Jesus Loves the Bad Guys

Introduction (5m)

Do you ever wish you were better?

More patient, kind, generous, gentle, etc.?

I wonder if Zacchaeus ever wished he was a good guy not bad guy?

Rich, but lonely.

Or was he like Mr. Wolf?

Video: Bad Guys - Reforming a Villain | 1:00

Convinced could never change / others wouldn’t give him a second chance.

Explanation (5m)

Zacchaeus was marginalised

Tax collectors often corrupt, marginalised, treated as traitors. Needed to be given a chance to redeem himself.

The Bad Guys - Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Mr. Piranha, and Ms. Tarantula - needed a chance too

Like Zacchaeus, seen as bad guys because they were big, scary animals. Doing bad was easier than trying to do good. Carried on pulling off heists, robbing banks and museums.

Then they are suddenly given a second chance to become good guys

Video: Bad Guys - Second Chance | 3:00

But Bad Guys encounter with Professor Marmalade doesn’t work

He doesn’t help them to become good.

The story of Zacchaeus shows us there is only person who can make us good: Jesus

When he encounters J he is changed for good. No idea what conversation was, but it opened up space for him to overcome corruption/marginalisation and put things right.

As he does so, the Kingdom of God becomes a reality for him in that moment. Given second chance. Finds salvation. Goes from bad guy to good guy.

Application (5m)

Have you been changed by Jesus?

Truth is, we are all bad guys, but Jesus came to give us a second chance with God:

Romans 5:8 NCV

But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

Some may be able to testify to a huge change in their lives from bad to good, like Z’s story. Others point to a gradual change over a lifetime. Both stories are legitimate versions of the change from bad to good.

If you need a second chance, J is waiting to change your life today. If you are allowing J to change you from a bad guy to a good guy then thank him for that transformation today, whether it’s an immediate one like Z or more slowly

Next Steps

SASB 905 - Well, I’ve been to the river, I’ve been baptised

Well, I?ve been to the river, I?ve been baptised, I?ve been washed in the blood of the Lamb. I?ve been changed from the creature that once I was, And redeemed is now my name. I?ve been changed, I?ve been newborn; All my life has been rearranged. What a difference it made  When the Lord came and stayed in my heart; O yes, I?ve been changed. (After last chorus) What a difference it made  When the Lord came and stayed in my heart; O yes, I?ve been changed. I?m changed! 2 Though my sins were as scarlet, they?re white as snow; I was bound, but today I am free. I was lost in the darkness but now am found, I was blind, but now I see. 3 Like the poor Hebrew children I wandered long In a bare desert land to and fro. But I?ve crossed over Jordan to Canaan?s land, Where the milk and honey flow. 4 When at last in his presence I stand above, He will wipe all the tears from my eyes; And I?ll thank him for giving a wretch like me Lasting hope beyond the skies. Mosie Lister (1921-2015) © 1959 Mosie Lister Songs & Southern Faith Songs/Music Services Inc (Admin. by Song Solutions www.songsolutions.org).  Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 135015 Copied from The Song Book of The Salvation Army Song Number 905