Spiritual Restoration

Forgiveness of all of our sins is one of the brilliant benefits of our salvation. The forgiveness of sins is a gift from God.

It's not something that we can achieve. We can't atone for our own sins. We cannot eradicate even the smallest of sins from our lives. And so we are saved, the Bible says, our sins are forgiven by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Paul writes to the Colossians that God has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son through the redemption, through His redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. We sometimes say, my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but in whole is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul. How wonderful to know that in the grace of God, you, whatever your past, whatever you've done, whatever you've thought, that all of that can be eradicated, eternally eradicated through the grace of God. And one of the marks of those who have been transformed by the grace of God is that we who have had our sins forgiven should be characterized by forgiving others. Why are we sometimes so slow to forgive others when we have received such a magnificent salvation?

Sometimes it's difficult, isn't it, to forgive others, and we'll think of that next week. There are situations in life, all of us have experienced them and experienced them when we are offended, when we feel someone has wronged us, and we're going to deal with that. But before looking at the particulars of the teaching of Jesus this morning, let me say that there are many situations in life, and you know this if you're married, where every wrong, perceived or real, doesn't require confrontation. We're going to deal with situations which require confrontation, but there are many situations in life where we are a bit offended, and rather than make an issue of it, we should show what the Bible calls as forbearance, forbearing with one another.

Paul writes, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. True of the home, true of the church, true in your workplace, that when we're offended, we don't need to make an issue of something, but rather certainly those of us who are following Jesus, sometimes we choose to ignore the situation, to suffer the insult, certainly to forgive from our hearts, to move on, to be kind, not to gossip about this wrong, but rather to understand, as Peter tells us, that love covers a multitude of sins. No, the Scripture is not saying that we cover up our sin, but we are saying, in a loving situation, whether it's in our marriage or home or at work, certainly in the church, that when we love someone, we show that forbearance, that gentleness, that patience with them, understanding that we ourselves are also sinful people. But how do we act, and what should we do when we are aware that a brother or sister in Christ is sinning against us?

What are we to do if that person persists in that sin, in that wrongdoing, in that divisive conduct, in that malicious gossip, in that false teaching, in that very sinful behavior, what are we to do? Well, let's turn to Matthew chapter 18. The Lord Jesus is going to tell us exactly what we are to do. Sadly, this Scripture is rarely followed, but is very, very clear. We're dealing this morning with spiritual restoration. We're going to read, first of all, verses 12 through 14, where Jesus, in a sense, summarizes a story which is given in more detail in Luke chapter 15 of the sheep which strays, but He's dealing not so much, I think, with the unbeliever, but when we as believers stray. Have you ever strayed, spiritually speaking? Everyone here ever got off track, spiritually?

I should see a flood of hands. Which one of us would say that we have never strayed? Which one of us would say that we have always faithfully followed Jesus every day?

No, the reality is that we do stray. Verse 12, then of Matthew 18, what do you think? Isn't Jesus the perfect teacher?

What do you think? For man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray. Does He not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if He finds it, truly I say to you, He rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So, it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. A reminder that our Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect Shepherd.

Three times in the verses I read, we have the words, going astray. I remember when I was practicing law, we had a client who was a very wealthy farmer, and I remember going to his farm and him explaining his problem to me that he was a grower of leeks. In Scotland we eat a lot of leeks.

You don't seem to eat them so much here. But he had many, many acres of leeks. And during the winter months when there was snow, his neighbor farmer, instead of taking care of his sheep and building the fences between the two farms, he let the fences — at least this was our client's contention and I always believed what our client said, of course — but this is his explanation. And the neighbor's sheep strayed into his field and in fact ate the leeks. Sheep do not normally eat leeks, but because the farmer in the neighboring field was a poor shepherd, wasn't feeding his sheep, and the sheep strayed. And Jesus is reminding us that we are like sheep.

The Bible tells us that in several ways. All we like sheep have gone astray. One of the characteristics of sheep, they're not the most intelligent animals, they love to stray. And when sheep stray, they tend to get into trouble. Here they are in a property they shouldn't belong to. They fall into the ditch.

They get injured. And the reality is that when you and I who are following Jesus Christ, when we are like sheep and we go astray, we get ourselves into all kinds of problems, don't we? Our life begins to unravel.

