Nov 8 | A Call To Radical Living | Barry Rodriguez

Read Matthew 5 Why are humble and merciful and peaceful people blessed? Because they’re living out the character of God. His favor rests on them because they’re doing what he does. They’re working shoulder to shoulder with him. Why are the poor and persecuted and victimized blessed? Because they’re the ones God spends his time with. They’re the ones Jesus pursued. And they wanted to be close to him because they had nowhere else to turn If we are followers of Jesus - if we are also his disciples - then we are called to the exact same thing. And guess what? The world doesn’t look too kindly on that. • If you give your life to serve the poor, you’re going to be mocked for being a bleeding heart. • If you choose the path of humility and gentleness, you’ll be labeled as weak and soft. • If you have mercy and compassion on those from a different political party or ideology than you, you’ll be looked at as a traitor to your kind. • If you call for peace you’ll be trampled over by those calling for power. • If you want a pure heart, the world around you is going to try to defile it. • If you work to bring justice to those who have been victimized, you’re going to face the wrath of the victimizers. • On and on and on. If you spend your time and energy and money on those the world has rejected, the world will reject you too. So what are we tempted to do? When our friends or family start mocking us or criticizing our choices, how do we respond? We draw back, don’t we? We start toning down the Jesus-stuff. We don’t want the hostility, so we keep our faith a bit more private. A bit more internal. We are here to preserve the good things of this world. We are the light of the world. We are here to shine a light onto the way of salvation. Surrender your life to the purposes of Jesus. Be his disciple. Do what he did in this world. Spend time with who he spent time with. You may be mocked. You may be hated! But you will be blessed. You will experience the presence and provision of God. Because when you do these things you’re standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Can we be the kind of church that works shoulder to shoulder with Jesus? Pursuing those rejected by the world. Giving of our lives for those at the bottom of the barrel? Grace Church, can we be humble? Can we be merciful? Can we work for peace? Let us be disciples of Jesus, who showed us how to be blessed. Who showed us a way of living that leads to the healing of our world. Download the full sermon notes here: https://gracechurch.us/a-call-to-radical-living-from-jesus-himself Subscribe to the latest sermons: https://www.youtube.com/gracechurchin?sub_confirmation=1 To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: http://gracechurch.us/giving/ 'You Were Made for More' because God created you ON purpose FOR a purpose. This is the vision of Grace Church, led by Pastor Barry Rodriguez and based in Indianapolis, IN. ———————————— STAY CONNECTED Website: http://gracechurch.us Grace Church Facebook: https://facebook.com/GraceChurchIN Grace Church Instagram: https://instagram.com/GraceChurchIN Grace Church Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceChurchIN