The Miracle Of Mercy - Part 7 - Your Ministry Of Mercy

YOUR MINISTRY OF MERCY

Sunday, October 30, 2016 - Pastor Chuck Bernal

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7 - NIV)

 Mercy is _______________________________________________

 Compassion-ate: ________________________________________

 Compassion is about making a decision. It’s not an emotion . . . Expressing compassion is a deliberate choice [to embrace pain that is not your own] . . . We are most like Christ when we choose to offer the gift of our presence and choose to absorb within ourselves the suffering of the least, the last, and the lost. Are you looking for Jesus? That’s where you’ll find him. 

 Compassion-ate Case Study 1:  Showing Mercy to the LEAST

 A man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged him on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’ “Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. “Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ‘See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.   (Mark 1:40-45 - NIV)

 HE WAS NOT WELCOME BECAUSE OF HIS DISEASE

 If you ever have leprosy, you must tear your clothes, leave your hair uncombed, cover the lower part of your face, and go around shouting, “I’m unclean! I’m unclean!” As long as you have the disease, you are unclean and must live alone outside the camp.  (Leviticus 13:45-46 – CEV)

 ______________________________  ______________________________

Compassion-ate Case Study 2: Showing Mercy to the LAST

 One day Jesus was teaching in a house, and the healing power of the Lord was with Him. Pharisees and religious scholars were sitting and listening, having come from villages all across the regions of Galilee and Judea and from the holy city of Jerusalem. Some men came to the house, carrying a paralyzed man on his bed pallet. They wanted to bring him in and present him to Jesus, but the house was so packed with people that they couldn’t get in. So they climbed up on the roof and pulled off some roof tiles. Then they lowered the man by ropes so he came to rest right in front of Jesus. In this way, their faith was visible to Jesus. (Luke 5:17-20 – Voice)

 HE WAS NOT WORTHY BECAUSE OF HIS DISABILITY

 Compassion-ate Case Study 3:  Showing Mercy to the LOST

 After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” And he did—walked away from everything and went with him. Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. “What is he doing eating and drinking with crooks and ‘sinners’?” Jesus heard about it and spoke up, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.” (Luke 5:27-32 – Msg)

 THEY WERE ALL WRITTEN-OFF BECAUSE OF THEIR DECISIONS

 OUR MERCY MANDATE – TO LIFT PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR PAIN

 STEP 1: Know that I am called to be a “__________________________”

 Show mercy, just as your Father shows mercy. (Luke 6:36 – NCV)

 STEP 2: Look around and truly _____ the hurting people in your world

 I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you . . . (John 4:35 – Msg)

 STEP 3: Ask what am I willing to ______________ to really help people

 If you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? (James 2:15-17 – Msg)

 STEP 4: Mercy must start with _________ and must start right _______

 Each of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, for there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end. (John 9:4 – LB)

 MERCY IS THE KEY TO ANSWERED PRAYER IN OUR LIVES

(Isaiah 58:5-12)