Jesus valued children, and when he had the opportunity, enjoyed being around them. He even went so far as to challenge the disciples regarding their own child-likeness.

As we read in the gospels, the crux of Jesus’ mission was to call God’s people the Jews, and whoever else would listen, to accept his message of the Kingdom of God. People often misunderstood and overcomplicated what the Kingdom and Kingdom living meant. Jesus took the time on route to the cross to simplify things for them, and for us.

Big Idea: The Lord welcomes those who are child-like. Luke 18:15-17

As people, we spend a lot of time searching for things. Sadly, the article and life experience indicate, we also often reach a point when we are looking for something that we just stop searching for it, give up, and go get a replacement. Thank God there is one person who has never stopped searching for what is lost, and that man is Jesus.

In the midst of a myriad of parables that the Lord shared through this portion of Luke we find chapter 15. Chapter 15 contains a unified theological theme that is represented in 3 different stories involving a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost person.

Big Idea: The Lord is still searching for sinners. Luke 15:1-32

It can all be over in an instant. One minute you are sitting in your car at a stop light, the next, you’re sitting in front of God. We often take time for granted, not thinking about the fact that we are not guaranteed another minute here in this life. In fact, Monday marks the 5-year anniversary that things almost ended here for me. Believe me when I say time, my friends, is always short. Those words were on Jesus’ lips when he was here on earth as well. Life is short, repent or perish.

After spending a chapter warning people to notice the signs that the Messiah is here and the end is near, at the end of 12 he tells them make things right with their sins before they have to go before “the judge”. As we start chapter 13 tells how to make things right.

Big Idea: Jesus is still warning people to repent or perish. Luke 13:1-9

Growing up there was an understanding in the school yard that talking about someone’s mom was “fighting words”, as they say. No matter what a person said to or about someone else, the ultimate besmirching was to insult another person’s mother. And most of the time even today, bringing up another’s mother is ground that should be tread upon lightly. Those of you who are married know what I mean. There was a time in Scripture though that someone decided to say something about Jesus’ mother, in front of a crowd no less…

As Jesus continues to the cross, in chapter 11 we find the Christ again drawing a crowd as he casts out demons and chastises the Pharisees. In the midst of his teachings, a woman in the crowd with apparently good intentions calls out to him to offer a kind version of a “Your Mom…”

Big Idea: True favor is found in listening to and obeying the word of God. (Luke 11:27-28)

Some tasks in life require more than one person to accomplish. This is why things like task forces and special interest teams are created. In fact, when the task is particularly large, a team of many is often required to get the job done. And when it comes jobs, there is no greater mission in scope and importance than the mission of sharing the gospel of Christ with the world.

After putting his eyes toward Jerusalem in the last chapter, Jesus selects 72 other people to share in the mission of calling people to the Kingdom on route to the cross.

Big Idea: There is still a mission to be accomplished. Luke 10:1-20

When it comes to the Christian life, we can be tempted to think we have it all figured out. This kind of thinking can unwittingly become a trap for us though. We can be so sure that if we hold onto the past and the things that have always “worked” whether it be facets of church or methods of ministry, if we just do these, we will have this Christian life thing in the bag. Alternatively, we can be so sure that if we just “pursue the new” by listening to the flavor of the month growth expert or buying this new groundbreaking book or trying this new program, that only then, will we have this Christian life thing figured out. We can end up missing the point of what this Christian life thing truly is. We would not be alone in this. The disciples were famous for this kind of thing. We have something they did not though, in that we can learn from their mistakes.

Right smack in the middle of chapter 9 we find the Transfiguration account. Luke places this story in between Christ’s call to take up one’s cross and Jesus’ frustration with the Jews, yet again, missing why he was there.

Big Idea: Jesus still wants to us to look to the cross (Luke 9:28-36)

It can be easy to be terrified by a film like the exorcist. Here we are not dealing with a fictional creature that haunts our nightmares or wears a hockey mask. We are dealing with something real. We can let the reality of demons and the spirit world tempt us to overly fear the evil of these unseen forces and the world around us. At times the people in the movie seemed powerless. Sometimes we feel that way too. But we do not have to. There is one man we know who was never afraid of demons. That of course is Jesus. He was never afraid because he had power over them, just like he did storms, and disease.

When chapter 8 begins we are introduced to a few of the women who ministered with Jesus as well as the concept of parables. Luke then moves into a 3-part thematic narrative asserting Jesus’ dominance over the natural, spiritual, and physical world. Today, we will drill down into the middle part of that narrative by taking a closer look at when Jesus dedemonized a man from Gerasa.

Big Idea: Jesus still has power over everything 8:26-39

If we took the time, we could undoubtedly come up with a list of things that amaze us about Jesus: Who he is as God the Son, all the things he did and does for people, up to and including his sacrifice for us. By contrast, we might struggle if asked to make a list of the things that we think amazes Jesus about us. Would you be surprised to know that there is something about you that can amaze Jesus? As we look today at the account of Jesus healing the Centurion’s Servant, we will find out what that thing is.

After finishing a time of teaching recorded toward the end of chapter 6, Luke begins chapter 7 by placing us in the small village of Capernaum – today commonly referred to as “The Town of Jesus”. It is here he heals someone without ever even meeting them.

Big Idea: Jesus still wants to be amazed by our faith today Luke 7:1-10

There is one person who has never broken a civil law, not even the obscure ones. That man is Jesus. But, while he never broke any civil laws, that did not stop him from violating several religious policies!

Following the account of Jesus calling his first disciples, Luke gives us a thematic section with several accounts of Jesus and the disciples doing things that put them at odds with the religious establishment of the day. The last of these deals with the Sabbath.

Big Idea: Jesus practiced putting people before policy Luke 6:1-11

A group of persons working together. And whether you call it a group, a team, a conglomeration, an outfit, a collection, or a gang, it all speaks to several different things or people working together to accomplish a common task or goal. If anyone was capable of doing everything all by himself it was the God the Son, and yet he chose not to. He chose instead to enlist others to join him.

At some point not long after beginning his public ministry Jesus decided to recruit some people to work with him. He had gained some notoriety by this time and often encountered crowds of people. It was at one such time that he enlisted the aid of some local fisherman. He then used this situation to change their lives forever.

Big Idea: Jesus is still calling people go fishing with him! Luke 5:1-11