WELCOME
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
Songs
Call to Worship
Last week we began our series More Than a Label by looking at how God’s name reveals His heart. We saw that He is not distant or impersonal—He told us who He is so that we could know Him as merciful and gracious.
This week we’re going to take that a step further and focus on His compassion and His grace. God doesn’t just feel kindly toward us from afar—He leans in, He moves toward us, He gives us what we don’t deserve.
Listen to these words from Psalm 103:
“The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His love for those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
That’s the God we’ve come to worship today—the God who meets us with compassion, forgives us by His grace, and surrounds us with steadfast love.
Songs
Prayer
CONFESSION:
Lord, You are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in love. But we confess that we don’t always reflect that. Too often, we rush past the needs of others instead of showing compassion. We hold on to resentment instead of extending grace.
We get frustrated quickly and forget how patient You are with us. Forgive us, Lord. Remind us again that Your mercy is bigger than our failures. Shape us by Your compassion so that Your grace flows through us to others.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
So, receive this today: You are loved. You are forgiven. You are free to live in His grace.
More Than a Label
Compassion at the Core
Today's Message: Pastor Dave Page
Good morning, everyone.
Last week, we started this series by asking a big question: Who is God really? We looked at Exodus 34:6–7 and saw that God doesn’t leave us guessing. He names Himself. He shows us His heart. And we discovered something amazing: God’s default posture toward His people isn’t anger or judgment, it’s mercy, grace, and steadfast love.
We also learned that what we believe about God shapes who we become. If we see Him as loving, merciful, and faithful, it changes everything, from how we pray to how we treat others to how we view ourselves.
This week, we’re going to take the next step. Today, we’re focusing on God’s compassion and grace; what it really means that His heart leans toward mercy and forgiveness, even when we fail or doubt Him.
Scripture Reading: Exodus 34:6–7
6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
God’s Compassion is Active, Not Passive
When we hear the word compassion, we often imagine warm feelings or sympathy. But in Exodus 34:6, the word used for merciful is actually a Hebrew word with a much richer meaning: “rachum.”
Rachum is not just about feeling sorry for someone. It literally comes from the word for womb, which is why some translations describe God as “tender-hearted” or “compassionate.” Think about that: the same Hebrew root used to describe the nurturing, protective love of a mother for her child is used to describe God’s mercy. Further telling us that His is a heart that bends, reaches, and draws near in care and concern for His own.
In other words, God’s compassion isn’t passive. It’s not Him sitting in heaven feeling bad for us from a distance. It’s active, relational, and intimate. God leans into our need. He draws near. He engages personally with us, especially when we are hurting, broken, or lost.
Think about a hospital waiting room. You’ve maybe seen a parent sitting at the bedside of their child, hand in hand, eyes heavy with worry, refusing to leave even as the hours stretch into the night. That parent isn’t there because they can fix the illness or perform the surgery. They stay because their love compels them to be present. Their heart is bound up in their child’s pain, and their presence says, ‘You’re not alone.’
That’s what real compassion looks like. It’s not pity from a distance, it’s entering into someone else’s suffering and refusing to walk away.
That’s exactly what we see in John 11, when Jesus comes to the tomb of His friend Lazarus. Even knowing He will raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus doesn’t rush past the pain. He pauses. He sees Mary and Martha’s grief, and He Himself begins to weep. The Son of God, the One with resurrection power, chooses to stand with His friends in their sorrow before He brings healing.
That’s the heart of God. His compassion isn’t cold or detached, it’s deeply personal. He feels our pain, He enters into it, and He promises not to leave us alone in it.”
The beauty of this image is that it’s active and intimate. God’s mercy is not abstract, it’s relational. It reaches into the very places where we hurt, fear, or doubt, and it meets us there with love.
Application:
As you go through your week, reflect on moments where God’s mercy has “bent down” toward you—small instances of protection, guidance, or comfort that show His heart. Let this understanding of rachum shape how you see Him: intimately engaged, tender, and actively compassionate in every part of your life.
Grace is God Giving What We Don’t Deserve
Grace is closely connected to compassion. If compassion is God moving toward us, grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve, favour, forgiveness, restoration.
Exodus 34 goes on:
“…abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”
God’s grace doesn’t just cover minor mistakes; it covers all our sin. And He does it not because we earn it, but because of His character. That’s huge. Our failures don’t disqualify us from His mercy they invite us to experience it more deeply.
Let’s revisit the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11). The religious leaders bring her to Jesus, ready to stone her. They expect condemnation, they are holding the Law over her head, insisting on justice.
But Jesus responds in a way that turns the situation upside down:
“Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
The Greek word used here for “condemn” is krino, which literally means to pass judgment against, to be declared guilty. But to understand this fully, it helps to consider the Hebraic concept of “chesed” (חֶסֶד), often translated as steadfast love, mercy, or covenant faithfulness.
In Hebrew thought, God’s chesed is not passive; it is covenantal love that takes action on behalf of the one in need. It is love that rescues, restores, and renews, even when the person has failed. This is exactly what Jesus demonstrates in this moment: He embodies God’s chesed, offering her restoration rather than punishment.
Jesus bends down and writes in the dust. Some scholars suggest He is reminding the crowd of their own sin and God’s mercy, echoing the idea in Exodus 34:6–7, that God is “merciful and gracious, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” He redirects the focus from condemnation to grace.
Why This Matters
This story shows that God’s grace:
- Meets us where we are – He doesn’t wait for us to “clean ourselves up” first.
- Restores relationship – not just freedom from punishment, but a call to live renewed life.
- Invites transformation – “Go and sin no more” is not condemnation; it’s a loving invitation to step into His life-giving way.
