The Lord is Compassion

	THEME (A)		THE GREAT IMPORTANCE AND VALUE THAT GOD ATTACHES TO ACTS OF COMPASSION, MERCY, KINDNESS, FORGIVENESS
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Matthew 12:7 ^7 ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice, Luke 6:38 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Proverbs 21:13 ^13Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered. Isaiah 58:6-8 ^6“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? ^7Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? ^8Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousnesswill go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk ^10and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Matthew 5:7 ^7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Luke 14:12-14 ^12Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ^13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ^14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Proverbs 11:25 ^25A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Matthew 25:40 ^40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ James 1:27 ^27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Psalm 41:1-3 A Psalm of David. ^1Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble. ^2The Lord protects and preserves them— they are counted among the blessed in the land— he does not give them over to the desire of their foes. ^3The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness. Hebrews 13:16 ^16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. John 13:34 ^34“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Matthew 6:2-4 ^2“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ^3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ^4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:14-15 ^14For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ^15But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Colossians 3:13 ^13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Matthew 7:13-14 ^13“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ^14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 5:44 ^44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Luke 6:37 ^37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Matthew 7:4-5 ^4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ^5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. John 3:16-17 ^16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ^17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 1 John 4:7-9 ^7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ^8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ^9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. Luke 16:19-31 Lazarus and the rich man. The parable “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ^20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ^21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.^22“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ^23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ^24So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’^25“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ^26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’^27“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, ^28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’^29“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’^30“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’^31“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 12:13-21  ^13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”^14Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ^15Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” ^16And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ^17He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ ^18“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ^19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ ^20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’^21“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Mathew 25 31-44 31When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ^32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ^33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.^34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ^35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ^36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’^37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ^38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ^39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’^40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’^41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ^42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ^43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ ^44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’^45“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’^46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
	THEME (B)		FORGIVENESS AS AN OBLIGATION, THE KEY TO BEING FORGIVEN BY GOD. A COMPULSORY ACT OF COMPASSION.
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1 John 1:18 ^8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ^9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ^10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. . Matthew 18:21-22 ^21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” ^22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. . Collosians 3: 12-13^12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ^13bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. Mathew 6: 14-15^14“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ^15But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Mathew 5:44^44But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
THEME (C)		GOD’S IMMENSE COMPASSION AND LOVE BEYOND IMAGINATION TO US, HIS PEOPLE AND CREATION,
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John 3:16-17^16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ^17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 15:13^13Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. Isaiah 53:5 ^5But he was pierced for our transgressions,     he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him,     and by his wounds we are healed. Romans 5:8 ^8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Psalm 103:8 ^8The Lord is compassionate and gracious,     slow to anger, abounding in love.
Compiled by Gabriel Nderitu gnderitu@yahoo.com