God's Truth, God's Grace - New Port Presbyterian Church

As we look at the account in Luke 7:18-35 of John the Baptist sending disciples to ask about Jesus' identity, we are reminded of God's grace for those who doubt or ask questions. We can be confident that when we go to Jesus and His Word with our questions, He will show Himself to us.

Bob Higby preached on Isaiah 52 and "The Coming of the Kingdom of Grace in the Gospel." Be encouraged by the realities of all God has done, is doing, and will do in His Kingdom of grace and glory.

As we look at Psalm 145, we can remember that since God is good to the generations, it's good for the generations to give Him praise.

Jesus is the Bread of Life, Lord over nature, the light of the world, victor over sin and Satan, and the resurrection and the life. This is what we learned about Jesus at Vacation Bible School last week as we looked closely at some of His miracles. Be encouraged to entrust yourself fully to Him.

In Luke 6:39-45 we see that our choice of teachers is important. The student, when fully trained, will be like his or her teacher. We will produce similar fruit to what our teacher produces. Be encouraged to fix your heart on Jesus, abide in Him, and avail yourself of all of His teachings, being fully trained by Him.

This sermon is focused on Jesus's command in Luke 6:37-42 to not judge others. It's here and in other passages that we can see that Jesus desires for us to not judge like the hypocritical Pharisees. We are called to recognize our own law-breaking in order to rightly confront others in a spirit of humility, and gentleness, and with the right motivation to restore.

In Luke 6:27-36 we see Christ's radical callings for His kingdom representatives. We can have great hope as we seek to

Jesus says in Luke 6:22-23 that we are blessed when we are hated on account of Him. He even says we should rejoice because our reward is great in heaven. This can be a hard word to grasp, but God's Word encourages us to open our hearts to how we can practically live out this call to rejoice when hated. We can look to Jesus's example and remember the truths of our realities as God's adopted children. In considering persecution, we can also be encouraged to consider our own witness for Christ.

In Acts 2:1-47 we learn that the day of Pentecost was a specific event in redemptive history that was Christ-focused, declaring the coronation of Jesus as King that also opened new access into the presence of God and fresh empowerment for the people of God. With all these truths and more, be encouraged to submit to, obey, worship, embrace, and love Jesus while seeking to live in the power of the Spirit.

As we continue to look at the beatitudes in Luke 6:21, 25, we are reminded that our God is greater than all the reasons for our sorrow. He will redeem all. He is the God of redemption and He works all things for good.