Having Words With Jesus

Having Words With Jesus

Gulf Is Crossed

As we conclude this series, “Having Words With Jesus,” we find ourselves seeing the world as we know it being turned upside down. This Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) condemns the Rich Man to Hades and elevates Lazarus, the beggar who sought relief outside the gate of the Rich Man, to a place of status in Heaven in the company of Father Abraham. The kin-dom of heaven exemplifies a world turned upside down as expressed in…

Debts Are Tossed

We continue our series, “Having Words With Jesus,” with this look at Luke 16:1-13. We refer to this as the “parable of the dishonest manager.” It is truly a confusing look at Jesus’ teaching… or is it?

Finding the Lost

The theme for this morning’s worship service is found in the parables found in Luke 15:1-10.  The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.  Jesus was dealing with the noise from the naysayers who were critical of the persons with whom Jesus associated.  They weren’t the “right folk.” He tended to hang out with “those people,” the undesirables and the sinners. So he tells stories about celebrating when the lost, the disconnected, the disassociated are reunited with group.…

Counting the Cost

This morning, we begin a new lectionary based sermon series for the month of September: Having Words With Jesus. We’ll be taking a look at the hard sayings of Jesus as found in the Gospels. Our first look this morning is at Luke 14:25-33. Right from the start, this is a problematic verse as Jesus tells the crowd, “Whoever comes to me and doesn’t hate father and mother, spouse and children, and brothers and sisters—yes, even one’s own life—cannot be…