Lessons for Living (Audio)

If we think about Jesus’ torturing, crucifixion and death, it is difficult to think of ourselves as being worthy enough for Him to go through all that. Pastor Mark will be reminding us that we don’t understand our value to God. He will be helping us to comprehend that our value is not based on what we do or our winning personality – it’s based on the valuation God has given us. His desire to reestablish the relationship that through Adam we broke was so great that He would do the unthinkable. He would sacrifice His own Son in our place so that we would be able to commune with Him again.

We all think we want what’s best for our lives. The reality is, we want what we “think” is best, within our frame of reference. The idea of asking the God who created the universe for His idea of what’s best for us rarely enters our mind. We’ll see, as Pastor Mark teaches on the story we know of as the Prodigal son, that what we want for ourselves may not be the best thing for us in the long run. We’ll see the callousness of both sons in this story and the loving attitude of the father. We’ll see how this story applies to us and our attitudes towards our “father”, and there will be much to think about.

We all think we want what’s best for our lives. The reality is, we want what we “think” is best, within our frame of reference. The idea of asking the God who created the universe for His idea of what’s best for us rarely enters our mind. We’ll see, as Pastor Mark teaches on the story we know of as the Prodigal son, that what we want for ourselves may not be the best thing for us in the long run. We’ll see the callousness of both sons in this story and the loving attitude of the father. We’ll see how this story applies to us and our attitudes towards our “father”, and there will be much to think about.

For a Jewish rabbi, Jesus did things that were considered unconventional by other rabbis. His hanging around those considered ceremonially unclean, sharing meals with the downtrodden were quite controversial. But His rationale was that He desired to go to those who needed to hear the Truth and to be shown God’s love. As Pastor Mark teaches from the gospel of Luke, he will be reinforcing Jesus’ attitude. He will be sharing the importance of salvation for all people, and the fact that unless someone like us loves them enough to tell them, they’re doomed to hell.

For a Jewish rabbi, Jesus did things that were considered unconventional by other rabbis. His hanging around those considered ceremonially unclean, sharing meals with the downtrodden were quite controversial. But His rationale was that He desired to go to those who needed to hear the Truth and to be shown God’s love. As Pastor Mark teaches from the gospel of Luke, he will be reinforcing Jesus’ attitude. He will be sharing the importance of salvation for all people, and the fact that unless someone like us loves them enough to tell them, they’re doomed to hell.

Ironic, isn’t it? It seems that the so-called sinners in Jesus’ day were actually closer to God than the religious leadership? The reason, as Jesus was trying to teach, is that the sinners knew they were in need of God. The Pharisees and Sadducees didn’t think of themselves in that way. As Pastor Mark will be teaching, Jesus made it clear that everyone is a sinner in need of God’s redeeming grace. The same applies to us as well. If we want to be found by God, we first must admit that we’re lost and need to have the Shepherd bring us back home.

Ironic, isn’t it? It seems that the so-called sinners in Jesus’ day were actually closer to God than the religious leadership? The reason, as Jesus was trying to teach, is that the sinners knew they were in need of God. The Pharisees and Sadducees didn’t think of themselves in that way. As Pastor Mark will be teaching, Jesus made it clear that everyone is a sinner in need of God’s redeeming grace. The same applies to us as well. If we want to be found by God, we first must admit that we’re lost and need to have the Shepherd bring us back home.

It’s notable that in the Gospels, the church-going people shunned the “sinners”, while Jesus embraced them. He didn’t mince words with them regarding their sin, but He also didn’t dismiss their humanity. This of course led to all kinds of allegations against Him by the religious leaders. Pastor Mark will be teaching about this particular story from the book of Luke, reminding us about our need to love people like Jesus did. As we do so, while not compromising our Christian walk, God can use us to draw other people to Himself. This is why He saved us in the first place!

It’s notable that in the Gospels, the church-going people shunned the “sinners”, while Jesus embraced them. He didn’t mince words with them regarding their sin, but He also didn’t dismiss their humanity. This of course led to all kinds of allegations against Him by the religious leaders. Pastor Mark will be teaching about this particular story from the book of Luke, reminding us about our need to love people like Jesus did. As we do so, while not compromising our Christian walk, God can use us to draw other people to Himself. This is why He saved us in the first place!

Everything around us invites us to seek our own self-interest first. There’s even a magazine titled, “Self”. Me, mine, not you, yours. As followers of Christ, however, we are supposed to be patterning our lives after how Jesus lived. Pastor Mark will be teaching from the book of Luke, walking us through Jesus as He lived day by day. We will be told about things that we could keep us from obeying God more completely. He will tell us about the benefits of putting Jesus first, to following God and serving others and how our lives will be more rewarding that we thought they could be.