Sunday, 23 March 2014 The Third Sunday in Lent This Weeks Sermon Title: Rejected by Hate, Accepted by Love Have you ever felt the painful rejection of hatred? Or, have you felt the warmth of being lovingly accepted for who you are? In this weeks sermon, we will explore an incident where a woman anoints Jesus feet as he reclined for dinner in a Pharisees home. The woman is immediately recognized and labeled a sinner by the Pharisees gathered at the table. They are repulsed that Jesus is allowing this uninvited guest to touch Him. In their judgment, they believe the religious laws declared such a woman unclean due to her many sins. They reject her because of her reputation and worldly perception of her character. Yet, Jesus embraces her act of love. He knows that the woman is guilty of many sins. Even so, He lovingly accepts her gesture and sees beyond the reputation the world has cast upon her. Instead, Jesus looks deep within the womans heart. He can see and feel the guilt, regret and anguish the effects of sin have inflicted upon her soul. He realizes the sincere desire for forgiveness she carries within her heart. To the astonishment of all who were dining at the table, Jesus tells the woman her sins are forgiven. They fail to understand Jesus unconditional love towards this woman. Instead, their worldliness causes them to believe that Jesus is blaspheming and will suffer the same fate as this sinful woman. Do we share this same unconditional love for others as displayed by Jesus? Too often, we are inclined to accept the worlds judgment of people for the mistakes theyve made or things they have done. We also are guilty of judging others based upon rumor, gossip or our own perceptions without truly knowing the person or the circumstances of their life. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the only one with the authority to judge. We overstep our bounds anytime we take on this responsibility where we do not have the authority to do so. If even the judge of the world can accept people as they are with unconditional love, shouldnt we make every effort to reflect this same love upon others - especially if we are followers of Christ? The scripture for todays sermon can be found in the following passages: Luke 7:36 - 50 Jeremiah 17:4 - 10 James 4:7 - 10 We invite you to join us at New Beginnings Church of Middletown, PA. We worship at Riverside Chapel, 630 South Union Street, Middletown, PA 17057. Services start at 10:30am. If you are unable to join us in person, our service is rebroadcast weekly on WMSS 91.1FM, the Super Sound of Middletown, Sunday afternoons at 3:00pm. For those outside the reach of the WMSS radio signal, the rebroadcast of our service is also streamed live on the internet at the following web address: pennlive/wmss/audio May God bless you and remember, nothing in this world is more important than the love of Jesus Christ.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 12:47:27 +0000
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