You are listening to the Passion City Church podcast. To learn more about

Passion City Church, including our gathering times in Atlanta and Washington,

DC, visit us online at PassionCityChurch.com. Today's talk comes from Grant

Partrick. We're going to talk about a huge topic today in one that's at the

heart of the gospel. It really is central to our story and to us as the people of

God. We're going to talk for the next few minutes about forgiveness. We're going to talk

about forgiveness. Tim Keller said, forgiveness is a test of our belief and our

understanding of the gospel. And I believe that. Forgiveness is an easy concept to

agree with but a difficult command to obey. Is it not? It was C.S. Lewis who said

everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something or someone

to forgive. We're living in an interesting time which is why I really

since the Lord wanting this message today, we're living in this individualization

of society where we are more connected than ever and yet we're more lonely

than ever. The U.S. Surgeon General, maybe you saw this earlier this month,

released a statement saying that there is a new epidemic in America and that's the

epidemic of loneliness. He likened the impact of loneliness and being spiritually

disconnected to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. It's a real

problem with real consequences and there's a real weight to it. Loneliness is

defined as sadness because one has no friends or company and the reality is in

our current culture. We are failing at building healthy, meaningful relationships

and we're suffering as a society because of it because God designed us and

wired us to live out our lives in the context of community. One of the reasons

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