Truth, Justice, and Compassion

Sermon Title. Truth, Justice, and Compassion

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Big Idea:- "God cares about our relationships with other people."

How might my attitudes break the commandments in Exodus 23?

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1 “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.

Do I need to be more careful about which stories I tell?

Do I need to check if they are really true?

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2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, 3 and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.

Is there some group I want to belong to so much that I don't want to think too carefully about where they are headed?

Am I ready to stand alone for the truth?

Is there some group of people I am more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to than others? Is this right?

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4 “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.

If I hear something false said that would lead to someone, even my enemy, losing their reputation, would I speak up with the truth?

If I see someone I dislike having trouble with something, do I offer to help them?

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6 “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

Am I reluctant to credit a "bad" person with having done something good?

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7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty

When I hear an accusation against someone, do I accept it at face value or do I ask if it is true?

Is there someone I need to reach out to today?

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8 “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

How many of the so-called good things of the world have I accepted, and how have they blinded my eyes to the truth?

In what ways does the desire for worldly things lead me to twist God's word in order to justify my having them?

Am I twisting something innocent because of what I can get out of it?

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9 “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

Am I as ready to help outsiders as I am to help those who I think belong?

Do I think about what I would feel if I were in the shoes of the one experiencing the results of my words or actions?

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Philippians 3: 12 - 14 "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

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