Grace Road Church: Recent Episodes
Grace Road Church
This Sunday, Kevin continues to unpack the story of Jacob and Esau. Despite the sin each character commits in this narrative, God is still faithful to bring His promises to pass in their lives and the lives of generations to come. While we may easily see how God is at work in our wins and victories over sin, we can forget that He is also working when we are at our lowest. Kevin contrasts a theology of glory with the theology of the cross, showing us that God is with us in both the progress and setbacks. He is there, at work, never distancing Himself from you.
This week in our Genesis sermon series, Kevin takes us through the story of Hagar and her encounter with God in the wilderness. Though God had promised Abram an heir, Sarai disbelieves and cruelly uses her servant Hagar to marry Abram and bring this to pass. Hagar flees to the desert and is met by the angel of the Lord, who promises to take care of her if she returns to Abram and Sarai. Hagar is the only one in Genesis to give God a name: El Roi, "God who sees." How does the omniscience and omnipresence of God minister to us? How has Christ won for us adoption through His experience of abandonment on the cross? What would it look like if we truly believed God moves toward broken people before they are all cleaned up?
This week, we continue our journey through Abram's story in Genesis 15. In this passage, Abram experiences doubt that God will fulfill His promises to him, and brings those before God. God then establishes a covenant with Abram to show His steadfast faithfulness toward him. This covenant agreement is enacted entirely by God while Abram is asleep. How does this illustrate the grace of God toward us? What can we learn from Abram's posture toward his doubt? How is Christ our covenant protector?
This week, our Pastoral Resident, Elijah Elmer, unpacks the narrative of Abram's victorious rescue of Lot in Genesis 14. Not only do we see Abram as a type of Christ's victory in rescuing sinners, but we are introduced to the righteous king-priest Melchizedek, who points to Christ as well. How does Abram's faith in God's promises teach us to rely on the Lord? How does the significance of Melchizedek carry forward throughout scripture and resonate the grace of Jesus?
This week, Kevin walks us through the beginnings of Abram's story in Genesis. Abram's story shows us much about the mercy and kindness of God. We see God bestow grace on Abram, calling him out from the land of Ur to follow the Lord in faith. God chooses Abram not because of Abram's own goodness, but because God Himself is good. How does our understanding of God's sovereignty over our salvation impact our faith? How might we grow in our trust of the Lord and His promises to us? What might our lives look like in return?
This week in our sermon series through Genesis, we see demonstrations of God's grace through the flood narrative and the characterization of Noah. Even in these early pages of Genesis, we see the doctrine of justification on display. The order of justification before sanctification sets Christianity apart from all other religions: God sets His grace and favor on us, and then He begins His work in us. How does understanding this strengthen our comprehension of the gospel? How does the ark remind us of the safety we have "in Christ?"
We continue our sermon series through Genesis this week with a look at the account of the nephilim in Genesis 6:1-8. Kevin walks us three different lenses by which to view this unique passage of scripture: the supernatural interpretation, the spiritual interpretation, and the royal interpretation. All three interpretations have distinctions, but what they share highlights mankind's continued desire to be like God and resist creaturely limits. How do we do so today? How might our culture's current interest in the supernatural highlight our human longing for the transcendent?
This Sunday, Kevin unpacks the story of Cain's descendants, including Lamech, in Genesis 4:16-26. In this description of Cain's genealogy, we see the early development of society and culture, a fruit of God's common grace toward mankind. What is common grace? How do we experience and enjoy it today? And how does an understanding of common grace impact the way we engage with other worldviews and their benefits toward society?
We take a look at the story of Cain and Abel in today's sermon in our Genesis series. The post-fall narrative now focuses on Adam and Eve's sons, Cain and Abel. Despite God's persistence grace toward Cain, Cain remains obstinate in his pride and sin. While we might see ourselves as Abel in this story, a truer measure of our state is really more like Cain. Anger, bitterness, and resentment are eager to destroy us, and we often try to foster and hide these sins in empty religious acts and efforts. Yet, Jesus' blood speaks a better word and is eager to welcome and restore us if we but turn to Him.
