Luke 10:25-37

"I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us. It can be received gladly or grudgingly, in big gulps or in tiny tastes, like a deer at the salt." - Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies

1 Peter 2:9-12

When the Church tries to embody the rule of God in the forms of earthly power it may achieve that power, but it is no longer a sign of the kingdom. But when it goes the way the Master went, unmasking and challenging the powers of darkness and bearing in its own life the cost of their onslaught, then there are given to the Church signs of the kingdom, powers of healing and blessing which, to eyes of faith, are recognizable as true signs that Jesus reigns.” - Lesslie Newbigin, Gospel in a Pluralist Society

Luke 9:46-62

"To follow a crucified Messiah is to confess that those who are mighty by the standards of the world are not the ultimate insiders but are likely to be the consummate outsiders in the kingdom of God. Conversely, to be enfolded into the kingdom of the crucified Messiah is to be given the status of consummate insider, even if one was previously at the margins of society." - J. R. Daniel Kirk, Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul?

Luke 9:18-36

A capacity to be thankful in the midst of hard times requires acknowledging that we do not know the whole story, that we are living before it is complete, and that we are thankful for the presence of God and faithful persons in our lives. Gratitude is a crucial way that death and destruction do not have the final word, and cannot fully define us. - Christine Pohl, Living Into Community

Luke 9:1-20

Baptism takes us to where Jesus is. It takes us therefore into closer neighbourhood with a dark and fallen world, and it takes us into closer neighbourhood with others invited there. The baptized life is characterized by solidarity with those in need, and sharing with all others who believe. And it is characterized by a prayerfulness that courageously keeps going, even when things are difficult and unpromising and unrewarding, simply because you cannot stop the urge to pray. Something keeps coming alive in you; never mind the results. - Rowan Williams, Being Christian

Acts 2:1-21; Luke 24:44-53

The Spirit is given to begin the work of making God's future real in the present. ... Just as the resurrection of Jesus opened up the unexpected world of God's new creation, so the Spirit comes to us from that new world, the world waiting to be born, the world in which, according to the old prophets, peace and justice will flourish and the wolf and the lamb will lie down side by side. - N. T. Wright, Simply Christian

Luke 8:40-56

Luke 8:22-39

"If God were small enough to be understood, he wouldn't be big enough to be worshipped." - Evelyn Underhill

Luke 8:4-21

"Christian faith isn't a general religious awareness. Nor is it the ability to believe several unlikely propositions. It is certainly not a kind of gullibility which would put us out of touch with any genuine reality. It is the faith which hears the story of Jesus, including the announcement that he is the world's true Lord, and responds from the heart with a surge of grateful love that says: 'Yes. Jesus is Lord. He died for my sins. God raised him from the dead. This is the center of everything." - N.T. Wright, Simply Christian

Luke 7:36-8:3

The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe. - Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved