Our Current Sermon Series

Jesusthestoryteller@luke.edu

Did you know that about 1/3 of Jesus’ teaching was in the form of parables?  Whether we are young or old, we love the stories which are told by Jesus, because they are so engaging. We will be exploring together parables which are unique to Luke’s Gospel of Jesus Christ. We will be covering topics including the wonder of Jesus’ saving grace, the problem of self-righteousness, the pursuit of God above everything else, a passion to love the lost, the centrality of prayer, stewardship of our possessions, and the importance of focusing on the coming of Christ.  May God’s Spirit use God’s Word to make us more like God’s Son. 

This Sunday is Father’s Day! This Sunday is VBS Sunday! This Sunday is our Youth send-off Sunday (our team will be headed on mission to Harrisburg following service)! I’m not sure these three things have ever happened all on the same Sunday before. I believe our Bible text for this Sunday should inspire and challenge all three of these groups. This Sunday we’ll look at Jesus’ parable directed towards, “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” We’ll talk about how to stand for what’s true, while at the same time avoiding pride and selfishness.

When my children were young and we were traveling somewhere for several hours, they would often ask me, ‘How long until we get there?’ In a similar vein, Christians down through the ages have repeatedly asked God in prayer to intervene in history through the coming of Christ to bring justice and relief. Have you ever felt deflated in your prayer life, because God doesn’t intervene in the time period which you would like? In Luke 18:1-8 Jesus uses a parable to encourage His people to continually pray with confidence to God for His intervention through the coming of Christ.

This week the story that Jesus tells takes some thinking! There are so many things that take our attention off God, money being one of the biggest. Jesus uses a dishonest manager to teach a very valuable lesson to us all on choosing what is important from an eternal perspective. 

Whom you associate with tells us something about what’s important to you. Often one’s association with others is dictated by one’s interest in sports, music, politics, or hobbies. So, with whom do you think Jesus associates? Luke 15 answers this question for us. The answer may surprise you.

Pastor Errin had the opportunity to preach last week on Jesus’ parable of “the Great Banquet”. The man running the banquet ended up filling his house with the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame because the prosperous weren’t interested in attending. As a result of this teaching, great crowds were now surrounding Jesus. Everyone wanted to see what Jesus would do or teach next! However, these people had yet to count the cost of following Jesus. In our text, we’ll look at that cost and answer the question, “Is it worth following Jesus?”.

Many times, we have opportunities in our lives, but we have excuses why we cannot do them. Some seem legit while others may be lame, but they are all excuses. Jesus has invited us to the greatest banquet of all time! A banquet for eternity. A banquet for everyone, but not everyone will except the invitation. They have excuses as to why but in the end, they will miss out on the ultimate gift. We have that invitation but are we taking full advantage of it? Do we care or do WE have excuses?

Pursuing wealth is pervasive and encouraged in the American culture. Some people dedicate their lives to become rich, often at the cost of important relationships. Others spend their free time dreaming about winning the lottery or receiving a large inheritance from a distant uncle. However, for each of us there is a more foundational question to be answered first, “What does it mean to be truly rich?” In Luke 12:13-34 Jesus explains the important distinction between pursuing fool’s gold and pursuing true riches.

Did you know that the disciples only asked Jesus to teach them one thing? In Luke 11, we see Jesus praying in a certain place and one of His disciples comes up and says, “Lord, teach us to pray.” What does this say about Jesus? What does this say about the disciples? What was Jesus’ response? We’ll gather together Sunday to delve into what Jesus had to say when His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. 

Sometimes Jesus stories can take a little extra time to determine the meaning for us here on earth. This Sundays parable is fairly straight forward; however, we need to make sure we do not miss the very important messages that are paramount to us living out our faith. When we read the Good Samaritan are we truly willing to, “Go and do likewise.”?

How does Jesus respond to a potentially embarrassing situation, when a woman with a sordid past, seeks to honor Him in an unconventional way during a meal at a religious leader’s home? Does Jesus’ unexpected answer to those attending the meal delight you or unsettle you?

Sermon Archive

Behold, Your King

The Gospel of Matthew was composed by one of Jesus’ original disciples to answer the question, “Is Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah of lsrael promised by the Old Testament prophets?” Through many citations of Messianic prophecies and chronicles of the acts and miracles of Jesus, Matthew answers that question with a resounding, “Yes!” What’s more, he provides an abundance of Jesus’s teaching that is intended to guide his disciples today in their obedience to him until “the end of the age”, when King Jesus will return to this earth to establish his long-awaited kingdom.

Wake Up!

A frequent theme of the New Testament is that Christians need to be spiritually awake and watchful.  In this series, we will explore specific facets of this exhortation and apply how God would have us, “Wake Up!” to the many moral and spiritual challenges we face today as followers of Christ.

Big, Hairy Essential Truths

In this series, we’ll identify our essential beliefs as Christians and make sure we understand them well.  We also want to go beyond just “understanding” and move into how these truths should make a difference in our everyday lives.

A Fresh Start

The OT books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the return of the Jews to their homeland after an exile of 70 years in Babylon. The return began by decree of Cyrus, the Persian King. 50,000 Jews under the leadership of Zerubbabel constituted the initial wave of returnees. Their primary mission was to rebuild the Temple. A second wave of returnees under the leadership of Ezra came to Jerusalem about 457 BC. Finally, in 444 BC, Nehemiah arrived to lead the Jews in rebuilding of the walls of the city of Jerusalem. With Ezra’s help he also instituted vital covenantal reforms. During this entire episode of Israel’s history, we see God’s gracious and sovereign intervention to both protect and encourage his people to be fully obedient, despite frequent opposition. In this series we will learn many important lessons about how to depend upon the Lord for the same protection and encouragement.

Of Shepherds & Sheep

Paul’s Pastoral letters (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus) were written to two young pastors who needed apostolic guidance in leading their congregations. Though these letters were written almost 2000 years ago they contain valuable instructions and exhortations for the Church of the 21st century. In this series, we will discover God’s plan and expectations for the local church, both its leaders and it congregants, so that in the words of Paul ‘you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth’ (1 Timothy 3:15).

Fighting The Good Fight

Most Christians have heard of concept of spiritual warfare. And yet many seem to live their lives as “noncombatants.” Unwittingly, they fall victim to the spiritual attacks upon them from various sources instead of “fighting the good fight” (2 Timothy 4:7). In this series, we will explore the many ways we need to be actively engaging our spiritual enemies in order to achieve the victory we are promised daily through the strength and wisdom of Christ.