11 09 Luke 9.46-56 The disciples reveal the heart that is in us all, the heart of pride. It is at the core of every sin we commit. Pride seeks power, is paranoid, and is prejudice. For God to effectively use us, He must strip away any pride we have. To get rid of pride we need to humble ourselves under the hand of God, submit to His will instead of wanting to do our will. Ask God today to search your heart and reveal any sin that is there.
11 02 Luke 9.37-45 A desperate father comes to Jesus pleading for his son. He has some faith but asks Jesus to help with his unbelief. He wants more faith. Jesus further explains to the disciples that even with a little faith great things can be done. What are pleading with Jesus about? How much faith do we have? Faith believes in the God who is able to do the impossible.
10 26 Luke 9.28-36 The transfiguration provides a glimpse into the future as Jesus shares this experience with Three of His closest disciples. They get a sneak peak at the glorified nature of Christ as He pulls back the veil that shrouded His glory. This event has implications for us as well both for the present and for the future. The transfiguration suggests our triumph and our transformation. A change has taken place but will be completed when Christ returns. What change does the transfiguration make in your life.
10 19 Luke 9.18-27 Every day we face a myriad of decisions to make. Some are very trivial. Some have lifelong implications. One decision that is of utmost importance that has eternal ramifications has to do with the question of who Jesus is. How we answer that will determine our eternal destiny. If we come to the same conclusion Peter did, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then the next question has to do with our commitment. Jesus tells us that to follow Him, we must consider the cost.
We are challenged today to consider the work of Christ in reaching out to the boys and girls of the world through CEF.
What does it take to be the “perfect man”? Psalm 1:1-6 gives us some helpful tips. It has to do with where we walk. (There are no sermon notes for this message from Randy Chamberlain.)
09 28 Luke 9.10-17 What is the most impossible thing you have ever been asked to do? Clean your room? Explain quantum physics? Teach kindergartners? For the disciples it seems, at least from this passage, that it was to feed 5-10,000 people. Clearly a test of faith. Would they remember the things they have just experienced in their the ministry experiences they just encountered? They were given an opportunity to rest but it was interrupted with a test. Over recent weeks we have learned some important principles. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. If God gives you a task, He will give you the tools for the task. In this passage if God presents a problem, He is the provision. The disciples came up with some excuses as to why they couldn’t do the impossible. Do they sound familiar as one’s we have used? What’s God asking you to do that may seem impossible to us, but not to God. Let’s trust Him.
09 21 Luke 9.1-9 – Jesus begins a third phase of His ministry by sending out the disciples on a twofold mission. They were to heal others of diseases and demon possession and they were to proclaim the gospel. Jesus gave them His power and authority to do ministry. It is a valuable lesson for us to learn that when He gives us a task to do, He will also give us the tools to do it. They needed to learn as do we that the power and authority to do ministry is derived from and dependent on the Lord. In spite of how clear the message was, even with the authentication of their message through miracles, there were still many who had misunderstandings about Jesus.
(We apologize, there is no audio of today’s message.)
09 14 Luke 8.26-56 In this section of Scripture Luke reminds us from the ministry of Jesus that He has power over demons, power over diseases, and power over death. He has the power we need. Our response is to be one of worship, which is expressed through each of the three accounts. How do you respond to the work of Jesus around you?
09 07 Luke 8.22-25 We have had a string of recent storms leaving power outages and flooding. The disciples were headed to another ministry opportunity when a severe storm threatened to do them in. They cried out to the Lord in their storm leaving us an example to follow. The storm was a way to strengthen their faith. What storms in life are you facing that bid you to call to Jesus to deliver? He is with you in every storm. If He brings you to it, He will bring you through it.