Lake Highlands Church

Too often we look to the scriptures to learn the “hows”; how to do this, how to do that, how this or that came about.  But the beginning of THE STORY is about the who and the why not the how.  God is the who and WE are the why.

 

Scripture reading: Genesis 1:1-25

Too often we listen to voices that do not have our best interest in mind.  The voice we need to have our ears trained to hear is the voice of our loving creator who will always call us into fellowship and freedom.

Scripture reading: Genesis 3:1-13

This is about more than marriage; this is about the dynamics of humanity…that we need both male and female perspective, male and female gifting.  It is about community.

Scripture reading: Genesis 2:18-25

The Jewish day doesn’t begin in the morning, as we westerners tend to think; the Jewish day begins at sunset.  The mindset is, your day doesn’t begin with production; your day begins with resting.  The idea is, your identity lies in who you are (as created by God), not in what you do.

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:31-2:3

I think most of us would agree that generally, we know the things we ought to do, but putting them into practice is the hard part.  You might call it a Knowing v. Doing gap.  In order to live in the fullness of life that Jesus offers, the Kingdom Life, we need to be doers.

Scripture reading: Luke 6:39-49

We don’t like to forgive because we think it’s weak; Jesus says that it is divine.  We don’t like to forgive because we think that there will be no justice and evil will prevail; Jesus says that vengeance is God’s responsibility.  We don’t like to forgive because we think that if we do it will diminish us; Jesus says, not only will you not be diminished, but you will be refilled to overflowing.  At the end of the day, you can never know the surpassing greatness of the grace of God until you are empty.

Scripture reading: Luke 6:27-38

The things that Jesus proclaimed in the “Sermon on the Plain” sound like impossible ideals given by some out-of-touch mystic, but they are actually pragmatic truths proclaimed by a down-to-earth realist.  Jesus knew how life works, both in the Kingdom of Heaven and in the kingdom of this world.  Jesus himself embodied these truths and showed us that living them is the way to full, abundant life.

Scripture reading: Luke 6:17-26

It is one thing to believe something, it is another thing to quote scripture about what you believe, but when push comes to shove and when your life is on the line and the powers that be are against you, will you back up your words with your life?

 

Scripture reading: Luke 6:1-11

If we are going to be followers of Jesus, not just supporters; if we are going to be apprentices, and step into this amazing life that Jesus has called us to, we are going to have leave some things behind.  So we have to choose.  Will we stay with the comfort of what we know…fishing at night, cleaning our nets, doing the same things in the same ways that we’ve always done them…or will we step into the adventure of following Jesus, leaving our boats and nets behind, so that we can experience the love and joy of life with him?  See, the question is, if you don’t follow Jesus, where else are you going to go?

Scripture reading: Luke 5:1-11

In this scene we have a perfect representation of the whole ministry of Jesus—the prophecy of who he is, Jesus’ statement of fulfillment, wonder at the beauty of his life, disappoint with the fact that he doesn’t deliver the desired signs, unbelief and rejection, a call to repentance, the sending of the good news to the non-Jew, the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary, and the divine escape in the resurrection.  The “so what” is that we have to deal with the question we began this series asking: who is this man?  And who is he to me?

Scripture reading: Luke 4:14-30