We create problems for ourselves, for our parents, for our husband, for our wife, for those that we work with when we get off track when we stray. But notice what Jesus says. What does the good shepherd do? Oh, the bad shepherd wouldn't care less. The good shepherd goes after the sheep. In Luke 15, the story is he searches and searches for that strange sheep until he finds it. How wonderful then that we who are sinful people, who disregard God, who go our own way, that God does not leave us to our own devices. But rather in love, he sends his son into this world as the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep. Who comes to seek and to save those that are lost. Our Lord Jesus Christ comes on a mission, on a rescue mission to search and search for that lost sheep. Praise God for that. We would never, ever, ever find our way back to God.

We would go further and further away. And how wonderful that God intervenes in our lives and brings us to a place called Calvary Church where we can hear the wonderful message of the gospel that if you repent of your sin, and if you turn from your sin, and if you look to Christ and Christ alone, He will save you, He will cleanse you, He'll bring you to that eternal fold because when He finds that sheep, He gives that sheep eternal life and they shall never perish. And all of heaven rejoices, all of heaven rejoices over the one sheep.

Think of the wonder of that. That heaven itself rejoices when that straying sheep is found and brought to the fold. So all of us stray from time to time, but even, and here's the point in this passage, here's the context, that we who are following Jesus, we also sometimes stray. And praise God for spiritual shepherds, for pastors, for elders, for parents, for Sunday school teachers, for friends in Christ, that when we stray, they don't leave us their own devices, but they in tenderness, as we will see, confront us. The subject is spiritual restoration. What do you do when this person you know, who's a brother or sister in Christ strays, and perhaps you're aware of their sin, in fact their sin may be against you.

Here it is. Step one, private confrontation. Step one, private confrontation. Verse 15, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

Underline the word alone. Very, very important. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. Here's the first step then, private confrontation. You're aware of a brother or sister who has sinned.

What are you to do? You are to approach that person. We're going to learn the attitudes in which we approach that person in a minute, but we approach that person.

Notice what you do not do, and sadly we often do. You don't talk about that person to other people. You don't gossip about that person. You don't malign that person.

You don't jump to a false conclusion possibly. Notice what Jesus said, and this is the teaching of Jesus, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. Private confrontation. When you say well that's very intimidating, I don't know if I can do that.

I'm always amazed that people who say well I couldn't do that, but apparently what they can do is to tell other people about it. This is the teaching of Jesus, and how wise it is. The sin is against you.

You, yes, you must go to the alleged offender. In fact, this confrontation is a sign of your love and your care and your friendship of that person. Proverbs 27 verse 6, better is open rebuke than hidden love. Do you like to be rebuked? No one likes to be rebuked, but it is necessary.

If we're going to grow in the Lord, from time to time all of us, including pastors need open rebuke. Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Verse 6, faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Here is a person who flanders you and kisses you, but as they do that, they're stabbing you behind the back. That's a very antithesis of the teaching of Jesus. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. And can I say brother sister, when you are confronted regarding that sin, do not resent it. I realize your first reaction is going to be defensive.

You're going to try and think of something where you can attack that person, don't do that. Remember, last week we learned that humility is key in the Christian life. When you go astray and your brother or your sister has the integrity and the spiritual maturity to speak to you privately, one on one, say praise God that this person loves me. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. And listen, as Jesus says, your brother or sister may listen to you. They may agree with you.

If he listens to you, verse 15, you have gained your brother. That's your goal. Your goal is not to devastate the person. Your goal is not to humiliate them. You want to gain them.

You want to bring them back, as it were, to the path. Also, you may have prejudged the issue. You may have come to a wrong conclusion. You may not know all the relevant facts. You may have thought well, I'm reading between the lines, but you're reading the wrong lines.

You're adding two and two, but you're coming to five. This very, very wise procedure taught by the Lord Jesus protects us against premature judgment, and also prevents casting a shadow over someone's reputation where you make a judgment which could be very, very wrong, and instead of resolving that question with the individual on a private basis, you malign that person and in a sense assassinate their character. One of the principles of natural justice and law, and sometimes the world can be wiser than the church, one of the principles of natural justice is that the individual has the right to be heard, that the individual has the opportunity to state their case. We know that in the legal system. There are two sides. If it's in a criminal case, there's a prosecution, and the jury may think, oh, this person is obviously guilty, and then along comes the defense and says, wait a minute, and with skillful examination of a witness may say this witness is biased or this witness is wrong or this witness is lying. There's the opportunity to state your case.

