Who Is your Neighbor?

Brother Jim: On this long haul in the Great Commission.

Brother Jim: We went through many things last week.

Brother Jim: We talked about the Roman centurion and his faith.

Brother Jim: This Roman.

Brother Jim: Not exactly the nicest people in the world, are they?

Brother Jim: But yet his faith was so strong in Jesus.

Brother Jim: He just said, Lord, go to my house.

Brother Jim: I'm not worthy.

Brother Jim: You just you don't have to even go to my house, Lord.

Brother Jim: You can just speak it.

Brother Jim: You just say it, Lord, and it's going to be done.

Brother Jim: And his servant, who he loved

Brother Jim: about who he cared about, was

Brother Jim: healed.

Brother Jim: Faith.

Brother Jim: Now, today.

Brother Jim: We're going into the Good Samaritan.

Brother Jim: And unfortunately, I couldn't get it all in because there's

Brother Jim: too much there.

Brother Jim: So we're starting to first half today.

Brother Jim: We'll pick up the second half next week.

Brother Jim: But the question is.

Brother Jim: Who can tell me who that is?

Brother Jim: Ah, Mr. Rogers, right.

Brother Jim: Who?

Brother Jim: I wish I had a little vest like that, but I don't.

Brother Jim: I would have wore it.

Brother Jim: Who is your neighbor?

Brother Jim: Who is your neighbor?

Brother Jim: What's that?

Brother Jim: Everybody.

Brother Jim: Okay, let's break down neighbor real quick.

Brother Jim: Now, I got three neighbors sitting in the back.

Brother Jim: Holly.

Brother Jim: Randy.

Brother Jim: Nicole.

Brother Jim: Right down the road.

Brother Jim: Linda.

Brother Jim: Long right up on the road.

Brother Jim: And Helen Jenkins when she's there with her.

Brother Jim: We all got neighbors.

Brother Jim: Now we got good neighbors.

Brother Jim: The ones you know, you're constantly bothered borrowing a

Brother Jim: cup of sugar off of.

Brother Jim: And then you got them neighbors over there.

Brother Jim: You don't know em, but they

Brother Jim: wave, you wave, and it's good

Brother Jim: enough, right?

Brother Jim: I don't bother them.

Brother Jim: They don't bother me.

Brother Jim: That's a good neighbor right there.

Brother Jim: And maybe you got the bad neighbor.

Brother Jim: The one's got a couple screws loose.

Brother Jim: You don't know what they're doing.

Brother Jim: The ones you fear that maybe there's bodies being dug out.

Brother Jim: They're putting a backyard.

Brother Jim: You don't know.

Brother Jim: But as I was preparing for this, I couldn't help but think going

Brother Jim: back to school.

Brother Jim: Lunch lady time.

Brother Jim: Sitting there in the cafeteria.

Brother Jim: Now remember?

Brother Jim: Now for me, we had tables, right?

Brother Jim: And let's be honest, the tables

Brother Jim: were always set up with

Brother Jim: different cliques.

Brother Jim: You had the popular kids at one table.

Brother Jim: You had the jocks at another.

Brother Jim: And I, I don't believe in being politically correct.

Brother Jim: You got the nerds over here.

Brother Jim: You got the joint smokers over here, the Doobie Brothers, you

Brother Jim: know, and then you got the kids who just don't mix with anybody.

Brother Jim: And then maybe you got that one person that just sits all alone.

Brother Jim: Remember those days?

Brother Jim: Now, a few of you, I would guess

Brother Jim: what table you set up but sat

Brother Jim: at.

Brother Jim: But I'm not going to say that.

Brother Jim: Of course, Brother Jim was always at the cool table, so.

Brother Jim: But if you think about it.

Brother Jim: It kind of defines who we are,

Brother Jim: isn't it kind of defines who we

Brother Jim: are and sets us up for who we

Brother Jim: might become, our personality,

Brother Jim: our characteristics.

Brother Jim: And the sad thing is, I wish I could go back now.

Brother Jim: I was the kind of guy who's friends with everybody, but I

Brother Jim: wish now, as I mature, I wish I would have hit more tables to

Brother Jim: get to know people, to have them, to allow me to become a

Brother Jim: better neighbor to them.

Brother Jim: And as Linda spoke up, should not everybody be our neighbor?

Brother Jim: Well, Jim, hold on a minute.

