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(12/15) Welcome, everyone, as we dive into part two of our series, "Ghosts of Christmas Past." I believe I have a special message from God that is intended to speak to many of you in this season of Advent.

We are going to the gospel of Luke, chapter seventeen, verses one through six, to eavesdrop on a conversation between the disciples and Jesus. And I want to encourage you to open your hearts and minds and prepare yourself to be inspired and transformed.

This message is important because the holidays and the Christmas season tend to magnify everything around us. For example, when things are going well, the holidays amplify the joy, making everything even more wonderful. The Christmas lights shine brighter, the children's smiles are bigger, and moments with loved ones feel more precious than ever.

However, Christmas also intensifies the difficult times, the struggles of life and relationships, making the holidays feel overwhelming. It could be the absence of a loved one, a personal hardship, or unresolved conflicts, which can feel especially moving and traumatic, making the season a mixed bag of emotions. So today, I want to talk about "Offenses of Christmas past" because many of us know someone who is easily offended, and some of you may admit that it is you who is often offended.

This morning, we want to identify and overcome those offenses of Christmas past because this is a time meant to honor Jesus Christ, and yet it is often the smallest things that can set us off and become a source of tension in our closest relationships. The holidays often bring to the surface deep-seated hurts, from betrayals and abuse to long-standing family dysfunctions. These unresolved issues can weigh heavily on our hearts, cloud our thoughts, and sour our attitudes, transforming what should be a joyful time into one filled with tension and discomfort.

And so, I want to encourage you to transform this season of struggles into one of healing. Let’s support each other and seek God’s grace together. My prayer is that you approach this time, which is meant to honor the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, with an open heart toward those you are called to love. Instead of closing yourself off, embrace and extend God’s boundless grace this Christmas season.

I want to talk about offenses of the past and help you to learn to let go of them so that you are able to reflect Jesus' love, forgiveness, and reconciliation in all of your relationships and all of your celebrations. I want to set the tone of this message by sharing with you this verse from Proverbs, where the Spirit of God says,

"It is to one's glory to overlook an offense" (Proverbs 19:11).

Now, this is interesting because the word translated "overlook" is actually derived from two Hebrew words meaning "to pass over" which means to overlook an offense is the act of rising above an offense and by doing so you prevent an offense no matter how large or small from keeping you from God’s path and calling.

Now, let’s go to the gospel of Luke as Jesus is preparing his disciples to undertake a monumental and world-changing mission. And so, he wants them to rise above offense, bitterness, unforgiveness, and pettiness, and so he says to his disciples,

"Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come" (Luke 17:1).

In other words, Jesus is emphasizing that encountering offenses in life is inevitable, they are bound to come regardless of how kind you are because you can’t satisfy everyone’s expectations. And so, it is important to understand that you can’t manage others' feelings; you will never do everything right in other people’s minds, and Jesus teaches us that it is impossible to live without encountering offenses.

In other words, it is impossible to avoid; it’s kind of like chewing or eating after you have been to the dentist. Eventually, you are going to bite your tongue or your cheek. And in the same way, offenses are inevitable, but the Lord cares deeply about your feelings, and so as he is preparing his disciples for kingdom work, because he knows it will require thick skin and strength.

You see, offenses can distract you from your calling, and instead of focusing on your mission, you will waste time and energy on hurt feelings, mourning over your losses, and losing sight of your purpose because you have been sidetracked. Therefore, the Holy Spirit says,

"My dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

In other words, the Holy Spirit is encouraging each one of you to pour your energy and passion into the Lord’s work being confident that your efforts are valued by God and your dedication is never wasted.

Jesus assures his disciples in verse two that he will handle those who cause others to stumble. He says, "Keep your focus and don’t worry about those who cause offense" because he warns,

"It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin" (Luke 17:2).

I don’t know about you, but that makes me very cautious not wanting to harm someone’s feelings or emotions. I believe this morning should instill a sense of responsibility in all of us to be sensitive to the feelings of those around us because we don’t want to become rude or careless with our words.

God is watching how we treat each other and even if I don’t get upset, I know that he does, because he promised,

"It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:30-31).

