There’s so much more to the Christmas story than the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, Mary and Joseph and the baby in the manger. The gospel writer, Luke, a careful historian, presents the story of the birth of Jesus as the part of the fulfillment of God’s plans and promises to send a Messiah to the people of Israel and so, it was into a particular time and place that Jesus came into the world. But before He came, someone else had to come -and his name was John and his parents had their own story.

Message

Outline

• Christmas approaching!
• Back to chapters 1 and 2
• Luke’s classic prologue/introduction
• See how Luke tells us of…

1. Ordinary people in the plan of God (v.5-10)
2. An extraordinary visit from an angel of God (v.11-17)
3. A less-than-ordinary response from a man of God (v.18-25)

A man in two worlds
Impossibilities: no problem to Him!
Faithlessness: can never nullify His!

Sometimes the things that happened to Jesus are quite surprising. In Luke 7:36-50, Luke tells us of hos he was reclining at a dinner party when a surprise guest entered and washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair and anointed them with her gift of perfume. The host of the dinner party was rightly shocked, but Jesus, ever one to ‘practise what he preached’, drew a lesson from it, that was no surprise – except to those who continue to trust in their own self-righteousness.

Message

Outline

• The sixteenth in this series
• Back into the narrative
• What is this Kingdom of His like?
• See how this interaction tells us of …

1. The intruder who shocked the party (v.36-38)
2. The guest who shocked the host (v.39-46)
3. The promise that shocked the guests (v.47-50)

Everyone reclining – no-one standing
The horizontal and the vertical
Gratitude. Thankful hearts.

Collisions happen. People get hurt or die. But what happens when llife collides with death? Or, to put it more exactly, when the Lord of life collides with someone who is dead? In Luke 7:11-17, the situation at Nain is sad, but the ministry of Jesus gives hope – real hope in the face of death!

Message

Outline

• The fourteenth in this series
• From Capernaum to Nain
• Collisions…
• See how this interaction tells us that …

1. Death and sorrow were heading out of town (v.11-12)
2. Life and hope were coming into town (v.13-15)
3. Joy and amazement went all over town (v.16-17)

Jesus and funerals…
An invitation to have confidence!
An invitation to trust Him!

After Jesus had completed his long teaching intensive, Luke records that he returned to Capernaum where His ministry had previously been well received. There, according to Luke 7:1-10, He was approached by the Jews on behalf of a Roman centurion – a man who had power at his fingertips, but no power to deal with disase and impending death. But this man saw that Jesus did have authority and submitted himself to One greater than he, implicitly trusting that whatever Jesus commanded would come to pass! Great faith indeed!

Message

Outline

• The thirteenth in this series
• Back in Capernaum
• The Roman centurion
• See how this interaction tells us of the ..

1. Reason why Jesus could have chosen not to help the man (v.1-3)
2. Reason why the Jews said that Jesus should help the man (v.4-6a)
3. Reasons why the response of this man is a great help (v.6b-10)

How the story ends…
The God who is too big to fail!
What Naaman discovered…

In Luke 6:43-49, Jesus is finishing his teaching intensive on how His disciples ought to live. The text is very much connected to the previous versess in which Jesus spoko of making careful and merciful judgements – especially about people – and this certainly applies in the way we are to look at others and view the reality of their profession. Words are part of it, but fruit will be the greater evidence, as will the need to be hearers and doers of His word.

Message

Outline

• The twelfth in this series
• The end of His teaching intensive
• Don’t be foolish!
• See how Jesus taught that we ought remember that …

1. Your fruit gives you away (v.43-45)
2. Your foundation may give way! (v.46-49)

Dr Smith and Dr Smith
The bottom line
Hear and do!

In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus is still teaching His disciples about their responsibility to be His people in a world that hates them. After instructing them on what constitutes ‘blessings’ and ‘woes’ for his followers, He now makes it clear that His disciples will be known by a special kind of love – one that even includes love for their enemies. What this looks like in practise and why this is necessary is also made plain!

Message

Outline

• The tenth in this series
• Something overlooked!
• The character of this ‘new Israel’…
• See how Jesus taught a kind of love and…

1. What this love looks like (v.27-31)
2. Why this love is necessary (v.32-36)

Corrie Ten Boom…
What our Father God is like!

When teaching what God wanted us to know, Jesus was never one to beat around the bush. He put it out there. Spoke the trusth as he saw it. In Luke 6:12-26, particularly 6:20-26, Jesus taught His disciples in what is known as the ‘Sermon on the Plain’ (which corresponds well with Matthew’s ‘Sermon on the Mount’ but a lot shorter). These verses teach us that Jesus and the world clearly value different things, almost the opposite of each other in many respects, and so, His disciples are called to have a whole new set of ‘upside-down’ priorities and values.

Message

Outline

• The ninth in this series
• This growing portrait of Jesus
• Luke – on the plain, Matthew – on the mount…
• See how Luke wants us to note…

1. The plain-spoken contrasts He made (v.20-26)
2. The point-blank challenges He gave (v.20-26)

‘Imagine’
The upside-down kingdom
Your greatest treasure?

When Jesus and his disciples were challenged by the Pharisees over their obvious love of food (compared to them who loved to show off their fasting) and their ‘working’ on the Sabbath day (despite the strict rules the Pharisees taught and enforced), and then leaing on the Sabbath day (despite it being a work of mercy), all recorded for us in Luke 5:33-6:11, it seems that the Pharisees escaltated their hatred for Jesus and opposition to his message to new levels. But Jesus wasn’t troubled by these accustaions. Nor was he guilty of any sin! How was that so? Listen on…

Message

Outline

• The eighth in this series
• Luke’s portrait of Jesus
• Food!
• See that Luke wants us to note that Jesus was….

1. Accused of eating when he shouldn’t! (5:33-39)
2. Accused of eating what he shouldn’t! (6:1-5)
3. Accused of healing when he shouldn’t! (6:6-11)

Lawbreakers!
Mercy for the guilty!
What would Jesus do….?

So far in Luke’s gospel, it seems that Jesus’ ministry has only just begun. We are in the early days. But even then, a pattern begins to emerge in Luke 5:12-32, where people from all walks of life come across Jesus or He meets them – and in each of the three recorded examples of the way that Jesus dealt with these differing people, one thing is constant. It is the amazing mixture of power and authority with love and compassion that sets Jesus apart from all others who ever came before Him or who have followed on since!

Message

Outline

• The seventh in this series
• People from all walks of life
• Life in 1st century Palestine
• See that Luke wants us to note ….

1. His willingness to show compassion (v.12-16)
2. His authority to forgive sins (v.17-26)
3. His capacity to embrace outcasts (v.27-32)

Creating a portrait
What did Jesus look like?
Ambassadors of Jesus….