Bridges: Crossing The Bridge Of Forgiveness: Genesis 32:9-24, 33:1-16

 

1.  Examine Prayerfully

Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me…  
Genesis 32:11 (NIV)

2.  Engage in Restoration

He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau.
Genesis 32:13 (NIV)

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. 
Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV)

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.        
2 Corinthians 5:18 (NIV)

He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my Lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”
Genesis 32:17-18 (NIV)

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord!  Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Luke 19:8 (NIV)

3.  Express Humility

He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
Genesis 33:3 (NIV)

4.  Expect Positive Results

But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.  And the wept.
Genesis 33:4 (NIV)

source https://edgechurchcolorado.com/bridges-crossing-the-bridge-of-forgiveness-genesis-329-24-331-16/

Bridges: The Bridge To Life: John 14:6

 

SIN – ACKNOWLEDGE MY SIN

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Romans 3:23 (NIV)

TRUTH – ADMIT I NEED JESUS

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 (NLT)

For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus…
1 Timothy 2:5 (CSB)

ENTRUST – MY LIFE AND FUTURE TO JESUS

But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Acts 2:21 (NIV)

PEACE – MAKE MY PEACE WITH GOD

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace[a] with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Romans 5:1 (NLT)

source https://edgechurchcolorado.com/bridges-the-bridge-to-life-john-146/

No Strings Attached: I Will Overcome: 1 John 5:1-5

 

I Will Overcome By…

1.  Believing In Jesus

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him…because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world.  This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.  Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:1-5 (CSB)

2. Loving Others

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him.  This is how we know that we love God’s children… 
1 John 5:1-2 (CSB)

3. Obeying God’s Commands

This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands.  For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden. 
1 John 5:2-3 (CSB)

source https://edgechurchcolorado.com/no-strings-attached-i-will-overcome-1-john-51-5/

No Strings Attached: The Flow Of God’s Love: 1 John 4:8-12

 

1.  God’s Love Flows To Me

The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.  Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:8-10 (CSB)

…I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.
Jeremiah 31:3 (CSB)

2.  God’s Love Flows Through Me 

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7 (CSB)

Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God.  If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:11-12 (CSB)

source https://edgechurchcolorado.com/no-strings-attached-the-flow-of-gods-love-1-john-48-12/

No Strings Attached: From Death To Life: 1 John 3:14-24

 

Love…

1. Proves My Heart Has Been Transformed

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.
1 John 3:14 (CSB)

For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, 12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
1 John 3:11-13 (CSB)

2. Moves Me To Live Like Christ

This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:16 (CSB)

3. Compels Me To Powerful Actions

If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer[i] in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.
1 John 3:17-18 (CSB)

4. Draws Me Closer To God

This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.21 Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight. 23 Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.
1 John 3:19-24 (CSB)

When I have an UNCONDEMING HEART I have…

A. ANSWERED PRAYERS

Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.
1 John 3:21-22 (CSB)

Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
John 16:23-24 (CSB)

B. EMPOWERMENT OF THE SPIRIT

The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.
1 John 3:24 (CSB)

source https://edgechurchcolorado.com/no-strings-attached-from-death-to-life-1-john-314-24/

No Strings Attached: Hungering For God: Mark 10:46-52

Mark 10:46-52 (NIV)

⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

⁵² “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

source https://edgechurchcolorado.com/no-strings-attached-hungering-for-god-mark-1046-52/

No Strings Attached: Walking In The Light: 1 John 1:5-10

 

1.  God Is Light

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.           
1 John 1:5 (CSB)

2.  We Walk in Darkness

If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.           
1 John 1:6 (CSB)

3.  Christ Enables Dark People to Walk in the Light

If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:7-10 (CSB)

source https://edgechurchcolorado.com/no-strings-attached-walking-in-the-light-1-john-15-10/