sins have been put behind us. David sinned plenty of times and he never forgot it, nor did he ever forget God’s goodness in dealing with him. It helped him to grow and become a good king. 

#7) Mask - We distance ourselves or act fake (Ephesians 4:15-16; Philippians 2:19-20) … We’re called to be the body of Christ and do life together. Satan, obviously, doesn’t want that. Satan wants to distance us so we can’t support each other and help each other grow. 

#8) Family photo - Our life is on display (1 Timothy 1:12-16) … We may not realize it, but our lives are always on display. People watch us to see how we act and respond in different situations. We can help influence people with how we live and even use our lives as ways to bring people to Christ. It’s not always words that convince. Many times, it’s actions. 

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

At the heart of the gospel, is that God offers us forgiveness of sins. That message is evident through the life and preaching of Jesus Christ and is evident in the early church. Paul reminds us not to forget the gospel.

1. Paul reminds them of the centrality of the Gospel (v1-2).... Life gets messy sometimes, and it's important to remember that the Gospel is to be the center of our lives. The Gospel isn't something we just receive and are done with. It continues throughout our lives. When we receive it, we are saved, which is sometimes referred to as Justification. We stand within the Gospel which makes us better, known as sanctification. And we continue to be saved by it into the future where we will be with God in Heaven, known as Glorification. 

2. Paul reminds them of the content of the Gospel (v3-4).... Paul explains the key components of the Gospel here, breaking it into three main parts. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He was buried. And He rose from the dead….. We have all sinned and deserve death, meaning we all need forgiveness. Christ died in our place so that we would have a way to be saved and forgiven. We are called to repent and change our lives by following Jesus to receive His forgiveness. We don't have to be perfect to be forgiven. That would make it impossible. There is no way we can become perfect on this Earth, but with Christ we can grow towards perfection and reach it in Heaven. 

3. Paul reminds them of the confirmation of the Gospel (V5-8).... Paul points out that many people saw Jesus after His resurrection. Why is this important? Because the resurrection is critical. So it's important to show that it really happened and the best way to do that is to point to all the people who saw Him afterwards. 

4. Paul reminds them of the calling of the Gospel (V9-11).... Paul reminds the readers of his past, that he had persecuted believers before he was one, and yet he was called to salvation. The calling isn't just for salvation, but also to be an ambassador of Christ, to serve Christ. It's a call to a new life, a call to life in Christ. 

1 Corinthians 10:16-22

Baptists usually call this event “The Lord’s Supper” (from 1 Corinthians 11:20). Another term for this event is “Communion” (from 1 Corinthians 10:16). The Greek word koinonia is often translated “fellowship” or “partnership.” In this passage it is translated “communion” (KJV), “participation” (NIV, ESV), or “sharing,” (CSB, NASB, NLT).

The Lord’s Supper expresses our fellowship with Christ (10:16).... It's a reminder that we have a communion with Jesus. This act doesn't create the communion or fellowship, but it helps us remember. 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 shows us that the fellowship is created by our repentance and faith. 

The Lord’s Supper expresses our fellowship with other Christians (10:17).... We all share in the body of Christ; we are all part of the body of Christ. We are meant to fellowship together, to do life together. Taking the Lord's Supper together is a reminder of that. Even though we may have differences and maybe even some grudges or disagreements, but we are still meant to fellowship together. 

The Lord’s Supper reminds us that we cannot share fellowship with idols or demons (10:18-22).... There were many idols and pagan temples in Corinth. Paul explains that idols are nothing, but there is evil behind them. He instructed readers to not eat or drink anything directly tied to the idols or sacrifices straight from the temples. Paul says food is food but that eating straight from the idol is participating in that sacrifice and worship, but that getting it elsewhere after the fact is fine. For us, Halloween is a similar thing. Bats are bats. Cats are cats. We can use Halloween to reach children and families with Christ centered fall festivals or trunk-or-treats, but we should avoid the darker aspects of the holiday that could lead some, even a tiny amount, to demon worship like those people back in Corinth eating from the idols.

Genesis 23-25

This is the last sermon in this series. We've seen Abraham and his family go through a lot of stuff and had many teachable moments. Here's a few more to finish off the series. 

The final three episodes in Abraham’s life relate to the future:

Abraham buried his wife Sarah (Genesis 23).... Sarah passed away and Abraham mourned her death. He wept for her. But he had no land to bury her in, so he bought a cave and used it as a burial tomb. He was living in the promised land, but had no land, and yet he still clung to the promise God had made to him. 

Abraham secured a wife for his son Isaac (Genesis 24)... Abraham wanted to make sure Isaac married one of his people, so he sent a servant back home find a woman. The servant went and found Rebecca, a distant cousin to Isaac. Rebecca returns with the servant and marries Rebecca…. Parents can't control their child's destiny, but they can help set up their child for success and provide them with a good foundation. For people looking for a spouse, this story shows that you should determine the type of person you want to merry, look in the right places for them, and be faithful to God in the search. 

Abraham died and was buried by his sons (Genesis 25).... Abraham's spirit left him as he died surrounded by his people. His sons buried him with Sarah. Later, Isaac and Rebecca would also be buried there. Then Jacob and Leah. Finally, following the Exodus, Joseph's bones, which were 100s of years old, were buried in that cave too. We might not see everything fulfilled in our lives, but we can be confident that God will keep His promises in the future even if we don't see it. 

All these were still living by faith when they died (Hebrews 11:13-16).... There's more to come. We look forward to the future, where we know God's promises will be fulfilled. 

Abraham is still alive (Mark 12:26-27).... Jesus says that Abraham is still alive. God is the God of the living and when we pass away on Earth, we just go home to Heaven. 

If you believe in his offspring, Jesus, you can meet Abraham one day (Matthew 8:11).... There will be a reunion of God's people where we will get to meet everyone else who was saved by God's grace through faith.