kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is
intended to lead you to repentance?
“Love, Debt & Grace”
(Lessons From Jesus’ Parables – Part 3)
Doug Holmes (@dougholmesclc), Christian Life Church
www.ChristianLifeChurchFL.com
www.FaceBook.com/ChristianLifeChurchFL
March 2, 2014 (8th & Last Sunday in Epiphany)
Luke 7:36-50 (NIV) – Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with
him. And He went… a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she
knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an
alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping;
and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the
hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the
fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he
spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know
who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a
sinner.”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say
to you.”
So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five
hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with
which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of
them will love him more?”
Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave
more.”
And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the
woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your
house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet
with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no
kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came
in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My
feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are
forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same
loves little.”
Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves,
“Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
 Grace Meets Me where I Am, Not Where You Are
“…and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a
sinner…”
 My Love & Service Is a Response to God
Matthew 22:35-40 – One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with
this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
1 John 4:7-12 – Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes
from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 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. This is love: not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our
sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another… if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made
complete in us.
Romans 5:1-2 – Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
 My Love & Service Is Linked to My Humility
“…to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
1 Samuel 16:14-23 – Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before
the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark
of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
…Michal… watched from a window. And when she saw King David
leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart…
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of
Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has
distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the
slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord… I will celebrate before
the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be
humiliated in my own eyes…”
And Michal daughter of Saul had no children…
 In Simply Trusting God Is My Salvation & Peace
“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Suggested Prayer: “Loving Father God, I’m so grateful for Your
grace. I want to live a life of love & service for You as I grow with a
relationship with You through Jesus Christ, my Lord & Savior Who
lives & reigns with You & the Holy Spirit, one God, forever. Amen.”
 Grace Comes Easier to the Spiritually “Bankrupt”
Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.”
Romans 2:1-4 – You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass
judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you
are condemning yourself… Or do you show contempt for the riches of his
Next Sunday, March 9th @ CLC, Doug Holmes
“Tell Me What It’s Like”
(Lessons From Jesus’ Parables – Part 4)