Focal Passage: Matthew 28:18-20;  II Corinthians 5:16-21 

Everyone living today who has accepted the free gift of grace and found salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ has done so through the testimony of others. None of us experienced the physical presence of Jesus as the disciples did. We didn’t see first-hand the miracles He performed. None of us heard Him speak or walked by His side.  

Everything we know and everything we believe about Jesus we learned from someone else.  That is not to say that Jesus was not in it because He most certainly was. But He was working through someone else as He spoke to our hearts.

Someone might say that they came to accept Christ just by reading the Bible and not by someone’s preaching or testimony. But even in Scripture, God used men to make His revelation known. This was just not by happenstance, but by design.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: I Peter 2:1-12 

In this study we will be discussing the church. When the word church is used, most peoples mind immediately goes to a building, a place, a structure that is inanimate made with brick and mortar.  But in Scripture, the church is a living, growing, maturing, entity.  Its body is comprised of all who believe in and follow its head the Lord Jesus Christ.  

For the Jew this was a whole new concept but still familiar to their way of thinking. You see the temple in Jerusalem had become the focal point of all their spiritual worship with the synagogues being a representation of the temple in every community. It was a tangible place, a destination, to which people go to worship God. It was a visible, materially built structure. It had no life of its own. It was considered Holy only because God inhabited it in worship.   [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Luke 24:44-53 

As Luke begins to draw his gospel account and letter to Theophilus to an end, he reiterates the fact that Jesus was the Christ by reminding his readers, and Theophilus, of Jesus’ words to His disciples.

That everything had now been fulfilled that had been promised in Scripture. That He was the long-awaited Messiah of God who fulfilled everything that was written about Him in the Law of Moses (the first five books of the Old Testament; the Torah, (God’s revelation of Himself and His instructions to His people); the Prophets (the history, major and minor prophets, and God’s interactions with His people and His restorative actions); and the Psalms (the writings).  In other words, the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Luke 23:32-49 

In our study this week we come to the most tragic and cataclysmic event in human history. 

One might say this world has seen a lot of tragedy, wars, earthquakes and natural disasters, famine, pestilence and plagues.

Some would argue that the pandemic our world experienced surely ranks among one of the most tragic events mankind has ever faced because of its global impact on humanity. But of all the tragedies faced by man, none were more significant than the one when Jesus died on the cross. 

Jesus, the Son of God, God incarnate, the creator of heaven and earth was put to death — killed by His own creation. The details of how He suffered and died are indeed tragic in and of themselves, but the reactions of those seeing it only magnified the humiliation and inhumanness. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Luke 9:18-26 

Luke’s account of Jesus’ mission and ministry varies a little from the other accounts in the Gospels. While the other Gospels follow a chronological path of events, Luke takes a slightly different approach. We see him more interested in the theology than the chronology. 

So, some of his accounts may not appear to follow in linear progression. He presents the same events with same details but not always in the same order. Luke was more focused on helping Theophilus and his readers understand who Jesus was, rather than giving them a historical perspective of what Jesus did. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Luke 6:17-23, 27-31 

As we begin to unwrap Luke 6:17-23 we have to acknowledge the similitude between this passage, which scholars refer to as, “The Sermon on the Plain”, to Matthew 5, which is referred to as, “The Sermon on the Mount”.  

There are many similarities, but there are many differences as well. One such difference is topographical references given in each. In Matthew 5:1, it says Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down. In Luke 6:17, it says that Jesus went down and stood on a level place. Whether it is one account given from two different perspectives or two different accounts all together is still being debated among expositors. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Luke 3:1-6; 4:14-21 

Luke was not born a Jew. In fact, he was born a Greek. Some have suggested he may have been a Hellenized Jew, but nonetheless still very much a Gentile before becoming a Christian in 51 A.D. He was born in the city of Antioch in Syria. 

Luke was deeply influenced by Greek culture and the search for knowledge and understanding. Thus, he was a very educated man particularly in the area of the human anatomy and became a physician by trade. Because of his education and culture, he realized the need to look closely at the details if you are to fully understand the circumstances, significance, and meaning of what was, is, and going to happen. To Luke, things had to be looked at in context if you are going to see truth.

[Read more…]

Focal Passage: Luke 17:1-10 

Evidence of a mature faith: I have often had people tell me that they do not understand a large portion of Scriptures that they have read. My response is always the same. Pray and ask God to illuminate your mind and look to wise and trusted teachers to help you in your understanding of a given passage. 

When you consider Luke 17:1-4, Jesus’ instructions are pretty simple and yet profound. It is important to recognize that He is speaking to His followers in this passage. He makes it clear that struggles and failures will come for every believer. Jesus says that there will be severe consequences for those that cause others to stumble or to sin. In verse 3 the Lord says, “Be on your guard. Rebuke a sinner and forgive sinners.” These words are not difficult to understand, but difficult to live out in our daily lives. Jesus added to that by saying that we are to forgive them without limitations. 

When we act out of faith and forgiveness our understanding of God’s forgiveness toward us is put on display. That creates a heart of mature and obedient faith before the Lord. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Luke 12:22-34 

Where is your anxiety: In my 40-plus years of ministry I have found myself asking people, “What is your greatest fear?” 

The answers have varied from person to person, but typically it is a general anxiety of not knowing their future. In these verses Jesus has gathered with His disciples and tells them in Luke 12:23, “Don’t worry about your life.” 

He is not telling them to be irresponsible or apathetic, but to live a life that is dependent on God. He is telling them that God feeds the very birds of the air every day, and that people are much more important than any other part of His creation. We should be reminded that this is a message for followers of Christ.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Luke 11:1-13 

Praying to a Holy God. I am always amazed when I hear how people approach God. We find the proper approach to God in Luke 11:2. Jesus instructs His disciples, “Whenever you pray, say, Father, your name be honored as holy.” I believe that we are absolutely God’s precious children, but I think we have often forgotten that He is our Lord. 

This scripture takes me to the prophet Isaiah experiencing the presence of God and the response of even the angels in Isaiah 6:3, “And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth.”  [Read more…]