And so, Jesus assures his disciples that the battle belongs to the Lord, and he will handle those who cause others to stumble.

That means he takes the burden off of you and me so that we are able to be fully dedicated to our calling, sharing the gospel, healing the sick, raising the dead, delivering those who are bound, and setting the captives free. He wants us to remain focused on transforming the world and leading people into a relationship with Jesus Christ, but we can’t do that if our hearts are filled with hurt, anger, or bitterness.

And so, the first thing Jesus does is address those who have offended us, those who have abused us and emotionally injured us, and he takes away the burden of vengeance from us. He says, "you don’t have to worry about this. I will handle it." And after having addressed the subject of those who have hurt us Jesus turns his attention to those who have been wronged, he shifts his focus from addressing the offenders to speaking directly to those who have been wounded saying,

"Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him" (Luke 17:3).

In other words, not only are we as Jesus disciples not to cause others to sin but we are also to counteract sin by forgiving others. Now most of us lack the courage to confront those who have offended us, fearful of confrontation, but Jesus said,

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9).

And so, he highlights the importance of promoting peace and reconciliation because it is then that we reflect the heart and character of God.

This we must do because ignoring or burying grievances doesn’t heal them; it only hides them and allows them to fester, because covered wounds don’t heal well. And so we must have the courage to speak up and never let anyone silence us because we are the children of God. But Jesus keeps raising the bar, raising the standard, and he says,

"If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him" (Luke 17:4).

Initially, the disciples were okay with forgiving an offense, but then Jesus said to forgive over and over and over even if the person sins against you repeatedly. This left the disciples uncertain whether they could commit to forgiving seven times. You know, maybe three times, but seven times might be more than I can handle.

Honestly, it’s not likely that a believer would commit the same sin seven times in one day, but this use of exaggeration emphasizes the point Jesus was making, that we do not count the sins of others because the Scripture says,

"Love keeps no record of wrongs" (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).

And so, Jesus urges us to always be ready to forgive, emphasizing that we must cultivate a habitual practice of forgiveness rather than an endless struggle. We should extend forgiveness generously and frequently, remembering that we, too, may someday seek forgiveness from others.

The disciples didn’t want to overextend themselves, promising something they couldn’t keep, and knowing that Jesus knew their hearts from the beginning, they struggled with the idea of such limitless forgiveness. And so the apostles (the twelve) said to the Lord in verse five,

"Increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5).

Because they saw faith and forgiveness intricately linked, understanding that to cleanse their hearts of bitterness and resentment, they would need unwavering faith. They realized that they must have faith that believes that no action or omission by others could keep them from fulfilling their destiny. They wanted faith to believe that their future was secure regardless of what others said, did, or withheld from them. That is the profound connection between faith and forgiveness that would empower them to rise above every offense and trust that their path was determined by the mighty hand of God and not by someone’s actions.

Just like you and I today, the apostles needed the conviction to believe that:

"In him, it has always been 'Yes.' For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:19-20).

In other words, we must believe that no man or woman, regardless of their actions, can prevent us from attaining the promises that God has for us. In fact, the Scripture says,

"Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

So, the apostle said, increase our faith so that we can trust you when our feelings are hurt. Increase our faith so that we can trust you when we are in pain, when we have been publicly humiliated, when we are at our wit's end and don’t know what to do. Increase our faith so that we can believe something good is going to come out of this.

There are some of you who have lost someone or you have endured a difficult season and I want to assure you that you don’t have to understand every detail to place your faith in Jesus. Even when God’s ways are far beyond our understanding, we can still have unwavering faith in his goodness, declaring boldly that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

If you have been going through a very painful situation, I want to encourage you to put your faith in God and let your heart be anchored in the assurance that he is working behind the scenes for your ultimate benefit. None of your tears and struggles are in vain and his divine plan is far greater than what we can see or understand.

Jesus said that if you have faith, and the disciples responded, "Increase our faith!" because they believed that greater faith meant greater ability to face challenges. Jesus countered their request by saying that it doesn’t require a large amount of faith. He said,

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you" (Luke 17:6).

