Jesus looks at a large crowd of people following him around. And instead of rejoicing in his own fame, he challenges his followers to consider what it means to truly follow him. As Hans Bayer once said, following Jesus is like giving him a blank check. We surrender our life to his purposes. At first this seems impossibly bad. But it is the truest path to freedom.

Who will eat at the table with God? This is actually a question the Biblical story wants us to ask. And it is answered by Jesus while dining with the Pharisees and Bible scholars of his day. His answer very much surprised them. And it will also surprise you.

It's been said that Luke's gospel centers around eating. Jesus is either heading to a meal, at a meal, or leaving a meal. This week, Jesus is at a table and will give us new Spirit-empowered table manners that are meant to spill into all of life.

Jesus embraced rejection on our behalf. This was no accident of history. The cross was at the center of Jesus' work he set out to complete.

Jesus continues to describe his reign. Paradoxically entrance to his kingdom is very narrow; and yet once you are inside it is very spacious.

The way that Jesus describes his new Kingdom is surprising. What can we learn about what it means to be a citizen of his surprising Kingdom?

Sometimes those with the strongest commitment to godly living can miss the point and more tragically miss out on Jesus.

We all crave a confident definition of God. And so we listen to confident voices online, or in our life, for clear statements about God. But what if, instead, we meditated on the authoritative voice that says: "Here is your God!" in Isaiah 40:9?

The Lord says to comfort and speak tenderly to his people who are struggling. This Sunday we hear one of three voices who do just that. A voice cries out to prepare. What does it mean, day to day, to prepare for the Lord's coming?