That would be... "PRACtical APPlication".
God wouldn't have done us any favors if He had chosen to write a great big book about "theory" or "theology". He didn't. He wrote us a "love story"... the greatest one ever written. In it you'll find encouragement, instruction, cool stories and lots of practical application.
From the movies and from some other popular television, here are a few great topics that may serve as illustrations and pointers to God's Word on the topic.
Forgiveness
This clip, from the movie, "Braveheart", demonstrates the concept of forgiveness as good as anything I've ever encountered. The dead chick, wrapped in white, is the daughter of the two folks on the right and Mel Gibson's girlfriend. She's dead because she and Mel disobeyed Mom and Dad and were hangin' out together. Pay attention to the range of emotions present in Dad, as he works through them and eventually forgives Mel.
The Preachin’
Ephesians 4:31-32 (NLT)
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander,
as well as all types of malicious behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to
each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ
has forgiven you.
1 Peter 3:8-9 (NLT)
8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward
each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. 9 Don’t
repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate when people say unkind things about you.
Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and
he will bless you for it.
The Problem
Broken Relationship With God
Matthew 18:21-35 (NLT)
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I
forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” 22 “ No! ” Jesus replied, “ seventy times seven! 23 “ For this reason, the Kingdom
of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to
date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed
him millions of dollars. 25 He
couldn’t pay, so the king ordered that he, his wife, his children, and
everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 26 But the man fell down before the king and begged him, ‘
Oh, sir, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.
’ 27 Then the
king was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
28 “ But when
the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand
dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and
demanded instant payment. 29 His
fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘
Be patient and I will pay it, ’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and
jailed until the debt could be paid in full. 31 “ When some of the other
servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him
what had happened. 32 Then the king
called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘ You
evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.
33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow
servant, just as I had mercy on you? ’ 34
Then the angry king sent the man to prison until
he had paid every penny. 35 “
That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you
refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters in
your heart. ”
Matthew 6:14-15 (JNT)
14 For if you forgive others their offences, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others their
offences, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.
Matthew 5:23-24 (NLT)
23 “ So if
you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God,
and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24
leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go
and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
Broken:
§
Speaking
to Him
§
Hearing
from Him
§
Experience
of His Presence
§
Intimacy
§
Worship
§
Blessings
for Obedience
§ Acceptability of Giving
The Process
§
When
someone is taken hostage, describe the process.
o
Take
something or do something they have no right to.
o Withold something until “payment” is made.
§
Parts
to forgiveness
o
Transgression
o
Debt
o Cancellation of the Debt
§ Identify the “parts” to the process in the following situations:
o
Someone
steals your bike
§
Transgression
– taking of your property
§
Debt
Created –
·
give
the bike back /
·
go to
jail /
·
explain
how you could do such a thing
§
Cancellation
(forgiveness) –
·
Give
up your right, desire, and expectation to get the bike back
·
Give
up your right, desire, and expectation for punishment of the offender
· Give up your right, desire, and expectation for an explanation.
o
Someone
punches you in the face
§
Transgression
– physical violence against you
§
Debt
Created—
·
Eye
for an eye
·
Go to
jail
·
Explain
why
§
Cancellation
(forgiveness)
·
Give
up your right, desire, and expectation for retribution
·
Give
up your right, desire, and expectation for punishment of the offender
· Give up your right, desire, and expectation for an explanation.
Temptation
This clip from, "Finding Nemo" illustrates the concept of temptation leading to sin. Some questions are in order with regard to Bruce's real commitment to not eating fish. Folks who struggle with the temptation to eat fish probably shouldn't hang out in close proximity to them!
1.
Introduction
In his book, Men at Work, George F. Will
takes a close look at four baseball players. One of those examined is Orel
Hershiser (of Dodgers fame), who talks about his philosophy of pitching.
“There are two theories of pitching,”
Hershiser says. “One is that you try to convince the batter that a particular
pitch is coming and you throw something different. The other theory, that you
don’t hear as much, but that I use, is that if the batter expects a particular
pitch, you throw it, but you throw it in a place where he can’t hit it.” That
is: Know what a batter wants or expects and throw the ball almost there. If he
is a highball hitter, throw it a bit too high. His eagerness will prevent him
from laying off it, but it will be hard to hit well.
Isn’t that the way the enemy works in
our life? He knows just what kind of pitch that we are a sucker for and then
throws it our way. But, it is just a little higher or just a little bit more
outside than where we like it, and most likely we will bite on it every time.
After all, it looks so good. It feels so right.
Doug Cecil,
Dallas Connection, Spring, 1995, p. 1
2.
Body
a.
(Read
Genesis 3:4-5; Matthew 4:1-10)
b.
Lie
#1: God either doesn’t understand
or doesn’t care about your needs.
i. Genesis
1.
satan
suggested,
2.
Eve
considered,
3.
Eve
decided
ii. Matthew
1.
satan
suggested,
2.
Jesus
rejected, based on the Word of God… not how he felt.
c. Lie #2: It MIGHT NOT be disobedience…
d.
Lie
#3a: If it IS disobedience, God
probably won’t do anything about it.
e.
Lie
#3b: If He does, the penalties for
the sin will be less painful than rejecting the temptation.
i. Consequences aren’t always felt
immediately
ii. One of the most SERIOUS
consequences is broken fellowship with God, and the inability to hear Him.
iii. Sometimes, consequences are
cumulative
iv. See above on consequences
v. This is a “feelings” driven
approach which is ALWAYS wrong (doing the right thing for the wrong reason is
the wrong thing)
vi. Our real problem: the temptation is more real to us than
God.
f. Lie #4: Succumbing to the temptation will “feel good” and somehow
enhance or improve your life.
3.
Closing
It was F. B. Meyer, I believe, who once
said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do
not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second,
we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her. We also do not
know what we would have done in the same circumstances.
Stephen Brown, Christianity Today, April 5, 1993, p. 17