We continue our deep dive into the early chapters of Genesis this week with a focus on Genesis 2:4-25. In this passage, God says that it is not good that man should be alone and creates woman from Adam's side, a "helper fit for him." What does God's description of the woman as "ezer-kenegdo" mean? How does this impact the dynamics between men and women? How does God's design for marriage point to the greater reality between Christ and the church?
Our sermon series through the book of Genesis resumes this week with Genesis 1:26-31. In this passage, God creates man and woman in His own image, blessing them and calling them to be fruitful and multiply. As being created by God, we are bound to what God has created us to be. This challenges cultural narratives and ideologies that are grounded in self-determination. How does our identity as created beings in God's image impact the way we view our bodies and our agency? What does it mean that men and women are equal yet distinct? And how can we navigate these conversations with others in truth and love?
At the end of the creation account, God rests. In the giving of the Ten Commandments, He commands us to rest, too. Why is it significant that God rested? How does our obedience to the fourth commandment help us understand our creatureliness? No matter how we observe the Sabbath and keep it holy, Kevin reminds us that true rest is only found in Jesus Christ.
This week, we continue our progression through the first chapter in Genesis with a focus on Genesis 1:26-31. In this passage, Kevin unpacks what is referred to as the 'cultural mandate': God's commission for man to multiply and subdue the earth. What does healthy dominion over the earth look like? What is the value and purpose of man's work in the world? How does seeing all of our work as something commissioned by God, to be done as unto Him, change the way we engage our own jobs and vocations?
Our second Sunday in Genesis continues our journey through the creation narrative. This week, we look at God's creation of the natural world: the sun, moon, and stars, the waters and land, and all living creatures in between. It's here in these first verses of Genesis that we see God's sovereignty and power on full display: nothing is outside of His handiwork or control. How might we draw comfort and courage from the knowledge that God is in control? How might we draw near to Him, and how has He drawn near to us in His Son? Kevin walks us through these questions and more in Genesis 1:1-25.
We're stepping into the new year with the first sermon in our new series walking through the book of Genesis!
This week, we start that beginning, Genesis 1:1-2. These early chapters of Genesis are foundational for the Christian life and worldview. This is our origin story, which directly shapes our worldview and spiritual posture. Join us as we examine how Genesis begins to answer some of our most fundamental questions: (1) What is God like? (2) What were we made for? (3) What kind of world do we live in?
Continuing our walk through Holy Week in Matthew's gospel, this week we look at the two highest commandments: "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," and "love your neighbor as yourself."
While these commands are good, they don't give us the power to follow them. Further, they inspire our sinful hearts to will their opposite. It's God's grace, His one-way love toward us, that fuels our Christian life and inspires us to follow God's law out of love for Him in return. This deep awareness and satisfaction in God's grace shapes into people who show radical grace and forgiveness toward each other.
This week, we take a look at an exchange Jesus has with the Sadducees in Matthew 22:23-33. In this passage, the Sadducees pose a figurative supernatural predicament to Jesus regarding the nature of marriage in Heaven. Jesus responds with another "astonishing" answer. Why does it matter that our bodies will also be resurrected? What is the ultimate meaning and purpose of marriage? And how can our understanding of these things topple the idols of our hearts?
Our Matthew series resumes with Pastor Kevin Maloney's return from sabbatical! Kevin picks up where we left off in Matthew 22, focusing on verses 15-22. In this passage, the Pharisees seek to manipulate Jesus through flattery and political incitement. Jesus responds in an unexpected way and the Pharisees are "amazed." How should we approach spiritual and political authority? What does it mean to render what is Caeser's to Caeser and to God what is God's? How might our understanding of God's authority impact the way we engage in political discourse?
