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Jesus's Mission through a Meal

January 13, 2019 Series: God's Love, Our Love (Epiphany)

Topic: Missions Scripture: John 20:19–23, Luke 14:15–24

Who do you eat with?

In today's Scripture passage, Jesus was invited to share a Sabbath meal with some Pharisees.  Usually, Pharisees extended these invitations to people they considered "good Israelites", who kept the laws of Moses as well as all the additional rules they had formulated--in short, people like them.  On the other hand, they would not invite people they did not consider to be "good Israelites", and they certainly didn't invite the poor, the sick, the crippled, or the outcast, who the Pharisees considered to be under God's curse.  

Jesus told a parable that challenged their notions about who was in with God and who wasn't.  In this parable, the master was betrayed by his friends, who blew off his invitation to the banquet with a bunch of stupid excuses.  Instead of taking revenge against the people who rejected his invitation, the master sent his servant to invite the poor, the sick, the cripped, and the outcast to his banquet--all the people who the Pharisees would not associate with.

Our God is a missionary God, and we as his people should be missionary people.  Jesus, our Master, is sending us, his servants, into the world to invite people to the great banquet of the Lord.  A good way to do this is to share a meal with someone--preferably someone you don't usually share a meal with.

To see this sermon in the context of the larger entire worship service, please open this bulletin.

More in God's Love, Our Love (Epiphany)

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February 17, 2019

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February 10, 2019

A Living Sacrifice