Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump recently attended a Sunday church service where the pastor gave a sermon on embracing Syrian and Mexican migrants, prompting Trump to acknowledge the lecture was likely aimed at him.
"Jesus is teaching us today that he has come for those who are outside of the church," the Rev. Dr. Pamela Saturnia of Muscataine's First Presbyterian Church said on Sunday, according to the Washington Post.
She went on to urge congregants to extend acceptance to "those who are the most unloved, the most discriminated against, the most forgotten in our community and in our world", citing "the Syrian refugees" and "the Mexican migrants."
The pastor also stressed the importance of humility, stating, "Can you imagine eye telling hand, 'Get lost, I don't need you' or hearing the head telling the foot, 'You're fired, your job has been phased out?'" referencing Trump's phrase when he was the star of "The Apprentice", The Blaze notes.
As reported by The Gospel Herald, Trump has advocated banning all Syrian refugees from entering the country and deporting all of the estimated 11 million Mexican immigrants living in the United States.
"I don't know if that was aimed at me. Perhaps," Trump told reporters after the hour-long church service.
Like several of the other GOP candidates, including Sen. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Trump has been working to boost evangelical support for his campaign ahead of the primaries.
Last week, he attended Liberty University, an Evangelical school in Virginia, where he came under fire after referring to Second Corinthians in the Bible as "Two Corinthians."
"We're going to protect Christianity. I can say that. I don't have to be politically correct ... Two Corinthians, 3:17, that's the whole ballgame ... is that the one you like?" Trump said in his speech.
Recently, "Duck Dynasty" star Willie Robertson, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and Liberty University President Jerry Falwell endorsed Trump, providing the billionaire businessman with a potentially significant boost among Evangelical voters.
However, the Christian Post notes that a point of contention with Trump's outreach to Evangelicals was his choice for a church on Sunday, as Muscataine's First Presbyterian Church belongs to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) denomination, a liberal Mainline denomination that supports same-sex marriage.
Despite his murky religious views, Trump on Monday hit a new high in the race for the Republican nomination, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, with more than 4-in-10 Republican voters nationwide now saying they back the billionaire.
The 7th Republican presidential debate will be held on Thursday, January 28 at the Iowa Events Center. The debate, which will be monitored by Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace, will air at 9 PM EST on Fox News.
