Just in case you didn't see this on myspace...

This is for those of you who were in my Sunday School class on Sunday, and we didn't have time to finish. I'll probably continue in my class another time.

Matthew 18

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

7"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

10"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.^[a]

12"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

A Brother Who Sins Against You

15"If your brother sins against you,^[b] go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'^[c] 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be^[d]bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[e] loosed in heaven.

19"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[f]

23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents^[g] was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.^[h] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

Much of this chapter deals with humility, since Jesus was responding to a question posed to him that was filled with pride. I do find it interesting that in the middle of this answer, he talks about the lost sheep. It's like He's saying to His disciples that they need to stop trying to be the greatest, He loves each of you no matter what. I think that so many times we feel like we have to put others down so that we will be the greatest in the room, and it just makes us feel good.

This video kinda gives a short idea of what I am talking about. God's Pottery started out being funny, they took the challenge and made it their own. They decided to build the other person up with their words at the beginning, and that worked for them.When they started to put the other person down, their jokes kinda started being lame, and ultimately they lost.

I want to clarify something that I said on Sunday. We were talking about causing your brother to stumble, and doing distractions in church came up. I said that if you are talking in church and you are causing someone else to sin, then you are wrong. The clarification that I want to make is that because we have had many conversations about this in our youth group, we can't claim ignorance. We know that when we talk in church, people gossip about it to each other, and that is sin. The act of talking in church may not be the sin (however, your focus should be on worshiping God, and in that way it could be wrong), but the fact that you know that others are going to sin because of your acts makes that wrong. You are causing that brother (or sister) to stumble, and that makes it your fault. Look at verse 6! Yep, that's you! I'm not saying that they are completely innocent in this, but you can't claim innocence either!

Another thing about relationships that is important in this chapter starts in verse 15. If someone is sinning, you go to them first. If you need advice, go to God, but in reality, going to anyone else is gossip. After you have gone to them, if they blow you off, then you take others. It has happened to me so many times when someone has had a problem with me (usually having to do with my mouth), and that person doesn't talk to me about it, but someone else does. Yes, it's hard to approach someone who has made you mad or done something to you, but going to someone else about it hand having them talk to that person for you is wrong.

If this seems all over the place, and doesn't really go together, you probably weren't in my class on Sunday, or you weren't listening, or I'm just babbling weird because I'm Trina, and that's what I do. I'm open to discussion either way. Love you!