This week, Reid Ferguson, former pastor of Evangelical Church of Fairport, shared with us from the book of Haggai. Haggai is structured on the prophet's four oracles given by God to the Israelites who were returned to the Promised Land from Babylon. Reid exposits the text and exhorts us to consider how the postures of our hearts might resemble those the Israelites are convicted of in this book. How do we neglect to consider God's priorities of our lives instead of our own? Are we simply about God's business for the sake of duty or are we motivated by deeper affection for God Himself? How might we better cherish the promises of God day to day?
Throughout the Bible, the concept of marriage is used as an image of the relationship between Christ and His church. This week, we look at the parable of the wedding feat in Matthew 22:1-14, in which Jesus alludes to the wedding supper of the Lamb found in Revelation. Through this parable, Jesus demonstrates the consequences of apathy, the lavishness of God's call to us, and the importance of Jesus' imputed righteousness. What does it mean to "put on Christ?" How does our own self-righteousness get in the way? Cody Wilbanks unpacks this and more.
We will resume our Matthew series in the fall as we pause for a summer of guest speakers and standalone sermons.
As we continue through Matthew 21, the Pharisees persist in challenging Jesus' authority. Now, Jesus gives them a second parable to demonstrate himself as God's son. This parable is a type of prophetic autobiography, in which Jesus foreshadows his own death. What is Jesus communicating to the pharisees about the nature of God's kingdom? How is Jesus the better prophet? Join us as Cody unpacks these questions and more.
Cody continues our journey through Matthew 21 this week as Jesus' authority is challenged in verses 23-32. Jesus answers this question posed by the Pharisees by giving them a parable of two sons: one who first denies his father's authority but then changes his mind and one who claims fealty but denies in action. Cody charges us to ask ourselves: which son are we most like? What does true repentance look like? Will we be relentless rebels or repentant ones?
This week, Cody walks us through a familiar Bible story: Jesus overturning the tables in the temple. Often, Jesus' anger in this scene can be misunderstood as a justification of our own anger towards others. Instead, Cody shows us that Jesus' anger is not like ours, and we are likely more similar to the Pharisees and money changers in this story than Jesus himself.
In honor of Mother's Day, Kevin Maloney skips ahead this week to Matthew 20:17-28 and unpacks the request made by the mother of the sons of Zebedee. She asks Jesus if He would assign her sons important positions in the kingdom, seated at His right and left hand. Jesus uses this request to demonstrate real greatness in the kingdom of God: a path antithetical to the way we view success in this life.
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final days before Christ's death and resurrection. To commemorate, we are skipping ahead in our Matthew series to look at Matthew 20:29-21:17 and the depiction of Jesus' famous entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. What is the significance of this event in the life of Christ? What do Jesus' next actions in the passage tell us about His character and heart? How does this passage speak to our religious activity today?
This week, Cody Wilbanks unpacks Jesus' words about marriage and divorce in Matthew 19:1-12.
This week, Kevin concluded our three-part deep dive in Matthew 18, exploring what the life lived in Christian community should look like for believers. In the final verses of Matthew 18, Jesus teaches about forgiveness through the parable of the unmerciful servant. Are Christians required to forgive? How can we grow to forgive those who have wronged us?
Our deep dive into Matthew 18 continues this week with a look at verses 12-20. This passage begins anchored in Jesus' self-description as the Good Shepherd of the sheep: as He shepherds us, so should we strive to be like him in shepherding each other with concern and care. As Jesus is eager to restore and reconcile sinners, so should we be eager to restore and reconcile with one another. How does scripture say we should pursue each other in this manner? Join us as we examine what Jesus desires life in the Christian community to look like.
This week, we begin a three-week deep dive into Matthew 18, examining what life in Christian community looks like. Jesus' words in Matthew 18 are full of challenges to the defenses and expectations we bring to our interactions with others. Yet love calls us to be vulnerable, even as vulnerable as little children. How does humility drive us into the arms of Jesus? How does His relentless compassion for us fuel our intentionality toward others?