Application
Do you have places in your life where you feel condemned, ashamed, or unworthy. God’s chesed meets you there. His grace isn’t theoretical, it’s tangible, active, and restoring. You don’t have to earn it; it’s a gift rooted in His covenantal love and mercy.
Compassion and Grace Shape How We Live
Now here’s the thing, understanding God’s compassion and grace doesn’t just change how we see Him; it changes how we live. When we truly grasp His mercy and active grace, it transforms our hearts, our decisions, and the way we interact with the world around us.
- Compassion Shapes Our Actions Toward Others
When we experience God’s mercy firsthand, we begin to mirror it in our relationships. We extend patience, understanding, and care to those around us because we’ve been met with the same from God.
The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37):
A man is left beaten and broken on the road. Others pass by, but the Samaritan stops. He bends down, tends the wounds, carries him to safety, and pays for his restoration.
His story mirrors the heart of God. He bends toward those in need, showing mercy and grace. As followers of Christ, experiencing His compassion enables us to act with the same tender-hearted care.
- Grace Shapes Our Response to Failure
God’s grace doesn’t just cover our sins it empowers us to respond differently to failure in ourselves and in others. We are freed from fear of condemnation, shame, and perfectionism.
Moses After His Failure (Exodus 2–3)
Moses thought his life was over after he killed an Egyptian and fled into the wilderness. He went from being raised in Pharaoh’s palace to living in obscurity as a shepherd. For forty years, he carried the weight of failure, shame, and the belief that God could never use him again.
But then, at the burning bush in Exodus 3, God meets Moses and calls him back into His mission. God doesn’t ignore Moses’ past, but He doesn’t let that past disqualify him either. Instead, God restores Moses, entrusts him with leadership, and uses him to deliver Israel out of Egypt.
That’s what grace looks like. It doesn’t gloss over our brokenness, but it meets us in it and transforms it into a platform for God’s work. Our failure doesn’t have the last word, God’s grace does.
Compassion and Grace Shape Our Character
Hebraic insight: The word for “mercy” (rachum) and “steadfast love” (chesed) implies a covenantal, relational posture that is not one-sided. Experiencing God’s mercy teaches us relational empathy. Experiencing His grace fosters humility.
- Our worldview shifts: We see others not as obstacles, rivals, or threats, but as fellow recipients of God’s mercy.
- Our identity shifts: We are no longer defined by our failures but by God’s steadfast love.
- Our choices shift: We act with kindness, patience, and generosity because we’ve been shown the same.
Practical Application
This week, consider ways God’s mercy and grace can be practically expressed:
- Reach out to someone who is struggling, even if it’s inconvenient.
- Offer forgiveness in a strained relationship.
- Speak words of encouragement to someone who doubts their worth.
- Reflect daily on the ways God’s grace has shaped you and let it inform your actions.
When we live from a heart shaped by God’s compassion and grace, our lives become a living reflection of His character, drawing others toward Him.
A Heart That Bends Toward You
I want to share a story about Henri Nouwen and how he encountered Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son. Nouwen spent hours studying this painting, reflecting on the moment when the younger son returns home, worn out and broken, and is met by his father with open arms.
Nouwen writes:
“What I do know with unwavering certainty is the heart of the father. It is a heart of limitless mercy.”
Think about that for a moment. The son comes back, full of shame and regret, unsure if he’s even worthy of being seen. And yet, the father doesn’t hesitate. He bends down, embraces him, and restores him. That’s God’s heart toward us. That’s His mercy in action.
The beautiful thing is, this story isn’t just about the son, it’s about us, too. Every time we feel like we’ve failed, wandered too far, or aren’t enough, God’s compassion is still there. He’s waiting with open arms, ready to forgive, restore, and love us unconditionally.
When I reflect on this, all I feel is gratitude. Gratitude that the God of the universe bends toward us in our weakness, lifts us up, and doesn’t keep a record of our failures. His mercy isn’t distant or abstract, it’s real, personal, and transformative.
So carry that image with you this week: a God whose heart is full of compassion, whose arms are always open, whose love meets us exactly where we are. And let that gratitude shape the way we live this week, toward God, toward ourselves, and toward others.
Next week, we’ll continue building on this, exploring how God is slow to anger and abounding in love. His patience that carries us through seasons of struggle and uncertainty. But today, rest in this: God’s compassion and grace are not just ideas. They are real, and they are for you.
Prayer
Gracious and compassionate God, we thank You for showing us Your heart. You don’t stay distant from our struggles. You lean in, You move toward us, and You meet us with mercy. We praise You for grace that forgives us and restores us when we fall. Thank You that in Jesus, we see Your compassion in action and Your grace poured out in full.
Lord, we bring before You today those who are hurting and in need of Your tender care: those carrying sickness, pain, or grief; those weighed down by anxiety or fear; those who feel unseen or unloved. Wrap them in Your steadfast love and let them know Your nearness. We lift up our community, our city, and our nation. Where there is division, bring healing. Where there is injustice, bring mercy and truth together.
Where there is despair, bring hope rooted in Your faithfulness. And Lord, we pray for ourselves as Your people. Teach us to live as reflections of Your heart. Help us to be slow to anger, quick to show compassion, and ready to extend grace even when it’s hard. May our lives point others to the One who is merciful and gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness.
We pray this in the name of Jesus, the perfect picture of Your compassion and grace.
Amen.
Song
Benediction
Go into the world now, in the name of the Lord, the God who is compassionate, gracious, and abounding in love. Carry His mercy into your workplaces, your homes, your friendships.
Live His grace in the ways you forgive, encourage, and serve. Let His steadfast love shape your words, your actions, and your heart this week. Go in His strength, go in His peace, and go reflecting His heart to the world.
Amen.