My 8/4/24 sermon at Crestview, Kingdom Living (Luke 17:20-18:14), is online. This sermon dug into Jesus’s explanation that His coming to earth meant the kingdom of God was here. Further, He envisioned a day when He would return and how His followers were to act accordingly. The text addressed issues of focus, prayer, and relationships with others. I hope it encourages you.

Someone asked me to post the quote from part of the sermon. Jesus relates the days of Noah and Sodom to eating, drinking, selling, buying, and rather normal mundane activities. And, Ralph Davis put it so well:

“[There is] Nothing wicked about these activities in themselves. But those things were the sum total of their lives. Jesus does not hammer on their wickedness but their preoccupations. They were completely absorbed in their own interests…  There is also a warning in this text for professing believers in our day, at least in the West. It is easy to assume that it’s non-Christians who are always preoccupied with their own ‘stuff’ and, as we say, are only gazing at their own navels. But there’s a word here to the modern disciple. You too are liable to be so taken up with brushing your teeth, choosing your earrings, closing real estate deals, building houses, going to work, getting through school, passing your exams, taking kids to music lessons, running Junior to Little League, going to church, the beauty shop and the grocery store, text messaging, mowing the yard, finding a new hair salon, paying the orthodontist, getting allergy shots, that it’s almost like you’re living in Sodom. It’s the frenzied pace of one thing after another that loses sight of the coming of the Son of Man.” (from his commentary on Luke in the Focus series)

My 7/28/24 sermon at Crestview, Basic Training (Luke 17:1-19), is online. As Jesus moves toward Jerusalem (and on the heels of inviting followers because heaven and hell hang in the balance), Jesus gives clear instructions for followers related to sin, faith, and worship. In other words, life will be affected after following Jesus. I hope the sermon encourages you. Have a great week.

I’ve been back at Crestview 2 weeks after my preaching and used them to preach through Luke 16.

On 7/14, I preached Luke 16:1-18, Jesus Knows Your Heart. The hope of this text is that because Jesus knows us, we can lean into Him and find acceptance and satisfaction.

On 7/21, I preached Luke 16:19-31, Adjusting Our Lives. The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus invites us to listen to Jesus and find the new life He offers. I hope these sermons encourage you.

Oh, and check out the new graphic we just got for our Luke series, designed by Seth Yutzy.

My 5/5/24 sermon at Crestview, Be Careful (Luke 11:14-54), is online. This sermon went after a full chapter of teaching that related to people who are considering Jesus, but just aren’t sure of Him for one way or another. Jesus let us know what He was after in a very clean way in Luke 11:23 – “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” You could say from this that discipleship is about being with Him and gathering with Him. This sermon had plenty of head-scratching moves as we would think about them, but Jesus knows what He’s doing. I hope the sermon encouraged you.

My 4/21/24 sermon, Easily Distracted (Luke 10:25-42), is online. This sermon dug into Jesus’s testing and the self-justifying measures of a lawyer (the Good Samaritan), as well as the story of Mary and Martha at the end of Luke 10. The three paragraphs followed the 72 returning with joy, Jesus having joy in His Father’s will, and Jesus blessing His followers for what they have understood. So, these paragraphs showed ways we can easily be distracted from Jesus and His mission. I hope it encourages you.

My 3/17/24 sermon at Crestview, Hearing Jesus (Luke 8:22-56), is online. This sermon discussed the effects of hearing Jesus and recapped the four stories at the end of Luke 8: calming the storm, freeing the demon-possessed man, healing the woman with the issue of blood, and raising Jairus’s daughter from the dead. In each of these stories, Jesus speaks for effect: to move us in faith or to move us on the mission. I hope the sermon encourages you.

My 3/10/24 sermon at Crestview Bible is online. It was entitled Hearing and Jesus (Luke 8:1-21). This passage contains the parable of the sower, which also includes part of what Jesus is up to when He teaches using parables. I tried to show connections between our hearing and Jesus Himself in this sermon. To put it simply, how we hear is tied to the relationship we have with Him. I hope the sermon encourages you.

My 2/25/24 sermon at Crestview Bible Church, Jesus Comes Near (Luke 7:1-35), is online. In the sermon, I unpacked all the different types of people to whom Jesus draws near and apply them to us.

I also discussed how Jesus is way closer than any of us would dare imagine. I hope the sermon encourages you.

It’s been a good while since I updated things here. I enjoyed family vacation time in Chicago, took some college students to the Cross Conference, and executed a Youth Retreat for our church’s middle and high school students.

I’ve continued preaching in Luke’s Gospel. Here are some sermons:

12/17/23 – Jesus Brings Saving Certainty (Simeon/Anna)

12/31/23 – Growing Strong (Luke 2:39-52)

1/14/24 – Jesus Passes the Tests (Luke 3:21-4:13)

1/21/24 – The Mission of Jesus (Luke 4:14-30)

1/28/24 – Jesus Is Unique (Luke 4:31-5:16)

2/11/24 – Questions for Jesus (Luke 5:17-6:11)

2/18/24 – Jesus Calls Followers (Luke 6:12-49)

I hope the new year finds you well. I hope you grow closer to Jesus in any sermons you engage with.