All are forgiven so we can start again.
Forgiveness is not an easy word to say. There is cost to forgiveness.
Forgiveness without addressing cause of problems might lead to further problems.
Forgiveness is an awesome concept.
It will never be an option when both parties are locked in their own interest to the extent they could or would not consider that of the other parties. It sounds like you need a bit of coolness of head (and heart) to consider forgiving the other party. You need to get out of yourself, view yourself and the situation you are in from an out of body experience. Forgiveness cannot be knocked into you. It cannot be an option that someone can force upon you.
There’s so much written, preached, debated about forgiveness, so I won’t do anymore here. But note the line here is about all forgiven – we as a community of believers forgiven. It’s probably best said the other way – we are a community of believers whom God has forgiven. The emphasis here are the singleness of the community, and that God offered forgiveness and we accepted. Then the bit becomes relevant – that we are forgiven to start again.
Here are some discussion questions for your group. You can also do these on your own, and then share your thoughts with others at a later time so the several of you can benefit.

1. Recall examples from the Bible that speak about forgiveness. What are the lessons?
2. Recall examples from the Bible that speak about forgiveness. What are the lessons?
3. Do you remember more about problems that your / another church (a) kept working on over a long time or a lot of effort to resolve, or (b) initiated path of forgiveness?
4. Discuss preparing a short explanation (or use a story) about forgiveness, grace, repentance and salvation, aimed at a friend who is struggling with receiving or giving forgiveness.
5. In what ways being forgiven makes starting again possible or easier? Consider this as a church, has there been situation where the church initiated forgiveness?
6. Is forgiveness alternative to saying goodbye?
7. Wars are won by might, not forgiveness. Situations that have got some far down in disputes tend to have far more repairs to do not on the initial problem but the ensuing arguments. How does forgiveness work in such a scale?
8. Is forgiveness cheap or shortcut?
9. If it is incredibly difficult to forgive, is it also incredibly difficult to “let go” of recurring situations?
10. We often put “forgiveness” and “forget” together. How does this relate to “seventy of seven”?
All are forgiven so we can start again.
Forgiveness is not an easy word to say. There is cost to forgiveness.
Forgiveness without addressing cause of problems might lead to further problems.
Forgiveness is an awesome concept.
It will never be an option when both parties are locked in their own interest to the extent they could or would not consider that of the other parties. It sounds like you need a bit of coolness of head (and heart) to consider forgiving the other party. You need to get out of yourself, view yourself and the situation you are in from an out of body experience. Forgiveness cannot be knocked into you. It cannot be an option that someone can force upon you.

There’s so much written, preached, debated about forgiveness, so I won’t do anymore here. But note the line here is about all forgiven – we as a community of believers forgiven. It’s probably best said the other way – we are a community of believers whom God has forgiven. The emphasis here are the singleness of the community, and that God offered forgiveness and we accepted. Then the bit becomes relevant – that we are forgiven to start again.
Here are some discussion questions for your group. You can also do these on your own, and then share your thoughts with others at a later time so the several of you can benefit.
Recall examples from the Bible that speak about forgiveness. What are the lessons? |
As a community of believers that is your church, how might causes of problems or conflict arose? This might be a difficult one to answer, so it might be best to use examples from other churches you have come across. |
Do you remember more about problems that your / another church (a) kept working on over a long time or a lot of effort to resolve, or (b) initiated path of forgiveness? |
Discuss preparing a short explanation (or use a story) about forgiveness, grace, repentance and salvation, aimed at a friend who is struggling with receiving or giving forgiveness. |
In what ways being forgiven makes starting again possible or easier? Consider this as a church, has there been situation where the church initiated forgiveness? |
Is forgiveness alternative to saying goodbye? |
Wars are won by might, not forgiveness. Situations that have got some far down in disputes tend to have far more repairs to do not on the initial problem but the ensuing arguments. How does forgiveness work in such a scale? |
Is forgiveness cheap or shortcut? |
If it is incredibly difficult to forgive, is it also incredibly difficult to “let go” of recurring situations? |
We often put “forgiveness” and “forget” together. How does this relate to “seventy of seven”? |