In Matthew 17:14-23, Jesus makes a surprising promise to his disciples: faith in God has real power. How do we get the kind of faith? Is it something we muster up, or is it simply an empty hand ready to receive? Kevin walks us through the three-fold dimensions of faith: knowledge, trust, and ascent.
This week, Cody Wilbanks walks us through the significance of the Transfiguration, a unique event in the life of Jesus. In Matthew 17:1-13, Jesus takes his disciples up a mountain and is transformed before them in the presence of God. What do the reactions of the disciples, especially Peter, show us about our own engagement with this event? How does the Transfiguration point us to the promise of Christ's return prophesied by the apostle John in Revelation? How are we, too, to become transformed unto the likeness of Jesus? Join us as we unpack these meanings found in Matthew 17:1-13.
This week, Kevin takes us through Jesus' call for his followers to take up their cross and follow Him in Matthew 16:21-28. Like Peter, we are all challenged by the centrality of the cross. From church movements that decentralize the gospel to our own lack of trust in it, we often look to other things to be our main power source. Jesus' death on the cross is not only sufficient for us, but it empowers us to take up our own cross each day and live in the light of His resurrection.
This week, Kevin walks us through Jesus' warning to his disciples not to eat the leaven of the Pharisees. Kevin examines the significance of the prior miracles Jesus chooses to reference in this passage, and then looks at pharisaical "leaven" we consume instead of the Gospel today. Jesus, our bread of life, is much greater than the substitutes we consume instead.
This Sunday, we are blessed to welcome theologian, professor, and ecclesiological historian Dr. Carl Trueman. Trueman walks us through the meaning and significance of the Transfiguration, an important moment in the life and ministry of Jesus. As he breaks down the various themes and historical context of the scene, Trueman shows us that the purpose of the Transfiguration is threefold:
1) Jesus is significant
2) Jesus is significant because of who He is
3) Jesus is significant because of what He is doing
In this sermon, "Great Faith," Kevin walks us through Jesus' unique interaction with the Canaanite woman. As she cries out for healing for her daughter, Jesus' responds in surprising ways, ultimately deeming her faith 'great.' What can the Canaanite woman's faith teach us? How does Jesus' compassion invite us to set aside our feelings of our unworthiness? Join us this week as we unpack Matthew 15:21-39.
In this sermon, Kevin Maloney examines Jesus' rebuke of the Pharisees for using their traditions to avoid following God's law. Jesus tells us that sin comes from the heart, not from external sources. We need God to give us a new heart. Kevin breaks down the different fruits that come from sinful hearts and what they affect, and shows how the Gospel is the cure.
In episode 2 of this season, Kevin Maloney and Andrea Burke discuss Kevin's sermon on the Magi, Christians and astrology, and whether or not Santa actually punched someone in the face at the Council of Nicaea.
In this first episode of Season 2, Andrea Burke and Kevin Maloney discuss Kevin's first sermon of Advent, extra thoughts he had while studying, why we don't pray to Mary, Jewish culture and history in the birth story of Christ, white 90s Jesus, and the origins of "Mary Did You Know?"
After a brief discussion of the NFL postseason, Kevin, Andrea, and Cody discuss envy in our continued discussion of the seven deadly sins.
Advent is about waiting...waiting for the coming of Christ. But now on this side of his birth, death, and resurrection we wait again for his Second Coming. We wait for the realization of our adoption when Christ comes again and we, along with our brothers and sisters, live with our Father for all eternity.
Just in time for the holidays, Andrea, Kevin, and Cody discuss gluttony, as part of our seven deadly sins series.
Kevin talks with Doctors Ethan and Liz Helm and Doctor Jineane Venci about vaccines, and ends with some pastoral counsel.
Kevin talks to missionary doctors Ethan and Liz Helm about medicine, science, doctors, and how we sort through all the info about what's good medicine.
This week we finish the Parable of the Lost Son by looking at the third character, the older brother. Up to this point, Jesus has taught us about the heart of the Father for the lost but now shifts his attention to teach us about the heart of Pharisees for themselves.
