09/07/2026
Sorry for another missing video sermon this week, the fully charged camera died mid-sermon. Here's another synopsis of the sermon.
Scriptures Exodus 12:3-13; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:10-20
We all know that God loves us and forgives our sins when we come to Him. However, what happens when we don't? Our Exodus reading talks about the ruling about the Passover followed by the explanation that everyone who doesn't partake in it will lose their firstborn; both from humans and animals. Personally I've noticed that people only look at the first-born genocide God caused and either say God in the Old Testament is different from the New Testament God or, alternatively, God is inconsistent. For clarity, the Passover was the 10th plague in Egypt after Pharaoh continued to keep the Hebrew people slaves and the Pharaoh before also caused a genocide of the Hebrew people. Long story short, this was a last resort and show the extent of how far God will go to love His people.
In order to show this love to others, however, there needs to be some accountability. In Exodus, it was from Pharaoh's prioritizing his civilization over the treatment of the people. In this section in Matthew, Jesus uses the parable of the lost sheep followed by how confrontation keeps people from avoiding repentance. It was taken so far that if a person does not repent after having his sin professed to the whole church, they should "treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector" (Matthew 18-17). This public shame does not come in a form of hate, but rather pity that a person would not be able to acknowledge their sins after a gathering of God's people. After all "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18-20).
To round this all off, Paul mentions in Romans that even since the 10 Commandments, each law focus on loving others as God loves us as well as loving God like He loves us. When we indulge in the base and lead to common indecency , we allow ourselves to justify ourselves in sin rather than acknowledge and live up to our sin and failure.
In short: Church accountability is how a church family holds itself upright and loving in God's eyes. It is not done through anger or immediate knee-jerk reactions. Rather, it is by giving people every opportunity to repent themselves. ONLY when all else fails is when pity via public shame is needed. God sets the outline of how far a loving hand is stretched and it is up to us to send that same willingness and ultimatum to those who need it.
God bless and, hopefully, see you next week!
