1. Our series: The God Jesus knew…

2. The process of spiritual formation is replacing destructive images and false narratives with the images and narratives that filled Jesus’ mind. Phil 2:5 …have the same mind set as Christ Jesus…

3. Your God is too… Would I be welcome at your church? (Story from James Bryan Smith)

4. A shocking story… This is a dominant narrative in our society and our churches. False narrative… God only loves us when we are good.

5. God’s love is conditional on our behaviour. Spinning God! This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9

6. Our early years can feed this false narrative. Parents do need to teach children right from wrong. But through confronting actions not identity. You’re always lazy/messy/rude…

7. In church we can drift towards legalism. Definition: To earn God’s favour or avoid God’s curse through our action. In the extreme – it’s like a superstition! Legalism limits: love expands.

8. The God Jesus knew…

9. Matthew 9: 9 - 13 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.

10. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

11. The God Jesus knew… welcomes sinners

12. Another bomb in the room Tax collectors were despised twice over. Rabbis were very picky with their team. Jesus’ follow me (v9) is ludicrous.

13. These words release great power.

14. Physical – paralysed man. Spiritual - Matthew Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes… Matthew got up and followed. He gave up one narrative for another.

15. Jesus’ mission is stated in this passage. For I have (not) come… v13 He’s in the business of calling and invitation.

16. Jesus asking. Matthew taking a leap of faith. What are we being called from? What are we being called to?

17. The God Jesus knew… loves sinners

18. The elephant in the room question. Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? v11 This is the great question going on between God & man. The answer to this shows our narrative.

19. The meal is important. We can understand that God forgives sinners. But surely he only agrees to love us if we agree to do better. This is NOT what Jesus does. We are not defined by our behaviour. We are defined by our closeness to Jesus.

20. Jesus’ answer It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

21. Sin is a sickness. It is deforming, weakening, wasting and killing – but not incurable. Jesus is the great healer. v12 Through him we are a new creation. 2 Cor 5:17 Not sin management but transformation.

22. Jesus says to the Pharisees But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy not sacrifice. v13 This is very sharp for the Pharisees. Head or heart? Eating the meal WAS mercy. Our false narrative can play out in our attitudes to others. v14 I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders. (message)

23. Not just knowing the bible – but applying it and letting it transform us. We have a problem with grace. This is what really separates us from God. Not our sin but our self righteousness.

24. The God Jesus knew… shapes our lives

25. Matthew threw a party! He wanted to share what he had found. And stuck close to Jesus. Grace is contagious. Makes for a messy church! But one that practices acceptance and mercy…

26. The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of people, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the centre of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the centre of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian.” Brennan Manning (Ragamuffin Bible)