He assured them that even a small amount of faith could achieve great things, and to illustrate that, he mentioned the mulberry tree because of its massive root system. Jesus used this metaphor of a mulberry tree to emphasize the power of faith to uproot those deeply rooted issues of unforgiveness that are so hard to remove.

The mulberry tree grows quickly, representing how bitterness and unforgiveness can rapidly take hold of one’s life, producing a bitter fruit that is symbolic of the negative impact of unforgiveness. And so, he is teaching us to trust in the power of faith, just a small amount of faith, that has the ability to overcome deeply entrenched problems and see transformation through God’s mighty power.

And so Jesus says, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, he will uproot the tangled roots of the mulberry tree. Systems that have kept you stuck, reoccurring patterns in your life, impacting various aspects of your family, job, and emotions. And that’s why the Scripture encourages us:

"See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15).

Today, I believe that the Holy Spirit has imparted to me a powerful and liberating message that will set you free, untangling the roots that have held you captive, and bring wholeness, healing, and restoration to your life.

Some of you have been struggling with deeply rooted, intertwined issues, and today generational patterns will be broken, your roots are about to be liberated, and your past will no longer hinder the bright future God has for you. By the mighty power of the Holy Spirit God will reach down into the depths of your very soul, untangling every root, breaking every chain, and setting you free to walk in the fullness of his love and purpose.

Some of you have been trapped in your own emotions and thoughts; breaking free has been a challenge because the same issues keep resurfacing, and it is because your mind has become entangled like roots in hard soil. But today is your breakthrough because the Spirit of God is here. With just a mustard seed of faith, you will overcome, because

"Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

Today, the Spirit of God is mightily powerful and present in this place, and we stand firm, resisting the devil, declaring that he has no power here. Eyes are being opened to new revelations, our vision is being restored with clarity, and our hearts are being renewed with an unwavering commitment to the purpose of God. The Spirit of the Lord is moving powerfully in this place, transforming lives, and igniting a divine passion within each one of us.

The Scripture says:

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17).

The Holy Spirit says that you are not alone, you are not bound, tied, or entangled, but you have been freed in the mighty name of Jesus. And God is breaking things off of your life, he’s about to demolish the root system holding you back, that pain that is too heavy to carry, the wounds that have kept you up at night, and he’s about to cast it into the sea.

The Holy Spirit in this place. Lift your hands and receive the anointing in this room, God is about to uproot that thing in your life and set you free. Your destiny is secure because God is bringing you into his purpose, you are a child of the King, and he is uprooting the things said and done that brought you here. You are in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of lords and God said the pure in heart shall see him.

In other words, God is about to do something amazing in your life. If you’ve got a mustard seed of faith lift your hands and open your mouth and give him some praise.

If you have lived easily offended like me, I want to encourage you to remember that life is too short to let small things distract us and throw us off course. I know those big offenses are painful, it is real, forgiveness is hard, but we must forgive just as Christ has forgiven us. While our forgiveness doesn’t change the past, it does transform our future because we have been called to rise above and reflect Christ’s grace and personify his love.

As we draw to a close, let us pause and reflect on the truth of God remembering that every fleeting moment of life holds immense significance. Therefore, we must guard our hearts and minds against the distractions of offenses, whether big or small, that threaten to derail us from the divine path that God has set before us. And instead, let us choose to embrace His grace— Christ’s abounding and limitless grace—along with the power of forgiveness and a heart full of understanding.

By choosing to overlook offenses, we elevate ourselves to our highest spiritual potential. This allows us to rise above the mundane and temporary distractions of life and embody the love and grace that Christ has generously offered us. Let us be the light of the world, becoming radiant beacons of His love. By allowing the transformative power of forgiveness to illuminate our lives, we can also touch the lives of those around us.

By embracing the fullness of His grace, we fulfill our higher calling to be in the world but not of it as we walk the journey that Jesus has set before us. Would you join me in allowing our lives to become a testimony of His love, a reflection of His mercy, and a celebration of His abundant grace? Together, we can let our light shine brightly this Christmas season, bringing hope, peace, and love into the world.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott