Living as Vessels of Christ's Love and Compassion
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Father, you have placed us here together for a reason and a purpose. And we need each other. Desperately, we need each other to be the church you call us to. Each part placed together, not out of our design, but out of yours. We need each other and we love each other and we will not harm one another because we love one another and we give thanks for one another." [00:23:59]
"So, how others see Jesus in us really provides the clearest indication of what we believe. What attributes do we express that outwardly speak to others of the Son of God that we say saved our souls and we've given our lives to? Think about your day-to-day interactions. What you do each day, and maybe you can say some days aren't something you've done. Yep, I look kind of like Jesus when I did that. Or, nope, I really didn't look like Jesus doing that." [00:27:10]
"I like the word representing, but I always, I don't know if you've noticed over my time here, I rephrase it as re-presenting. And that's really what we're called to do as Christians is represent Christ to the world in which we live. The question comes down to it, do people see Jesus in us? Each day that we walk this earth, do people view our lives, view how we're living, how we treat people, that we're not going to hurt them? Do people see Jesus in that day-to-day walk?" [00:28:52]
"Your faith is never supposed to be, I have arrived. It's not about having the right Jesus shirt and the right cross and looking a certain way. It's about our actions and our attitudes and all these things that can be swayed by worldly things is supposed to be our faith. It's not about having the right Jesus shirt under the lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like I said, you can't say I've arrived. What you're supposed to say is I'm on a journey. I'm on a journey to come closer to Christ, and it'll take our entire lives." [00:29:55]
"I can tell you this, that God never wastes anything you go through. If you're willing to let God use what has happened in your life, God can use every moment for the good of others and make a difference. Now, I don't know if you've ever heard this before, but sometimes people accuse Christians of being hypocrites. I've heard that a few times. And of course, the word hypocrite is from the Greek word hypocrites, which means an actor or a stage player. In other words, are we putting on a show as Christians or are we really revealing who Christ is to the world we live?" [00:31:00]
"Romans chapter 12 says, don't copy the behaviors and customs of this world. But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you'll learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. The Apostle John writes, the world would love you as one of its own if you belong to it. But you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Have you ever thought your faith in those terms? That if you live your life as Christ calls you, people are not going to like you." [00:32:00]
"So there are many things that should be revealed by a life lived for Christ. I think most of us, when we encounter one of these opportunities, that is to reveal Christ in us to others through our deeds, find a sense of enrichment within our lives we don't experience at any other time. So, for example, we went out to do Church Without Walls last week. The opportunity to stand across the table, from someone and meet a need provide food provide a hot meal it's always interesting we always don't always make sure we have more than enough we send plates with them so they have food for a day or more when we serve others out of compassion out of mercy we sense christ alive in us manifesting himself to the world." [00:34:04]
"Meeting the needs of others is a significant part of what we as Christians are called to do. Most of us have had times where we've had to pray for someone, and sometimes we're exactly in the right place at the right time to meet the needs of others. How many of y 'all have paid for someone in front of you their groceries if they didn't have enough money? I think you have to understand that's not your desire. That's God in you manifesting himself to that person in front of you. Why would you do that? Most of the time, I think that's a question you get asked. Why would you want to do that?" [00:36:45]
"Jesus used the parable of the good Samaritan to illustrate what God's compassion and love could look like in our lives. He also used it to reveal those that should have known what they should do, but instead put other things ahead of the needs of the one who needed help. And interestingly enough, in that story, it is the priest who says, you're not going to forgive me. You're not going to forgive me. You're not and the Levite are the ones that didn't do what they were supposed to do, just passed on by. But the one, the Samaritan, the unwanted one, the undesirable of the Jewish community, an outcast, was the one that exhibited the greatest love toward this person." [00:45:45]
"Now we could use all or parts of the good Samaritan parable to understand how we're to treat others just think if we did these things though if we really saw where others are what's going on in their lives we invested the time to know what they're going through that's the first part we see their humanity we see the people that they are that they are god's beloved just as much as we are and we see them that way and then we're moved with compassion to do something to help them just doing these three things just think how much differently we would treat others." [00:48:10]
"Our faith is really about two relationships. First and primarily is our faith and our relationship with God, learning of His great love for us and developing an unwavering trust of Him. And the other part of our faith is our relationship with others. Do unto others. Our second text is from the book of James, and his writings are often application-based. That's why I like the book of James so much. Maybe you've heard this text before from James chapter 2. Faith without works is dead. That doesn't sound very positive, but if we don't do anything with our faith, if we don't take our faith and take it out for a stroll, take it out into the world, take it to places with intentionality and make a difference in other people's lives, what good is that faith?" [00:40:39]
"Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to get angry. Any of you all struggle with any of that? Often we're way too willing to open our mouths before fully understanding a person's situation. How many of us feel like we have a right to correct other people almost instantaneously? Tell them how it is. Criticism is levied against someone without even knowing what is going on in their lives. I always share with people, I've shared with several people since I've been here, that when a person acts totally out of character of what you expect them to, be ashamed. Be assured there's more to what's going on than what they're presenting to you." [00:41:16]
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"So, how others see Jesus in us really provides the clearest indication of what we believe. What attributes do we express that outwardly speak to others of the Son of God that we say saved our souls and we've given our lives to? Think about your day-to-day interactions. What you do each day, and maybe you can say some days aren't something you've done. Yep, I look kind of like Jesus when I did that. Or, nope, I really didn't look like Jesus doing that." [00:27:10]
"I like the word representing, but I always, I don't know if you've noticed over my time here, I rephrase it as re-presenting. And that's really what we're called to do as Christians is represent Christ to the world in which we live. The question comes down to it, do people see Jesus in us? Each day that we walk this earth, do people view our lives, view how we're living, how we treat people, that we're not going to hurt them? Do people see Jesus in that day-to-day walk?" [00:28:52]
"Your faith is never supposed to be, I have arrived. It's not about having the right Jesus shirt and the right cross and looking a certain way. It's about our actions and our attitudes and all these things that can be swayed by worldly things is supposed to be our faith. It's not about having the right Jesus shirt under the lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like I said, you can't say I've arrived. What you're supposed to say is I'm on a journey. I'm on a journey to come closer to Christ, and it'll take our entire lives." [00:29:55]
"I can tell you this, that God never wastes anything you go through. If you're willing to let God use what has happened in your life, God can use every moment for the good of others and make a difference. Now, I don't know if you've ever heard this before, but sometimes people accuse Christians of being hypocrites. I've heard that a few times. And of course, the word hypocrite is from the Greek word hypocrites, which means an actor or a stage player. In other words, are we putting on a show as Christians or are we really revealing who Christ is to the world we live?" [00:31:00]
"Romans chapter 12 says, don't copy the behaviors and customs of this world. But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you'll learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. The Apostle John writes, the world would love you as one of its own if you belong to it. But you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Have you ever thought your faith in those terms? That if you live your life as Christ calls you, people are not going to like you." [00:32:00]
"So there are many things that should be revealed by a life lived for Christ. I think most of us, when we encounter one of these opportunities, that is to reveal Christ in us to others through our deeds, find a sense of enrichment within our lives we don't experience at any other time. So, for example, we went out to do Church Without Walls last week. The opportunity to stand across the table, from someone and meet a need provide food provide a hot meal it's always interesting we always don't always make sure we have more than enough we send plates with them so they have food for a day or more when we serve others out of compassion out of mercy we sense christ alive in us manifesting himself to the world." [00:34:04]
"Meeting the needs of others is a significant part of what we as Christians are called to do. Most of us have had times where we've had to pray for someone, and sometimes we're exactly in the right place at the right time to meet the needs of others. How many of y 'all have paid for someone in front of you their groceries if they didn't have enough money? I think you have to understand that's not your desire. That's God in you manifesting himself to that person in front of you. Why would you do that? Most of the time, I think that's a question you get asked. Why would you want to do that?" [00:36:45]
"Jesus used the parable of the good Samaritan to illustrate what God's compassion and love could look like in our lives. He also used it to reveal those that should have known what they should do, but instead put other things ahead of the needs of the one who needed help. And interestingly enough, in that story, it is the priest who says, you're not going to forgive me. You're not going to forgive me. You're not and the Levite are the ones that didn't do what they were supposed to do, just passed on by. But the one, the Samaritan, the unwanted one, the undesirable of the Jewish community, an outcast, was the one that exhibited the greatest love toward this person." [00:45:45]
"Now we could use all or parts of the good Samaritan parable to understand how we're to treat others just think if we did these things though if we really saw where others are what's going on in their lives we invested the time to know what they're going through that's the first part we see their humanity we see the people that they are that they are god's beloved just as much as we are and we see them that way and then we're moved with compassion to do something to help them just doing these three things just think how much differently we would treat others." [00:48:10]
"Our faith is really about two relationships. First and primarily is our faith and our relationship with God, learning of His great love for us and developing an unwavering trust of Him. And the other part of our faith is our relationship with others. Do unto others. Our second text is from the book of James, and his writings are often application-based. That's why I like the book of James so much. Maybe you've heard this text before from James chapter 2. Faith without works is dead. That doesn't sound very positive, but if we don't do anything with our faith, if we don't take our faith and take it out for a stroll, take it out into the world, take it to places with intentionality and make a difference in other people's lives, what good is that faith?" [00:40:39]
"Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to get angry. Any of you all struggle with any of that? Often we're way too willing to open our mouths before fully understanding a person's situation. How many of us feel like we have a right to correct other people almost instantaneously? Tell them how it is. Criticism is levied against someone without even knowing what is going on in their lives. I always share with people, I've shared with several people since I've been here, that when a person acts totally out of character of what you expect them to, be ashamed. Be assured there's more to what's going on than what they're presenting to you." [00:41:16]
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