You know that. Someone is saying something against you and it's simply not true. And you want the opportunity to state your case. Again, the wisdom of Proverbs, Proverbs 18 verse 2, Proverbs 18 verse 2, a fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. There's a man I know who know this church, but another church used to call me from time to time, and he was always unhappy about something. And after a couple of calls, I realized he is not interested in my response. In fact, a couple of times he said, well, that's it, and he just put down the telephone.

Next time he called, I said, listen, listen to what you say. Clearly you're unhappy about something, but before you state your case, please listen to my response. For trying to get resolution, that is a fool. A fool only wants to express his opinion. A fool is not willing to hear the other side.

That is verse 2, verse 13. If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. You haven't heard the other side, and you're giving the answer. You're making a judgment.

This is foolish. Verse 17, the one who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him. I used to practice before a judge who was well-known, very bad judge, that he tended to go with the side who stated their case first. So, in a criminal prosecution, he tended to convict because the prosecution presented their case first. In a civil case, he generally went with the person pursuing the case, the plaintiff.

That's just the way he was. Bad judge. No. A wise judge hears the case, listens to one side and says, all right, let me hear the other side. Isn't that right?

Isn't that what you would want? So, what are you to do when a person offends you? Don't jump to a conclusion. First step, private confrontation.

Second, because why? Your goal is spiritual restoration. When you confront a person, they may admit their wrongdoing. They may say, that is right, I was wrong.

I did say that. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. And the matter is resolved. You have won your spiritual brother and sister in Christ.

He or she has been spiritually restored. That's step one. And step two, private, step one, private confrontation. Step two, plural reproof, verse 16. But if he does not listen, you say, yeah, the person offends me, they don't listen to me. Okay. If he doesn't listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

This is brilliant teaching by Jesus, isn't it? So, you go to the person. They don't listen. They say, no, what's wrong? Or go away. I'm not going to meet with you. Or they meet with you and they start insulting you.

They're proud what you to do. You take one or two others with you. See, bringing someone else with you communicates to the person that this is serious.

A third party also provides, you don't bring your best friend, but you bring someone who you feel can bring some objectivity, and it also provides some protection for you. And as Jesus says, it provides corroboration of the conversation. That was very, very important in Jewish law. Deuteronomy 19 verse 15, only on the evidence of two or three witnesses, shall a charge be established.

That's wise. Sometimes we don't have it in this legal system that someone can be convicted on the evidence of only one person. Not under Jewish law.

Not under the law I practiced. Corroboration. So, one person go, you go to the person, they don't listen to you. You bring another person with you, or two people with you, and you state the facts.

Yes, they listen to the individual as well. Here is corroboration. And in particular, don't bring a charge against an elder. Don't bring a charge against a pastor except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. You say, really?

Yes, really. First Timothy 5, 17, 19 rather. First Timothy 5, 19. Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. That was part of the Jewish law. Paul is making it part of the evidence of the New Testament.

Why is that? Because church leaders are particularly susceptible to unfair criticisms and accusations, malicious rumors and gossip. If you're in the public eye, if you're a politician, if you're in the media, if you're doing anything in public, you realize that you're a target. And sometimes there is malicious statements.

Think of all that goes on, on social media today, with people pontificating on subjects they know nothing about, on people passing judgment, of people making the most awful, awful accusations against people. That has no part in the vocabulary of the Christian. So I go to the individual, he doesn't listen to me. I take a couple of the brothers with me, we go to the individual. If the individual then admits the wrongdoing, the individual repents, the matter is at an end.

You have gained your brother. Spiritual restoration has been achieved. But you say, well what happens if they still don't listen?

I'm glad you asked. Verse 17, if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bound on earth shall be bound in heaven.

Whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two or three, if two of you rather, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. Step one, private confrontation. Step two, plural reproof. Step three, public rebuke. If spiritual restoration has still not been achieved, the matter is brought to the church.

So you've taken a couple of people with you, they still don't listen. The person's sin continues. Their immorality, their lies, whatever it is, their false doctrine, it continues. You bring it to the church. The leaders then of the church approach the individual who has yet another opportunity to repent. The leadership of the church will be in prayer.

