"The How of Jesus" – Matthew 10:1-4, 22:15-22

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 1, 2024. "In a way, Jesus is forming his own party, but here is how he goes about doing it. He doesn’t start with ideology. He starts with the person. He starts with making a relationship with the person in front of him: Jew or Gentile, Samaritan or Roman, somebody or nobody, acceptable or unacceptable. Jesus gets to know the one in front of him. Then through meals, through conversation, through study and prayer with them and through other spiritual practices, he builds a community around him. He embraces debate among them as they try to figure out together what it means to keep the command of God to love God and others. They do not ignore the issues or the needs of the day. Of course they don’t. But it is on the basis of relationships and as a community that they do so. It is not ideology first. It is not issue first. It is relationship first."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/the-how-of-jesus/