Luke 15 contains some of the most beautiful and well known parables of Jesus’ teaching. In a confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus teaches us about God’s heart for the lost by giving the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Parable of the Lost Coin, and the Parable of the Lost Son, also known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Cody, Andrea, and Kevin discuss Pride in our third podcast dealing with the seven deadly sins.
Kevin, Andrea, and Cody begin a series of seven episodes discussing the seven deadly sins. Today they discussed Greed after catching up a bit.
In this episode, Kevin interviews Chris Pollock, a local Christian entrepreneur who has used his business and his success to benefit others in his community. They talk business, capitalism, and how Christians can live out their faith in the marketplace.
Jesus is invited to dinner at the home of a Pharisee. Due to a confrontation regarding ceremonial hand-washing, Jesus uses the opportunity to rebuke the Pharisees and lawyers for their religious hypocrisy. This account gives us warning as well, that we might guard ourselves from slipping into pharisaical, religious hypocrisy.
In our passage this week Jesus addresses those who desired to see more signs and wonders. They had “postponed” their faith, so to speak, until their skepticism was satisfied. Jesus responds with lessons on spiritual blindness and the light of the gospel.
A major part of the Christian life is serving. We serve God and we serve others. But we must be careful to not have a focus on the work of our hands over and above the health of our hearts. At the end of Luke 10, Jesus visits Martha and Mary who offers this lesson when Martha expresses frustration in her service.
This familiar passage is the pinnacle of Christian ethical teaching. It shows us what it means to love a neighbor as ourselves. But it also does more. It shows us our need for a Savior and provides the motivation and heart change necessary for real obedience.
In this season finale of the Grace Road Show, Andrea, Cody and Kevin catch up on quarantine, discuss Andrea's chicken farm, and talk about what it will mean for the church to be a community of grace in a fractured world.
This summer, issues of murder, race, equal justice, love, charity, and reconciliation are once again in the forefront. Rather than look to worldly solutions, Christians can rely on the Gospel for the motivation for, the template for, and the guide to loving our neighbors well across lines that might divide.
Similar to the beginning of chapter nine, Jesus sends out seventy two disciples on a mission to various cities and villages to preach the good news of the kingdom. He offers them instructions and warnings for their work as His ambassadors. The disciples return with joy, and possibly a hint of pride, to which Jesus responds with some much needed perspective. We find instructions here on our similar role as Christ’s ambassadors in the world.
The Cross’s Shadow
Luke 9:51-62
This passage begins with Jesus determining to make this his final journey to Jerusalem before He is crucified. From this point on, everything in Luke’s gospel sits in the shadow of the cross and is interpreted by looking at it through the cross.
Cody, Andrea, and Kevin discuss the complexities of reopening church services. (Recorded the morning of 5/22/2020)
In the next section of Luke 9 we find the disciples arguing over greatness. Jesus gives a lesson about pride, teaching the disciples that greatness is marked by humble service and to guard themselves from battling the wrong enemy.
Cody, Andrea, and Kevin discuss conspiracy theories. The government does not want you to know this stuff. Listen before they take it down!
Luke 9:37-45
Majesty
If you remember the passage from last week, Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John up on a mountain to pray. And there, Jesus was transfigured in front of them. His face changed, he glowed sparkling white, and Moses and Elijah showed up to talk about the Exodus that Jesus would accomplish at Jerusalem.
Peter wanted to capture that glory and keep it with them, so he suggested they build three tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. But he didn’t know what he was talking about, and a voice came from heaven saying, “This is my son, hear him.” They were enveloped in a cloud, and then it stopped.
Now they head down from the mountain.
And when they come down, this is what they meet:
Luke 9:37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
Jesus, Peter, James, and John go up on the mountain. The disciples witness the transfiguration. The voice from heaven speaks, commanding disciples everywhere to hear Jesus.