Brother Jim: There's a lot of different

Brother Jim: scenarios that can play into

Brother Jim: what a good neighbor is, what a

Brother Jim: neighbor is.

Brother Jim: But today Jesus defines it very well, very well with the story

Brother Jim: of the Good Samaritan.

Brother Jim: The story of the Good Samaritan.

Brother Jim: Now, if you look in your

Brother Jim: bulletin, there's some questions

Brother Jim: back there.

Brother Jim: Maybe you can answer for yourself.

Brother Jim: But first, let us go to the gospel.

Brother Jim: Let us go to Luke ten twenty five to thirty seven.

Brother Jim: Now this is NIV this week.

Brother Jim: On one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

Brother Jim: Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Brother Jim: What is written in the law?

Brother Jim: He replied, how do you read it?

Brother Jim: He answered, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and

Brother Jim: with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your

Brother Jim: mind and love your neighbor.

Brother Jim: Neighbor.

Brother Jim: Neighbor.

Brother Jim: Neighbor.

Brother Jim: Neighbor as yourself.

Brother Jim: As yourself.

Brother Jim: You have answered correctly, Jesus replied.

Brother Jim: Do this and you will live.

Brother Jim: But.

Brother Jim: But he wanted to justify himself.

Brother Jim: So he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor?

Brother Jim: In reply, Jesus said, a man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho

Brother Jim: when he was attacked by robbers.

Brother Jim: They stripped him.

Brother Jim: They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went

Brother Jim: away, leaving him half dead.

Brother Jim: A priest happened to be going

Brother Jim: down the same road, and when he

Brother Jim: saw the man, he passed by on the

Brother Jim: other side.

Brother Jim: So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed

Brother Jim: by on the other side.

Brother Jim: So that kind of opens up the parable.

Brother Jim: You have a man that was robbed, a man that was beaten, a man

Brother Jim: that was broken, left for dead.

Brother Jim: And you got two, Two religious people that just pass him on by.

Brother Jim: Now, of course, Jesus is being tested.

Brother Jim: Tested by one of those good old boys, an expert of the law.

Brother Jim: And again, one of the most well

Brother Jim: known parables Jesus ever told

Brother Jim: is a story of the Good

Brother Jim: Samaritan.

Brother Jim: Even people who have never opened a Bible have heard the

Brother Jim: phrase Good Samaritan.

Brother Jim: Hospitals, charities, rescue

Brother Jim: missions, and even laws have

Brother Jim: been named after these two

Brother Jim: words.

Brother Jim: Yet this parable is so much more than a lesson about being kind.

Brother Jim: Jesus tells this story to

Brother Jim: expose, expose the condition of

Brother Jim: the human heart, reveal the

Brother Jim: impossibility of earning eternal

Brother Jim: life through good works and

Brother Jim: demonstrates the kind of love

Brother Jim: that God desires from his

Brother Jim: people.

Brother Jim: So that means you.

Brother Jim: And that means me.

Brother Jim: If we're claiming to be God's people.

Brother Jim: The story begins with an expert air quotes their expert in the

Brother Jim: law approaching Jesus.

Brother Jim: He asks, teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Brother Jim: Now notice his motive.

Brother Jim: There's always a motive with

Brother Jim: these Pharisees, these experts,

Brother Jim: right?

Brother Jim: Luke tells us that he asked the question to test.

Brother Jim: To test Jesus.

Brother Jim: Now, really?

Brother Jim: You must have a few screws loose if you want to test Jesus.

Brother Jim: But do we not in our own world today, sometimes test God.

Brother Jim: And again, it goes back to God's.

Brother Jim: Got to have a sense of humor.

Brother Jim: Hey, guys, look at what Jim's doing today.

Brother Jim: I've told him and told him, but yet he still.

Brother Jim: He's going to do it his way.

Brother Jim: They.

Brother Jim: These experts.

Brother Jim: They were proud and arrogant of their knowledge.

Brother Jim: They believe that they had all the answers.

Brother Jim: You ever encounter someone like that?

Brother Jim: If. If they haven't done it, it ain't worth doing.

Brother Jim: As that old saying goes.

Brother Jim: Instead of humbly seeking truth, they wanted to trap the very one

Brother Jim: who is the truth.

Brother Jim: Jesus answered his question with another question.

Brother Jim: What is written in the law?