They will give time to that individual to think of the seriousness of the situation, having listened to the person of course. You see, when people fall in sin, and you know this, if you've gone astray, your heart's hard, isn't it? And when you're confronted, you may not initially admit your sin. That was true of David, King David, with his sin of Bathsheba.

Took a long time before he finally admitted as Nathan went to him and said, no, you are the man. You are wrong. You have offended God. And the leaders of the church here then will call the person to repent. Again, the goal is forgiveness.

The goal is not to humiliate the person. The goal is to restore them to true fellowship. So, anyone who's involved in repeated and unrepentant sin is out of fellowship with Jesus who's the head of the church. Therefore, this person, as long as they continue in that deliberate, premeditated sin, and they continue to go astray, probably causing more and more havoc in their personal lives and the lives of their family and the lives of the church, the longer they go through that, the deeper the problem. And so, the leaders of the church come. And if that individual still does not repent, he or she is told they cannot enjoy the fellowship of the Lord's table. What's one of our greatest privileges as followers of Christ is to come as the family of God and to take the bread and the cup, symbolizing our union with Christ, but also our communion with one another. And we have to say, I'm sorry brother, I'm sorry sister, you cannot enjoy the fellowship of the church if you're involved in a ministry in the church. You cannot continue to minister in that church. Until you repent, the goal is always repentance. You say, well, that's pretty extreme, John.

What's the alternative? Paul, when he deals with immorality in the church in Corinth, he says in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 6, a little leaven, leavens the whole lump. Here is an individual at Calvary Church who is being very divisive, teaching false doctrine, tries it at the small group, tries it at the live group, becomes very, very adamant to spread this false doctrine, continues to do it.

And some people who are naïve, who may like the person or his wife, they're buying into this. And so there comes a time to say, brother, sister, if you continue to do that, we must ask you to be removed from fellowship. Unsound doctrine, disunity. Listen to Paul in Romans chapter 16, Romans 16 verse 17. He says, I appeal to you brothers to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you've been taught. Avoid them. For such people do not serve the Lord Christ, but by their own appetites and by smooth talk and flattering, they deceive the hearts of the naïve.

That's it. By the way, here's one of the characteristics of the false teacher. They draw people to themselves. They flatter people, says Paul.

They have smooth talk, but it's all about them. They're drawing people to follow them rather than pointing them to Christ. Again, Paul writes to Titus in Titus chapter 3 verse 10. He says, as for a person who stirs up division after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him knowing that such a person is warped and sinful.

He is self-condemned. And Paul and Jesus and what he says in verses 18 and 20 is saying that the offending person must understand that this action that is taken on earth is in accordance with heaven. That these spiritual shepherds are acting in this way, in this very difficult way. This discipline is very, very difficult. You know, to discipline someone is very, very difficult. One of the most difficult things you have to do as a parent is to discipline your children, but you realize it is necessary.

And sometimes, they have to be removed, as it were, from the family supper table and say until you learn to speak respectfully, until you learn to do this, time out, time out. And sometimes, if an individual continues in their sin, the leaders of the church have to say, time out, time out. So that person will understand the seriousness of their offense and so be spiritually restored. What's the goal? The goal in all of this is spiritual restoration and reconciliation. The goal is not to punish the individual, but to restore him or her to the Lord and to reconcile with those who have been offended by the offender's actions. The goal is always restoration. You know, Matthew 18 has sometimes been used as a legalistic club to beat people.

No. Do you notice the context of Matthew 18, 15 through 20? What precedes it? The shepherd who goes after the straying sheep.

What comes after it, as we'll see next week? How often will my brother, if my brother sinned against me, how often must I forgive him? You get tired of forgiving someone, they keep doing the same thing. Jesus says, keep doing it. Not just seven times, seventy times seven. The goal is not to wound your brother. Sometimes people in church have been wounded, terribly wounded through the wrongful interpretation of these verses. The goal is to restore. When you do this, you have won your brother. How wonderful.

The goal of spiritual restoration. Very easy to criticize, isn't it? We're living in a very critical society, a very judgmental society. Amazing what is said on social media, isn't it?

Amazing what is said by our politicians who should know better about one another. No, the goal is not to criticize. The goal is not to be judgmental.

The goal is certainly not to ignore sin. The goal is spiritual restoration. You say, John, this is very difficult.

