Jesus, The Good Samaritain

ENGAGE:

Open with greeting the members. Would you fight to live? Would you fight to save another person’s life? Would you be a good Samaritan no matter the outcome?

Opening Question and Statement:

On or around July 25, 2021, A group of people spoke out about saving an unconscious man slumped over the wheel of his pickup truck on a busy Georgia interstate. Several people began pummeling the vehicle’s windows with whatever they could grab, including a sledgehammer, a stroller, and a tire jack in an attempt to reach the driver inside. Video shows the truck drifting down the highway in Atlanta as strangers ran alongside the vehicle, they were trying to get the motorist’s attention before finally breaking his rear window. Their actions saved a man that was having a medical episode, probably diabetes. These people were called “good Samaritans.” Or what about to guys that made a wrong turn and heard a gunshot? They realize the gunshot came from a cop car. These two men spring into action, and they assist the cop that has already shot. They help apprehend the prisoner and seek medical help for the officer. They, too, were called good Samaritans. Tension: Consider standing in line, and you see someone standing in line to get food or a tank of gas, but they don’t have the money to provide for their needs. Would you be a good neighbor and help them? Would you use your resources to provide where your neighbor lacks? Thesis: Despite the idea of what a person does to avoid helping others, do you see Jesus through all scripture and today act as a good Samaritan? Does He call us to be good Samaritans?

Opening Prayer:

Lord, I humbly come before you today and ask for strength to preach the good news. That your word would go forth and not fall on deaf ears but on the ears of doers. Give us, dear Lord, a pure heart and a wise mind that we may carry out our work according to Your will and Your will alone. Let us accept joyfully every task you set before us. Let us seek to serve the poor, the hungry, and those who are sad. Above all, remind us constantly that we have nothing except what you have already given us. Help us to know that we can do nothing except what you enable us to do. In your matchless name, we pray. Amen.

Introduction:

We will be in a familiar passage. A passage that explains to us how we should treat our neighbors. The Gospel of Luke is in the form of a letter to a man named Theophilus. Luke wrote after having carefully investigated all the facts about Christ (1:1-4). Luke documents Christ's life from before his birth through his ministry, death, and resurrection. Jesus carried out his ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit, announcing the good news of salvation. He showed numerous times his compassion for the poor and the outcast. He fulfilled the prophecy and carried out his purpose: to seek and save the lost. Luke gives the fullest account of Christ's birth, and only Luke records the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Luke, a physician and a colleague of Paul, probably wrote this account in the early 60s a.d. He also wrote Acts. The Gospel of Luke presents Jesus as the Messiah and Lord whose life, death, and resurrection make salvation available to all people everywhere.

I hope by the power of the Holy Spirit; we can address the following:

Understand the meaning of being a good Samaritan

Explain the Good Samaritan Parable and supporting scriptures and other text.

The Character of a Christian.

Why we as Christians should want to have a good Samaritan attitude

Because we have Christ, we should want to do good for others

Because Christ himself shows us with his life that he is the Good Samaritan

Making the connection between the Old Testament New Testament and how it applies today.

SCRIPTURE: Let us dive into the word! Please open your Bibles to Luke 10:25-37. (Page #) I will be reading from the ESV.

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”