Hello, hello, everybody. Let's take our seats and get situated so we can start our worship together. Great. Okay, please join with me in a word of prayer as we open up with some time of singing together. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we give you thanks. Lord God, we thank you so much for your presence, your love, and your mercies that you pour out on us every single day.

And God, we recognize that as we live here on earth, we constantly are receiving from you a regular grace that's far above and beyond what we deserve. And we pray that with grateful hearts we will continue to persevere through each season's ups and downs. And we again want to thank you and praise you for the opportunities we have to come to worship, to lift your name on high, to fellowship, learn, and more.

So we do want to lift our hearts to you in this time. And even as we sing, we want to lift our words and affection to you, Lord. So God, we thank you and pray for a fruitful time of study this evening. It's in Christ's name. Amen. >> Okay, amen.

Well, I would like to just go over a few announcements. And the first announcement is that for all the men, reminder that this Saturday at 9 a.m. is going to be our men's fellowship and meeting. Pastor Peter Kim will be preaching about biblical leadership. There's many aspects about leadership, and we touched on it already a few times.

But we'll also have discussion and fellowship over lunch, so make sure to sign up ASAP so that we can appropriately put you into groups. And then, open to everybody, both members and non-members, on the 28th, we're going to be having a special seminar on the topic of abortion. We would like to just tackle, we have been hearing just more and more prominent Christian individuals, figures, and pastors, and leaders talk about the viability of taking a pro-choice position.

But we want to talk about what are the biblical arguments, and even counter-arguments to the common statements that are made these days. So, that's going to happen at 145 in the sanctuary on the 28th of this month, so be sure to sign up for that. Okay, but before I have you guys go into the discussion time, I want to give just a brief, brief encouragement to persevere through this long series of the study.

As you guys know, this spring session is 17 weeks long, so including the praise and prayers and the different breaks that we have, we've gone from January now to, we're going to finish in the second week of June. So, this last, like, four or five weeks that we have, persevere.

Make sure you guys are coming with good questions. Just making a side note that because in Philemon, we're tackling maybe three to four verses per evening, you might feel like there's only two points to hit. Maybe three points at max. But as we're seeking to hang on every word, so to speak, try your best to break down those three sentences into smaller, short phrases and meditate on each one.

The best thing to do if you're not able to, let's say, dig for profound, you know, insights or observations, is to try and ask as many questions as possible. So, just as an encouragement to you, make sure that when you come, come ready with at least several questions to ask about each phrase of the text.

Okay, have a great time of discussion. We'll see you guys back at eight. Okay. Let's have those of the groups that are in the room go out and come on out, and then we'll start our recap of the passage that we just discussed. Okay. Let's pray together, and then we'll jump into the text.

Let us pray. Lord, Heavenly Father, Lord God, as we look at your Word, help us, God, to meditate with great intent, and God, to really chew on every word that is found, God, in your Scripture. Lord, we also pray that when we study a letter like this, we've been learning much about the encouragement of Philemon's character.

We've been learning about Paul's character, and even from the one who has caused the offense, we're learning from Onesimus. We pray, Father God, that we would not see them as distant figures or potential others in the church, but we would really see our own hearts laid before you on the table, God, that you would mend, you would conform to the image of your Son.

We thank you in Christ's name. Amen. Okay. Taking a look at this passage, we hit this verse, verse 10 through 13, and I have entitled it as "My Child Onesimus," because the meditation of truth from this text will be focusing on the person and character of the former slave.

As a way of quick review, we have the idea that Paul was very, very thankful. He said, "I make mention of you in my prayer, and I thank my God for you." But one of the things that Paul was praying was that Philemon's faith that's already commendable would become even more effective.

And you have to keep that in mind when you think about even Onesimus and his faith and how effective that may be. Paul was also incredibly encouraged. He was the one receiving encouragement through Philemon's character of joy, comfort, and refreshment. And I gave a challenge last time, which I hope you guys had a fruitful discussion when discussing what is your general reputation?

How do people regularly see you? Do they see you as an individual who has an angry scowl and you just have a resting, embittered face? Or are you someone who brings joy, etc., etc.? And then we talked about Paul's confidence because of his confidence in Philemon's general character, he could make an appeal that Philemon's forgiveness would be out of his own free will as opposed to an exercise of Paul's authority to say, "You just need to forgive." Right?

