Text: Luke 12:13-21  

Summary: What does your life consist of? Is it as it often feels—a rush to get stuff done and accumulate things—or is it more? In Luke 12, Jesus teaches that our lives consist of much more than we often think. We can get wrapped up in earning, striving, and doing to attain earthly possessions. Yet, when we die, “whose will they be?” Jesus provides another way of living, one that shows us that our lives consist of so much more than our earthly pursuits.  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 11:1-13 

Summary: This is the passage in Luke where Jesus gives his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. In Luke the focus of this section of verses is Jesus’ instruction on the proper posture for prayer. It turns out that when we pray we aren’t the focus of the prayer, but our gracious and loving heavenly Father is! We don’t host him, but He is our gracious host; inviting us to pray to him about all our needs in this life and the life to come.

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Matthew 14:22-33 

Summary: This past week at VBS we learned that we can make waves in the world. The account of Jesus walking on water highlights how first we are rescued by Jesus and then through His work in our lives we become instruments of God to make waves in the world. Only by fixing our eyes on Jesus and having faith in Him can we make waves!  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 10:25-37 

Summary: The Good Samaritan story is one of the more famous accounts of Scripture. Often it is misinterpreted to be about how we should love our neighbors as ourselves. It is actually about how Christ is the one who perfectly fulfills the law that demands that we “love the Lord your God with all our heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” See how Jesus tells this story to get rid of our self-justification that we can fulfill this law.  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 10:1-20 

Summary: Are you nervous about God sending you as his people into the world? Well you aren’t alone. In our gospel reading today Jesus sends out the 72. When he does this he has them rely on Him to take care of all their needs. It can be tough to trust in that sometimes, but our God is faithful and he does provide. After all, He is doing the heavy lifting. We simply speak the words He has given us.  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 9:51-62 

Summary: In Luke 9:51 Jesus “sets his face to go to Jerusalem.” Now everything changes to move in that direction, including those who follow Jesus. This section of verses is often referred to as “The Cost of Discipleship.” We don’t get to invite Jesus into our lives on our own terms. He has resolved to completely save us and make us into a new creation. Sometimes that means sacrifice and suffering for His sake. What does this mean for us today?  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 8:26-39 

Summary: Jesus is powerful! As fallen human beings we have different reactions to power. It excites us but it also terrifies us. Jesus heals a man possessed by man demons and cleanses him of all that made him unclean. He is grateful to Jesus, but the people of the city who witness this are terrified and they ask Jesus to leave. What caused the different reactions to the power of Jesus?  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: John 8:48-59 

Summary: What do you do when you don’t know how to answer or explain a question? Today, we see how people respond to Jesus’ difficult words in two unhelpful ways. Jesus offers us a third faithful response and a call to believe the unbelievable.   

Pastor Jared Townley, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: John 14:23-31 

Summary: Do I love God? Why are we asking this question on Pentecost? Well it is the birth of the Church and the primary work of the church is to remain faithful to Christ or to love Christ and share His word, through the power of the Holy Spirit, with the world. Jesus says, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word…” The Holy Spirit is the key to how all this works. Happy Pentecost!  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: John 17:20-26 

Summary: Did you know that Jesus prayed for you? He did. In what we call “The High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus in John 17:20, Jesus says that he isn’t only praying for his apostles but all those who will believe because of their word. That is you and me! Jesus wanted you to hear about him and learn what He taught his disciples. Confirmation is a part of that in our church, but it isn’t ever complete. We keep learning our whole lives by listening to the words of the apostles.   

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church