Posts with the tag “sickness”

This sermon confronts us with a revolutionary truth: Jesus didn't wait for us to clean ourselves up before calling us close. We see Him walking directly to Matthew, a despised tax collector, surrounded by crowds, and publicly inviting this social outcast into intimate fellowship. The passage reveals that Jesus' mission wasn't to minister from a safe distance but to purposefully enter the mess of human sin. The religious elite couldn't understand why Jesus would eat with tax collectors and sinners, but that's exactly the point—He came not to call the righteous, but sinners. This challenges our modern church culture that sometimes prioritizes appearing 'put together' over honest acknowledgment of our ongoing need for grace. We're reminded that churches should be filled with recovering tax collectors and sinners, people who smell less like the world over time not because of their own effort, but because of their proximity to Christ. The message calls us to examine whether we're leaning into self-righteousness or humbly recognizing that we're the exact kind of broken people Jesus came to save. Our worthiness isn't based on what we've accomplished but on what He's done for us.  Read More