Luke 19:45 – 20:40
What Do You Do When the Questions Are All Answered? Introduction: Last Sunday our text from Luke 19 concerned the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem, which took place on Sunday of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. Today we are going to examine the events of Monday and Tuesday of that week, days on which a number of major conflicts erupted between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel. Four of these controversies are grouped together by Luke…
Luke 20:45-21:4
The True Motive for Giving Introduction: Last summer at our Free Church National Conference I had lunch with Steve, a long-time friend who pastors a fast-growing church of about 1000 in Omaha, Nebraska. He told me a fascinating story about how he had felt led to speak to a man in his church about giving to his church’s building fund. He had never solicited a gift from an individual before, but he knew through the news that this man had recently been entrusted…
Luke 22:7-20
A New Passover Meal Note: This is a brief sermon in preparation for a special communion service. Introduction: The ancient Jewish people made a big deal about remembering important things God had done in their lives. Instead of cameras or Creative Memory parties to help them remember, their tradition was to tell stories. They would tell, retell and tell again the same story so that the important events would be passed down from generation to generation. One of the most important stories in the…
Luke 22:31-62
The Steps to Peter’s Defection Introduction: Today we continue our examination of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life, as recorded for us in the Book of Luke. We have noted his triumphal entry on Sunday of passion week; on Monday he cleansed the temple of the corrupt money changers; on Tuesday he went back to the temple to teach, only to find the religious leaders trying to trip him up with a series of difficult questions, each of which he answered…
Luke 23:26-56
Showdown at the Cross Introduction: During Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness, Satan tempted him to accept glory without suffering. Any one of us would have caved at that choice, but Jesus didn’t. In saying no to Satan, Jesus chose to live for the day of his death. He chose to accept a crown only after carrying a cross. At one point, Luke records that “Jesus took the twelve aside and told them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written…
Luke 22:63-23:25
“I Find No Fault in Him.” Introduction: We are literally hours from the crucifixion as we open Luke 23 this morning. Last Sunday we followed Peter from the Last Supper to the court of the home of the high priest as the first part of the trial of Jesus was conducted. Though there are many key figures involved in this travesty of justice—Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, Barabbas—the one I have chosen to focus upon this morning is Pilate. Not only was he more involved in…
Luke 23:50-24:12
Gone! Introduction: It’s great to be back with you on this glorious Easter morning. Some sharp, creative realtor came up with the idea and scores followed suit. I refer to the practice after the sale of a house of placing one word, four simple letters, over the “for sale” sign. The old word which was used to indicate that a buyer had been found was the word “SOLD.” The emerging new, more picturesque word in vogue in some areas today is “GONE.” It is direct,…
Luke 24:13-35
Heart Burn: The Answer to Spiritual Depression Please turn with me to Luke chapter 24, verses13-35: Now that same day (Easter Sunday) two of them (i.e., Jesus’ disciples) were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together…
Luke 24:36-53 and Acts 1:1-11
Mission Accomplished Introduction. Since December we have spent most of our time on Sunday mornings studying the life of Christ from the gospel of Luke. We were first introduced to the Messiah’s forerunner, John the Baptist. We learned of the annunciation of Jesus, his birth to a virgin named Mary, his early life at Nazareth, his baptism in the Jordan, his temptation in the wilderness, his calling of Twelve unlikely disciples, his ministry in Galilee, his ministry in and around Jerusalem, his signs…
Revelation 2:1-7
SERIES: Letters from Jesus to Eight Churches To Ephesus: The Church that Had Everything Right Except the Main Thing We’re going to begin a new series today from the book of Revelation. Yes, you heard me right, Revelation! But don’t get too excited, because the portion of Revelation I want us to study for the next two months is not the part filled with strange prophecies and weird symbolism, but rather chapters 2 and 3, where Jesus sends personal letters to the seven…
Revelation 2:8-11
To Smyrna: A Dangerous Place to be a Christian Today we look at the second of eight letters from Jesus, seven of which are found in the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Revelation. I would suggest you pick up a copy of last week’s sermon if you were not here, so you can get Pastor Mike’s excellent introduction to this important series of messages. Located a little over 30 miles north of Ephesus, the city of Smyrna, was on the Aegean coast of modern Turkey. Smyrna, known today as Izmir, is Turkey’s third largest city. In the New Testament period this city had a population of more than 100,000 people. A fine roadgave it access to the…
Revelation 2:12-17
To Pergamum: The Too Free Church Freedom is one of the greatest words in the English language. It’s also a great biblical term. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.” And one of my all-time favorite verses is this: “If the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.” I really believe in Christian freedom, which I would define as the liberty to make my own doctrinal decisions and lifestyle choices under the boundaries of Scripture and under…