25-0709wc Transcript

Teacher: Scott Reynolds

(0:04) So we’re in Lesson 12, Loving Your Neighbor Lessons from the Truth Project. (0:10) The Truth Project, by Focus on the Family, concludes its worldview tour with Lesson 12, Community and Involvement, God Cares, Do I? (0:22) A powerful exploration of God’s heart for the needy and His call for Christians to engage in compassionate service. (0:30) Dr. Del Tackett, the presenter, grounds this lesson in the greatest commandments, (0:37) love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, Matthew 22, 36-40.

(0:47) These commands, Jesus says, sum up the entire law, making community involvement not optional, but essential for believers. (0:58) So who is my neighbor? The lesson opens with the parable of the Good Samaritan, which Del renames for this lesson the parable of the good neighbor, (1:09) where Jesus responds to a lawyer’s question, who is my neighbor? (1:14) Instead of defining boundaries, Jesus illustrates what it means to be a neighbor through the Samaritan’s selfless care for a wounded stranger. (1:25) This radical teaching expands our understanding of a neighbor to include the poor, orphans, widows, prisoners, outcasts, and anyone society neglects.

(1:39) As Tackett notes, these are the people God prioritizes, as seen in scriptures like Psalm 138, 6, and Isaiah 57, 15, where God lifts up the lowly and defends the defenseless. (1:56) So talking about God’s humble heart, central to the lesson is the Greek word topinos, meaning humble or lowly, used in Matthew 11, 28 and 29, where Jesus describes himself gentle and humble in heart. (2:14) This humility is not passive but active, seen in Jesus washing his disciples' feet, John 13, and laying down his life, John 14, 9, reinforces that Jesus' actions reveal the Father’s heart.

(2:31) Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. Scriptures like Psalm 35, 10, and Isaiah 65, 1-2 further depict God’s compassion as he reaches out to the obstinate and gathers the broken. (2:49) Del also makes the point about humbleness.

Humbleness is not timidity. Jesus was humble but he was not timid. (2:59) With that, let me try to start this up and see what happens.

(3:05) Alright, so we’ll pick up there next week. (3:09) And next week he’s going to start talking about involvement. (3:14) So we have a God who’s humble, not arrogant, who’s concerned about the needy.

(3:23) And as Del pointed out, God tells us to be holy. (3:29) And the reason God gives in the scripture, be holy for I am holy. (3:35) And it goes the same with humbleness.

Be humble because I’m humble. (3:40) And have a care for the needy because I have a care for the needy. (3:47) So he’s going to start talking about involvement.

(3:51) And this is a good 10, almost 20 years before he comes out with the engagement project, which we’ll do next. (4:02) And so he’s not going to have an answer at the end of the truth project about how to get involved, how to engage. (4:11) That’s what he develops over those two decades and comes up with the engagement project, (4:18) which we’ll go into shortly after we conclude here.

(4:25) And that’s the lesson.