Brother Jim: And how do you read it?

Brother Jim: The lawyer this expert answered correctly, love the Lord your

Brother Jim: God with all your heart and your soul, and with all your strength

Brother Jim: and with all your mind.

Brother Jim: And here we go.

Brother Jim: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Brother Jim: Jesus replied, well, yeah, you've answered correctly.

Brother Jim: Do this and you will live.

Brother Jim: Now Jesus was not teaching salvation by works.

Brother Jim: Jesus was exposing something to him, to these people, to us.

Brother Jim: If you're going to earn heaven by keeping God's laws, then you

Brother Jim: must keep it perfectly.

Brother Jim: Not just once.

Brother Jim: Not just twice.

Brother Jim: Not just most of the time, but every second of every hour.

Brother Jim: With your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind and

Brother Jim: your whole strength.

Brother Jim: Now, let me ask you something, folks.

Brother Jim: Anybody ever do that before?

Brother Jim: No.

Brother Jim: No. Can't do it.

Brother Jim: Nope.

Brother Jim: Big F on my test.

Brother Jim: But you know what?

Brother Jim: There was one person that did.

Brother Jim: One person that did.

Brother Jim: No one has ever done that church except Jesus Christ and the

Brother Jim: lawyer, this expert.

Brother Jim: He knew he had not.

Brother Jim: He knew he had not.

Brother Jim: So his conscience.

Brother Jim: Ah, there we go.

Brother Jim: You got a conscience?

Brother Jim: Everybody's got a conscience.

Brother Jim: His conscience began to bother him.

Brother Jim: So instead of admitting his need, what did he do?

Brother Jim: He tried to justify himself, tried to justify himself.

Brother Jim: In verse twenty nine.

Brother Jim: But he wanted to justify himself.

Brother Jim: So he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor?

Brother Jim: And friends, that is the problem

Brother Jim: with religion without grace,

Brother Jim: religion.

Brother Jim: And hear me on this religion spends more time defending

Brother Jim: itself than confessing the sin.

Brother Jim: So this expert asked the famous

Brother Jim: question, and who is my

Brother Jim: neighbor?

Brother Jim: Jesus answered, not with a definition, no, no, no. But he

Brother Jim: answered with a story.

Brother Jim: Religion without compassion is empty.

Brother Jim: Religion without compassion is empty.

Brother Jim: Jesus tells of a man traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho.

Brother Jim: This road was about seventeen miles long.

Brother Jim: It descended through rocky hills and narrow passages.

Brother Jim: Start building this image in your mind.

Brother Jim: It was notorious for thieves and robbers.

Brother Jim: It. It was a dangerous road.

Brother Jim: Let's just be honest.

Brother Jim: And sure enough, guess what happens?

Brother Jim: The man was attacked.

Brother Jim: The robbers stripped him.

Brother Jim: They beat him, and they stole every last thing he had.

Brother Jim: And then they left him for dead alongside the road.

Brother Jim: And if we look at this, this

Brother Jim: wounded traveler that we're

Brother Jim: talking about represents a

Brother Jim: hurting man.

Brother Jim: It represents more than that.

Brother Jim: It represents the human race.

Brother Jim: Mankind for you and I, our world today.

Brother Jim: People today may not all be long

Brother Jim: beside lying beside a desert

Brother Jim: road, but many are wounded by

Brother Jim: sin.

Brother Jim: Could it be that many men, women and children have been beaten by

Brother Jim: addiction, by abuse, by loneliness, by broken homes.

Brother Jim: We see it every day, do we not?

Brother Jim: Some by guilt, by depression, and some by grief.

Brother Jim: Let's just say, say it.

Brother Jim: This morning our world is filled

Brother Jim: with wounded people searching

Brother Jim: for peace.

Brother Jim: And they're searching for hope,

Brother Jim: for the pain and the darkness to

Brother Jim: end.

Brother Jim: Now, if you've never been in that pain and darkness, you got

Brother Jim: no idea what I'm talking about.

Brother Jim: But if you've been through the pain, and if you've been in the

Brother Jim: darkness, if you've been in the pits of hell in your life, your

Brother Jim: soul, your heart, you're done.

Brother Jim: You're holding on by a string saying, Lord, give me something

Brother Jim: to live for today.

