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The call to wait
If I was looking for a sign things couldn’t get more obvious. I was asked to preach on Christmas Day and when asked, I immediately knew I should set aside the gospel for the day and instead focus on Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-40).
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The way of revolution
The Second Sunday of Advent was about John the Baptist (as will be the Third Sunday) and I had jotted some notes down about the way of repentance. The way of John the Baptist comes at a critical time in the life of Israel. Rome has been in power and now they’ve encroached on the land with a heavy hand.…
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Lost… and not knowing
I am digging into Dallas Willard’s newest release, The Scandal of the Kingdom. I am so thankful his family carries on his work! This is a book looking at key parables and how Jesus’ teaching scandalized the religious and secular world of his day… and continues to do so if we truly look at the implications of what Jesus is…
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The road to Emmaus
One of my favorite Gospel stories is Luke 24:13-35. Jesus comes on two men as they walk to Emmaus. They are feeling a sense of hopelessness because their hope, Jesus, had been crucified… and now his body was missing. NT Wright sums up the passage’s meaning:
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The power of humility
“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed,…
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Three Key Words in Kingdom Life
We are working our way through the Gospel of Luke this week. In Luke 6 is a version of Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount.” In this part I find three key ways we are called to live in Kingdom power in this world.
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The ministry of Jesus
As I meditate on Luke 6, I am drawn once again to the simplicity of Jesus’ ministry: Pray Raise up powerful disciples Teach Demonstrate the power of the Kingdom All of it flowed out of prayer. I love Luke’s emphasis on prayer. It causes me to cry out, “Lord! I need to learn to pray!”
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The need for greed
We wrestle with consumerism and materialism. I take that back. Some have long surrendered, actually. We may even fake wrestling because, quite frankly, we like our stuff. But when I read these challenging verses out of Luke’s Gospel, I am left with an aching heart, quite honestly. I realized today the compelling force of what Jesus says so plainly in…
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Basic Discipleship — Part Three
The past two weeks I have looked at basic discipleship from Luke 10-11 in my preaching. The first week was about proclamation (Luke 10:1-24). Last week (yesterday) was about loving the neighbor (Luke 10:25-37). But next week is crucial. Loving the neighbor was a tough one. But without the third part, it’s not just tough… it’s impossible. We’ll look at the…
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Self justification
The model Jesus gives us for following him is incredibly simple… and difficult. Love him. Love people. Prepare for rejection. “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16) This is simply bad news all the way around when we unpack it, especially if our self-justifying…
Tag: Gospel of Luke
