Hi everyone, it's Aunt Frenita.
Today's story is called,
"Seventy times seven."
The memory verse is from Matthew 18:35.
"Forgive your brother from your heart."
Today's message is,
"God wants me to forgive others
from my heart."
Have you ever been so angry at someone,
that it was hard to forgive them?
One day, Peter asked Jesus,
"How many times shall I forgive
someone who sins against me?
Seven times?"
In Jesus' time,
the priests and rabbies taught that
people only had to forgive a person
three times!
So Peter thought he was being generous,
by suggesting the number seven.
"Not seven times,"
Jesus said.
"But seventy times seven."
Jesus meant that we should not
count the times that we forgive someone.
We should be willing
and ready to forgive.
Then Jesus told a story
to make his point.
"A certain man worked for a king,
managing the king's money.
One day, the king sat down
to look at his accounts.
He disovered, this man's account
was millions in debt!
Far more than the man could ever repay.
The king ordered the man,
his wife,
and his children
to be sold.
And everything he owned,
was to be sold.
All the money
would help to repay the debt.
The man fell on his knees
and begged for mercy!
"Give me time!" he said.
"And I will repay everything I owe!"
The king knew
the man could never repay so much money.
But the king felt sorry for the man.
So he cancelled the debt,
and let his servant go.
The king's servant was so relieved
he rushed away.
On his way out,
he met another servant,
one who owed him money.
It was just a little bit,
about a day's wages.
The king's servant grabbed the second man by the neck,
and he began choking him.
"Pay me back the money you owe me!"
he demanded.
"Please be patient with me!"
begged the second man.
"Give me time,
and I will repay back everything I owe you!"
But the king's servant refused.
He had the second man thrown in prison
until he could repay the debt!
Other servants of the king
saw the whole thing.
The immediately reported it to the king.
The king called the first servant back.
"You wicked servant!"
he stormed.
"I cancelled millions you owed me!
Shouldn't you have had the same
mercy on someone else?
Someone who owed you so little?"
The king had his servant
taken away to prison.
We are like the king's servant.
He owed more than he could ever repay.
We can never be good enough.
But just as the king forgave his servant,
God has forgiven our sins!
And since God has forgiven us,
He asks us to treat others
with mercy and kindness and forgiveness.
www.gracelink.net
Close captions by Bernice Leong.