Grocery Store Parable

Grocery Store Parable Message: receiving and showing mercy Scripture: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matt. 5:7 (NIV) George owned a little grocery store called “George’s Mini-Mart”. Most of the people in the neighborhood shopped there because the big supermarket was too far away. George sold milk and bread and canned goods, and he had a little deli section. And he also sold newspapers. One day while he was working the cash register he noticed one of his regular customers reach down and stuff one of the newspapers inside her jacket. She was stealing it! Well, George called the police, and the police came to arrest her. When the police asked George if he wanted them to take her to jail, George asked the woman, “Why did you steal that newspaper?” She said, “I’ve been out of work for 6 months and I can’t afford food for my two children. I was hoping I could find a job in the help-wanted section of the newspaper.” Well, George was moved by that, so rather than having the police take her to jail, George gave her a job in his store instead. In other words, George showed mercy to her. And what is mercy? Mercy means not getting the punishment we deserve. It means being forgiven for things we’ve done wrong. And just as George showed mercy to that woman and forgave her, so God shows us mercy for things we’ve done wrong and He forgives us – because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. Let me read what Jesus said about mercy in the Bible: He said, “Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.” (Matt. 5:7) I don’t know about you, but I’m sure glad God shows us mercy! And you know, there are two things we can do about God’s mercy: We can thank him for it, and we can show mercy to other people when they do or say something hurtful to us. Let’s thank Him now: Dear Father, thank you so much for showing us mercy and forgiving us when we do something wrong. Help us to remember to show mercy to others when they say or do hurtful thing to us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. © Copyright 2018 by Steven Rudolph Find more children’s sermons at www.childrenssermonsonline.net