He wanted it to be full of grace, full of mercy, but full of his own volition. Okay. So then we come to today's passage in verse 10 through 13, and it says, "I appeal to you for my child, Anisimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me.

I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, whom I wish to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel." Okay. So just again as a way to describe when I challenge at the beginning of the study to break things up into small phrases that you can meditate, you have each one of these phrases as something that you can take time to meditate on.

But the highlights for you that I have, I broke this segment down into two segments, verse 10 and 11, which clearly talks about Anisimus who was considered Apostle Paul's child, who was begotten, who was before useless, but now useful. And that beginning little two verses are centering and meditating on Anisimus as a person.

Verse 12 through 13 just simply describes that Apostle Paul sent him back, but there's even here a lot to think through. What do I mean by that? So what you'll notice is he describes the idea that it was obviously in person, that this is like him sending his heart, but also it is contrary to what he actually wished.

Okay. So now there's three things about his simple sending that you could sit and ask questions and meditate on. So very briefly as an overview, it just looks like that. So tackling the first section, verse 10 through 11, my child Anisimus, okay? My child Anisimus. When you think about this, Apostle Paul clearly is describing his perspective and heart on the person Anisimus, and so we have to be asking this question about, okay, Apostle Paul is making an appeal, but clearly it's going to be focused not just on, hey, you know this is the law.

You actually don't see a whole lot there, right? You actually don't see this is biblical principle. You actually don't see a whole lot there. What you actually see is, look, look what I see. He's my child. He was begotten, and we have to just kind of think about, yes, there's an obvious case he was converted.

He was formerly useless, and then now he's useful. So then from that, you get lots of questions you could ask. What kind of person was Anisimus that Apostle Paul would look at him and say, this is like my son, right? This is like my child. How much confidence do you think Paul had in Anisimus' character, even as a newer convert, that Apostle Paul would entrust him and say, well, I've got like message and news for Colossae, but I've got this long journey you need to go on, and I'm trusting you to do it.

If you guys remember my map of how far Rome is from Colossae, you gotta think Italy to Turkey, right? Would you trust an individual who has a lot to lose? If you look up, just Google real fast, what was the penalty for a runaway slave in the time of Jesus?

It's actually all over the place. Anything could have happened. If the owner was like, it's okay, I don't want him, then he was just cast out. If the owner said, I want that guy dead, then he would be killed. Let's brand him. That happened a lot. Both biblical historians and also non-Christian historians account to the fact that runaway slaves were branded fugitive.

And so obviously, there's a lot to risk. In that long, long journey, if Anisimus is just thinking, if he's operating off of fear, then there's many instances where he could have turned the other way, just escaped. How would Paul ever know? What would happen? What's more, there's questions--oops, sorry.

So then going back to the text, when we look at this then, what's more, we have questions about this idea of Apostle Paul describes him as the one he has begotten. So there's obviously a very near and dear closeness because Apostle Paul's the one who talked to this individual.

I don't know exactly how old he may be, into believing on Christ. And so he describes it as he has begotten him, spiritually fathered him, right? Taught him the core basics and led him to conversion. Now, here are some other questions. When you think about the idea that Apostle Paul is describing him, there isn't a whole lot said here, and honestly speaking, a lot of what I'm saying is more generic just thoughts, like, okay, clearly, like, Apostle Paul must have had trust and confidence.

Clearly, his conversion must have been genuine and real for Apostle Paul to think of him as a real converted individual that now he considers as a spiritual son. But why describe him as useless before and useful now, right? Here we go. Why describe him this way? Useless and useful.

In what way was Onesimus useless? Is it simply because he was a runaway? Or is he thinking of more than that? Why use the word useful when it seems so condescending? I mean, take a moment to think about, you have probably been at certain times complimented. It's like, oh man, you know, you're so gifted.

Oh man, even just even your looks, someone may say, oh, you're handsome, you're pretty, you're so pretty. I don't know ever when someone thought like, oh, you're so useful to me, right? As though that was a compliment that I was waiting to hear. It's quite condescending, isn't it, to describe someone in that fashion?

But actually, Scripture has a lot to say about that. So, sorry, give me one second here. I wanted to see if I can do this from presenter view because I'm having a hard time. Use presenter view. Okay, yes, it worked. Okay, so I want to highlight to you that in Romans 3 9-12, this portion of Scripture says, "What then?

Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless." I don't think he's using the word useless just because Onesimus had run away.

I think he's using the word useless because this was actually the way Apostle Paul described the generic state of mankind in his depravity. Yes? And so what is he highlighting to say that, "Oh, Onesimus is useful"? Well, I want you to think about an individual. In our day especially, there are certain individuals where it's like their repentance is so refreshing.

It's so clear, right? It's so evident. You have an individual who perhaps, potentially, could have been a rebellious, bold individual who was a big risk taker, right? To at that time, knowing the consequence, run away that far, I'm just assuming those things. That's not in Scripture. I'm assuming those things, right?

But to go from that to now an individual who is submissive to Apostle Paul's teaching, sticking around and trying to help, I don't know how long he had, but my guess is he had enough time to at least stay in Rome, pay his dues, be in the jails, all that kind of stuff, hear the gospel, be trained, and Apostle Paul sees such a refreshing, submissive, humble attitude that his conversion is clear, right?

His repentance is refreshing. And so in that way, his faith is causing him to be useful. Scripture talks about how an individual, you know, comparison to vessels in the home, synonymous and very corollary to like servants in the home, it says, "In the large house, "there are not only gold, silver vessels, "but also vessels of wood, of earthenware, "and some to honor and some to dishonor.

"Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself "from these things, "he will be a vessel for honor, "sanctified, useful to the master, "prepared for every good work." I ask the question as we meditate on this passage, we don't have a whole lot to go on. But the question is, how does Apostle Paul see this young convert, Onesimus?

He sees him like this. He's one who's useful for the kingdom. He's already been sanctified in many ways, perhaps, and he's going to be prepared for good work, including why Apostle Paul would say, "I wish I could keep him here "so that we could do this work for the kingdom together." Okay?

So, I wanted to highlight that because if today we're thinking about, "Hey, Onesimus, "Apostle Paul's child in the spirit," what we could also add, by way of conviction, is Onesimus, what a challenging example of true repentance, true conversion, a kind of refreshing individual who, yes, even though perhaps young in the faith, but nevertheless shows this kind of character.

Later on, I'm going to ask the question for discussion. There's even more questions. It's like, Apostle Paul is clearly making an appeal for Onesimus, but would he be making this appeal if Onesimus wasn't as worthy? If Onesimus was maybe one of those people who, you know, quick to defend, quick to excuse.

It's like, "Oh, you know I was oppressed. "Of course I had to run away. "Do you know how Philemon treated me?" That kind of stuff. Would Apostle Paul be vouching for this guy? By way of application, if you were a peacemaker, a counselor, and you had to counsel Philemon, if Onesimus was any less than an individual who had such refreshing repentance, could you push Philemon to this degree?

I'm just going to leave that for you to meditate on and move to the next segment. The next segment, verse 12-13, is Apostle Paul just simply stating this profound statement, like, "I sent Onesimus back to you." And again, there are various elements that we could ask questions about. It may just seem-- Sorry.

It may just seem-- It may just seem a matter of fact to just say, "Of course." Like, "Of course he went in person." Well, actually speaking for us, how many of us would rather if we got in a conflict, maybe even with people near and dear to us, our siblings, parents, spouses?

Sometimes conflict resolution is ultra-awkward, so you're very tempted to be like, "Hey, my bad." And then you text them, you know? "Sorry about earlier." Is it necessary that an individual comes in person because it was an option just to send a letter? Wouldn't that have been more effective? Send a letter to Philemon, keep him with Apostle Paul, let him do the work.

It all makes so much sense. What's more, why in the world does Apostle Paul describe it like this? Like, "I'm sending my heart to you." And then he describes him and discloses, like, "This was actually my wish, "so what we're doing now is contrary "to what makes sense to me as an alternative.

"I should keep him here." So there's a lot of questions, right? One of the questions I want to ask just from meditation is, do you think that Apostle Paul, okay, appealed to Philemon the same way he's appealing-- sorry, appealed to Onesimus the same way he's appealing now to Philemon?

Meaning that Apostle Paul go, "Hey, I don't want to force you. "You can or you don't have to. "It's an option. "Maybe--" Go back. Or did he look at him and say, you know, "Do you repent of the things "that you've done in the past, now that you're in Christ?

