Haunted By Regret Series

INTRODUCTION

• October, scary movies, Friday the 13th part 25, cute little trick or treaters roaming the streets.

• October is a rather haunting month; however, for some people, they are haunted by issues in life twelve months out of the year.

• Since October is a month of haunting, I am going to begin a series entitled “HAUNTED.”

• When I was a child, I was haunted by a fear of the dark. My parents never knew where they would find me in the morning. I hated to go to bed at night, I wanted many lights on!

• It was frustrating because I did not know how to overcome being haunted by my fear of the dark.

• There are a vast number of concerns of life that can haunt you. Maybe you are haunted by something in your past this day.

• The issues that haunt you are slowing sucking the joy right out of your life and you do not know what to do about it.

• SLIDE #1

• Today our focus will be centered on a subject many of us know all too well, the issue of regret.

• So many people are haunted by regret.

• Regret is defined as follows:

o 1. to feel sorry and sad about something previously done or said that now appears wrong, mistaken, or hurtful to others

o 2.used as a polite expression of grief when making an apology or delivering a piece of bad or unwelcome news

o 3.to feel sadness about something, or feel a sense of loss and longing for somebody or something that is no longer there

o 4.to feel sorry or sad that something has happened

o 5.be sorry for the loss of; wish to have again

• A short definition of the word regret is, AN UNEASY FEELING CONCERNING WHAT HAS BEEN DONE.

• As we examine the scriptures today, in your outline of the message you will not see the word REGRET, but rather the word GRIEF.

• Grief usually accompanies regret, the two seem to go hand in hand, where there is regret. The grief one experiences usually results from some sort of loss, per the definitions of regret.

• For example, we got caught robbing the bank, so we regret doing it because we will lose our freedom as a result of the action, no necessarily because what we did was wrong. 

• In the passage we will dig into together this morning, the apostle Paul is writing the 2 letter to the Corinthian church. In the first letter, Paul dealt with numerous issues that was hurting the fledgling church.

• Immorality was running crazy and Paul was trying to help correct the issues. It would seem as though sometime between the writing of the first letter and this second letter that the people were starting to realize the depth of their sins.

• Today let us see if we can eradicate being haunted by regret once and for all!

• Let being by looking at 2 Corinthians 7:9

• SLIDE #2

• 2 Corinthians 7:9 (HCSB) Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. Grief though difficult is not a bad feeling to experience.

• Have you ever made someone feel bad by something you said or by something you had done?

• I would venture to say most of us have.

• When you were told by the person you made them feel bad or you found out you made them feel bad, did you say that you rejoiced? 

• Paul probably had some regrets over what he had to write in 1 Corinthians

• SLIDE #4

• 2 Corinthians 2:4 (HCSB) For I wrote to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart—not that you should be hurt, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.

• But now Paul is seeing the fruits that have sprung forth from the gut wrenching letter he previously wrote.

• In verse 8 look at what Paul says.

• SLIDE #5

• 2 Corinthians 7:8 (HCSB) For even if I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it—even though I did regret it since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a little while.

• Notice Paul felt bad about making the folks grieve; however, the pain the folks experienced lasted only a little while before the desired results started taking place!

• The pain and grief Paul knew would follow his letter was not what he was seeking, rather the pain and grief were both means to an end.