Bad Choices and Good Samaritans

Bad Choices & Good Samaritans

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25–37 (ESV)

²⁵ And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

·       His real question: “For what does God hold me responsible?”

²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

²⁷ And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and [love] your neighbor as yourself.”

Loving God is more than just an emotion – we love God when we worship and when we .

Likewise, loving your neighbor must be shown by what you DO.

(MULTILINE)

²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.

 (MULTILINE)

³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

 (MULTILINE)

³³ But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

AND he was generous: 

³⁴ He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.³⁵ And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.”

And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Mercy means: to someone in serious need

(MULTILINE)

We aren’t intended to do this on our own. God intends to give us to help us.

Colossians 1:9-14

⁹ And so, from the day we heard [about you], we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

The prayer was for the Colossians to know God’s will

·       So they’ll understand God’s will and know what to do

·       So they will do it in a way that’s “worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him”

·       And bear fruit in every kind of good work

·       Which will help them grow to know God better

And to help them do all that – what does God do?

¹¹ being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;

(MULTILINE)

·       James was teaching the young men yesterday about how to grow up into Godly men – especially when they face hard things:

Romans 5:3-4 (NIV) ³  …We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴  perseverance, character; and character, hope.

 (MULTILINE)

When you go through hard times, when you seek to obey God and it gets difficult, you can either give up, or .

¹² [We have been] giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 (MULTILINE)

Deuteronomy 30:10, 9 (ESV)

¹⁰ when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

⁹ The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers,

 (MULTILINE)

What would look like if we showed kindness like that…

·       in our families? (MULTILINE REVEAL SMALL)

·       in the church? (MULTILINE REVEAL SMALL)

·       in this community? (MULTILINE REVEAL SMALL)

How delighted would God be?

Go… to love and serve the Lord.

Thanks be to God!

 (MULTILINE)