Paul
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Angels We Have Heard On High
Majesty
Here I Am
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
12th century, oldest song of our faith
Means “God With Us”
1 John 3:16-20
16 We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians.
17 But whoever has the world’s possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person?
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.
19 And by this we will know that we are of the truth and will convince our conscience in his presence,
20 that if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience and knows all things.
Matthew 6:19-23
19 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Jon
Kindness translates loving deeds
Not about feelings, a loving response
One of the marks of a real Christian is manifested in kindness
Kindness comes out to those in need
Definition – being practically generous
Not these feelings of satisfaction
Put your time, money and services where your heart is
Home repair you don’t think about spending a lot of money – car stereo you do
Human beings more valuable than anything on Earth
Treasures in heaven – cultural idiom that means help other people
Something that manifests in our heart
Opposite is stingy
Single eye – sees the needs of others and does something about it
What is the job of a Christian? Salvation of others? That’s part of the job description…
How did Jesus go before us?
1. Spiritual alienation (inner)
2. Pyschological breakdowns with relationships (inner)
3. Social issues, judgement (outer)
4 Physical problems, deaths and decay (outer)
He healed and touched people,
Ephesians 4, Rimans 12 – Word gifts and deed gifts
Word – counseling, …
Deed – helps, mercy, service
Inner circle needs hard to see
They may not know or understand the lack of God inside them, but they understand hunger
William Wilburforce (Ended slavery in England)
William Pitt (city of Pittsburg) invited to a rockin’ sermon by Wilburforce
Pitt didn’t understand a word of it
Unless the Holy Spirit opens up your heart to those inner circle needs, you can’t see them
Both word AND deed gifts
Luke 24:19 man of word and deed
Healed, built relationships, talked about social problems
Kindness
Matthew 25 – unnerving, division between real and false Christians
I was hungry and you fed me
Whatever you do unto humanity, the least of these, the little ones, you do unto yourself
Not saved by good works, but by grace
Deeds of kindness reveals in us faith
Is it growing in out hearts?
To let other’s burdens slide onto your back
Balance between inner and outer circle
Julian the emperor wanted to destroy Christianity
The stronger I oppress it, the stronger it becomes
All poor were wlecomed, not just other Christians
Julian the empeor and the Greeks didn’t get it
Two things made them different
1. they didn’t have sex outside of marriage
2. charity and generosity for everyone ???
To be a people that not only talk, but do
Counterfeit – being sentimental
I care about them but I can’t afford it – which means you are unwilling to share a person’s burden
Gotta let some of it slide onto us
What is a poor person
Poverty is choices
Don’t wait for destitution before you help people
Bear the burden by helping our
If you are helping people to the tune where you number of choices have not been diminished at all, then you’re not helping people enough
Are we supposed to empty our wallet everytime we see a homeless person?
Act, don’t react
We talked about lots of opportunities to deed and not just word
Where am I going to put my resources. Are my time and money benefiting?
Robert Murray McShane
Dear Christians, pray branch of new vine, rich and became poor, objection, Christ may have said my blood is my own, thousands would trample on His blood, I want you happiness Jesus says
