In Jesus’ great commandment to his followers we are told to “Love one another; just as I have loved you.”  There is no greater way to begin obedience to this commandment than to pursue it by attempting to place yourself in another’s shoes.  This action of empathy is what the bible calls compassion, and it is the fuel for good works.  

Review:

1. Encouragement – Good works are energized by one another
2. Embodiment – A love for Jesus will produce a living love for others
3. Evangelization – The visible “good news”
4. Endurance – Don’t grow weary, by putting your confidence in God
5. Evidence – Examine your faith to make sure it is working
6. Equality – All Christians freely meeting each other’s needs as a witness of Christ’s example
7. Engagement – Be “rooted” in careful-devotion by avoiding the “ruts” and “weeds”
8. Easter – What God has done in Jesus, begins the good He will do in you
9. Execution – Good news & good works are inseparable
10. Equipped – God has equipped you to display His gracious plan through your life

Observations:

1. Empathy reminds us to doing good 
2. Empathy grows when our faith is relational
3. Empathy driven ministry is sacrificial
4. Empathy for others in service – is actually serving God

Conclusion:

• Serving God means sacrificing your time, talents, and possessions for others
• In this way, you confirm the gospel message

Application: 

• Each one, reach one

Titus 3:1

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good.”

Hebrews 11:13-16

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

Hebrews 10:25

“Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Romans 12:1

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”