The Merciful

Worship Folder | Full Service Video

Outline

Hook: Who enjoys Christmas more? The kids or the parents?

I. THE MERCIFUL
“We tend to think: divine anger is pent-up, spring-loaded; divine mercy is slow to build. It’s just the opposite. Divine mercy is ready to burst forth at the slightest prick.”– Dane Ortlund

II. THE DEADLY SIN OF GREED
"Mercy is the centripetal reach to give, to share the world's goods with others, even the undeserving. Greed is the centrifugal reach to grab and keep the world's goods for oneself." - Peter Kreeft

III. MERCY FOR THE MERCIFUL
"The one who waters will himself be watered" (Proverbs 11:25)

Takeaway: "We refuse to react to the wrongs and troubles in the world by condemning and blaming, but instead we involve ourselves in compassionate serving." - Eugene Peterson

Resources

• Peter Kreeft, Back to Virtue
• Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly
• Jonathan Pennington, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing
• Will Willimon, Sinning Like a Christian