Seven Mile Road

You’re Invited: Great Supper…

Before you RSVP your first question might be, “What are they serving?” But the folks around the table are more interested in who’s invited.

Jesus tells us a story about the great supper in the age to come which is light on the menu details but pretty heavily focused on the invite list.

We’ll see what this story means for invites and excuses for a future great supper that awaits -one that requires a response from all of us.

Luke 14:15-24

Jesus gets invited to a meal with some Pharisees and reveals the path to honor in a way that completely contradicts the Pharisees in the room.

We (and the Pharisees at the table) think the best way to get honor is to compete for it, and use or exclude the weak for our own gain in the process. It's a zero sum game.

Jesus provides a different pathway to hono: humility and inclusion of the weak at our own expense.

July is church planting month at Seven Mile Melrose! Listen to a 9 minute update from Justin and Sara. 

Jesus points out a human tendency to silence God’s Word from moving us to repentance and faith in Jesus.

We do all sorts of things to try to stop the message and messengers from getting to us. Jerusalem had this same tendency recorded throughout the Bible.

That human tendency is countered by what we see in God’s disposition towards us. We’ll look at our tendency & God’s disposition and take stock of how we should respond.

Luke 13:31-35

After hearing that that kingdom of God was like a mustard seed, someone asked a natural question, “How big will this kingdom be?”

Rather than answering the question, Jesus explains how not to miss the kingdom and that many who expect to be in the kingdom will miss out. But he doesn’t stop there, instead promising that many from all times and places will enter the kingdom.

It’s not that few people will be saved, but that the unexpected will be.

Luke 13:22-30 

Last week, we looked at Jesus’ healing of a woman on the Sabbath. This Sunday, we will learn from Luke how Jesus explains the appropriate way to perceive what the kingdom of God looks like at work in the world. Jesus is God’s king, and where the king is, there is the kingdom at work. However, like a seed in a garden or yeast in dough, the work of Jesus requires receptive environments to grow over time. Are we going to be receptive people?

 In our suffering it can be hard to see Jesus. It's hard to be hopeful when we can't see any reason to hope. Does Jesus see our suffering? In Luke 13:10-17 we see a woman with prolonged disability encounter Jesus in all his grace, mercy, and power. Jesus sees her; Jesus turns her suffering into joy. 

Hear from the Melrose staff what to expect this summer at Seven Mile Melrose

Luke 13.1-9

When bad things happen, we often wonder why. The same thing happened in Jesus' day and the assumption was often that tragedies are the result of personal sin. This Sunday, we'll listen in as Jesus is told of a tragedy and then answers the question, "Do you think these were worse sinners?"

Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God," but he also said "Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division." 

Does Jesus contradict himself here? 

How does a message of "peace on earth" reconcile with the division that Jesus says he came to bring to earth? 

When is it appropriate for us to divide? If we divide, how are we to act? 

In this sermon we walk through Jesus' words in 12:49-53 and seek to understand how it is we are to act in a world that is often in conflict with God's mission in Christ.