In the sermon text for this Lord’s Day (Luke 22:54-62), Luke shifts the focus of the story from Jesus to Peter. The one disciple who declared his undying allegiance to Jesus and who was ready to defend Jesus with his life now cowers in fear while Jesus is interrogated and sorely abused. As Jesus foretold,…
Luke 18 contains a series of stories and events placed together to drive home the point that the self-reliance of Jesus’ opponents was misguided. Only those who come to Jesus with a sense of their own helplessness and need can enter the kingdom. The sermon text (Luke 18:18-30) records Jesus’ encounter with a man who…
In Luke 17, Jesus continued to contrast the path of those who trust him with the way of the Pharisees. The focus of Luke 17:1-4 is the Christian’s relationship to others. Specifically, we must “pay attention to ourselves” so that we do not sin against others, thus causing them to stumble, and we must quickly…
The sermon text for this Lord’s Day is Luke 15:25-32 which is the conclusion to the famed story of the “prodigal son.” This section focuses on the prodigal’s older brother. It turns out that this brother was the focal point in Jesus’ story because he represented those in Jesus’ audience that believed they, unlike the…
The sermon text for this Lord’s Day tells one of the best known and best-loved stories in the Gospels: the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). Close look at the text and its context reveals that is not just a story about son who went astray, but it is primarily about a second son…
In Galatians Paul is dealing with people who thought that the Law was the answer to all spiritual problems. Paul has been arguing against that. The answer to the works of the flesh is found in the life-giving and life-transforming ministry of the Holy Spirit. If people will walk in the Spirit and be led…
The sermon text for this Lord’s Day introduces John the Baptist’s powerful ministry and message. The key word that summaries his message is “repent.”
The apostle Paul brought the letter to a conclusion in 2 Corinthians 13:1-10. He spoke directly, warning of discipline for those who reject the truth. He called for self-examination, counseling the Corinthians to implement biblical change or face severe consequences. He desired the former outcome but stood prepared to launch the latter. From this passage…
The sermon text (2 Corinthians 12:11-21) for this Lord’s Day serves as an “epilogue” to Paul’s “fool’s speech” (chapters 11-12). He summarizes the main point of the lengthy speech just concluded (11-13), declares his devotion to them (14-16a), insists on the integrity of his ministry among them, corrects their misconception of his “defense,” and begins…
Titus brought news from Corinth to Paul. He reported that the Corinthians had responded to Paul’s admonitions. They had repented and declared their allegiance to Paul, and thus to the Lord. The key idea is that Paul’s correction brought them sorrow, but it was the right kind of sorrow, sorrow that produced repentance. And their…