Brother Jim: Or you're cursing God at night because you are in the morning

Brother Jim: because you still woke up.

Brother Jim: That's the kind of darkness I'm talking about.

Brother Jim: And yes, there are people going through it every day.

Brother Jim: That little Mackenzie right there holding on.

Brother Jim: And if we are honest, most, if

Brother Jim: not all of us have experienced

Brother Jim: the wounds that sin leaves

Brother Jim: behind.

Brother Jim: And church.

Brother Jim: There is so much truth in this

Brother Jim: statement that mankind continues

Brother Jim: to destroy human life in one way

Brother Jim: or another.

Brother Jim: Now, this is just my opinion, Brother Jim's opinion.

Brother Jim: But humanity, we have become an expert, a master at destroying

Brother Jim: what God lovingly created.

Brother Jim: Anybody agree with me on that one?

Brother Jim: We have become so good at destroying what God loves and

Brother Jim: what God created.

Brother Jim: In our society today, life has

Brother Jim: become cheap, violence is

Brother Jim: celebrated and hatred is

Brother Jim: applauded.

Brother Jim: So true compassion is often ignored.

Brother Jim: Then Jesus and then Jesus.

Brother Jim: What's he do?

Brother Jim: He introduces two men.

Brother Jim: Two men.

Brother Jim: The first contestant.

Brother Jim: We'll call him the priest.

Brother Jim: Now the priest came walking down the road.

Brother Jim: Now you think a priest.

Brother Jim: Oh, this is going to be good.

Brother Jim: You know he's a priest.

Brother Jim: There's that title.

Brother Jim: He's a priest.

Brother Jim: He ought to do something.

Brother Jim: Oh, he's a pastor.

Brother Jim: He ought to do something.

Brother Jim: He saw the wounded man.

Brother Jim: He looked and he knew the man needed help.

Brother Jim: So apparently the priest was

Brother Jim: somewhat intelligible and

Brother Jim: intelligent.

Brother Jim: He could see this man was hurting.

Brother Jim: Then what does he do?

Brother Jim: He crossed over to the other side and kept on walking.

Brother Jim: Wow.

Brother Jim: Now we are not told exactly why.

Brother Jim: Perhaps he was in a hurry.

Brother Jim: Maybe he had a Bible study to get to and teach.

Brother Jim: Maybe he had a committee meeting.

Brother Jim: Maybe he had a pickleball game he simply could not miss.

Brother Jim: Perhaps he feared becoming

Brother Jim: ceremonially unclean if the man

Brother Jim: was dead.

Brother Jim: Maybe he thought.

Brother Jim: And here, this is where it gets good.

Brother Jim: Maybe if I stop, this will interrupt my schedule.

Brother Jim: Ooh.

Brother Jim: Or maybe.

Brother Jim: And this is the one I love that hits so close to home.

Brother Jim: He assumed someone else would help.

Brother Jim: Sound familiar?

Brother Jim: In our world today, we assume somebody else will help.

Brother Jim: Today we might say, I'll post it on social media.

Brother Jim: I will share the needs of this person and I'm going to live

Brother Jim: stream the whole tragedy.

Brother Jim: Surely someone else will step in.

Brother Jim: You know, the sad thing is church and I experienced this

Brother Jim: myself in today's age.

Brother Jim: Now not all, but what do a lot

Brother Jim: of people do when they see an

Brother Jim: accident?

Brother Jim: When they see something bad happening, they don't take they

Brother Jim: don't run up.

Brother Jim: Exactly.

Brother Jim: Todd.

Brother Jim: They take their phone and they start filming it.

Brother Jim: Me and three of the girls, we were in a wreck going right into

Brother Jim: Indiana a long time ago.

Brother Jim: And there's these bums.

Brother Jim: I'm sorry.

Brother Jim: That's what they were.

Brother Jim: Bums filming us as they're going by.

Brother Jim: And I wanted to protect my

Brother Jim: daughters, but it's like,

Brother Jim: seriously, are you that hard up

Brother Jim: for entertainment?

Brother Jim: Are you that hard up for friends?

Brother Jim: You got to film something that could have been very tragic.

Brother Jim: Come on.

Brother Jim: That's what we've turned into in so many ways.

Brother Jim: But on the other hand, we still got good people will stop.

Brother Jim: So again, it's a balance.

Brother Jim: You don't know who you're going to get.

