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.

We all make excuses to avoid doing or committing to obligations. Jesus told a story about a bunch of guys who made excuses to avoid going to a party they were invited to. Pastor Mark will be using this story to teach us what God has to say about our avoiding obeying Him. The party is a metaphor for the kingdom of God, and behind the excuses are things in our lives that we use to keep from serving God. Pastor Mark will be teaching again about our need to be brutally honest about our motivations regarding not serving God and to deal with them head on.

We all make excuses to avoid doing or committing to obligations. Jesus told a story about a bunch of guys who made excuses to avoid going to a party they were invited to. Pastor Mark will be using this story to teach us what God has to say about our avoiding obeying Him. The party is a metaphor for the kingdom of God, and behind the excuses are things in our lives that we use to keep from serving God. Pastor Mark will be teaching again about our need to be brutally honest about our motivations regarding not serving God and to deal with them head on.

We often think of ourselves as being insignificant and boring, living boring and unglamorous lives. So the tendency is to think that we’re not being paid attention to. But as followers of Christ, we need to remember that we are under scrutiny by those around us who know we claim to be Christians. Pastor Mark will be teaching the need for us to live lives that are circumspect and above reproach. We need to be honest about how we live our lives and take advantage of God’s grace and forgiveness when we sin. We need to be demonstrating to the world what an honest Christ follower looks like.

We often think of ourselves as being insignificant and boring, living boring and unglamorous lives. So the tendency is to think that we’re not being paid attention to. But as followers of Christ, we need to remember that we are under scrutiny by those around us who know we claim to be Christians. Pastor Mark will be teaching the need for us to live lives that are circumspect and above reproach. We need to be honest about how we live our lives and take advantage of God’s grace and forgiveness when we sin. We need to be demonstrating to the world what an honest Christ follower looks like.

We live in a world that values and sometimes celebrates rebellion. Looking at the big picture, we are all in rebellion against God first of all and against other things at times. As Pastor Mark has shared becoming a Christ follower requires our giving up our rebellion against God. We must begin to submit and obey God. Paradoxically, it’s when we do this that we begin to experience the true freedom that results from our obedience to God. This is a challenge that Christians must continue to meet throughout the entirety of their walk with Christ so as to not regress in their relationship with Him.

We live in a world that values and sometimes celebrates rebellion. Looking at the big picture, we are all in rebellion against God first of all and against other things at times. As Pastor Mark has shared becoming a Christ follower requires our giving up our rebellion against God. We must begin to submit and obey God. Paradoxically, it’s when we do this that we begin to experience the true freedom that results from our obedience to God. This is a challenge that Christians must continue to meet throughout the entirety of their walk with Christ so as to not regress in their relationship with Him.

As Jesus got closer to the time of His crucifixion, He began to confront the religious leaders concerning Who He was. He began to more explicitly define what His kingdom and rule were and required from people. The scripture passages Pastor Mark will be teaching from will show some of this conflict. Jesus will be talking about narrow entrances and we’ll see that He states that He is the only way to Heaven. He will warn His listeners and us about being certain that we are in a real relationship with Him, not depending on our works but instead on His sacrifice and grace.

As Jesus got closer to the time of His crucifixion, He began to confront the religious leaders concerning Who He was. He began to more explicitly define what His kingdom and rule were and required from people. The scripture passages Pastor Mark will be teaching from will show some of this conflict. Jesus will be talking about narrow entrances and we’ll see that He states that He is the only way to Heaven. He will warn His listeners and us about being certain that we are in a real relationship with Him, not depending on our works but instead on His sacrifice and grace.

One of the hallmarks of Jesus’ time on earth was His attention to others and compassion for their situations. In this story we see the same thing. He was only a short time away from giving His life for the sins of mankind, which would cause Him to be out of fellowship with God the Father for the first time in eternity. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the great love and care Jesus had for this woman in particular and all of us in general. He will be explaining as well how we can miss God’s best when we get hung up on man-made rules and regulations instead of focusing on loving others.