In order to understand the character of God and his dealings with you, it is critical that you avoid extremes. For instance, some emphasize God's sovereignty, power, and justice to the neglect of his mercy and compassion- others emphasizes God's mercy and compassion to the neglect of his power and justice. In this sermon, we are reminded that the power and justice of God must always be presented within the context of his mercy and compassion.

Do you possess saving faith- There is no question more important. Throughout redemptive history there has been only two forms of religion- a religion of works and a religion of faith. One is grounded in personal merit, and the other in the grace of God, alone. That which is based in personal merit is popular precisely because it appeals to the flesh while appearing very pious. This -faith- is the choice of the many. Do you possess saving faith or is yours a religion of personal merit- In this message, we examine the essential charateristics of saving faith, and expose the faith based in personal merit as no faith at all.

The great lie of the garden serpent, -You shall not surely die-- has persisted throughout the ages- it is alive and well today in modern theology. Any notion that you can and must cooperate with the grace of God in justification and reconciliation with God in Christ springs from this notion that you are not dead spiritually before regeneration. The Bible teaches clearly that we were dead in trespasses and sin, but made alive by God based upon his mercy and love alone, through grace and the gift of faith alone. This is the gospel, and anything more or less is not a saving gospel.

A brief exhoration on overcoming the many voices that would drown out the voice of our Shepherd.

Our Lord concludes his Sermon on the Plain with a promise and a sober warning. Those who hear and do as he says, will enjoy stability and safety as the storm clouds of judgment gather. But those who hear and do not do, will face ruin. Clear, simple teaching, and desperately needed in today's church.

The wonder of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the transformation of a person from a life of selfishness and sin and into a person who bears the loving, merciful character of the Father and the Son, by the regenerating work of the Spirit. But we live in an era in which it is too easy to call someone a Christian regardless of the fruit of their lives. This has done much harm to the cause of Christ and the faith of many. In this lesson, we discover the contrasts between the anti-disciple and the true disciple of Jesus Christ.

To grow in the image of Christ requires healthy Christian community. The problem today is we live in an era in which both conformity to Christ and genuine community are set aside for other agendas. Still, Jesus call us to follow him, not worldly agendas. In this lesson, we discover more of his teachings on how to live as a trinitarian community.

The disciple of Christ is called to share in the very life of Christ, to be conformed into his image, and to share also in his sufferings. Some choose to comply with the world in order to avoid persecution- this the path of woe. But to those who hear our Lord, he teaches to respond to persecution by loving their enemies. Loving one's enemies, and doing good to them, is the path to overcoming evil.

No one likes rejection. All of us would like to avoid the hatred and slander of others toward us. But Jesus states there is a form of rejection that is blessed. Indeed, He says we ought to rejoice and even leap for joy when we experience this rejection and hatred- When and how can such treatment become a blessing- This is the question we examine in this study of Luke 6-20-26.

Our Lord's Sermon on the Plain, found in Luke 6-20-49, serves as a corrective to the prevailing theology within American evangelicalism. Here Jesus turns upside right, the popular religious views regarding wealth, competition, popularity, and the place of community within the Christian life. In these first six verses, Jesus pronounces blessing and woe upon his audience. In this lesson, I examine the principles of each state and end by asking to which group you belong.