Lesson 60: The Distracted Disciple (Luke 10:38-42)
Related MediaYou could probably feel the rising tension in the room. Martha, the one who had actually invited Jesus to come to her house, wanted to make everything perfect for Him while sister Mary seemed to hardly care what did and didn’t get done. It’s easy to imagine Martha darting in and out of the room Jesus and Mary are sitting in, trying each time to make eye contact with Mary so that she could at least give a quick head-jerk toward the kitchen. Was Martha the only one who knew how many important things needed to be taken care of? As Jesus then reoriented her thinking, ours likewise becomes reoriented if we are willing to apply Jesus’s words to our own hearts. Pastor Daniel shepherds his listeners through that in calling us to “relentlessly pursue fellowship with God through careful study of His Word. “ To get to that place, we first must understand that “the distracted disciple is distracted by good things.” He/she is furthermore “resentful of others.” Then, “the distracted disciple is anxious and troubled over many things,” and finally, “is drawn away from the abiding Word of God.”
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Christian Life, Fellowship
Lesson 61: The Disciples’ Prayer, Part I (Luke 11:1-4)
Related Media(Part I) There’s much more to Jesus’s “how to” of prayer than we might often give thought to. Great familiarity with the petition that begins with “Our Father who art in heaven,” might lead us to miss the weight of our Savior’s words, so it is a welcomed instruction that is gained when hearing Pastor Daniel slow down over the course of two sermons to unwrap the most popular prayer ever—The Lord’s Prayer or, just as accurately, The Disciples’ Prayer. From these messages, we are helped to see the importance of Praying to the One we call our Heavenly Father, challenged to pray for the exaltation of God’s glorious name, and confidently pray for God’s kingdom and His purposes to be established. Furthermore, the instruction is given to pray for our daily needs, to request forgiveness, and to ask God for deliverance, knowing that temptations abound. Through these messages, be encouraged in your dependence on the One who is faithful to hear and act as His people pray.
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Prayer
Lesson 62: The Disciples’ Prayer, Part II (Luke 11:1-4)
Related Media(Part II) There’s much more to Jesus’s “how to” of prayer than we might often give thought to. Great familiarity with the petition that begins with “Our Father who art in heaven,” might lead us to miss the weight of our Savior’s words, so it is a welcomed instruction that is gained when hearing Pastor Daniel slow down over the course of two sermons to unwrap the most popular prayer ever—The Lord’s Prayer or, just as accurately, The Disciples’ Prayer. From these messages, we are helped to see the importance of Praying to the One we call our Heavenly Father, challenged to pray for the exaltation of God’s glorious name, and confidently pray for God’s kingdom and His purposes to be established. Furthermore, the instruction is given to pray for our daily needs, to request forgiveness, and to ask God for deliverance, knowing that temptations abound. Through these messages, be encouraged in your dependence on the One who is faithful to hear and act as His people pray.
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Prayer
Lesson 63: Praying Shamelessly (Luke 11:5-13)
Related MediaThe importance of prayer is something that is clearly exemplified in the Scriptures. From the patriarchs to the apostles, spending time with God in this way has been a characteristic of the person of faith. After presenting His disciples with a model prayer, he then gave them a prayer-based illustration and exhortation. What we see in this story about a man waking his neighbor with a midnight request is a portrait of one who should boldly approach the throne of grace. Pastor Daniel first addresses in this message how it is that we should pray boldly, that we should do such with right motives and an understanding that we will receive only because of mercy. He then charges us to look at our generous Father as the one who is so much more amazing and kind than any earthly dad. He knows how to give gifts and only gives that which is good for His children.
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Prayer
Lesson 64: The Kingdom of God Has Come Upon You (Luke 11:14-23)
Related MediaIt is essentially impossible to have any significant knowledge of Jesus and be indifferent to Him. Who He was (is), what He stands for, and all that He said has from the beginning had a polarizing effect. Jesus, by His very nature, demands some kind of an honest response. Christ Himself attested to this by calling out those who wanted to explain Him away by saying, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.” In this message, Pastor Daniel outlines for us the options that we have when encountering Jesus. We can 1) say that Christ is not establishing the kingdom of God, or 2) acknowledge that He is indeed establishing the kingdom of God. Through considering these options while exploring the text at hand, we are left with the concluding reality that “if the kingdom of God has come upon us, the only logical option is to participate in its establishment.”
