Sermon Outlines - Welcome the Needy 8-29-2010

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Posted by: Pastor Van Buskirk	8/28/2010 8:46 PM
Luke 14:12-14 Welcome the Needy I heard the story that a man showed up outside the door of one of our Texas Lutheran churches. He was dressed in shabby clothes and his hair was disheveled. Finally, someone welcomed him in. They gave him a cup of coffee and a doughnut and invited him to stay for Sunday School and the worship service. He agreed. People gave him strange looks, but tolerated him. When the subject of justification and sanctification came up, he gave a clear explanation quoting the Bible from memory. In worship, he sat in the back, but only one person sat near him. He sang the hymns and recited the liturgy clearly. People started wondering who he was and why he was there. Was he a lapsed member from years ago? A homeless person who was raised in a Lutheran home? Some people were afraid to ask and others thought that it was none of their business. They thought, “Perhaps he will not return and we will not have to bother.” Jesus instructed a Pharisee (Luke 14:12-14 ESV): "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." Is there a greater invitation than inviting someone to worship with you? Do you know people who are spiritually depressed, crippled in spirit due to sins, unable to conduct their daily lives in the will of the Lord, and blinded to the truth of the Gospel by the wiles of the world? If so, you have someone needing an invitation to share the good news about Jesus Christ. As it turned out, after the service, the pastor asked the man for his name. He said, “I am Jim, your new district president. I came to see how you greet strangers.” Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” When you welcome a needy stranger in Jesus’ name, you welcome Him. Amen. Pastor Raymond Van Buskirk, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Baytown, TX www.rlcbaytown.org
Copyright ©2010 Pastor Van Buskirk
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