The Least of These
Pastor Phil Vance
Nov. 13th, 2016
Highlights:
Sheep say “Yes Lord” and goats say “but”.
How you treat others is how Jesus sees you treating Him. We must see all that we do as if we are doing it to Jesus, not just for Him.
God wants us to be generous with our life and resources. God blesses you so you can bless others.
The Bible is clear that the Church is to advocate for the poor and marganilized, caring for their needs and pursuing justice on their behalf. We are not to neglect spiritual or social needs.
Action steps:
Get involved. Give of your tithes and offerings.
Sponsor a child of a prisoner.
Discussion Questions:
How is it true that the way we treat others is the way that we treat The Lord?
What do you do, as a part of Living Faith Fellowship, in giving to the least of these?
How has the Lord opened the windows of heaven and poured out a blessing on you for the ways you’ve responded to His call to care for the least of these?
Key Scriptures, Quotes and Definitions:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Matthew 25:31-36 NIV
Keith Green: sheep and the goats (album version, not the live version)
Least: least in size, amount or dignity; pertaining to being of the lowest status.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27 NIV
Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
Proverbs 14:31 NIV
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord , and he will reward them for what they have done.
Proverbs 19:17 NIV
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ?
James 2:14-17, 20 NIV