Fresh Start Wk 1 F.R.O.G

Hey y’all the next couple weeks and months we are going to be looking and learning about some things vital, that are so important, in our relationship with Jesus and I want to start in Matthew 7, and my prayer is that if you have a relationship with Jesus, the next several weeks will be helpful for you to continue to grow, if you just started walking with Jesus recently I pray you will learn some great next steps to continue to walk with Jesus, and then if you don’t have a relationship with Jesus that you would take the first step and begin to walk with him. So that is my prayer for you and I as individuals, but I also pray that it will be a fresh start to our student ministry as a whole because there are some things that are holding us back from really growing our faith and being disciples of Jesus and I want talk a little bit about that.

So start with me first in Matthew 7 and then we are going to jump to Matthew 15.

Jesus says things in these passages that might be hard for us to grasp at first but we are going to look at them because I think it is important for us to understand.

READ Matthew 7

“Jesus did not intend to prohibit all acts of Judgement, but Jesus is condemning hypocritical judgement. Judgement that focuses on the faults and sins of others while excusing their own sins.”

Righteous and loving judgement and discernment are encouraged by Jesus and throughout the scriptures.

Discernment - sound judgement that distinguishes between good and evil, and recognizes God’s right ways for His people.

Jesus wants us to help one another, but here is also the reality that Jesus goes on to say.

Matthew 7:6 ESV

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Which leads me to Matthew 15, because is there an actual story where Jesus lives this out because this seems really harsh.

“The command not to cast your pearls before swine does not mean we refrain from preaching the gospel. Jesus Himself ate with and taught sinners and tax collectors (Matthew 9:10). In essence, the instruction in Matthew 7:6 is the same that Jesus gave to His apostles when He said, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town” (Matthew 10:14). We are to share the gospel, but, when it becomes apparent that the gospel is not welcome, we are to move on. We are responsible to share the good news; we are not responsible for people’s response to the good news. Pigs don’t appreciate pearls, and some people don’t appreciate what Christ has done for them. Our job is not to force conversions or cram the gospel down people’s throats; there’s no sense in preaching the value of pearls to swine. Jesus’ instruction to His apostles on how to handle rejection was to simply go elsewhere. There are other people who need to hear the gospel, and they are ready to hear it.” - Got Questions