It is very difficult. And it requires spiritual maturity and it requires spiritual sensitivity. Turn in your Bibles over to Galatians 6, and Paul will give us very practical help as to how we do this. Restoration, spiritual restoration must be done in a spiritual way. Galatians 6 verse 1, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness, keeping watch on yourself lest you be tempted, bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Notice, you who are spiritual should restore him. This word restore means to repair. It means to make complete. It means to mend. It's used by Mark in Mark 1 where Jesus is calling the disciples, and some of them are mending their nets, restoring their nets.

It's the word used, as it were, of the orthopedic surgeon who is putting together a broken bone. I remember when we lived in Canada, we were — apparently there was to be an elders party, and some others, and I go, and the Canadians are born with ice skates on their feet. This was in Nova Scotia. And so, I had skated a little bit. I mean, how difficult can it be?

Oh, it's pretty easy, doesn't it? And so, we went on a line of ice skates, and this elder had a skating rink in the back of his house, very homemade, certainly not slick like these beautiful ice rinks I had always been on. And they said, are you going to skate? I said, well, I can skate, but I said, I don't have any ice skates. And one of the elders, who was six feet four and had size 13 feet, he said, John, I'll lend you mine. I thought, OK. And I thought, you know, I do take nine and a half. I've got very cute feet, not like your — I mean, the guy had feet like skis.

But anyhow, very foolishly, good day declined, wise woman that she was. But you know, I think, OK, I'm the pastor. I haven't been there long. I want to show I'm as cool as the next guy, which is always a mistake. And I put on these skates and went, and these Canadians, I mean, they're amazing, doing all these little twirls and jumps and all these things.

I'm watching, you know. I think I'm pretty athletic. And I tried one of them and had quite a fall. And as I was falling, I did something very foolishly. I put my wrist to protect me instead of landing on my gluteus maximus that the good Lord has given us. And I thought, oh, I'd never broken a bone in my life. And I thought, I have done something. Goodness, I turned green.

I thought I was going to throw up and take him to hospital. Orthopedic surgeon comes. Tells me I got two breaks, one in my arm and a very small bone, which was difficult to fix in my wrist.

I remember, you know, feeling really foolish about this, thinking, why didn't I follow my wife's example? The orthopedic surgeon did not. He asked me how it happened, of course, and he didn't criticize me. He didn't say that. It was pretty stupid, wasn't it? Putting on these big skates.

And what do you think you are? You know, you can do these fancy little loops and triple axles and all these kind of things. He didn't do that. What's his concern? His concern is demand. That's his training. He wants to restore me. His goal was so that my arm and my wrist were as strong as they were prior to the accident. Restoration.

Did you get the point? This brother has strayed. He's battered.

He's bruised. He's been very foolish. She said some really terrible things. That's true.

They should never have been said. The goal is not to abrade the person. The goal is not to humiliate them. It is to restore. Notice three attitudes.

First of all, go in a spirit of gentleness. Verse 1, restore in a spirit of gentleness. This is the opposite of arrogance and self-assertion. Wolves turn on their own when they're wounded and devour them. Wolves, when they attack an animal, they will look at the most weak one and they'll bite it and they'll get the animal to bleed so it will weaken. Paul says here in Galatians 5 verse 15, if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you're not consumed by one another.

Isn't that sad? Sometimes in the church there is biting, devouring one another. Must have been happening in the church in Galatia.

Brothers and sisters biting and devouring one another. Some of you have seen. It may have been part of churches that have done that.

How sad. No. As followers of Christ, we are not to engage in wolf-like behavior. We're not to attack. We are to restore in a spirit of gentleness. When you go to that person, go in a spirit of gentleness. Secondly, go in a spirit of humility. Paul says, keep watch on yourself. Lest you to be tempted. Listen brother, you also have strayed. Why are you so arrogant?

Why are you denouncing that person in such a judgmental, harsh way? As if you were perfect. No, you go. You recognize that you too can be tempted. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, let him that stand take heed lest he fall.

Recognize your own vulnerability. You too can fall into sin. You too can go astray. Go in the spirit of gentleness. Go in the spirit of humility. And above all, go in the spirit of Christ.

Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. How does our Savior deal with us? How did our Savior rescue you when you were straying and you in your sin?

How did Jesus come? Remember the old hymn in tenderness? He sought me weary and worn by sin and on His shoulders brought me back to His fold again. While angels in His presence sang until the courts of heaven rang. Oh the love that sought me.

