01/03/22 Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 17

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

RECONCILIATION… I had not been their pastor very long. In an effort to become acquainted with the older members of the congregation, I invited one long-time member to be my visitation partner for a few months. The first time we went visiting together he surprised me at the end of the afternoon. Pulling into the church parking lot he reached into his shirt pocket to reveal a note card with the names of ten men written on it. “Pastor,” he began, “these ten men have deeply offended me and I want them brought before the church to answer for what they have done.” As we talked, I learned that he had been carrying this list of names around for more than three years, but had never attempted reconciliation with any one of them. Biblical reconciliation was missing from his demand; he was only interested in revenge. Perhaps you need to be reconciled to a brother or sister in Christ. Perhaps others in your church family are at distant odds over some issue or another. Regardless what the offense, without forgiveness and reconciliation, your church will continue to struggle and REVITALIZATION attempts will be stymied.

PRAY… Lord Jesus, we are a broken people, and among us we have broken relationships that, apart from Your grace, will continue to hamper the fellowship and the effectiveness of our church. Please show Yourself strong by surfacing every previous offense that is strangling us, and compel us, by Your Holy Spirit, to speak the truth in love to one another and to offer to one another the same forgiveness which You have so generously given to us. Please break down every stronghold of bitterness and unforgiveness in our fellowship, and replace it with the fruit of Your Holy Spirit. I humbly ask in Your Name. Amen.