Brother Jim: And this priest, well, he showed his true colors.

Brother Jim: He just walked on by.

Brother Jim: Surely someone else will step in.

Brother Jim: In so many ways, mankind has

Brother Jim: become experts at noticing

Brother Jim: suffering while remaining

Brother Jim: uninvolved.

Brother Jim: But what about the church, Brother Jim?

Brother Jim: Well then church, here's some words to chew on this week.

Brother Jim: Seeing a need is not the same as meeting a need.

Brother Jim: It is possible to have religion without compassion.

Brother Jim: It is possible to know scripture and still ignore people.

Brother Jim: It is possible to attend church every day, every week.

Brother Jim: Whatever you want to do while

Brother Jim: walking right past the broken

Brother Jim: people.

Brother Jim: Whatever the priests excuse was, the fact remains he passed by.

Brother Jim: And the faith that sees

Brother Jim: suffering but refuses to show

Brother Jim: mercy.

Brother Jim: That's an empty faith right there.

Brother Jim: Our churches should never become

Brother Jim: places where we know the

Brother Jim: doctrine in and out, but fail to

Brother Jim: demonstrate love.

Brother Jim: True.

Brother Jim: God help us if we ever become that.

Brother Jim: The Lord is not simply looking

Brother Jim: for people who can quote his

Brother Jim: Word.

Brother Jim: He is looking for people whose

Brother Jim: hearts have been transformed by

Brother Jim: His Word.

Brother Jim: And again, that is such a beautiful word.

Brother Jim: Transform transformation.

Brother Jim: And it right to Jesus.

Brother Jim: Right to Jesus, right to Jesus.

Brother Jim: Yes, the priest had religion, but on that road to Jericho, he

Brother Jim: failed to show the compassion that reflects the heart of God.

Brother Jim: So now we got the second contestant here, the Levite.

Brother Jim: Notice now Jesus introduces another religious man.

Brother Jim: This man was a Levite.

Brother Jim: Now Levite was a member of the tribe of Levi, set apart to

Brother Jim: assist in the work of the temple and support the priesthood.

Brother Jim: If anyone should understand the

Brother Jim: heart of God, surely it would be

Brother Jim: this guy.

Brother Jim: So now, church, we're going to

Brother Jim: make a little progress in this

Brother Jim: story for this poor man, the

Brother Jim: Levite.

Brother Jim: Guess what?

Brother Jim: He did not immediately cross the road.

Brother Jim: So we're showing some improvement.

Brother Jim: The Bible says he actually came.

Brother Jim: Huh?

Brother Jim: And he looked.

Brother Jim: He looked.

Brother Jim: He got closer.

Brother Jim: He examined the situation.

Brother Jim: But he saw the wounds.

Brother Jim: He saw the blood.

Brother Jim: And he saw a helpless man.

Brother Jim: And after looking, what did he do?

Brother Jim: Hippity hop right down the bunny trail.

Brother Jim: He left him.

Brother Jim: He walked away.

Brother Jim: And again, we're not told why.

Brother Jim: Maybe again, he had somewhere where he needed to be.

Brother Jim: Maybe he had errands to run.

Brother Jim: And I can say this now, Karis.

Brother Jim: Not in here, but maybe he had Coles cash.

Brother Jim: Those coupons that was going to expire.

Brother Jim: So you had to get there, right?

Brother Jim: We simply do not know.

Brother Jim: But we do know this.

Brother Jim: He saw the need and he still chose not to meet it.

Brother Jim: Rockford Church, there's a lesson here for everyone of us.

Brother Jim: Seeing a need does not equal meeting a need.

Brother Jim: We live in a world where people see suffering every single day.

Brother Jim: We scroll past it.

Brother Jim: We hear about it.

Brother Jim: We shake our heads.

Brother Jim: We may even say, and I've heard it before, someone ought to do

Brother Jim: something about that.

Brother Jim: Maybe you've been the one that said it.

Brother Jim: Somebody needs to take care of that.

Brother Jim: And you got this real serious look on your face.

Brother Jim: Someone.

Brother Jim: Someone ought to.

Brother Jim: But God often asks a different question to you and I. What are

Brother Jim: you going to do?

Brother Jim: Dave?

Brother Jim: What are you going to do?

Brother Jim: Todd, what are you going to do?

Brother Jim: Sherry, what are you going to do?

