Generosity: Studies in Luke PART 4
Rev. David Bisgrove
21 October 2012
Luke 9:49-61; 10:1-2
49"Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us." 50"Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."
51As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers on ahead who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord do you want us to call down fire down from heaven to destroy them?" 55But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56and they went to another village.
57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
Life changing encounter with God means that there is no "My this...or that...", only His
Invest in God's mission and ministry.
PROMISE - v.51
--Jesus is on a very specific journey.
--Following Jesus will bring you to a new Jerusalem--a new promise of peace.
--Provides a contentment, joy, purpose and meaning to life.
--Private and public worship is the practical way to practice this.
PARTNERSHIP - v.10:1-2
--Celebrate and share the good news of God.
--Jesus and God sent us here not for ourselves but to spread His news.
PRIORITY - v.57-62
--Primary idea and priority should be to follow Jesus.
--Let the spiritual dead bury their own.
--Stop looking to jobs, money, love that you think are more significant than Jesus.
--Our souls are too great to be satisfied by things other than God.
PASSION
--Knowing the passion of Jesus is different than the way Elijah used to do it.
--No need to bring fire down on enemies.
--The fire of God's wrath falls on Jesus.
--When we see non-believers, we should weep and feel compassionate, not self-righteousness.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Hospitality and God's Grace
Generosity: Studies in Luke PART 3
Rev. Leo Schuster
14 October 2012
Luke 14: 7-24
7When he noticed how guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kindgom of God."
16Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
18But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' 19"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' 20"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
21"The servant came back and reported this to his master, Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
22"'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 23"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"
Hospitality means to open up to strangers
Become conduits of God's hospitality.
CONNECTION
--Welcome strangers as your own family.
--Invite those who can't pay you back.
--Open ourselves up to love and listen to people.
--Invite people into our physical and spiritual homes.
DISTRACTIONS
--What's my excuse for not being hospitable. v.18-20
--We are all spiritually poor.
RECEPTION
--You first have to receive Jesus's hospitality.
--Let people see a bit of heaven in us.
Rev. Leo Schuster
14 October 2012
Luke 14: 7-24
7When he noticed how guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kindgom of God."
16Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
18But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' 19"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' 20"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
21"The servant came back and reported this to his master, Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
22"'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 23"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"
Hospitality means to open up to strangers
Become conduits of God's hospitality.
CONNECTION
--Welcome strangers as your own family.
--Invite those who can't pay you back.
--Open ourselves up to love and listen to people.
--Invite people into our physical and spiritual homes.
DISTRACTIONS
--What's my excuse for not being hospitable. v.18-20
--We are all spiritually poor.
RECEPTION
--You first have to receive Jesus's hospitality.
--Let people see a bit of heaven in us.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Generosity and Relationships
Generosity: Studies in Luke PART 2
7 October 2012
Dr. Timothy Keller
Luke 17: 3-10
3So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent', forgive him."
5The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
7Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"
ENORMITY OF RELATIONAL GENEROSITY
--Forgive people no matter what.
--Pay attention to your feelings if someone sins against you. Guard against anger as it defiles you.
PRACTICE OF GENEROSITY
--Don't demonize the wrongdoer, but rather identify with them.
--Relieve others from their debt by forgiveness--Pay for it yourself.
--Accepting the debt that comes from forgiveness is painful to you.
--Reconcile out of love.
KEY TO GENEROSITY
--Stop trying to be the judge of what's right and wrong.
--Accept the enormity of what Jesus, the true judge, did for you
--Mark 11:25.
7 October 2012
Dr. Timothy Keller
Luke 17: 3-10
3So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent', forgive him."
5The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
7Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"
ENORMITY OF RELATIONAL GENEROSITY
--Forgive people no matter what.
--Pay attention to your feelings if someone sins against you. Guard against anger as it defiles you.
PRACTICE OF GENEROSITY
--Don't demonize the wrongdoer, but rather identify with them.
--Relieve others from their debt by forgiveness--Pay for it yourself.
--Accepting the debt that comes from forgiveness is painful to you.
--Reconcile out of love.
KEY TO GENEROSITY
--Stop trying to be the judge of what's right and wrong.
--Accept the enormity of what Jesus, the true judge, did for you
--Mark 11:25.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Generosity and God's Grace
Generoisty: Studies in Luke PART 1
Rev. Leo Schuster
30 September 2012
Luke 18:9-17
9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
15People were also briging babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
BARRIER TO GENEROSITY
--Comparing yourself to others and thinking you are superior because of some external generosity like giving to charity.
--Pride stops internal true generosity.
--Self consumption with oneself leves no generoisty for others and no room for God in our hearts.
SIGN OF TRUE GENEROSITY
--Humilty--like a child who comes with total dependency.
--Humilty comes from seeing ourselves accurately with all our flaws.
--When we see ourselves as sinners, we can receive Hope from God.
WAY TO TRUE GENEROSITY
--Receive God's generoisty through repentence.
--Receive grace as a gift--like a child would.
--Receiveing God's generosity to reorient ourselves.
Rev. Leo Schuster
30 September 2012
Luke 18:9-17
9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
15People were also briging babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
BARRIER TO GENEROSITY
--Comparing yourself to others and thinking you are superior because of some external generosity like giving to charity.
--Pride stops internal true generosity.
--Self consumption with oneself leves no generoisty for others and no room for God in our hearts.
SIGN OF TRUE GENEROSITY
--Humilty--like a child who comes with total dependency.
--Humilty comes from seeing ourselves accurately with all our flaws.
--When we see ourselves as sinners, we can receive Hope from God.
WAY TO TRUE GENEROSITY
--Receive God's generoisty through repentence.
--Receive grace as a gift--like a child would.
--Receiveing God's generosity to reorient ourselves.
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