Who Is My Neighbor? Series

Jason Sheffstall

StoneBridge Baptist Church

Morgantown, West Virginia

April 15, 2007

Series: BE A FRIEND

Subject: WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOR?

Text: Luke 10:25-37, “25 And behold, a certain

lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying,

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 He said to him, “What is written in the law?

What is your reading of it?” 27 So he answered

and said, “ ‘‘You shall love the LORD your God

with all your heart, with all your soul, with all

your strength, and with all your mind, and ‘‘your

neighbor as yourself.’’ 28 And He said to him,

“You have answered rightly; do this and you will

live.” 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said

to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Then

Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went

down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among

thieves, who stripped him of his clothing,

wounded him, and departed, leaving him half

dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came

down that road. And when he saw him, he

passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite,

when he arrived at the place, came and looked,

and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain

Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.

And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So

he went to him and bandaged his wounds,

pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his

own animal, brought him to an inn, and took

care of him. 35 On the next day, when he

departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to

the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of

him; and whatever more you spend, when I

come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of

these three do you think was neighbor to him

who fell among the thieves?” 37 And he said,

“He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus

said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

INTRODUCTION

In Luke 10:1-24, Jesus had sent the

seventy out to minister His Word, and to be a

blessing to the cities.

V1-12 - Jesus gives the Seventy their

Mission.

V13-16 - Jesus pronounces a “Woe” on

the cities because of their rejection of the gospel.

V17-20 - The seventy return from their

mission excited.

V21-24 - Jesus pronounces blessings on

the seventy because of the works of God.

Now, in Luke 10:25-37, we see the story

of the good Samaritan. Jesus tells this story to

prove a point and to answer a question. What

was the question, and, is it a good question? The

question, ‘What shall I do to inherit eternal

life?’ This question was not only a good

question, but it is a question that every person

on Earth should ask themselves. Well, if you are

a Christ Follower, you have already realized that

you can not do enough to inherit eternal life.

Eternal life is not received by what we do, it is

received at the point of faith in Jesus Christ.

APPLICATION TO THE MESSAGE:

This week, I want you to find someone

who needs a friend! Take them out to eat,

love them, pray for them, and care for

them like Jesus Christ would do! The

question I want the Holy Spirit to burn in

your heart this week is: WHO IS MY

NEIGHBOR? And, when you find your

neighbor, I want you to BE A FRIEND to

them!

In our text today, we are going to zoom in

on verses 29-30, even though we will look at all

the verses in our text. Verses 29-30 describe my

three points for today’s message.

There are several things we need to learn

about being A Neighbor!

I. WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

A. SOMEONE I CAN BEFRIEND.

B. SOMEONE I CAN HELP.

C. SOMEONE I CAN CARE FOR.

I. IF WE WANT TO BE A NEIGHBOR:

WE MUST BEFRIEND THE

WOUNDED.

A. V29-30, “29 But he, wanting to

justify himself, said to Jesus, “And

who is my neighbor?” 30 Then

Jesus answered and said: “A

certain man went down from

Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell

among thieves, who stripped him

of his clothing, wounded him, and

departed, leaving him half dead.”

B. What does it mean to Befriend the

Wounded?

1. When we look at people in

our Congregation, we look

to give support, comfort,

and aid to our brothers and

sisters in Christ who are

wounded or hurt.

2. When we look at our

Community, we must look

for the widows, the

homeless, the single-parent

homes, who are wounded

because of the battles which

they have been involved in.

3. When we look at our

Relationships we look to

reach out to the hurting,

the broken, the confused,

and the wounded.

C. What this means is that we take