Luke 12: 4-5 | The Pastor's Workshop

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Luke 13:10-17

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 13:10-17

Introduction Jesus is the deliverer of Israel (1:54–55, 69–75, 77–79) Jesus states his mission in Luke 4:16-19: to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to captives and the oppressed. The word ...

lectionary

11th Sunday after Pentecost

Author

Paul Koptak

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 13:10-17

Introduction Jesus is the deliverer of Israel (1:54–55, 69–75, 77–79) Jesus states his mission in Luke 4:16-19: to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to captives and the oppressed. The word J...

scripture guide

Luke 6:17-26, Matthew 5:1-12, Luke 4:33, Luke 16:19-31, Psalm 9:10, Psalm 12:6, Isaiah 41:17, Zephaniah 3:12, Luke 4:18, James 4:8-10, Luke 5:11, 28, Luke 14:25-33, 1 Peter 4:14, Jeremiah 17:5-10, Jeremiah 6:13

The context The beatitudes are one of the most well-known aspects of Jesus teaching. As in the more familiar account in Matthew (5:1-12), Luke presents these words as Jesus’ first public teaching; hi...

illustration

The Founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Author

Esau McCaulley

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 1:1-4, Galatians 4:4-7

The African Methodist Episcopal Church began when Richard Allen and Absalom Jones demanded an equal place in the Methodist Episcopal Church and were refused. In their preaching and teaching, jus...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Author

Jeff Volkmer

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15, John 13:10, John 14:7, John 14:13-14, John 13:31-32, John 14:19-21, John 14:16, John 14:15-18, John 3:8, John 8:46, Matthew 4:8-9, Luke 4:5-6, John 14:30, John 12:31, John 6:12, Ephesians 2:2, John 16:12, John 14:17, John 16:14, John 16:6, John 14:6

Context The Upper Room Discourse Our Gospel reading for today takes place within what has come to be known as the “Upper Room discourse,” a stretch of Scripture unique to John’s Gospel that begins ...

lectionary

Pentecost

Author

Jeff Volkmer

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15, John 15:26-27, John 16:4-15, John 13:10, John 14:7, John 14:13-14, John 13:31-32, John 14:19-21, John 14:16, John 14:15-18, John 3:8, John 8:46, Matthew 4:8-9, Luke 4:5-6, John 14:30, John 12:31, John 6:12, Ephesians 2:2, Hebrews 12:2, John 16:12, John 14:17, John 16:14, John 16:6, John 14:6

Preaching Commentary Context The Upper Room Discourse Our Gospel reading for today takes place within what has come to be known as the “Upper Room discourse,” a stretch of Scripture unique to Jo...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Luke 6:27-38

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 6:27-38, Isaiah 50:6, Lamentations 3:28-30, Psalm 37:null, Romans 5:7-8, Matthew 18:23-35, Deuteronomy 10:17-19, Leviticus 19:33-34, Ephesians 2:11-22, Galatians 3:28

The context Having addressed his disciples with the blessings and woes (6:20-26), Jesus now addresses the multitude of people (6:17, cf. 7:1). As with the blessings and woes, Luke records four impera...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Luke 2:1-20 (Guide B)

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:1-20

How do we prepare for Jesus? Where is Jesus when the waiting hurts? Where is Jesus when our needs are great? Where is Jesus when life turns upside down? The real answer to those questions is offered ...

lectionary

Christmas: Nativity of the Lord

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

As we've been progressing through Advent, we've been asking: How do we prepare for Jesus? Where is Jesus when the waiting hurts? Where is Jesus when our needs are great? Where is Jesus when li...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Author

Darren Pollock

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 2:14a, 36-41, Luke 6:46, Acts 17:3, Romans 10:12, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Timothy 2:22, Ephesians 4:5

Setting the Context: After the introductory tag from 2:14a this week’s text begins with “therefore” in 2:36 (Greek oun , which is the second word in verse 36 in the Greek text), making it especially...

lectionary

Third Sunday of Easter

Author

Darren Pollock

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 2:14a, 36-41, Luke 6:46, Acts 17:3, Romans 10:12, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Timothy 2:22, Ephesians 4:5

Preaching Commentary Setting the Context: After the introductory tag from 2:14a this week’s text begins with “therefore” in 2:36 (Greek oun , which is the second word in verse 36 in the Greek text...

lectionary

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Guide B)

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 4:35-41, Job 38:1-11, Psalm 107:, Jonah 1:, Genesis 1:, Matthew 8:23-27, Luke 8:22-25, Psalm 74:14, Psalm 104:26, Genesis 1:21

