Why did Jesus hang out with sinners?

Here are the notes to this evening's sermon at Crossroads!  Be blessed!

Why did Jesus hang out with sinners?
January 12, 2013

John 3:16
Crossroads dinner

INTRODUCTION

• Why did Jesus hang out with sinners, prostitutes and publicans?
• To understand that we need to understand why Jesus came in the first place
• John 3:16 God so loved the world
• He didn't only love Moses, Abraham and David
• He didn't just love the Israelites, or the Jews
• He did love each of these groups in a special way
• But God loved the whole world
• In fact, he loved all people so much, that he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him will receive eternal life!
• So we say, yes, but that is after I die
• What about now!

 

OUR QUALITY OF LIFE

• Do you think that God doesn't care about our present quality of life?
• He does!
• When he created man, he placed man in the most beautiful place on earth!
• The Garden of Eden was known as such because it was a garden, a beautiful place.
• Adam was told to work it and take care of it.
• In other words, it was a nice place to be and worth keeping that way!
• God blessed Abraham Isaac and Jacob
• God blessed the Israelites, after rescuing them from slavery, and brought them to the Promised Land, a land overflowing with milk and honey!
• Under David and Solomon's reign, Israel became a world power, stretching from Egypt all the way across to modern-day Iraq
• God told the Israelites, that if they obeyed his laws, they would be blessed!
• This is God's intention for us.
• Jesus tells us that the thief comes but to kill, steal and destroy.
• But Jesus came to give us life, and that more abundantly.
  
  SO WHY ASSOCIATE WITH OUTCASTS?
  
• So, why did Jesus associate with the outcasts of society?
• It is because he wanted them to share in God's blessing, the blessing that comes from living right with God
• His intention is not that we remain in sin and the consequences of disobedience, but that we experience the joy and freedom of walking and living with Jesus and the Holy Spirit
• Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
• The gospels tell us about Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus cast 7 demons - Mark 16:9.
  Jesus did not want Mary to continue living oppressed by the enemy, his intention was that she experience the freedom of the Christian life.
• So why did Jesus hang out with sinners? It was so that he could share the goodness of God with them
• This was evidenced by his compassion, by his feeding the multitudes, by healing the sick and setting people free, by standing up for them against the religious heirarchy, which was oppressing them, contrary to God's intention.
  
  CONCLUSION
  
• So, whoever you are, you may feel that God has dealt harshly with you.
• Naomi felt that way too. She lost her husband, she went to Moab in joy and she came back to Bethlehem grieving, a widow.
• She told the people of Bethlehem, don't call me Naomi which means pleasant, but instead call me Mara which means bitter
• Ruth 1:20-21 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
• But God's intention is not to slam us down, but to raise us up. He restored Naomi and Ruth and he will take care of you
• Isa 44:24-26
• You may feel that you have gone through bad times, and we have done. Life is not easy.
• But God is speaking to you personally right now, and he is telling you personally, a personal word for you, whoever you are, " I will restore you"