"Inside Out"
10th Sunday after Pentecost
August 17, 2014
This week we take a look at Jesus' confrontation with some Pharisees over their criticism of his disciples for not following the rules of ritual cleanliness as scrupulously as they did. (Matthew 15:1-20 - You can read it here.) Jesus' response is that his critics are hypocrites who say all the right things and perform all the proper religious rituals, but whose hearts are far from God. They're careful about what they put into their mouths, but not about what comes out of them.
Jesus then tells the gathered crowd that they should be more concerned about living from the inside out. They need to pay closer attention to what's in their hearts, because that's what will affect them and everyone around them. That's what will defile a person's life - not what goes in from the outside.
Join us as we ponder Jesus' quote from the prophet Isaiah,"This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Do we merely go through the motions of being a good Christian while neglecting our inner transformation? What do our words, our actions, our attitude say about what's really in our heart? Are we more concerned with living from the outside in or the inside out?
See you on Sunday!
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