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Feb 03, 2019

Twice Blest

Twice Blest

Passage: Matthew 5:7

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: The Highest Good

The thing we most need tends to be the one thing we’re most hesitant to offer: mercy. What is that needed but elusive virtue, and why do we find it so hard? And moreover, what does it take for it to become a first instinct?

Order of Worship

Pre-Service Text: Matthew 9:13
Call To Worship: From Psalm 145
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 33:17-19
Prayer of Confession (see below)
Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 1:4-7
Sermon Title: “Twice Blest”
Central Text: Matthew 5:7
Benediction: Jude 20-23
Post-Service Text: Hosea 6:6

02.03.19 Sermon Notes


artwork by Stacey Chacon

Illustrations

This is Mercy 1, from "This is Us"

This is Mercy 2, from "This is Us"

Readings & Scriptures

Matthew 9:13
13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners.”

From Psalm 145
LEADER: I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.

ALL: Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.

LEADER: The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

ALL: My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.


Exodus 33:17-19
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Prayer of Confession:
O Lord, who hast mercy upon all, take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me the fire of thy Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore thee,
a heart to delight in thee,
to follow and to enjoy thee,
for Christ's sake.
(Ambrose of Milan, c 339-97)

Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 1:4-7
4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.


Jude 20-23
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Hosea 6:6
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Related Scriptures

Exodus 33:19
Psalm 51
Psalm 103
Hosea 6:6
Matthew 9:13
Matthew 12:7
Matthew 18:21-35
Luke 1:54, 72
Luke 10:25-37
Romans 11:30-32
James 2:12-13
*Hebrews 2:17

Discussion Questions & Applications:

  1. Quick--how would you define mercy? What is one of the most significant expressions of mercy you’ve been witness to? Or when have you been the recipient of someone’s mercy? How did you respond to it?
  2. How is mercy both related to and yet distinct from, say, grace, or forgiveness, or compassion?
  3. Why might we be hesitant to extend mercy? Is it ever a mercy to withhold mercy? Why or why not?
  4. Is mercy always expressed in the same way? Why or why not? Give examples.
  5. How have we been the recipient of mercy in Jesus? Think long and hard on this one. Why does that matter? How is that meant to shape our sense and expressions of mercy?
  6. Where right now do you need to trust more deeply in the mercies of Jesus?
  7. Where right now might you need to extend mercy? In what form(s)? Why?

Quotes

  • Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending. - Herman Melville
  • We’re simply not that good at Mercy because we tend to see ourselves as more deserving than the poor and needy…. To the degree that you forget the mercy you have been given, it is easier for you to not give mercy to others. I daily need God’s work of mercy in order to do his work of mercy. - Paul Tripp
  • The quality of mercy is not strained; it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven / Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; it blesseth him that gives and him that takes / ‘This mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The thronéd monarch better than his crown. . . . - Portia to Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
  • Showing mercy is different from having pity. Pity connotes distance, even looking down upon. When a beggar asks for money and you give him something out of pity, you are not showing mercy. Mercy comes from a compassionate heart; it comes from a desire to be an equal. Jesus didn’t look down on us. He became one of us and felt deeply with us. - Henri Nouwen
  • The Church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy—the most stupendous attribute of the Creator and of the Redeemer—and when she brings people close to the sources of the Saviour’s mercy, of which she is the
    trustee and dispenser. - Pope Francis
  • The more God-centered our worship practices, the more mercy-centered our life. . . .We see this as an investment in community. Anything worth doing will take time and cost you something. We noticed, as our attention focused more on families and children, that many people in our community protect themselves from inconvenience as though inconvenience is deadly. We have decided that we are not inconvenienced by inconvenience…We are sure the Good Samaritan had other plans that fateful day. Our plans are not sacred. - Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
  • The greatest power in the universe is the power to absorb all evil and hatred in the world and to destroy it utterly by turning it into self-denying love. That is not weakness but unconquerable strength. - John N Oswalt

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