Face to Face with MERCY

Encounters with Jesus, Part 3 | March 29, 2026

Pastor Wes Morris 

One encounter with Jesus can change the direction of your entire life.

Luke 19:1-10 (NLT) Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.

When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.

Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

√  YOU CAN HAVE A FULL LIFE ON THE OUTSIDE AND STILL BE EMPTY IN YOUR SOUL.

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (NLT) Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind.

√  YOU CAN GET CLOSE TO JESUS AND STILL KEEP YOUR DISTANCE.

Isaiah 29:13 (NLT) And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules...”

√  JESUS WILL INVITE YOU CLOSER THAN YOU PLANNED.

Luke 19:5 (TLB) When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

FACE TO FACE WITH MERCY

I. BE HONEST ABOUT WHAT’S STILL MISSING IN YOUR LIFE.

Apart from God, nothing in this life can satisfy our deepest desires. Tragically, we keep chasing more, only to end up restless, hurried, anxious, disillusioned, and trapped in a cycle that keeps making the ache worse. 
- John Mark Comer

John 6:35 (NIV) “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

II. MOVE FROM CURIOSITY TO CLOSENESS.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

James 4:8 (NLT) Come close to God, and God will come close to you. 

III. LET JESUS INTO THE REAL PLACES OF YOUR LIFE. 

Revelation 3:20 (TLB) Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me.

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