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At Grace Family we focus our worship on Sunday to impact our lives every other day of the week as well. We also believe no one is perfect but everyone is welcome to worship God with us. So, no matter where you're from, what you've done, or what your week has been like, let's worship God and learn from His word together today.

Traditions can easily become defining principles.

Mark 7:1-5

"One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands,[a] as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands[b] in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.[c]) 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

This had nothing to do with hygiene.

It was simply a religious ritual.

The Pharisees loved to read God's law...

Add commentary...

Create a regulation...

Elevate that regulation to the abiding rule.

Exodus 30:17-21

"17 Then the Lord said to Moses, 18 “Make a bronze washbasin with a bronze stand. Place it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water. 19 Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there. 20 They must wash with water whenever they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the Lord and when they approach the altar to burn up their special gifts to the Lord—or they will die! 21 They must always wash their hands and feet, or they will die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants, to be observed from generation to generation.”

It is always easier to dress up the outside rather than evaluating the inside.

Mark 7:6-8

"6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

‘These people honor me with their lips,

    but their hearts are far from me.

7 Their worship is a farce,

    for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’[a]

8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

If your lips say it but your heart isn't in it, then it's not worship.

Don't put words in God's mouth.

Legalism at its core is idolatry.

Legalism type 1: Justification by works.

Mark 7:9-13

"9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[b] 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’[c] 12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”"

Corban - A gift dedicated to God.

Legalism type 2: Creating a loophole.

Mark 7:14-15

"14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.[a]”"

Jesus takes down the dietary restrictions of the Jewish faith.

Verse 16

Mark 7:17-19

"17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)"

You cannot create righteous people through rules and regulations.

Mark 7:20-23

"20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Legalism tries to fix a heart condition with a bandaid. 

Sin is an act of the heart.

Worship is an act of the heart.

What kinds of words, actions, and attitudes naturally flow from your heart?

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