"Do this." Right? Did he say it more authoritatively? And what's more, there is this immediate application in meditation for us, like, what does this show about the reconciliation for one who is the offender, okay? If I am the offender in that I hurt somebody, I have now cost somebody greatly.

I've done something that is, you know, clearly, clearly just in the category of wrong. What does that mean for me? Right? And would it have been acceptable for Onesimus just to be like, "I'm going to send you this letter," right? So, again, I want to ask these questions as we meditate on this portion, because, yes, it's just a matter of fact if you can even just say, "History.

"Apostle Paul sent him." But we can actually take time to meditate on these things, because they make a difference. And here's why. Please take a moment to take your Bibles and go to 2 Corinthians 7, verse 8 through 11. That passage is probably very familiar to you, because it has a lot to say about genuine repentance as a whole.

Okay? Take your Bibles and go to 2 Corinthians 7, verse 8 through 11. I asked the question, "Wow, this is really interesting. "How hard did Paul push Onesimus, "the offender in the conflict?" And what's more, what does that teach us about our own repentance or rectifying of our wrongs?

And this is a passage familiar to you guys, but I want us to meditate on it. It says, "Apostle Paul speaking to the church, "'For though I cause you sorrow by my letter, "'I do not regret it, though I did regret it, "'for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, "'though only for a while.

"'I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, "'but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance, "'for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, "'so that you might--'" Listen to this. "'So that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.'" That's a confusing and weird statement, but I want you to keep that in mind.

Verse 10, "For the sorrow that is according to the will of God "produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, "but the sorrow of the world produces death. "For behold what earnestness this very thing, "this godly sorrow has produced in you, "what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, "what fear, what longing, what zeal, "what avenging of wrong, in everything you demonstrate yourself "to be innocent in the matter." Can I share with you, when I read this and I was meditating on it in preparation, my mind did the, "Oh, what about the-- "and I got stuck." And the reason why is because in this side, I was like, "Wait a minute, the gospel tells us you cannot pay for sins.

"The gospel tells us you cannot pay actually for anything you do wrong. "As a matter of fact, we've been told you're not supposed to have a debtor's ethic, "but on this side, Scripture is telling us you should actually be zealous "to demonstrate yourself innocent. "You should be avenging any wrong you did.

"If you cause somebody greatly, let's say you were all mad, "worked up at something, and you knocked over your coffee, "and it spilled on someone's computer, I should be quick to say, "'Let me offer you payment for that computer.'" Why? "Because I should be zealous to make right what I did wrong." That's a biblical principle.

But then in my head, I was like, "But what if I offend somebody?" I don't know if you guys have ever hurt some nice person at church. If you try to pay them, they're going to be like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. "No, no, it's okay. You don't have to pay me anything." And if you insist, "No, no, let me pay you," then you actually risk offending them.

So then my head just went-- And then I realized, is there a biblical principle where not just here, Scripture teaches us that even when we offend other people, not just God, there is a desire and a zeal to show forth my heart's genuine desire, right? To make things right.

And there is. You guys remember Zacchaeus? He was a rich, rich man. This guy was a chief of tax collectors. And it says, "Zacchaeus, because he had listened to the word of the Lord, "he was convicted. "And when he came to faith," look at what he said, "he stopped and said to the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, half of my possessions "'I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, "'I will give back four times as much.'" And if you look at Jesus' response, he says salvation has come to his household.

Right? Man, and once I heard this, I realized, oh my gosh. You know, not just because I'm counseling people, but because I see it in my own self. There are not just one, two, three different tools in my belt, but I have an entire arsenal of defenses. I can deny it.

I can claim ignorance. I can give excuses. I can sweet-talk my way out of things. I can manipulate to be like, "No, no, you don't understand how hard it is for me," and play the victim. Do you have any idea how many different paths we have to defend ourselves, not own up to our sins, our hurts that we've given to other people?

Pretending like we can sweep it under the rug, we have so many. But there's a sense in which true, a true sense of repentance over anything that we have wrong has these elements. Yes? And I want to say this interesting point that, although yes, we are supposed to be a people marked by giving forgiveness, where is the talk of we are supposed to be a people marked by zeal for righteousness?

First, in rectifying what I'm doing wrong. Right? We are a people who are not afraid of guilt, because there we begin Jesus' words, "Blessed are those who mourn." In our own brokenness, we should be able to fully embrace the feeling of guilt, because we know when we feel that, that sorrow will lead us into the will of God and we will lose nothing.