Alcohol sales have spiked since the beginning of the pandemic. Andrea, Cody, and Kevin have a conversation about the Christian response to this and the place of alcohol in the life of a Christian.
The Cost of Confession
Luke 9:18-27
This morning we are going continue in Luke chapter 9. We are going to be looking at verses 18-27.
We are going to walk through the text making some observations and then make some conclusions at the end…
- Confession of Peter v. 18-20
Luke 9:18-19
18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.”
On today’s special episode, Kevin is interviewed by the crew at Forefront about art and the church.
Luke 9:1-17
Jesus and Uncertainty
We are going to Luke chapter 9 today.
One of the big burdens of this season of quarantine that we’re in is the uncertainty. We don’t know how long this will last, we don’t know what that means for school or for summer camp or work or church. We don’t know what our health will be in the future, we don’t know how our finances will hold up, we don’t know what this will mean for the economy or the world.
We don’t know if there’s a second wave coming, we don’t know if the people who make the models that predict all of this are getting their assumptions right, or if our leaders in government are responding the best way. We just want to know, and we could probably cope better if we just knew for sure. If we just heard that June 1 or September 1 or January 1 was the end of it, then we could prepare, and plan, and know what to expect.
Andrea, Cody, and Kevin have a fun conversation about Social Media and its blessings and pitfalls in the Christian life.
The Living Among the Dead
Easter, 2020
Luke 24:1-121, 36-43
We are going to Luke 24 today.
Today is a day when we gather to celebrate the fact that Jesus is risen. And each year when Christians gather, someone usually says, “He is risen” and the people reply by saying “He is risen indeed.” I’m not a very good televangelist, so I won’t ask you to say anything to your screen today. But He is risen.
Good Friday 2020
The Dreadfulness of Our Disease
I’d like to walk you through this weekend.
Tonight is Good Friday, the night Jesus went to cross. Christians historically marked this day with a fairly dark service - a service about sin, with confession, and some lament.
So the two messages tonight will be about the dreadfulness of our disease and the severity of the cure.
And this is your warning that tonight is dark. But we believe we need these times, times of self-reflection, times of lament, times of beginning to wrap our minds around the seriousness of our problem and how great our need is, and then to take a deep drink of what Jesus did for us on that first Good Friday.
Cody, Andrea, and Kevin have a light-hearted discussion about reading and the books that have influenced them the most.
Palm Sunday Patience
Luke 19:28-42
We are in Luke’s Gospel again this morning, however we are jumping ahead quite a bit. We finished Luke 8 last week but today we are going to look at Luke 19. Because today is Palm Sunday. Happy Palm Sunday! So we are going to spend some time today looking at what Palm Sunday commemorates, what is often called the “Triumphal Entry of Jesus.”
Luke 19:28-40
28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Kevin, Cody, and Andrea talk about what it means to apply good theology to the Covid pandemic and to all of life, while avoiding some of the pitfalls.
Jesus Conquers Sickness and Death
Luke 8:40-56
We are going to Luke 8.
Luke 8:40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.
Luke 8:26-39
Legion
We need our faith during these times. But we’ve said often that faith isn’t in our faith. Christian Faith isn’t just being optimistic about the future. Christian Faith isn’t just feeling like the sun is going to shine again. The Christian faith has Jesus Christ as its object.
So let’s look to Him, and see him today in Luke as the one who triumphs over the darkness and restores a person who seems irreparably broken.
Luke 8 “26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
So Jesus and his disciples sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, near the modern-day Golan Heights. It wasn't a Jewish area at the time, it was Gentile. It had Syrian and Greek occupants. Back in the days of the great kings of Israel, it was a conquered land and they brought tributes to King Solomon in Israel. They had many dealings with the Jews, and even some encounters with the God of Israel. But, by and large, they had rejected the God of Israel.
Grace Roadshow Episode 1
Kevin, Andrea, and Cody talk over the coronavirus pandemic, the panic, and where God is in all of it. 3.19.20
Faith Over Fear
Luke 8:22-25
Well, this morning, though many things are different for us, one thing is not, we are continuing in our sermon series through Luke’s Gospel, and in the providence of God our next passage is especially applicable for us today.
