Grace: “God’s love coming down to us” 1.Accept it - salvation 2.Reflect it- worship 3.Share it - fellowship 4.Declare it- evangelism 5.Demonstrate it- serving our world

“Shouldn’t we just be concentrating on evangelism?” “Why should we help people who don’t deserve it?” Compassion: Mercy:

Justice Steve Petch Sunday 11 th May 2014

How do you feel when you think about the idea of God coming to judge the world?

Justice is part of God’s nature “His work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” Deuteronomy 32v4

God calls his people to act justly and to care about justice “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6v8 “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 82v3-4

Justice is linked with knowledge of God “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.” Proverbs 2v5 “He did what was right and just, he defended the cause of the poor and needy so all went well with him – Is that not what it means to know me?’ declares the Lord!” Jeremiah 22v15-16

Justice is linked with worship “Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,I will not accept them … take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5v22-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.” Matthew 23v23

Justice is linked with caring for the poor “The righteous care about justice for the poor, the wicked have no such concern.” Proverbs 29v7 “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.” Exodus 22v22-23 “Religion 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.” James 1v27

Justice is part of God’s nature God calls his people to act justly and to care about justice Justice is linked with knowledge of God Justice is linked with worship Justice is linked with care for the poor

What does injustice look like in our world today? A billion people will go to bed hungry tonight 780 million people have no access to clean water 2.6 billion people have no access to a toilet 21,000 children die every day of easily preventable causes 100 million children get no education There are 28 million slaves today Nearly 2 million children are engaged in the sex trade

“Why should I bother to do anything, I can’t make a difference?” “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” Isaiah 1v17

“Why should I bother to do anything, I can’t make a difference?” Matthew 25v31-46

“The righteous care about justice for the poor, the wicked have no such concern” Proverbs 29v7 “Why should I bother to do anything, I can’t make a difference?”