We have confidence that this is the way God has designed for us to go through reconciliation. Okay. So in thinking about that then, we have much to learn about what that means for, let's say, if we're thinking about an isthmus as an example we can follow when we've wronged somebody.

But I want to come back to this and ask the question about the whole sending my heart. Okay. And meditate on this because, let's take a moment to think about Apostle Paul as an example. Remember he is the peacemaker. Okay. He is the peacemaker and he is appealing for an isthmus and he's saying that I'm sending my very heart and that seems pretty obvious to us.

Clearly what he's saying is, I'm sending my heart in the sense of I love an isthmus. Right. But is there more? Could it mean that I'm sending my very heart in the sense of an isthmus and I are so close, our thoughts are harmonious, our intent is similar, etc.

etc. What I want to highlight for you in this is, man, when I see Paul's vouching for an isthmus, I realize that there is a kind of love here that goes far above and beyond what is normal in modern day society. What I mean by that is, as a pastor, I actually have to vouch for a lot of people a lot of times.

If let's say we have somebody who is leading a team and then our leadership talks about it, there are moments when I'd be like, "Hey, I meet with this guy, he's good. I know he's a little bit quirky, but he's solid." You know. And a lot of times when people come and ask me, a girl may ask, "Hey, this guy asked me out.

What's he like?" And I gotta be like, "Well, he's got these good things and those bad things." But I vouch for him. He's gonna be a good guy. But I don't know when I've talked like this. An isthmus is my son. I've begotten him. I send him to you like I'm sending you my heart.

You know what I'm saying? Apostle Paul loves this man with an incredible deep, deep love like a father would for his own literal son. And amongst his peers, that's hard to get to, is what I'm saying. But what I see in summary is, man, Apostle Paul has a deep, deep love for an isthmus where he is willing to risk offense.

Right? If you have your Bibles again, or not, I know you have your Bibles, go over to 2 Corinthians 7. And in that passage, you know the passage about the genuine repentance? I want you to feel Apostle Paul's heart surrounding that famous segment on genuine repentance. If you take your eyes and look at verse 2-3, listen to what he says.

He says, "Make room for us in your hearts. We wronged no one. We corrupted no one. We took advantage of no one. I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and live together." Whoa. I don't have to say it because you guys know the Corinthians were a rowdy bunch with a lot of sin, a lot of division, a lot of competition, a lot of things going wrong.

But Apostle Paul loves them so much, he says, "We die together, live together." And he risks, "I know that when I say these things to you, you may think and feel like I'm condemning you. I'm not." Apostle Paul is saying, "I love you, and that's why I correct you." Look at verse 8.

2 Corinthians 7 verse 8 says, "For though I cause you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it, for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a little while." He risked--I mean, you probably have done this going back and forth, like, "What do I say?

How do I say it? And oh, my goodness, are they going to be receptive?" Anytime you try to correct anybody, you're taking tons of risks. You take that risk of giving offense. But what's more, he has a love for Onesimus, and that desire and that love desires for Onesimus to have nothing lost.

What do I mean by that? Very briefly, in some ways, I think that we have kind of a twisted version of love in our day, where if somebody sins, if they fail, if they have a deficiency, we want to cover it, but like, "No, no, it's okay. Don't feel bad about it." We may even say things to things like, "Hey, we all make mistakes, and I understand if I was in your shoes, I would do the same," etc., etc.

And all that is doing is giving sympathy, which is good. However, if that is where we end, that's all they get is my sympathy. But by pushing Onesimus to go and seek repentance in that fashion, what he's going to get is clarity of conscience. He's going to receive grace and mercy from his former master.

He's going to have doors opened of grace, love, affection that he's never had before. And that way, it's just like, again, a pure father's heart for his own kid. I don't want you to be bound by anything, and so I want you to do it right. And lastly, obviously, Apostle Paul makes a sincere sacrifice.

When we come to this passage, and he says, "Whom I wish to keep with me," I don't think Apostle Paul is just using buttery words to be like, "You know, Onesimus is so good. You could have him. I wanted him too." No, I think Apostle Paul says what he means, which is, "I love him.

I wanted him with me." And in that way, there's a sincerity of sacrifice, there's a sincerity of motive. There is no ulterior motive here. And Apostle Paul actually says that exact same thing in 2 Corinthians 7, verse 12 through 16. Take a look again with me. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 12.

