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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.

Mark 6:1-2

"Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. 2 The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?”

Jesus goes home to Nazareth

Nazareth was a small town.

- 60 acres of land.

- About 500 people.

- Everyone knew everyone.

- "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

Luke 4:16-17, 22

"16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”"

Jesus' first trip home was an eventful one.

Luke 4:23-24

"23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown."

Luke 4:28-30

"28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way."

When Jesus calls out their entitlement, they try to end his life.

"He's just a carpenter..."

He has no training to be a rabbi.

"He's the son of Mary..."

Was Joseph even his dad?

"His family all lives here..."

Who is he to think he's better than us?

Mark 6:4-7

"4 Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” 5 And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. 7 And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil[a] spirits."

Proximity often breeds a certain level of frustration.

The contempt Nazareth had for Jesus was a fulfillment of prophecy.

Psalm 118:22

"The stone that the builders rejected

    has now become the cornerstone."

Isaiah 53:3

"He was despised and rejected—

    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.

We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.

    He was despised, and we did not care."

Mark 6:4-7

"4 Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” 5 And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. 7 And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil[a] spirits."

God moves where he is asked to move.

God goes where he is wanted.

How do we keep from becoming Nazareth?

1. Jesus will offend you.

The best parents, teachers, and coaches don't let you stay the same. Jesus doesn't either.

2. Fight cynicism in your spiritual life.

James 4:2-3

"2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure."

Don't quit asking God to move and believe he will do what only he can do.

3. Make God feel welcome in your life. 

The more we seek God's presence the more his presence will be felt in our lives. 

The 99 conundrum

Jesus seeks the lost sheep.

Jesus lets the wandering sheep wander.

If you're a wandering/offended/cynical sheep, you can always come back to the shepherd. 

Who do you want Jesus to be to you?

Ask the shepherd to shepherd you.

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