The Gospel of Luke

The Stakes of Self-Righteousness

November 17, 2024 • Drake Osborn • Luke 16:14–31

Luke 16:14-31 // Self-righteousness is not trivial thing. Similarly to idolatry and adultery, it hardens your heart towards God and leads to destruction. The way out of righteousness is to lay down our desire for self-justification and take up Christ as our help.

Becoming Shrewd Managers

November 10, 2024 • Drake Osborn • Luke 16:1–13

Luke 16:1-13 // Money has a dangerous power, calling to us for our devotion and ready to enslave us. If we give our life over to the service of money, we will despise the service of God. But if we use our money for the sake of kingdom relationships, we show a shrewdness that is commendable to God. *due to technical error, there is no recording for this sermon. Please refer to the sermon manuscript.*

Becoming the Beloved

November 3, 2024 • Drake Osborn • Luke 15:11–32

Luke 15:11-32 // Jesus tells this story of two brothers not to highlight the horror of the sin of the younger brother, but to highlight the sin of the older brother. In order to enjoy the joy of the feast of the Father, we must lay aside the anger of self-righteousness, embrace our prodigality, and follow our older brother Jesus home.

The Relentless One

October 27, 2024 • Dave Becker • Luke 15:1–10

Luke 15:1-10 // Jesus demonstrates through two parable in Luke 15 that he is a relentless pursuer of the lost. Jesus is relentless in his pursuit of the lost because he loves lost people deeply, because he is diligent to find and reclaim what is already his because of his sacrifice on the cross to lay down his life for the lost, and because it brings his Father great joy when the lost come to repentance and find life in the Son.

Counting The Cost

October 20, 2024 • Drake Osborn • Luke 14:25–35

Luke 14:25-35 // The way of Jesus comes at a great cost — the kingdom of God must not simply come first but a follower of Jesus must be willing to write a blank check with their life. The good news is that Jesus has gone before us in this cost, and invites us to preserve our life and all it’s flavor by following him.

Invited To Christ's Feast

October 13, 2024 • Drake Osborn • Luke 14:1–24

Luke 14:1-24 // Luke is the gospel where we find Jesus “eating and drinking” the most. The significance of these meals is that they are teaching us what Jesus’ kingdom is like. When we follow Jesus, we are saying we follow a feasting Jesus, who calls us, not begrudgingly, but gladly, to rest in his house. And so we invite others into the kingdom of God as well, to feast at Christ’s table.

The Kingdom, The Way of Mercy, & True Righteousness

September 29, 2024 • Dave Becker • Luke 13:10–21

Luke 13:10-21 // Jesus shows that his kingdom is advancing, but it advances by way of the mercy of God extended to those in need. How we participate in the mission of Jesus matters greatly. Acts of mercy demonstrate that the substance of God’s kingdom is justice and righteousness, and no matter how small or ordinary the mercy of God enacted works powerfully to the realization of “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Interpreting the Times

September 22, 2024 • Drake Osborn • Luke 12:54—13:9

Luke 12:54-13:9 // The two hardest things to believe about the gospel is that 1) we are totally undeserving of any mercy from a holy God; and 2) God's very heart towards us is patient and merciful. Understanding both of these realities is means that we "interpret the times" rightly, seeing that today is always the day for repentance.

Kingdom Stewardship

September 15, 2024 • Drake Osborn • Luke 12:35–53

Luke 12:35-53 // Seeking the kingdom has far less to do with acquisition and far more to do with stewardship. Let's look at three ways we seek the kingdom through our stewardship of this great gift: 1) stewarding our attention; 2) stewarding our power; 3) stewarding our expectations.

Facing The Mission, Unencumbered

September 8, 2024 • Dave Becker • Luke 12:13–34

Luke 12:4-12 // Jesus is intent on his mission to see the Kingdom of God come, and he calls his disciples to join him in that mission. Jesus knows that there is a difference between having and living, and to live in the new order of God’s Kingdom we have to let go of the fears, anxieties, and priorities of the old order of the world, and trust God’s generous provision and gracious intentions as we follow Christ on his mission.

Overcoming Fear of Man

September 1, 2024 • Drake Osborn • Luke 12:4–12

Luke 12:4-12 // Fear of man is one of the most dangerous enemies to our cheerfully serious discipleship of Jesus. When we learn to rightly fear God and tremble in his love for us, then what can man do to us?

Beware & Don't Become

June 16, 2024 • Dave Becker • Luke 11:37—12:3

Luke 11:37-12:3 // In this passage we encounter Jesus with a different tone and disposition than previously in Luke. Jesus issues six stern rebukes to the Pharisees and scribes because of their hypocrisy - in their self-righteous pursuits they have neglected the justice and love of God, and closed off the way of salvation from others. We should beware that we do not become like them by insisting on righteousness that comes from anywhere other than in Christ through the gospel.

Overcoming Presumption

June 9, 2024 • Drake Osborn • Luke 11:14–36

Luke 11:14-36 // All of us are tempted to allow our presumptions of Jesus to downplay his power or his necessity. The solution to our presumption is repentance and acceptance of Jesus on his terms.

In The School Of Prayer

June 2, 2024 • Dave Becker • Luke 11:1–13

Luke 11:1-13 // In order to follow Jesus into his mission we must first follow him into the school of prayers where we learn to pray beautifully boring prayers, to pray with audacious asking, and to pray with bold belief.

The Way of Jesus

May 26, 2024 • Dave Becker • Luke 10:25–42

Luke 10:25-42 // Following in the way of Jesus as his disciples has a profound effect on our lives. The way of Jesus rejects unnecessary and false dichotomies, it reorients our worldview, it resists the tyranny of self-justification and of the urgent, and the way of Jesus reorders our priorities. Disciples of Jesus can never be the same as they once were!

Grace Church Waco

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