The presence of God came into that place. People began to weep and cry, just an amazing touch. Within a year we had a chance to pray for them and they were able to conceive a child and this last year they sat down with us at Easter and said we want to become Christians, can you lead us to the Lord? ... [Applause] ... We baptised them. Honour! Honour! Honour!
So I had dishonoured her. We'd dishonoured her in rejecting her and adopting her, so in that sense we had really grieved and broken her heart and hurt her. But because we chose to honour her she in turn was able to really honour us and she's now part of our family and she's come into faith in Christ, come into eternal destiny. See, honour works. You can't afford to keep bitterness in your heart. You can't afford to keep bitterness in your heart. You can't afford to have those judgements.
You say but it's not fair what happened. Well there's a lot of things in life aren't fair. Why don't you take the injustice to the cross and say God, today I want to extend grace to them. I want to extend grace. Lord, as you give me grace and forgive me, I'm going to extend it to them. I'm no longer going to judge and find fault. I'm just going to find a way to honour them with words, actions. I'll just do what you lead me to do that will demonstrate I have shifted, I've changed and this cycle finishes with me.
Can we close our eyes right now and feel the presence of God here. I sense there's many people here and you've got issues that you've run away from in home and in family. Why don't you just stand up as God has spoken to you, make your way to the front and say God, I want to deal with this issue. I've got anger, I've got hurt, I've got grief, I've got bitterness. I've made judgements against my father and all men. I've made judgements against my mother and all women. I have got these things going on in my heart - I want to put it right tonight. I want to end this cycle of judging and bitterness and dishonour and I want to build honour in my future, so today I'm purposing to open my heart for the grace of God. I'm opening my heart to repent of bitterness and judgements and dishonour and I'm asking you Lord to give me grace to learn how to honour my father and honour my mother.
Maybe your father's died. You can still in your heart honour his memory. You can still thank God for the things he did give to you. For some of you this may be a bit of a journey. You may find that you need to sit down and begin to think of the ways that you have been grieved and had your heart broken, write a letter, express your feelings, play music. Let what's in your heart come out and come to a place where your heart is free and there's just grace there. Say now God, what can I do? Don't look for them to change. Remember, it's quite possible that your parent is like the person with the broken leg that can't run. Just let them be. It's not your job to change them. God just says just honour them. Find a way to value them. Find a way to make them of value in your life and in your heart.
I can feel the presence of God and I feel a lot of grief in hearts. God wants to touch you and help you right now. Just let God help you right now. Begin to think about your father, think about your mother. Begin to let whatever's in your heart come up. I'm going to lead you in a prayer and it's a prayer to repent of judging your parents, finding fault and criticism. It's a prayer to forgive them. It's a prayer to release them. It's a prayer to make a decision: I'll be a man or woman of honour. I'm going to be a person of honour. I'm going to walk in the principle of honour towards my parents. I'll find a way.
You'll be amazed. Maybe for some of you you have to go and apologise and put something right; mum, I haven't been what I've needed to be. I haven't represented God properly to you. I've been dishonouring of you in so many different ways. Will you forgive me? Will you forgive me? It's an important thing to deal with these issues. You say well, but what about all that they did? Hey, it's not about them. It's about you walking with God. It's about you building a legacy of honour and grace and so sometimes we just need to go and say, you know, God has been speaking to me and I realised there's many different ways that I've dishonoured you with my attitude, with my words, with my actions. I am so sorry. Will you forgive me?