Chuck Foreman – Teaching / Missions Pastor

Sometimes I wonder, How does my expression of love for God compare to his expression of love for me?

I want you to hear a story— a story from a special woman. We don’t know her name, but her expression of love & gratitude to Jesus was so “inappropriate”, yet so moving that she is remembered to this day.

What Jesus did for her was shocking & offensive to his peers, but he didn’t care! Defending & loving this unloved woman was all that mattered to him.

GOD’s Story –  A Sinful Woman Encounters Jesus, Luke 7:36-50  

I believe this story has some things to say to women:

• Many of you live life w/o love—w/o feeling and believing that you are loved. Jesus does not want you to live that way. HE LOVES YOU UNCONDITIONALLY AS YOU ARE!
• Jesus wants you to experience his forgiveness so you can love him much—with an outrageous love and not care what anyone thinks but him! He wants you to let your hair down with him in a holy commitment kind of way, to love him like you love no one else.

And I think this story has something to say to all of us:

• We’ve made “faith” something we believe or think rather than something we do. Simon measured his faith by how much better he thought he was than this prostitute. Jesus simply loved her. Who are we more like, Simon or Jesus?
• It’s easy for us to forget how much we have been forgiven. When was the last time any of us cried tears of gratitude at Jesus’ feet for how much he has forgiven us?
• “Whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Perhaps our lack of love is in direct proportion to how little we are willing to admit how much we need to be forgiven! This prostitute knew how to repent and how to show love. She is our model for both.

BIG Idea: Truly experiencing God’s forgiveness is what sets us free to love him with an outrageous love!

Right On!