Oh the blood that bought me. Oh the grace that brought me to the fold. Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold. My brother, my sister, all of us have sinned, have messed up. And when our Lord Jesus Christ comes to us, He comes, He said, not to condemn but to save.

He comes to seek and to save the lost. And when the good shepherd goes after that lost sheep, when he finds the sheep, he doesn't kick the sheep back to the fold. He doesn't say you silly, silly sheep. Sheep are silly animals. What does Jesus say in Luke 15?

He puts it on His shoulders. The shepherd with a dirty, smelly sheep on His shoulder. Yeah, that's the good shepherd. The highland couldn't care less.

The highland would say I've got 99 sheep. I'm not going to bother with that one. Ah, but in love and in tenderness the good shepherd comes and seeks us. And so you as a follower of Christ who have experienced, I trust, that forgiveness, that restoration of your own soul, when you approach that person, do it in love.

Do it in gentleness. Do it in humility and do it in the Spirit of Jesus. Prayer, spiritual sensitivity, kindness, grace and patience. So the goal is restoration and reconciliation. So the individual is reconciled to God and where that individual's behavior and attitudes has caused a breach between people and the wonder of the grace of God, there is reconciliation. Some of you have experienced that in your own marriage.

Some of you have experienced that in your own family. You see, when a sinner repents there is joy in the presence of the angels. Once there was a hard heart, now there's repentance. Once there's suspicion and now there's fellowship. Once there was disunity, now there is unity. Once there was criticism and backbiting, ah, but now there is love and tenderness and care, restoration.

On Friday morning, we had an early meeting with the executive committee. I came to church walking over the parking lot. It was 6.30 and I heard a noise above me of honking. I thought it was a disgruntled member of the church.

Not really, no. I looked up and here's the magnificent sight of geese in that beautiful V formation. You've seen it, haven't you? And they flew right over my head and I looked at them. And experts tell us that geese flying together in that formation fly 70 percent faster than flying alone.

Perhaps we watch that beautiful scene of these magnificent birds that are much better in the air than on the ground flying. And as we watch, we see a break in the ranks. We see that the V becomes a bit disjointed.

What has happened? A goose falls. And as that goose falls to the ground, two of the geese flanking it come down with it and come to the ground to take care of their falling comrade. This morning, as the dawn comes, the goose that has fallen is healthy and the three birds go up into the air to regain their bearing and then fly towards the flock of geese. Together, united, reconciled, they will reach their destination together. Brothers or sisters, sometimes a brother or a sister falls. That may be you.

You may be here and you have fallen. Want to say at Calvary Church, we do not shoot our wounded. We don't devour the defeated, the depressed, the broken, the discouraged, the fallen. We care for them.

We love them. Yes, there can be very hard and very difficult conversations. That is true. We cannot compromise sin. We cannot overlook the teaching of Scripture. But out of love and out of compassion for you, we seek for you to be spiritually restored. I'm here this morning and right now, you're astray. You've strayed from the Lord. In fact, you've never yet come to the Savior where you open your heart to the Good Shepherd who loves you, who died for you, who rose again, who comes not to condemn you but to save you, but you have to repent of your sin and you have to cry and ask for His salvation. And there are some here who are followers of Christ, but you've strayed and your straying is impacting your relationships, possibly with people in this community, perhaps in your home. Perhaps your sin, brother, sister, is affecting your marriage.

It's affecting your children, affecting your parents. In God's name, I ask you to repent. We the pastors, the elders, the leaders of Calvary Church, many here in the congregation are here to help you and to be vessels of the grace of God as together we seek to engage in this beautiful but difficult privilege of spiritual restoration.

Father, help us. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to our own way, but we thank You for Your grace, magnificent grace. We thank You that Jesus is a Good Shepherd.

He's not a hireland. He loves us. He knows us by name. He cares for us. He cries for us as it were in our sin and so I pray that You'll give those who have strayed a spirit of repentance, of humility, will be not only restoration, but reconciliation between husbands, wives, between brothers, sisters, between families, who through sin have gone astray and in Your magnificent grace, You restore. We thank You as David could write out of his own experience that the Lord restores us. We thank You that You are a restoring God and we thank You that the Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven to rescue us, to restore us, to forgive us all of His grace. In His name, amen.