Eats with Sinners - Week 2 - Pastor Nick Grim
Last week we started our series "Eats with Sinners" with the mindset that: We don’t go to church we are the Church and we ended with this statement: Integrity requires us to meet with the Lost.
This week we dive deeper into the book of Luke as we look at it through the lens of eating with sinners.
Before we dive to far into our message hear this:
1. God has a message for you not the person that is not here.
2. Let God speak to you not me.
3. If God asks you to live differently today do something about it. Remember that little changes are what creates growth in Jesus.
Have you ever like you didn’t belong because you just didn’t know?
People need to feel welcomed with grace
Luke 4:14-30 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.
What barriers do we create that makes people feel unwelcome?
1. We judge their past.
---Matthew 6:15 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
2, We don’t agree with who they are.
---Hebrews 12:14-15 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
3. We don’t go to them
---Luke 4:14-15 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Jesus knew these people would turn on him and still he went
You shouldn’t be accessible if you can’t be gracious
---Colossians 4:5-6 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
What are some guidelines to being accessible?
1. Walk in wisdom
---Proverbs 9:9-12 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
---Stephen Covey wrote in his "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" that one of those habits is to "Seek first to understand, then to be understood".
2. Time is limited
---Ephesians 5:15-17 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
3. Be Gracious
---Ephesians 4:30-32 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
The church is not here to minimize sin but to maximize grace.
What are some ways that you feel like you can be more accessible?
What are some barriers that get in your way of being accessible?
How do you want to show grace to someone in the next week?
How are we as a church going to do this?
---Life Groups. Ask any of the volunteers for more information.