Brother Jim: Church attendance does not

Brother Jim: automatically produce

Brother Jim: compassion.

Brother Jim: It should, in all reality, in a great world.

Brother Jim: But sadly, sometimes it does not.

Brother Jim: How often have churches, including us here, fail to meet

Brother Jim: the needs of God?

Brother Jim: Of those that God placed in front of us.

Brother Jim: Failed to meet.

Brother Jim: But on the other hand, thank God for the times.

Brother Jim: Rockford Church.

Brother Jim: His people stepped up, rolled up their sleeves, and headed out of

Brother Jim: the park a grand slam.

Brother Jim: It's kind of back and forth, ain't it?

Brother Jim: It is.

Brother Jim: We win some, we lose some.

Brother Jim: But thank God for churches that feed hungry people.

Brother Jim: Thank God for believers who visit the lonely.

Brother Jim: Thank God for those who give generously.

Brother Jim: Oh, here we go.

Brother Jim: What we've just been talking about this morning.

Brother Jim: They pray faithfully.

Brother Jim: Encourage the discouraged.

Brother Jim: And love people without expecting anything in return.

Brother Jim: That is Christianity in action, my friends.

Brother Jim: That is the love of Jesus in action through us.

Brother Jim: Let's be honest and call a spade a spade this morning.

Brother Jim: Bible knowledge without love eventually becomes one of those

Brother Jim: great words hypocrisy.

Brother Jim: It becomes hypocrisy.

Brother Jim: And if you know your Bible well

Brother Jim: enough, you know all about

Brother Jim: hypocrisy.

Brother Jim: Knowing Scripture is wonderful.

Brother Jim: Living Scripture is transformational.

Brother Jim: James reminds us in James two one to seven.

Brother Jim: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied

Brother Jim: by action, is what.

Brother Jim: Say that word with me is dead.

Brother Jim: Is dead.

Brother Jim: True faith always produces visible fruit.

Brother Jim: Religion that ignores suffering

Brother Jim: has missed the very heart of

Brother Jim: God.

Brother Jim: If our worship on Sunday never changes, how we treat and show

Brother Jim: and love people on a Monday morning, then you and I have

Brother Jim: failed at worship, have we not?

Brother Jim: We hang.

Brother Jim: As we walk out that door, we hang our little Christian hat on

Brother Jim: the hat rack.

Brother Jim: And then when we come here Sunday morning, looking all so

Brother Jim: good and happy, we put our little hat back on.

Brother Jim: But what about the rest of the week?

Brother Jim: Where are you at?

Brother Jim: Where am I at?

Brother Jim: What are we doing?

Brother Jim: Are we walking on by or are we stopping and helping?

Brother Jim: If we can sing about God's love

Brother Jim: while refusing to show God's

Brother Jim: love, something is terribly

Brother Jim: wrong.

Brother Jim: And that's one of my concerns today.

Brother Jim: And bear with me.

Brother Jim: We're just about done here.

Brother Jim: I love worship music, but again, there is caution there.

Brother Jim: My friends, when worship music.

Brother Jim: Oh, Jesus.

Brother Jim: And you're singing your songs and then somebody cuts you off

Brother Jim: and you give em the bird.

Brother Jim: Let's be honest, when worship music replaces prayer time, when

Brother Jim: worship music replaces getting in the Word of God.

Brother Jim: And again, I am not slamming

Brother Jim: worship music, but do you see my

Brother Jim: point?

Brother Jim: That just doesn't automatically make you a Christian?

Brother Jim: You listen to worship music.

Brother Jim: True.

Brother Jim: What an easy way for the devil to deceive you, to deceive the

Brother Jim: young, the old.

Brother Jim: It starts with here and it starts with Jesus.

Brother Jim: And then that Holy Spirit.

Brother Jim: Brothers and sisters, that transformation starts.

Brother Jim: Jesus is teaching that mercy is not merely something we admire.

Brother Jim: It is something we practice.

Brother Jim: Do we practice mercy to others, my friends.

Brother Jim: Again, this is something to chew on this week.

Brother Jim: Do I practice mercy to others?

Brother Jim: Back to the story now.

Brother Jim: Jesus is about to shock everyone

Brother Jim: listening because the hero of

Brother Jim: the story will not be the

Brother Jim: priest, and it will not be the

Brother Jim: Levite.

