In Part 3 of our study in the Gospel according to Luke, we're going to explore a handful of key practices that help us live into the Way of Jesus. Jesus is intent on forming his way of thinking, believing, and living into those who follow him, expecting that everyone who wants to be his disciple must "take up their cross daily" and learn from him how to live the upside down nature of life in his kingdom. In chapters 12-18, Jesus is training his disciples in his Way, confronting, challenging, and comforting them as he does. This week we look at Jesus' teaching on greed and how to live free of anxious striving or boastful amassing. Our relationship to money and possessions has everything to do with who we are and whose we are: Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom!
Receiving the Kingdom
January 8, 2023 • Steve Hart • Luke 12
Rejecting Self-Righteousness
February 19, 2023 • Jon Schuler • Luke 18
When Jesus said in Luke 18 that "no one is good except God alone", he meant it! But for all of human history, people like the Pharisees and the Rich Ruler (and you and me!) have tried to find peace with God through their own good deeds and self-righteous acts. While the world applauds those who "try harder and do better", the truth is that self-righteousness is just another way of rejecting Jesus and denying his finished work on our behalf. How can we be freed from this insidious self-sabotage? Like Jesus said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
Receiving Community
February 12, 2023 • Steve Hart • Luke 17
Jesus calls us and saves us personally as individuals, but his aim is to form a new kind of community built on faith in His mercy. In Luke 17.1-10, he describes a handful of key aspects of his community, offering a vision for life together as disciples. The community of Jesus is not immune from sin, so it requires a sober self-awareness and an eagerness to confess sin and find forgiveness. It also requires an abundance of mercy, as we live together under Jesus' mercy. We also need a ton of humility, learning to do what Jesus has asked - love one another! - with a healthy level of self-forgetfulness. Living this way requires a great deal of faith, which means returning to Jesus again and again, laying ourselves at his feet, and receiving again his mercy to us.
Rejecting Affluence
February 5, 2023 • Scott Cooley • Luke 16
In our parable of the gracious and giving land owner and the manager who finds grace, there are two primary characters. One is the gracious and generous landowner who holds the kingdom. The other is the manager who is found out to be wasting and stealing the resources of the master. The manager is about to be kicked out but instead makes a move that trusts all in the character and honor of the generous gracious master. It puts the good master’s character on display and the scoundrel manager is welcomed back because of the lavish graciousness and generosity of the good master.