Luke
Faithful Presence: “Proclaiming”
Usually when we hear the word “proclaiming” we picture a preacher shouting over the heads of crowds and we think, I’ll leave that to the professionals! However, such a picture i...
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Almost Christian: “Unconditional Surrender”
Following Jesus must be the singular focus of our entire lives. It is disastrous to start out as a follower only to make other things more important. Following is essential but ...
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Good News for the Poor: “The Means for Peace
Pastor Anatoliy Byelyy from Harvest City Church (Executive Pastor) will reflect on the peace that Jesus, our Messiah, brings while reflecting on the current war in his home coun...
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Good News for the Poor: “Not So Fast”
Discipleship to Jesus is costly, it’s extreme and it’s not to be entered into lightly. Are we ready to reorganize our lives around the kingdom? Will we go the distance and face ...
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Good News for the Poor: “Kingdom First”
Can we safely reorganize our lives around the kingdom of God that is present in Jesus Christ? Don’t we need to be wise and “help ourselves?” There is a tension that has to be me...
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Good News For The Poor: “Live Like It’s the Last Day”
“Fool” is a biblical term and category. It is the title given to the person who behaves as if there were no God or like God cannot see or like God will not judge. That person is...
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Good News for the Poor: “Fatherly Gifts”
The basis for all prayer is the object being prayed to. For many “God” can be a foreign “thing” that we need to manipulate with fervency to “get what we want.” But, Jesus change...
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Good News for the Poor: “Desire Mercy”
The parable of the good Samaritan is a story about movement: a man was going down, robbers appear, a priest is also going down, then a Levite, then a Samaritan. We see movement ...
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Good News For The Poor: “Disrupted Discipleship”
It is always tempting to try to dictate the terms of our own discipleship. Of course, if we actually did this, what we would have wouldn’t be discipleship. No, true discipleship...
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Good News For The Poor: “Sent Home Filled”
Too often we make a separation between physical and spiritual hunger and fulfillment. Jesus doesn’t indulge our “either/or” dichotomy. Rather, he desires to fill all people with...
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Good News For The Poor: “Untrained Faith”
What does a faith (trusting, committed, belief that leads to action) that saves look like? Do we turn to a Mother Theresa or a Martin Luther King Jr.? Jesus and Luke turn to a p...
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Good News For The Poor: “Religiously Disturbed”
Who are the people that are automatically rejected in our thinking? In Jesus’s day these were the tax-collectors. Betrayers of their own people and collaborating with the foreig...
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Good News For The Poor: “An Unexpected Catch”
The medium is the the message. This well known axiom reminds us of the importance of how we communicate, not just what. So, it is no accident that Jesus, who has a message of go...
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Good News For The Poor: “Winning the Unpopular Vote”
God in his grace comes to the poor and the needy with salvation. But, are we prepared to view ourselves in these terms? Are we prepared to embrace The Suffering Servant of the L...
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Prodigal God: The Reason, New Life
Everything belongs to us and can be ours if we wish it. But, it cannot be held hostage, to be used as a tool to keep others out. Life from the dead has occurred, we must celebra...
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Prodigal God: The Response, Grace = Judgement
Shouldn’t sonship only be for those w h o a r e deserving? Shouldn’t it only be for those who have put in the work a n d p r o v e n t h e i r reliability? No. God’s grace is fo...
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Prodigal God: The Restoration, Shameful Grace
At the moment we are ready to face justice, we are confronted with a grace so abundant we have no words for it. If we will only turn to God a little he will carry us the rest of...
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Prodigal God: The Return, Waking up
Death is not the final word. If we long for life we can have it. If we long for God we can have him. Somehow we know — even when things are darkest—that we can come home. If you...
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Prodigal God: The Ruin, Hitting Bottom
Apart from God there is no life. This is the most fundamental truth of human life, yet we try again and again to live life apart from God. But living apart from God is death. So...
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Prodigal God: The Request: Judgement = Grace
Too often we view God as angry and punishing. When we do, all of his actions appear to be judgment. However, the truth is that God’s judgment on our sin is in fact his grace in ...
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