He says, "So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender, nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God." "For this reason we have been comforted, and besides our comfort, we rejoice even more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the truth. His affection abounds all the more towards you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.

So I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you." What is he saying there? He's not actually taking sides one way or the other. He's not thinking of just the offender or just the offended. But for truth's sake and for love's sake, he's instructing. Yes? The final thing I want to say about this passage when I look at it is, man, since so far then in this juncture of studying Philemon, we saw Philemon's character that was very encouraging, full of love.

We actually are starting to get a lot of confidence in Nisimus too. Yes? And then I realized, man, there is in any reconciliation a need for hopefulness. Right? If at any time Apostle Paul had no confidence in Nisimus' character or in Philemon's character, this thing is shot. Right? I'm sure you're going to butcher it when you show up.

You're going to say the wrong thing. Right? Apostle Paul, out of his love, he says to the Corinthians church, "Do you understand I have confidence in you?" What an encouraging thing to say. I think just for every single one of us, because we've been through various different conflicts in life, there's going to be a temptation for you to constantly have a pessimistic and discouraged look at everybody else.

But in that kind of scenario, the scripture is not asking you, put your blinders on and just believe all things. Right? What is scripture calling us to do? Scripture is calling us to have incredible confidence beside what you see physically. I'm willing to bet every single one of you have stories and experiences that will be justifications as to why conflict resolution is hard, why certain individuals shouldn't be trusted, why it's very, very difficult to seek greater peace with so-and-so.

Every single one of us has stories like that. But remember, scripture has for us this incredible encouragement. Love does not act unbecomingly. It does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails. Right? I am encouraged and challenged. Apostle Paul, the individual who, again, by the time he's now in Rome, he's done so much ministry all through Turkey, Greece, and whatever, and he's already seen people who claim to be faithful already reject him and yet have so much confidence in the work of Christ in the heart of a genuine convert.

That's what I'm saying. There's incredible confidence in the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a genuine Christian, where two Christians can have this interplay where there's tons of back-and-forth giving, forgiveness requested, forgiveness given, forgiveness received, and love exercised. And so there's a long path for us, too, if we think about reconciliation and forgiveness.

But I want to encourage you to see the example of Apostle Paul, where he has great, great hope and confidence in even some of the most dire situations. Let's pray. Lord God, we want to thank you. This particular portion of the text had so much for us to think about.

And God, we recognize there are situations, Lord, where it is hopeless and people are hard to change. And yet, God, you have given such hope for two individuals 1,200 and plus miles apart to be reconciled, to be reconciled specifically in Christ and to experience grace, forgiveness, mercy all underneath your name.

And so it's a beautiful thing, Lord, and I pray that this kind of love is both inspiring and convicting and that it would challenge us to wonder to what greater degree can we exercise this grace, to what greater degree can we exercise this love? We thank you in Christ's name.

Amen. Okay. So apologies, I went pretty long there because that one had like the core of the, you know, Anisimus and his return and thoughts like that. Just as a heads up to you guys, May 19th is Praise and Prayer and the week after is going to be verse 14 through 16.

Okay. And then for discussion questions, I have a couple here for you. So the first one again is the question about would Apostle Paul appeal for Anisimus if Anisimus was unworthy? You know, he had questionable behavior where he was maybe defending himself, et cetera. Number two, what does it show about the reconciliation for the one who is the offender, right?

The expectation for the one who has given the offense, what is the expectation there? I asked another question, like what are some common offenses or ways we wrong people? Okay. I want for us to talk about actual tangible possible scenarios because obviously we're not in a situation where, I don't know, your slave has dissed you, you know, deprived you of your rights, like that's not for us.

But what are the things that we do wrong? And then if we did do wrong, then what is the earnestness to show repentance that we are responsible for? Number three, what risks do you have to take as an offender repenting for, sorry, well, what risks do you have to take as an offender repenting or the offended giving grace?

So I want us to think about like, if you're the one trying to go and seek someone's forgiveness, what risks are you actually taking? If you're the one who's feeling offended but you want to give for forgiveness so you initiate going to talk to that person, what risks are you taking?

Number four, have you ever played this third party peacemaker? And how do you love both parties without bias? All right, you guys, go ahead and do your discussion, and then we'll see you guys next time. Thank you.