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Kingdom
Lesson 65: Deadly Moralism (Luke 11:24-28)
Related MediaThere can be such great danger in apparent goodness! Jesus made clear time and again, whether He stated it explicitly or indirectly, that He was the only Way by which people could be saved. No other set of rules, philosophies, or approaches to living will bring us into true life and out of the clutches of darkness. This is the message that Pastor Daniel drives home through a look at Luke 11:24-28. While the religion of moralism might prove effective in certain areas of life for a time, it simply leaves the door wide open for that day of testing when the flesh will once again have its victory. Moralism will ultimately bring misery, whereas the gospel will bring great blessing. He concludes through emphasizing that, while the believer in Jesus will continue to wrestle with sin, he/she, through the power of the Spirit, will strive and yearn for victory.
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Soteriology (Salvation), World Religions, Worldview
Lesson 66: The Problem with Signs (Luke 11:29-32)
Related MediaWhat’s so bad about wanting a sign from Jesus? Doesn’t it make sense to get a little authentication from someone when he’s making some pretty incredible claims? One thing we have to understand about Jesus is that He never came up short in His ministry or left things out. He has perfectly given us all that we needed. The big question for everyone who interacts with Him is, “What is it that you really want—Jesus Himself or something else?” This question is just as applicable for us today as it was for those in Jesus’s day. Pastor Daniel encourages his listeners to look at this text and be reminded that we are to pursue the person of Jesus Christ as we wrestle through uncertainties in life. He reminds us that, as we do such, 1) pursuing truth (as opposed to demanding signs) is not evil, 2) seeking signs is evil because it diminishes Christ instead of exalting Him, and 3) hearing the good news of Jesus Christ should result in worshipful repentance.
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Apologetics, Discipleship, Worldview
Lesson 67: How to Glow in the Dark (Luke 11:33-36)
Related MediaChildren in churches everywhere learn songs about having a light, being a light, and sharing their light; this passage likely gave inspiration toward those songs. Jesus used a practical illustration for the crowds that came to hear His teaching—“What do you do (and don’t do) with a lamp?” We still have the responsibility today to understand how to use the light (the truth) that Jesus delivered to His original audience. Pastor Daniel helps us further understand this lamp/light/truth illustration by breaking it down into the following instructions: 1) Find light in God’s Word. 2) Understand how truth is received. 3) Watch out for the dark. 4) Live fully in the light. These principles help us to walk in the light…or more colorfully, to glow in the dark.
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Christian Life, Evangelism
Lesson 68: Am I a Pharisee? (Luke 11:37-40)
Related Media“To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice” (Proverbs 21:3 ESV). This likely was not a favorite verse of many of the Pharisees of Jesus’s day, but, if we’re honest, many of us today might not like what it asks of us as well. In the text at hand, a Pharisee zeroed in on a rule that Jesus and his disciples did not keep (at least on this occasion): the washing of hands before a meal. Just like with anything, Jesus of course used this conversation to get to the bottom of the hearts of others. “What does it really mean to be clean?” He was asking. Pastor Daniel also asks a series of questions that help us to think through whether or not we resemble the Pharisees. 1) Do I focus on external conduct and ignore my need for God’s righteousness? 2) Do I concentrate on minutiae and neglect the “big things” of God? 4) Do I love the applause of men? 5) Do I appear to be alive but am really spiritually dead?
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Christian Life, Grace, Soteriology (Salvation)
Lesson 69: Am I a Lawyer? (Luke 11:45-54)
Related MediaWhile lawyer jokes may abound in our day, and we mean them in good fun, the accusations Jesus brought against the lawyers who opposed His ministry gave no cause for laughing. This group was apparently listening in as Christ came down firmly on the Pharisees; they knew that the same message was meant to apply to them. Voicing such a concern, however, did not lessen the blow—if anything, it fueled Jesus’s righteous indignation all the more. As we look closely at this passage, we can follow along with the questions that Pastor Daniel asks, requesting that the Lord test our hearts to see if there are ways in which we resemble the group of lawyers Jesus addressed. He asks, 1) Are my expectations for others harsh and burdensome? 2) Are my spiritual forefathers prophet-killers? 3) Do I make it more difficult for people to know God? And finally, 4) Do I refuse to listen to biblical correction?
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
Related Topics: Christian Life