Branches HB Podcast

Chris Shaddix leads this study on Jesus' parable of the shrewd manager, found in Luke 16:1-15, a teaching Jesus uses to challenge all of his followers to live generously, in a way that worships God, not money. Greed is an attachment to money, but generosity is an attachment to God that transforms hearts and teaches His children to value the greater good of others. Because of God's great generosity and grace He first extended to us, we can be generous in the way we use everything at our disposal, including money, as tools for serving others and for the sake of God's Kingdom. Is money a tool or an idol in your life?

In this message from Luke 15:1-32, Andrew Schey teaches that Jesus practiced what he preached in the way he esteemed the lowly and the social outcast. In fact, Jesus used three parables to demonstrate the depth of God’s concern for those who are lost, the focused attention of His search for them, and His compassionate and merciful love for each of His children, demonstrated in the parable of the prodigal son. Many are familiar with this story, but do you connect with it emotionally? Are you able to receive the loving embrace of God the Father, and do you understand the depth of His rejoicing at the return of one of His lost children?

In his previous teaching, Jesus told you to make every effort to enter the narrow door, and, as Andrew Schey points out, this teaching of Jesus from Luke 14:1-24 is one of many teachings found in this gospel, which provides an application for what making every effort looks like in a real-life context. At yet another meal with the Pharisees, Jesus confronts their selfish priorities, as nothing is more important than compassion for the suffering of even one person. Using a parable, Jesus teaches that everyone should let go of their self-obsession and, like God, be concerned with attending to and caring for those in humble and lowly walks of life without any expectation of a return, as all are equal in God's Kingdom. God does what He is asking for - do you? Or are you stuck in the prison of self-obsession?

By his loving grace and death on the cross, Jesus has opened a narrow door to salvation for anyone who is willing to be saved. As Andrew Barris points out in this challenging teaching from Jesus, you must be willing to make every effort to enter, through repentance and striving against sin, human weakness and the forces of darkness to enter the narrow door and take your place at the feast in the Kingdom of God. The eternal prize is offered freely to all, and, as Scripture says, you have to run the race and fight the good fight of faith.

Message by Andrew Barris

In this message, Brian Sumner teaches from Luke 13:10-21, which tells the account of how Jesus healed an oppressed and crippled woman on the Sabbath and made the religious leaders indignant because he worked on the day of rest. In a single act, Jesus dismissed legalistic religion, healed a woman physically and freed her spiritually in a demonstration of what the Kingdom of God is like as Jesus explained through parables. The Kingdom of God is at hand, and Jesus is ready to heal you, but even religious people can miss it. Do you seek first the Kingdom in your life?

In a hard teaching from Jesus in Luke 13:1-9, Jesus makes a stern call to repent or perish - a message that is offensive on picketing signs and in the church. As Andrew Schey examines in this study, this message is both a stern ultimatum and also a grace-filled opportunity, which complement one another and work together for your own good. God is doing everything possible to provide you with time and resources to turn from sin and live a full and fruitful life, but the choice to turn and repent is yours to make. Everyone must choose, over and over again, and the time is short.

- Message by Andrew Schey