“Jesus Teaches: On Judging and Judgmentalism”Luke 6:36-42June 29, 2025 While Jesus was known as a compelling speaker and a plain speaker, He was regularly misunderstood. And He continues to be misunderstood. One of the most misunderstood statements is the one that is in our passage this morning, “Do not judge and you will not be […]
Read More Jesus Teaches: On Judging and Judgmentalism“Jesus Teaches: On Loving Enemies”Luke 6:27-35June 22, 2025 Last week our family got back from a two-week vacation that was in some ways the trip of a lifetime. We went to England, spending most of our time in London eating wonderful food, seeing Royal sights, going to museums and seeing ancient artifacts from around the […]
Read More Jesus Teaches: On Loving Enemies“The Hard Life”Luke 6:24-26May 25, 2025 “In A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond, a former zoo keeper, offers this warning about raccoons: Raccoons go through a glandular change at about 24 months. After that they often attack their owners. Since a 30-pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap, […]
Read More The Hard Life“The Good Life”Luke 6:17-23May 18, 2025 What makes a good life? What is a happy and satisfied life? Is it even possible in this broken world — a world where there are broken relationships, broken cars, broken bodies, and broken economies — to have a good life? People have been asking that kind of question […]
Read More The Good Life“The Son of Man’s Authority to Call His Own”Luke 6:12-19May 11, 2025 In virtually every realm of life, there are questions about authority — the question is often cynically asked, “who died and left you in charge?” The debate about authority and what the authority can and can’t do is seen between people and government, […]
Read More The Son of Man’s Authority to Call His OwnThe Son of Man’s Authority Over the SabbathLuke 6:1-11March 30, 2025 In three weeks, we will remember the most important aspects of Christ as we gather to meditate on His death on Good Friday and celebrate His resurrection on Easter morning. What happened on those days 2000 years ago is the foundation of our faith […]
Read More The Son of Man’s Authority Over the SabbathThe Son of Man’s Authority to Seek SinnersLuke 5:27-39March 23, 2025 One of my favorite declarations of authority was given by poet Judith Viorst, writing in the voice of an elementary-aged boy named Alexander: “If I were in charge of the world…” If I were in charge of the worldI’d cancel oatmeal,Monday mornings,Allergy shots, and […]
Read More The Son of Man’s Authority to Seek SinnersThe Forgiving Authority of the Son of ManLuke 5:17-26March 16, 2025 Into every life a little rain must fall. Death and taxes are a certainty for every person. Trouble is all around us. And everyone has trouble, trials, problems, and difficulties. Even in a land of prosperity. Of course some of them are unique […]
Read More The Forgiving Authority of the Son of ManThe Cleansing Power of the Son of ManLuke 5:12-16March 9, 2025 Finish this statement for me: “Cleanliness is next to __________ .” So I’m not sure what to do with Dave Whitlock. Dave is a grad of MIT, a chemical engineer, and the founder of AOBiome which markets bacterial products that are supposed to […]
Read More The Cleansing Power of the Son of Man“Follow Me”Luke 5:1-11February 16, 2025 It’s an old childhood game — follow the leader. Players first choose a leader and the remaining players (followers) all line up behind the leader who then moves around and all the players have to mimic the leader’s actions exactly. Any player who fails to mimic the leader is out […]
Read More “Follow Me”The Authority of the Son of Man, Pt. 2Luke 4:38-44December 22, 2024 I suppose Elizabeth was a couple of months old the first time she got sick. I don’t remember all the particulars, but I do remember it was something respiratory and she was struggling to breathe. One night she was especially uncomfortable and was […]
Read More The Authority of the Son of Man, Pt. 2The Authority of the Son of Man, Pt. 1Luke 4:31-37December 15, 2024 Authority. Authority is a word that can bring comfort when we are under wise and benevolent leaders. And it is a word that can provoke us to be fearful when we are under foolish, ungracious, and harsh authoritarians. Yet we all live […]
Read More The Authority of the Son of Man, Pt. 1The First Reactions to the Son of ManLuke 4:22-30December 8, 2024 First impressions are not always accurate impressions. And first evaluations are not always true. I have experienced those truisms many times in my life, but one of the first times was when I was about seven years old. Mom and Dad were going […]
Read More The First Reactions to the Son of ManThe Father’s Mission for the Son of ManLuke 4:14-21November 17, 2024 On Monday, April 2, 1739, John Wesley began preaching open-air evangelistic sermons at Kingswood Bristol. That decision and event was the start of a revival in England that the country had never seen before (or since). Wesley later wrote this in his diary about […]
Read More The Father’s Mission for the Son of ManThe Son of Man’s ValidationLuke 4:1-13November 10, 2024 In Jesus’ ministry, several times people questioned Jesus’ ability to speak or act — even questioning His nature and character: When he healed and forgave the lame man who was let through the roof, the Pharisees asked, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive […]
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Words of Grace 