Like Jesus: A Study in the Gospel of Luke
When we are with Jesus, we are transformed. Our inner world is transformed. We become more loving, less anxious, more joyful... like Jesus. And our outer world begins to be transformed. We begin to forgive, speak the truth in love, seek justice, and live for the sake of others... like Jesus. In this series, we will follow Jesus day by day, chapter by chapter through the Gospel of Luke so that we might begin to pray, listen, eat, serve, and share the love of God like Jesus.
Week 1: Bless You, Julian the Apostate!
Julian was raised Christian. He grew up going to church, was baptized, went to a Christian school and then, in his early 20s, he walked away from the faith. This is how the Roman Emperor Julian became known as Julian the Apostate. This is also how Julian has become a kind of patron saint to the millions who grew up in church, knew Christianity from the inside-out, and have walked away from the faith. Julian's story has become an important case study for those of us who live in a post-Christian world. In this message, we'll listen to Julian's story, probe the unexpected success of the early Church, and hear God's missionary plans for Abraham as we try to begin to figure out: what does it look like to reach our world for Jesus when our world is full of Julians?
Week 2: The Subtle Temptation to Make It About Me. Luke 4:1-13
To be tempted is to be human. Since Adam & Eve, temptation has been part of the human story. In Luke 4, Jesus, "the son of Adam," is getting ready to step into the mission to which God has sent Him. But first, God leads Him into the wilderness. There He must confront a series of subtle temptations, temptations that are truly tempting because they sound like truth, temptations that we all must face.
Week 3: The Danger of Growing Up With Jesus. Luke 4:14-30
In Luke 4, Jesus goes to his hometown. These are the people who should know Him the best. These are the people who grew up with Jesus. But, when He announces who He is and why God has sent Him, it doesn't go so well. That's putting it mildly. (They try to throw Him off a cliff.) Luke leaves us wondering: Why is it that those who are far from God seem to joyfully receive Jesus while those who grew up with Jesus seem to struggle to see Him for who He really is? And how might this same danger lurk among those of us who grow up with Jesus today?
Week 4: Four Marks of a Follower of Jesus. Luke 5:1-11
The invitation of Jesus is (& has always been): "Follow Me." But what exactly does it mean to follow Jesus? In this message, we'll attempt to piece together the broader Jewish context of 1st Century rabbis and disciples in order to makes sense of what it means for Rabbi Jesus to invite you and me to follow Him.
Week 5: Jesus Meets You in the Place of Your Deep Woundedness. Luke 5:12-26
Some wounds you cannot see. Luke, the physician turned Gospel writer, seems to think that all of us are sick. Maybe not physically. But all of us have something deeply broken in us. In Luke 5, he presents two stories of physical healing that expose our need for a yet deeper healing, and that is where Jesus wants to meet us. Jesus wants to meet us in the place of our deep woundedness. That's where we experience His healing power.
Week 6: The Invitation: Will You Sit With Sinners or Stand on Your Own? Luke 5:27-32
This is not a sermon. Not really. It's just a story... or, better, an invitation. You are invited to imagine what it must have been like to encounter the famous, rule-breaking, leper-healing Jesus of Nazareth. Some were furious with him. Others worshipped Him. No one could quite figure Him out. What about you?
Week 7: How You Behave Says Something About You. Luke 6
You've probably heard the quote: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." We cannot be certain Gandhi said that, but you've almost certainly felt that before. According to Luke chapter 5, Jesus came for the broken, for those who are unhealthy, and for the sinners. And that's good news. But turn the page to chapter 6 and we immediately feel the tension. Jesus calls these sinners-made-disciples to live out a radically different, whole, healing, forgiving, pure way of life. A way of life that frankly feels impossible if you've ever tried to live it. This week, we'll explore what sinners (like us) are supposed to do with this.
Week 8: Authentic Passion: Christ-like Humility.
Week 9: The Mosaic of the Great King: How Jesus Brings Beauty from Brokenness. Luke 7
Since ancient times, Christians have seen God's work of salvation as a mosaic. In isolation, our lives might look small, random, even broken. It's hard to make sense of things. But Jesus picks up broken people and broken lives and sets them into a work of God that is bigger and more beautiful than we can possibly imagine. In this message, Luke helps us see the bigger picture as Jesus encounters an outsider, a grieving widow, and a man on death row.
Week 10: Breaking the Jar. Luke 7:36-50
According to the Scriptures, the most important thing you can do with your life is love God. Period. That's it. If you only get in on one thing in this life, get in on that. But what if we don't love God that much? Love is not the kind of thing that you can just manufacture on your own. So, what do we do? In chapter 7 of his gospel, Luke unfolds this intimate, shocking, slightly scandalous story about a woman bursting into a refined dinner party. It's a story that helps us see what's going on in our own hearts so that we can get in on what's most important.
Week 11: "Where Is Your Faith?" Luke 8:22-25
Viktor Frankl, the neurologist and holocaust survivor, once said: “Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is the power to choose our response. In our response, lies both our growth and freedom.” In Luke 8:22-25 we see this space occur in the life of the disciples. We’re confronted with two questions. One is a diagnostic one, the other a directive. Tune to learn how to ‘hear’, trust, and choose our response.
