Luke 18:1-17 When I do pre-marital counseling, I tell couples that communication is key. How well they communicate will largely determine the quality of their relationship. This is not only true for marriages but also for our relationship with God; which is why Jesus seems to be constantly teaching about prayer. Luke 18:1-17 gives us three things Jesus wants us to understand about prayer. First, w...

Luke 17:11-37 Are you aware of all the ways you experience God’s grace? Are you aware every single person is currently receiving God’s grace? The theological idea of God’s universal grace is called common grace. Whether people acknowledge God’s existence or his work in their lives, he is still at work in their lives. Part of the proper response to God’s work is to be thankful. The ten lepers model...

Luke 16:19-17:10 How big of a deal is your sin? Do you think your sinful struggles are mere inconveniences, or are they terrible acts against the God of the universe? Often, we fail to understand the gravity of sin, and also the greater power of grace. Tim Keller summarized this by saying, “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very s...

Luke 16:1-18 What do you view as the purpose of money? If you were to jot down a list of things, you might include paying for basic necessities or saving for the future. But would you include making friends? Jesus says, "Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves" (v.9a). God proclaims the purpose of money as being very different than what we might think. Jesus’ statement in Luke 16:9 is no...

Luke 15:1-32 When you picture God, what comes to mind? For many, God is like is a stern, old man in the sky. Luke 15 tells us he is nothing like a grumpy old man; instead, he is a God of rejoicing. Does this match how you envision him? Jesus often told a story when he wanted to teach theology. This time Jesus tells three stories to make one point—God is loving toward all and rejoices in those who ...

Luke 14:7-35 One of Jesus' most common settings for his parables is a feast. He loved to talk about parties. Does this fit with your view of Jesus? When you picture Jesus, do you see him as a stoic shepherd like so many paintings depict him or as someone with whom people enjoyed being in his presence? Though he was obviously a fun-loving guy, he used stories of parties to teach lessons. He wanted ...

Luke 13:22-14:6 My wife and I tell each other, “Remember the oxygen masks.” This comment is a reference to the pre-departure announcement flight attendants give. For those of us who zone out during the announcement it goes something like this: remember to affix your own oxygen mask before assisting others. It makes sense. If you lose consciousness, it’s going to make it very challenging to help so...

Luke 13:1-21 What causes difficulty and suffering in your life? Is it your personal sin? Is it the sin of others? Is it the brokenness of the world? It is often difficult to pinpoint one specific cause, but what is certainly true—and experienced by all of us— is we live in a broken world. Luke directs our attention to some Galileans who were murdered, a tower that fell and killed eighteen people, ...

Luke 12:35-59 Ready, set, go! All races begin with this instruction. This saying is especially true in sprints because how quickly someone gets out of the starting blocks can mean the difference between victory and defeat. As in a race, so we are to be ready for Christ’s return. We need to have eyes open and ears listening. Jesus tells multiple parables in Luke 12 about his return. The main takeaw...

Luke 12:8-34 One of the most common themes Jesus teaches is on money. Luke 12 challenges us to open up our wallet, savings account, and investment portfolio for God to see, a very practical thing indeed. Jesus’ overarching teaching in Luke 12 is we must not be consumed by greed, but value things of God over things of the world. He first warns the rich they must not be the kind of person “who store...

Luke 11:37-12:7 Do you find yourself more focused on having a transformed heart or simply external conformity? It is far easier to blend in to the behavior of God’s people than to gain a heart that reflects the love and grace of God. Jesus speaks to the greater value of our hearts than simply our behavior in Luke 11. Jesus addresses the most religious people of his day, the Pharisees. They were th...

Luke 11:14-36 We live in a spiritually saturated world. God is at work and so is Satan. Angels are ministering to people, and demons are seeking to wreak havoc. Are you aware of this reality? In verse thirty-four Jesus says, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light.” He says we need to see things accurately to live in right response to what...

Luke 10:38-11:13 Do you have a spiritual mentor? Someone who models and teaches you how to follow God? This is one of the key roles Jesus played for his disciples. They watched his perfect life and often asked questions about what he was doing. One of Jesus’ common practices was to go off and pray, sometimes by himself, and other times with his disciples. After one of these moments, a disciple ask...

Luke 10:13-37 We learn at a young age how to make excuses. We become adept at blaming others or rationalizing our disobedience. “It was too hard”, “I did not have enough time”, or “I forgot” are phrases spoken often at my house and probably yours as well. One area we might make excuses is how well we love people. We often want to think we are more loving than we are. In this condition, we easily j...

Luke 9:51-10:12 Jesus “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” despite knowing that path led to death. He was willing to do the Father’s will no matter what it cost or where it took him. Similarly, we are called to do God's mission in God's way. The disciples liked the idea of doing God's mission, but they had their own plans of how it should have been done. Notice verse 54 when James and John ask Jesus...

Luke 9:28-50 What does prayer look like in your life? Is it a central part of your life, something that is on the periphery, or something that is largely absent? Notice the role that prayer plays in Jesus’ ministry and that of the disciples. Jesus is consistently going off to pray and we see this in verse 28. In contrast, we have the disciples who are self-reliant. They have become so accustomed t...

Luke 9:7-27 How do you feel when your plans get interrupted? Do you get frustrated, angry, or upset? Jesus made plans to get away with his disciples in verse 10. They went to have some quiet time by themselves but end up being interrupted by a massive throng of people. The disciples responded by asking Jesus to send them away. They liked their alone time and were frustrated that it had been thwart...

Luke 8:40-9:6 Luke 8 introduces us to two people who faced circumstances that they could not change on their own. There is Jairus whose daughter was sick. He ran to Jesus so she might be healed. How excited he must have been when Jesus started to head toward his house, but then how deflated he must have been to hear that she was dead. The second impossible situation is that of the woman who had de...

Luke 8:22-39 Who does God use to do his will? Are there things in your past that are keeping you from boldly proclaiming Christ to others? As we see in Luke 8, God can use everyone as his ambassador. Through Jesus’ ministry he used a motley crew of fishermen, a tax collector, people with widely differing political philosophies, and a huge mix of people as his disciples. Today he similarly uses plu...

Luke 8:4-21 Do you ever wonder why Jesus repeats things so often? The Gospel writers do so as well. Luke 4 repeats the parable of the soils which we have already come across in both Matthew and Mark. This parable speaks to the critical nature of one’s response to Jesus. Some people will hear the word of God but it will be snatched away quickly. These people with short attention spans will hear but...