Sermon Summary

The stories of Luke 15 were told to correct a distorted picture of God that the religious leaders carried with them everywhere they went, from the Temple to the town square. What is the picture of God that you carry with you to every dinner party, every movie theater, every business meeting? How do you view “sinners” who are gathered there, whether on the big screen of at a small social setting? Is your attitude one of seeking the lost the way Jesus did, or of standing apart from the lost and looking at them with disrespect and disdain (and no love) the way the religious leaders did? [Read more…]

Sermon Summary

True hospitality is grace in action ~ Eugene Peterson

We all start out life as recipients. Everything is given to us. But as we grow up, we start to take it for granted. God’s people become insiders to grace, taking it for granted and not extending it to others.

It is so easy to leave worship in the sanctuary and return to cramped living. Instead of carrying into the rest of life the spaciousness of grace proclaimed and experienced in worship we become like the small-souled Pharisees that Jesus tangled with.

Hospitality requires humble guests and generous hosts. In the story, the guests are not humble, shoving for position, and the host is not generous, seeking less to give than to generate obligations. Sabbath is where we learn hospitality, the receiving and the giving of it. But we often betray and desecrate the Sabbath by trying to protect it. Humble receiving and generous giving are the marks of those who know grace.1

With all the grace we receive, how do we maintain a hunger and thirst for righteousness? 

Are you a better guest or a better host? Why? 

How would your hospitality change if you were to receive every guest as you would receive Christ? 

[Read more…]

Sermon Summary

The threatened violence in this story of the fruitless fig tree tells the disciples the rough conditions of following Jesus. Rejection, hostility, violence ; and eventually death met Jesus on his path, and that is the same path on which his followers journey.

It is much easier to bulldoze than to renovate, but Jesus came to save, not to bulldoze. In this parable, the saving comes in the form of the earthy, unglamorous spreading of manure. Jesus uses the filth of farm animals to bring life. Although we are constantly tempted to use shortcuts, to take things into our own hands, God’s way can often take a lot longer than we’d like it to. Manure is a long-term fix.

If God isn’t in a hurry with people, we shouldn’t be either. The way we go about our lives of following Jesus should be the same way God works in the world and in us. Impatience is our greatest temptation.

Are you more of a “chop it down!” type of person or a “Let it be!” type? 

What are some types of “manure” that would be helpful in your life to bring fruitfulness?

[Read more…]

Sermon Summary

Luke 11:1-13

Read Luke 11:1-4. This is a briefer version of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew 6:9-13. Read both versions and list the differences. List the similarities. What do you notice? How important is this to your understanding of Jesus’ “prayer instruction?”

Now read the rest of the parable: vv 4-13. The whole point of this prayer/parable is to make us see how intensely personal prayer is meant to be! What, specifically, in Luke 11:1-13 makes it seem personal or intimate? Now, go back and list the verbs in both the prayer and the parable. Use more than one translation, if you can. What do you notice about the verbs?

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Sermon Summary

Who is your neighbor?

This is the question framing the passage we like to call “The Good Samaritan.” Jesus uses outrageous language to force the listeners to rethink the concept of who our neighbor is. Or possibly might be. But what is the reason for this question in the first place? Look at verse 25.”Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?” Then verse 26 “What is written in God’s Law?”

Jesus wants us to understand that how we think of the others is intimately related to how we love God. [Read more…]