Luke 8:26-39
Restoring GloriOus Ruins Introduction: As we traveled on vacations as kids, my mom would pay my brother and sister and me a nickel for every antique store we saw. We would stop at many of these antique stores as we traveled throughout Missouri or the Northeast. At one of those antique stores, my dad bought an old rocking chair. You couldn’t tell it was a rocking chair because it was in a box and in pieces. When I looked in the…
Luke 8:40-56
Interruption or Divine Appointment? Introduction: Our normal preaching schedule would bring us this morning to Luke 8:26-39, the story of the Gadarene demoniac and the herd of pigs that rushed over the cliff and drowned in the lake. Somehow that did not seem too appropriate for Mother’s Day. So I decided to skip that portion and take the next section instead, which deals with the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter and the healing of the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. It’s not…
Luke 9:1-27
Disciples Are Made, Not Born Introduction: Christians are born, but disciples are made. When I say that Christians are born, I mean that they are born again, born from above in a moment of time when they turn in faith to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Disciples, on the other hand, are made, not born. When Jesus gave the great commission to his disciples in Matthew 28:19, he said, “Go, therefore, and make disciples.” One does not become a disciple instantaneously. It is a process, a…
Luke 9:10-17
Is Your Life a Ministry? Introduction: Good morning! As usual, it is a joy to be here with you today. I bring you greetings from Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Webster Groves. We are continuing to enjoy God’s blessing at Cornerstone since you planted us a year and a half ago. In fact, tonight our people will vote on the hiring of our current part-time pastor of student ministries, John Richardson, as full-time Associate Pastor of Community Life. We are very excited about that. Also, you…
Luke 9:28-36
Have You Seen Jesus? Introduction: I hope you’re not too startled by my sermon title today. I’m really not looking for those who have seen a vision or encountered an apparition of Jesus. If you have, that’s OK, but if you haven’t, that’s OK, too. Rather what I’m asking is, “Have you seen Jesus for who He really is? Have you seen Him in all His glory as the one and only Son of God?” Do you know something? Peter, James, and John, the inner circle…
Luke 9:49-62
Tolerance, the Dangerous Virtue TO HEAR THE ENTIRE SERMON CLICK THE LISTEN BUTTON ABOVE Introduction: One doesn’t normally think of virtues as being dangerous. It’s vices that are dangerous. But probably any virtue we can think of—love, patience, peace, honesty, you name it—can become a vice if applied in the wrong way or with the wrong motive. I think that is especially true of the virtue our Scripture passage focuses on this morning, the virtue of tolerance. Tolerance is a rather hard trait to…
Luke 10:1-24
Crash Course in Discipleship Introduction: Today we return to the Book of Luke, where we will pick up in the tenth chapter. Ahead of us are some of Jesus’ most profound parables, discourses, miracles, warnings, and prophecies. For about seven months our focus will be upon the person and work of the Savior, Jesus Christ, culminating with the resurrection at Easter. Today in Luke 10 we are confronted with a passage that I have called “Crash Course in Discipleship.” Let’s read our text for…
Luke 10:25-37
It’s a Beautiful Day for a Neighbor. Will You Be Mine? Introduction: Jesus was a master storyteller, and one of His best is the story of the Good Samaritan. It’s an interesting thing about familiar stories, however. Sometimes they become so familiar that we assume we know more about them than we really do. Sometimes we need to take a step back and look at the story from a fresh angle. I hope we will be able to do that this morning. Please follow along in…
Luke 10:38-42
Mary and Martha: Clash of Temperaments Introduction: Let’s begin today by reading our text, just five verses from Luke 10:38-42: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care…
Luke 11:1-13
God Doesn’t Read Junk Mail: Parable of the Midnight Caller Introduction: I remember some of the strangest things about my childhood. One clear recollection has to do with my duty of taking out the trash and burning it in the fifty-gallon barrel in the back yard of our home in Webster Groves. In those days the garbage man only picked up garbage; everything else was burned. On this particular day as I was emptying a waste basket, I noticed four or five unopened letters…
Luke 11:14-36
No Switzerlands in this War Introduction: I read the story of a seminary student who submitted his sermon to his homiletics professor. The professor said his exegesis was good and his three points made sense, but he was concerned about the sermon title. “It’s one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Nobody will want to come to hear a sermon entitled: ‘The Pericopes of Jesus in Relationship to the Eschatology of the Apostle Paul.’ See if you can come up with a better sermon title by tomorrow and…
Luke 11:37-54
Pharisaism: Alive and Well in the Church Introduction: Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 11:37-54: When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did…