He Is Part 1: Compassionate
Message Summary: God is a God of compassion. He weeps when you weep, and he hurts when you hurt, but he doesn’t leave you weeping and suffering. When Moses described God as compassionate, he places compassionate first because he wanted to emphasize the importance of this word to describe him. He is not just with you in your pain. He’s the answer to your pain. Because the Bible says the most important word to describe God is compassionate and because we are to be imitators of him, we should also want to be described as compassionate.
When Jesus had compassion, he:
- saw the suffering
- felt the suffering
- helped the suffering
Compassion is not compassion without action.
Discussion:
1. What is the one word you want to be known for?
2. What are you doing to be compassionate to others?
3. Do you tend to be more sympathetic, empathetic, apathetic, or compassionate toward people who are suffering?
4. Who has God put in your life that an act of compassion could give them life?
Exodus 34:4-7 NIV – Then the Lord told Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on them the same words that were on the tablets you smashed. Be ready in the morning to climb up Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain. No one else may come with you. In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain. Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near the mountain.”
So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the first ones. Early in the morning he climbed Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.
Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,
“Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.”
Luke 7:11-15 NIV – Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Think about your answer to #4. Commit to praying for God to give you the name of that person if you don’t already have one, and commit to praying for God to show you where they need compassion right now. Follow through by showing them compassion you may not and see what happens.