Text: Luke 8:22-25 | Listen to Message The Value of Storms Storms are awesome, violent displays of the uncontrollable power of nature. Fierce winds, driving rains, golfball sized hail, funnel clouds, and torrents of water all have a way of making us feel small, helpless, and afraid. Maybe this is why storms are a common metaphor for the adversity, the trials, that we all face in life. Threats to our health, our finances, our relationships, our reputations, and our job security are every bit as real as any hurricane. And they’re every bit as terrifying. So why does a good God...
Text: Luke 8:4-21 | Listen to Message Hearing AND Doing It’s one thing to hear the Word of God and another to actually do it. That was Jesus’ message to the crowds that followed him. The enduring practice of faith through the midst of adversity and testing is a defining quality of all who belong to the family of Christ. Consider, from Jesus’ Parable of The Sower, how often you respond to God’s words with something other than faithful obedience: The Indifferent Response: Many hear Jesus’ words and never let them sink in. They regard them as worthless and trample them...
Text: Luke 7:36—8:3 | Listen to Message A Pharisee And A Prostitute God calls us to holy living. And it’s good to live holy lives. But holiness dissolves into graceless legalism when it’s pursued apart from Christ. See, the more self-righteous a person becomes, the more he thinks grace is unnecessary for himself and unavailable to others. Both of these erroneous presumptions are illustrated by Simon the Pharisee in Luke chapter 7. Simon invited Jesus to dinner in his home, which is a good start … but his demeanor remained cool and detached throughout. He was a good, religious guy, so...
Text: 1 Chronicles 16:11-12, 15; Philippians 3:13-14 Sing It Out Or Let It Go? Whether you’re the New Years Resolutions type or not, the end of one year and the start of another is an appropriate time for reflection. But not everything is worth remembering. In fact, that Bible teaches us that there are certain things we should actually choose to forget. So what’s what? Start by making a list of memories: What were the best and worst things that happened to you over the past year? What were the highs and lows? So you’re not hampered by recency bias,...
Ways to Worship with Family & Friends Read the Bible’s Christmas Story aloud. Old Testament prophecies: Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; Micah 5:2-5a. New Testament fulfillments: Luke 1:26-35, 46-50; 2:1-20. Discuss. What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received? What about that gift made it so special? What are some of the free gifts humanity received through the coming of Jesus Christ into our world? What are some ways a good Christmas gift points to the ultimate gift of salvation in Jesus? What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions? What about those traditions can help you enjoy Jesus as...
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...
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...
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...
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:...