Brother Jim: The one who demonstrates the heart of God is the last person

Brother Jim: anyone could ever guess.

Brother Jim: And here is the great truth

Brother Jim: Jesus wants you and I to see

Brother Jim: compassion, sees beyond

Brother Jim: differences.

Brother Jim: And let's be honest, in our country today, in our church, we

Brother Jim: all have different differences, do we not?

Brother Jim: And sometimes we can be a real knucklehead when we want to

Brother Jim: pound our our opinion into somebody, don't we?

Brother Jim: Let's be honest.

Brother Jim: You can get somebody going pretty quick.

Brother Jim: You can push their buttons because of the differences.

Brother Jim: But we need to see beyond that, do we not?

Brother Jim: God is telling us that the compassion of God is never

Brother Jim: limited by race.

Brother Jim: It is never limited by nationality.

Brother Jim: It is never limited by your social status, your politics,

Brother Jim: your wealth, or your reputation.

Brother Jim: What table you sit at at school.

Brother Jim: Where religion often builds walls.

Brother Jim: Jesus.

Brother Jim: Guess what he does?

Brother Jim: He builds bridges.

Brother Jim: He builds bridges.

Brother Jim: When.

Brother Jim: Where prejudice finds reason to avoid people.

Brother Jim: Compassion finds reasons to love them.

Brother Jim: The question is no longer who deserves my love?

Brother Jim: The question becomes, am I

Brother Jim: willing to love as Christ has

Brother Jim: loved me?

Brother Jim: True.

Brother Jim: So we have one man left.

Brother Jim: The next contestant and we're

Brother Jim: going to introduce him next

Brother Jim: week.

Brother Jim: And this man is an unlikely hero

Brother Jim: of this parable, used and told

Brother Jim: by Jesus.

Brother Jim: So as we close, I pray, I ask that you examine your own heart

Brother Jim: in a very honest way this upcoming week and ask, am I

Brother Jim: willing to love other people?

Brother Jim: Those people?

Brother Jim: And we all have.

Brother Jim: You can't tell me you don't.

Brother Jim: We have our little mindset of

Brother Jim: those people, whether it be

Brother Jim: Pittsburgh Steeler fans,

Brother Jim: Cleveland Browns fans, you get

Brother Jim: my drift.

Brother Jim: There are people that are hard to love in our lives.

Brother Jim: There are people we really don't want as our neighbors.

Brother Jim: But there again, it's going revolves around what we want,

Brother Jim: not what God wants.

Brother Jim: Brothers and sisters, you are the one who chooses to allow the

Brother Jim: Holy Spirit to transform your heart, mind and soul to love all

Brother Jim: your neighbors and help those who need help.

Brother Jim: Or you can put on a dog and pony

Brother Jim: show every Sunday morning and

Brother Jim: you might fool everyone else

Brother Jim: around you.

Brother Jim: But guess what?

Brother Jim: You're not fooling God.

Brother Jim: What is stopping you from stepping up for Jesus or

Brother Jim: stopping you from taking that next step in your faith church?

Brother Jim: Jesus is not calling you and I to simply admire compassion.

Brother Jim: He is calling us to practice it.

Brother Jim: The world has enough people who can talk about love, sing about

Brother Jim: love, act about love.

Brother Jim: My godly Hallmark Channel is all about love, right?

Brother Jim: We got love everywhere.

Brother Jim: It desperately needs believers who will live it.

Brother Jim: May we refuse to walk past the wounded.

Brother Jim: May we cross the road instead of avoiding it.

Brother Jim: May we see the people.

Brother Jim: The way Jesus sees people.

Brother Jim: And may our lives proclaim the

Brother Jim: mercy that Christ first showed

Brother Jim: to us.

Brother Jim: Think about that.

Brother Jim: And as I close here, I want you to remember something right now,

Brother Jim: because maybe there's someone here that needs to hear this.

Brother Jim: I want you to know that you have meaning.

Brother Jim: You have value.

Brother Jim: And oh my goodness, you are loved.

Brother Jim: Do not let the devil try to take that away from you.

Brother Jim: Love is a great thing, is it not?

Brother Jim: Our world needs a whole lot more of it.

Brother Jim: Let it be so.

Brother Jim: Next week we'll tear into the

Brother Jim: Good Samaritan, the hero of the

Brother Jim: story.