This is probably a much more familiar passage for most than our passage last week. Luke 8:22-25…
Luke 8:22-25
22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
Luke 8:16-21
Seeing the Light
Christians are people who have come to trust in Jesus and to hang our lives on the reliability of the word of Jesus.
We are people of the book.
The Bible has preserved for us the story of Jesus and the message of Jesus, and that story has so resonated with us and changed us that this has become an incredibly valuable book. Like a friend that gives us a valuable gift, we have learned to cherish the Bible because it has given to us Christ. This is a defining characteristic of Christians: we regularly hear and obey the bible.
So there’s little that’s more important than coming to know Christ more through His word. Becoming wise by coming to really know the Bible is an important lifelong pursuit.
The Sower
Luke 8:1-15
We are spending more than a year walking through Luke’s Gospel, trying to allow it to have the effect it was intended to have, which is in Luke 1:4 “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” This story of Jesus builds our faith and addresses our doubts.
And in today’s passage, we get something of a vaccine for one source of doubt, the deconversion of many of our friends and former Christian leaders. We see so many who seemed like they were vibrant Christians, who give up on the faith altogether and often publicly announce (in our day when everything is publicly announced) that they no longer believe.
Forgiven Much
Luke 7:36-50
In conversations with many of you lately, I get the sense that many of us are feeling that it is an increasingly challenging time to live as a faithful Christian. The worldview of our non Christian neighbors continues to move farther and farther away from a Christian worldview. We probably sense how much we’re not at home here: its tough to feel at home in a political party, at home in the schools, at home in the corporate setting, at home in the world of entertainment or social media.
We feel more than we have in our lifetimes that we are aliens and strangers and exiles here as 1 Peter 1:21 says. We feel what Hebrews says in Hebrews 13:14, that we have no abiding city here. We feel very much not at home in a world that couldn’t think more differently than Christians think.
THIS MORNING
In the next section of Luke’s gospel, Luke is going to return to a familiar theme, the theme of doubt.
If you remember from the first sermon in our Luke series, Luke gives the main reason for his writing the gospel in the opening verses of chapter
Luke 1:1-4
So, Luke wanted to put together an orderly account of the life of Jesus, his teachings and miracles, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and then with the book of Acts an account of the early days of the church. And he does all of this so that Theophilus, and by extension anyone else who reads it, will grow in their certainty about the identity of Jesus.
Luke 7:1-17
Worthy
We are going to Luke 7 today.
Luke 7:1-5 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue."
Jesus has been teaching and preaching throughout the region, and his ministry has primarily focused on a jewish audience. He spoke and healed in synagogues, he talked primarily to the jews in the big outdoor gatherings. But now he enters Capernaum, and word comes to Him that a Gentile, this centurion, has a servant that is dear to him that is dying, and he is asking Jesus to come heal his servant.
We are going to Luke 6 today, to finish up the Sermon on the Plain. It’s a sermon Jesus preached with some of the same content as the Sermon on the Mount, but with a distinct audience, distinct emphasis, and it was preached in a different place.
And it is a huge blessing of God that He allowed the words of Jesus to be recorded for us in scripture. This is one of the biggest things that feeds our faith - hearing the words of Jesus. Romans 10:17 says “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Judge with Grace
Luke 6:37-42
This morning, we are going to continue in Luke 6, in Jesus’ sermon, sometimes called the Sermon on the Plain. And in this sermon Jesus as given the Beatitudes, promising that those who are poor, hungry, sorrowful, and persecuted will be cared for and vindicated in the kingdom of God one day in the future.
Circumstances for individuals in this life will not always be improved by Christianity, and it is no failure of Christianity when they are not. Christianity doesn’t promise prosperity here and now, it promises forgiveness and a resurrection and everlasting life. The biggest promises are for when Jesus returns.