6:8 Church

Deut 6

Deut 11:

Num 15:

3 Parables about prayer

Persistent Widow

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Audacious Neighbor:

Luke 11:5-12

5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector: Humility

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Acts 17:10-15

John 4:

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

In John 15, Jesus gave us a great metaphor for what it means to be In Christ, for the love of God to flow through our lives in such a way that we produce fruit that endures. But what does it mean? How do we truly abide in Christ? 

As a recipient of God's generous grace in Jesus, I will seek to be generous in showing grace to others. I will be the first to forgive, extending the generous grace of Jesus I have received to those around me. It doesn't matter if they deserve my forgiveness, because I didn't deserve God's forgiveness when He gave it to me. Because I have experienced God's redemption firsthand, I believe in redemption in all things.  I believe in redemption for others and our world. I will forgive as I have been forgiven.

As a recipient of God's generous grace in Jesus, I will seek to be generous in showing grace to others. I will be the first to forgive, extending the generous grace of Jesus I have received to those around me. It doesn't matter if they deserve my forgiveness, because I didn't deserve God's forgiveness when He gave it to me. Because I have experienced God's redemption firsthand, I believe in redemption in all things.  I believe in redemption for others and our world. I will forgive as I have been forgiven.

As we continue on this journey towards purple faith, we stop to take a look at God's Kingdom. We are citizens of heaven, ambassadors of the Kingdom of Light, but are we being good representatives of God's Kingdom? Are we worshipping God or idols of our own making? 

In part 2 of our teaching on being judgemental, we wrap up the 4 types of judgment in scripture and add 5 practical steps we can take today to be less judgemental. 

In part 6 of our Purple Faith teaching series at 6:8, we are looking at the topic of judgment. No, we're not talking about God judging everyone on the planet, the great white throne, or any of those. We're talk about about how we, as Christians, have a tendency to be judgemental. We invite you to listen in to part one of Pastor David's teaching on Judgement.