Text: Genesis 3:15 | Listen to Message The Serpent Crusher Just 3 chapters into the biblical narrative, humanity had already abused its God-given freedom by listening to the lie of the serpent (Satan) and rebelling against the Creator’s one command. Adam and Eve had declared their independence from God…with disastrous consequences. All of creation fell under the Curse. Life from here on would be painful, shameful, and futile – and everything would lead to death and separation from God, the Giver of life. But right in the midst of the Curse, God said this to the serpent: “I will put enmity […]
God Has Visited His People
Text: Luke 7:11-35 | Listen to Message When Experience And Expectations Don’t Match “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? That is, “Jesus, are you the promised Messiah – the one foretold by the prophets – or should we be looking for someone else altogether?” It’s a fair question. But these are strange words – even startling words – when you consider the source! Not long before, John the Baptist had pointed his own disciples to Jesus and cried, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John’s own […]
Text: Luke 7:1-10 | Listen to Message Two Approaches To God There are basically just two approaches to God – and both are demonstrated in a short story that’s told for us in Luke chapter 7. An unnamed Roman centurion has a treasured servant who’s sick to the point of death. The soldier has heard of Jesus and believes he can heal his friend, so he sends a delegation of Jewish elders to appeal to him to come and help. These good, orthodox Jews represent approach #1: #1: The Merit Approach: This approach sounds like this: “God, you’ve got to do […]
Foundations And Fruit
Text: Luke 6:43-49 | Listen to Message The Link Between Fruit And Root “That’s not what I’m really like, I only said that ‘cause I’m under a lot of stress!” “It’s her fault; she made me react that way!” “That was totally out of character for me; I’m not like that!” Do you ever find yourself justifying sinful words, actions, and attitudes with statements like these? When other people lie, it’s because they’re liars; but our lies are just aberrations of an otherwise good-natured heart. Other people say mean, hateful things because their souls are black; we say mean, hateful […]
Fault Lines
Text: Luke 6:37-42 | Listen to Message The Gospel For Judgmental People Nobody likes to be judged but it sure is easy to judge others, isn’t it? Somehow, we’re just certain we’re right and others are wrong. We’re intellectual and they’re ignorant. We’re compassionate and they’re hateful. We’re unselfish and open-minded; they’re self-interested bigots. They’re the problem and we are the solution. We’re just fortunate to have the wisdom to see what’s really going on, that way we know what sins to condemn (others’) and what sins to condone (our own). Let’s cut through the fog of self-righteousness and get real: […]
Right-Side Up Values
Text: Luke 6:20-36 | Listen to Message Whose Blessing Are You Living For? “Woe to you who are rich…Woe to you who are full…Woe to you who laugh…Woe to you when all people speak well of you.” (Luke 6:24-26) What’s up with statements like these? Is Jesus automatically opposed to people who happen to have or enjoy nice things? As you might expect, the answer isn’t so simplistic or superficial. Here, like everywhere, Jesus is interested with issues of the heart. It’s not that it’s inherently wrong to have money, or to enjoy a nice meal, or to laugh, or to […]
Relax: God Wins!
Text: Psalm 46 | Listen to Message Campaign Fatigue, Anyone? Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote in The Gulag Archipelago, “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” The major players in contemporary politics and “culture wars” often act as if Solzhenitsyn’s first “if only” statement is correct: one person/party/policy is all good and the other is all evil – and needs to die. There is a tremendous amount of […]
A New Identity
Text: Luke 6:12-16 | Listen to Message What Makes Me A Somebody? We’re all seeking our identity in someone or something. In traditional cultures, this is often in family, vocation, hard work, and good character. In progressive cultures, it’s often in freedom of expression and sexuality. Others seek an identity in politics, fitness, prosperity, or physical appearance. Think for a moment about yourself: what do you seek your identity in? What do you need in your life to tell you that you’re important, that you’re unique, that you’re a somebody? Okay, got something? Now apply a few questions to the source(s) […]
Legalism vs. Love, Part 2
Text: Luke 6:1-11 | Listen to Message 4 Ways Jesus Is Not A Legalist Jesus says the law exists to serve people. If anyone could say that people were made to serve the law, it would be the Son of God. But Jesus says the opposite: the law was given to serve people. People are God’s image bearers – and the law is just a tool that’s designed to help us. It helps us understand what God is like. It helps us understand how life flourishes in God’s world. It helps us know how to love our neighbor. It helps us see […]
Legalism vs. Love, Part 1
Text: Luke 6:1-11 | Listen to Message 7 Characteristics of a Legalist Legalism adds rules to God’s Word. Legalists love rules. The more the merrier. And they don’t think the Bible says nearly enough to properly control people’s sinful behaviors. So they add more. Lots more. And then they pretend like their rules came from God Himself. Legalism is obsessed with keeping the letter of the law. Who cares why the law was written in the first place? That’s an irrelevant footnote to what the law actually says. When in doubt, go with the most technically precise and restrictive meaning imaginable. […]
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