Sermon Notes April 30th, 2023
When the Lord brought back the exiled captives,
We were like those who dreamed
We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are one happy people. And now, God, do it again…Bring back our captives, Lord bring rains to our drought-stricken lives
Those who sow with tears
Will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out with weeping
Carrying seed to sow,
Will return with songs of joy
Carrying armloads of blessing!
Psalm 126:1-6
The Lord has done great things for us
The Lord is doing great things for us
The Lord will do great things for us
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:13-17
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
•How does a perspective change from “problems to be fixed to people to be loved” change how you would interact with people in your everyday life?
•What can we learn from Jesus when it comes to how he interacts with people at Levi’s house/ dinner party?
•What would hold you back from throwing a Levi party? Why?
•How could you practically throw a Levi party OR practice engaging with others like Jesus did at a Levi party? Share some ways you imagine this could happen and try them out this week!
•This week, consider asking God to open your eyes to opportunities to engage with others as Jesus did in Mark 2:13-17.