Sermon Central
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Mercy In Action Series
Contributed by Duane Wente on Oct 13, 2025 (message contributor)
Summary: Through the parable of the Good Samaritan, we’ll see that mercy is more than a feeling—it’s compassion in action. God’s mercy meets us new every morning, and we are called to extend that same mercy to others in tangible ways.
### **Introduction**
Video Ill.: Sermon Bumper - Shortened Music Lyric Video - Less Like Me by Zach Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hawc0emHq8c
Last week we began our series Less Like Me: More Like Jesus, based on the song Less Like Me by Zach Williams. We talked about humility—how John the Baptist said, “He, that is Jesus, must increase, but I must decrease.”
Today, we turn to another theme that rises right out of the lyrics of Zach Williams’ song: mercy.
YOU NEED MERCY!!
By Dr. Larry Petton
Copied from Sermon Central
One day, a woman who occasionally walked through the park after work, stopped to have her picture taken by a photographer. She was very excited to see the photo, but when she looked at it, her face dropped. She turned to the photographer and stated rather sharply, “This is not right! This is not right! You have done me no justice!”
The man looked at the picture and then looked at her and said, “Ma'm, to be honest, you don’t need justice……what you need is mercy!”
Don’t we all need a little more mercy in our world today?
As the song says, we, as children of God, need to be “a little more like mercy, a little more like grace…”
But this world does not always show mercy. We live in a world quick to judge, quick to criticize, quick to turn away from those in need.
Passerby’s Show No Mercy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Wang_Yue
In fact, in October 2011, the world was shocked by a story out of China. A two-year-old girl named Wang Yue wandered onto a busy street and was tragically struck by a van. As she lay injured and unconscious, at least 18 passers-by simply walked past—they did nothing to help. Only after several minutes did a nearby trash collector stop to assist and get her to a hospital. Tragically, Little Yue Yue died eight days later.
It is a heartbreaking picture of a world without mercy. A world where too often, we pass by on the other side.
But Jesus calls us to something better. He calls us to live less like me—less self-focused, less indifferent—and more like Him, showing mercy in action.
Jesus illustrates this in a familiar parable, known as the Good Samaritan. Follow along as we read from Luke 10:
25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
27 The man answered, “‘You must love the || Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my || neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “By chance a priest came along. But ||when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt || compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this || man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
|| Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” (Luke 10, NLT)
This morning, as we are trying to live a life that looks a little more merciful, let’s see what we can learn from Jesus’ teaching.
### **I. Mercy Begins with Seeing People**
We just read one of the most familiar stories in all of the New Testament — one that has been taught in Sunday School, Children’s church, Bible studies, and preached from countless pulpits through the years.
It is the story of a man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead along the side of the road. And it was not just any road Jesus chose for His illustration. It was the road from Jerusalem to Jericho — a notoriously dangerous road.
