God’s great banquet is a wonderful celebration. At that banquet the Son will be honored, every guest is unworthy to sit at the table. That unworthiness might make us uncomfortable but the wonder of this truth is that every guest is at the table at the King’s pleasure. That is mercy.

God wants his banquet table to be full. He has space for everyone, if you feel like there is not a place for you at God’s banquet table, there is, but there is also a warning, do not take for granted your invitation to God’s table.

God has great and wonderful promises for his people, he has promised to restore us from sin into salvation, from struggle into lavishness, from shame into glory, from death’s prisoner to death defeated.

Today we have a very direct story with fierce rewards and consequences. Be ready or you will be shut out. The question I have for you today is a simple one, are you ready for the return of Jesus? Its not hard to be ready. First Jesus needs to be received as your Lord and savior and then you need to follow him as his disciple.

Luke 10 deals with keeping cultural obligations. A story of two sisters, one who sits at Jesus’ feet, Mary, and the other sister who is busy trying to get everything just right for such an important visitor as Jesus. Her name is Martha.

In her efforts to do what is expected of her, she has become miserable. She even gets angry at her esteemed guest, Jesus.

She has become a prisoner to obligations and expectations. Perhaps you feel this way. Your list of must do chores and need to do activities has become a heavy weight. It drains you instead of giving you life.

We do not have to be prisoners to such burdens, choosing Jesus sets you free to experience and enjoy the best of life.

True relief, true life and true wholeness are found in Jesus alone and given from Jesus alone. What kind of relief? Relief as refreshing as ice cold water on a hot day. Relief as uplifting as laughter with a friend. Relief as unburdening as when someone joins you turning a task that seemed impossible into a new accomplishment that you can be proud of.

We can find that sort of relief in Jesus.

Will you come to Jesus to find relief for your soul?

Jesus cares about you, you specifically and you are worth the effort and battle to Jesus. Jesus desires to renew you setting you free from whatever possesses you and filling you with real life.

The Christian is called to influence those around them by living for Christ instead of for themselves, by embracing their identities as new creations and letting go of the old and by being an ambassador for God instead a judge in God’s place.

A few weeks ago we began talking about the spiritual discipline of solitude. This week I want to share one of my favorite bible stories and it involves solitude. In this story God uses solitude to reset, reorient and redeem the heart and mission of the prophet Elijah.

The practice of solitude is not about being alone but being with the Lord and enjoying his presence. God wants you to draw near him and solitude is one way we can allow this to happen