Elements City Church
This is the Way wk2 - Act Justly
Around 700 hundred years before Jesus, we were given a proclamation from a prophet who was trying to get God’s people to follow Him again. They were God’s royal priesthood, a holy nation, blessed to be a blessing, but they were living below their calling. It is into this setting that the prophet Micah was called to bring a word of realignment. He challenged the people of God to return to a simple life focus... captured in one verse, but it was large enough to take a lifetime to live out. He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. -- Micah 6:8 ...following after God may not always be easy, but it was never meant to be complicated. We need to be people who walk in this way - way more. This is the way of Jesus.
Locations & Times
Elements City Church
1825 N Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85712, USA
Sunday 5:00 PM
Thanks for joining us...
Whether you're on-site or online, we are praying that tonight will be an encouragement to your soul. May God whisper to you and help you in taking your next steps in a journey with Him. If you're new, we'd love to have you fill out our connection card here...
https://connect-card.com/yr4Y0g8VLBSqzKXeubjbHave you ever been treated unfairly? I bet we each could tell stories...
“To do justly” is too act with equity, fairness and deference to those who are in a weaker social position—the opposite of the violence, oppression, fraud, lying and injustice.
Justice is the Hebrew word mishpat, and it can convey one of 2 separate meanings….
The first is retributive. You have to pay the consequences for what you do wrong. “Do the crime, you must do the time.”
But most often in the Bible “mishpat” refers to restorative justice. It means to go a step beyond just administering punishment. It means seeking out those being taken advantage of and helping them. More than just charity, it means to advocate for the oppressed.
Justice is the Hebrew word mishpat, and it can convey one of 2 separate meanings….
The first is retributive. You have to pay the consequences for what you do wrong. “Do the crime, you must do the time.”
But most often in the Bible “mishpat” refers to restorative justice. It means to go a step beyond just administering punishment. It means seeking out those being taken advantage of and helping them. More than just charity, it means to advocate for the oppressed.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
Psalm 146:7–9
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Proverbs 31:8–9
also see Isaiah 1:11-17
Psalm 146:7–9
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Proverbs 31:8–9
also see Isaiah 1:11-17
Christine Caine quote:
“It’s one thing to be awakened to injustice and quite another to be willing to be inconvenienced and interrupted to do something about it.”
“It’s one thing to be awakened to injustice and quite another to be willing to be inconvenienced and interrupted to do something about it.”
Jesus addressed acting justly in his haunting story about the sheep and the goats as recorded in Matthew 25.
Speaking of the hungry, sick, and alien, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
*WHEN WE’RE SERVING, HELPING, ADVOCATING for those on the margins - we’re literally serving Jesus through our heart and actions…
Speaking of the hungry, sick, and alien, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
*WHEN WE’RE SERVING, HELPING, ADVOCATING for those on the margins - we’re literally serving Jesus through our heart and actions…
Ultimately, Justice points to Jesus.
==justice matters because of Jesus. His kingdom is a place where justice prevails, so I cannot love him without loving the justice he prizes.
== it is in Jesus that justice prevails. The cross was the scene of the most monstrous injustice in history, where the one truly innocent person in history was visited with the sum total of human sin and rebellion. It is on a cross we see most clearly God's hatred of injustice. It is an empty tomb that proclaims most loudly justice's final victory.
==justice matters because of Jesus. His kingdom is a place where justice prevails, so I cannot love him without loving the justice he prizes.
== it is in Jesus that justice prevails. The cross was the scene of the most monstrous injustice in history, where the one truly innocent person in history was visited with the sum total of human sin and rebellion. It is on a cross we see most clearly God's hatred of injustice. It is an empty tomb that proclaims most loudly justice's final victory.
the prophet Micah says this is what God requires of you:
==Do justice. Be an agent of justice.
you can't correct all the injustice of the world, but you can do something
==Do justice. Be an agent of justice.
you can't correct all the injustice of the world, but you can do something
Act Justly.
=Justice is doing the right thing at the right time.
We can be stewards of “just us” or we can be stewards of justice.
Do for ONE, what you wish you could do for everyone.
=Justice is doing the right thing at the right time.
We can be stewards of “just us” or we can be stewards of justice.
Do for ONE, what you wish you could do for everyone.
Act Justly. Each day. Each conversation. Each interaction. Do the right thing at the right time as Jesus would do…
What’s justice look like?
…It looks exactly like you feel it should look like if you were on the receiving end of injustice.
Maybe that’s why Jesus gave us the golden rule to live by…
“Do to others as you would like them to do to you.” -Luke 6:31
What’s justice look like?
…It looks exactly like you feel it should look like if you were on the receiving end of injustice.
Maybe that’s why Jesus gave us the golden rule to live by…
“Do to others as you would like them to do to you.” -Luke 6:31
Thanks for partnering with us...
Thank you, Elements family, for enabling us to be the Church in our city! Your gifts help fuel the mission of Elements City Church, as well as our capacity to share His love with as many as we can. You help us bring the HOPE and LIGHT of Jesus to our city! You can give here, online, or through the Elements app.
http://elementscitychurch.org/giveWe hope you have been blessed by your time worshipping with us -- through song and through the Word!
We'll see you back at Elements next weekend -- on-site or online -- as we continue our new series on one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible and how it challenges us to live... Micah 6:8
We'll see you back at Elements next weekend -- on-site or online -- as we continue our new series on one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible and how it challenges us to live... Micah 6:8