A Sopping Wet Week in the Lectionary Today’s readings are thoroughly wet. In Job, God is master of the sea, Psalm 107 concerns mariners in the storm, Paul is a little drier, but still gets shipwrecke...

lectionary

15th Sunday after Pentecost

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 16:1-13

Introduction Luke 16:1-13 isn’t an easy parable to preach on. It looks for all the world like Jesus is commending a guy who’s basically a dishonest rascal. You will sometimes see interpreters tying ...

illustration

A Jubilee Church

Author

Kent Annan

Keywords

Scripture

Leviticus 25:10-12, Isaiah 58:6-7, Acts 2:44-45, Micah 6:8, Luke 4:18-19, Matthew 25:35-40, Acts 4:32-35, Romans 12:9-21, 1 John 3:17-18, 2 Corinthians 8:1-4

From the outside Calvary Church in Holland, Michigan, looks like a typical large church that many Americans attend. The church developed the typical way: it started small and then began to grow. As th...

illustration

What is a Christian?

Author

Bill Rodenberg

Keywords

Christians

Scripture

2 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Peter 2:2, 2 Peter 3:18, Mark 5:19, Luke 14:23, Acts 1:8, Matthew 5:16, Luke 8:16, Philippians 2:15, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:4-8, Psalm 12:6-8, Psalm 91:1-2, Luke 8:39, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 5:13, 2 Corinthians 5:1, 2 Timothy 3:1-5

The word “Christian” has lost much of its meaning in our culture. It means “Christ in one.” As you communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ, this is what God expects of a Christian: He expects us to...

illustration

Praying with your Feet

Author

Ian Cron

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 84:5-7, John 4:5-26, Luke 2:41-50, 1 Kings 19:3-13, Exodus 3:1-12, Genesis 12:1-4

A pilgrimage is a way of praying with your feet. You go on a pilgrimage because you know there’s something missing inside your soul, and the only way you can find it is to go to sacred places, places ...

Quote

Author

Marc Maron

Keywords

Scripture

Job 3:11-13, Isaiah 45:7, Habakkuk 1:2-3 , Matthew 27:45-46 , Luke 22:42-44, Psalm 73:16-17

I’m a paranoid agnostic. I don’t think God exists, but I’m sure there is some sort of force out there working against me.

illustration

Al Capone's Vault

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 13:12, Luke 24:13-35, Ecclesiastes 1:2-3, John 4:4-26, Psalm 42:11, James 4:13-15, Matthew 6:19-21, John 20:1-10, Matthew 28:1-10, Luke 24:1-10

Do you remember Geraldo Rivera's most famous fiasco? In 1986 he broadcast a television special entitled The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault. In the publicity leading up to the live opening of Capon...

liturgy

God our Father We confess to you and to

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:19-20, Proverbs 15:1, Romans 12:17-21, Matthew 5:38-39, Luke 6:35-36, Matthew 18:21-35, Matthew 5:43-44, 1 Peter 3:9, Genesis 45:4-8

God our Father We confess to you and to one another That we have been quick to anger And slow to mercy We have paid back abuse with abuse Hatred with hatred And violence with violence The world does n...

liturgy

Beloved of God, go now in peace to love and serve

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 8:26-40, John 4:4-42, Luke 10:1-12, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Matthew 28:19-20, Galatians 5:13, Mark 12:30-31

Beloved of God, go now in peace to love and to serve, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

illustration

Brené Brown Struggling to Belong

Author

Brené Brown

Keywords

Scripture

Numbers 12:null, Joshua 2:null, Matthew 9:9, Mark 5:1-10, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 19:1-10, John 4:1-42, Galatians 3:28

Belonging can be such a fickle and painful process in life. As the popular researcher and writer Brené Brown describes in her book, Braving the Wilderness, she struggled to fit in after moving to New ...

Quote

Author

Jean Pierre de Caussade

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 15:21-39, John 4:4-42, 2 Kings 5:1-14, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Luke 2:1-7, John 9:1-3, 2 Corinthians 12:9

[God’s grace is] always hidden under the strangest appearances.

Quote

Author

Eugene Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 14:22-33, John 4:1-26, Genesis 37:50, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Luke 24:13-35

My job is not to solve people’s problems or make them happy, but to help them see the grace operating in their lives.

Quote

Author

Phillip Yancey

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:9, John 4:1-26, Jonah 1:4, Luke 19:1-10, Hosea 1:3, Acts 9:1-19

I have come to know a God who has a soft spot for rebels, who recruits people like the adulterer David, the whiner Jeremiah, the traitor Peter, and the human-rights abuser Saul of Tarsus. I have come ...

Quote

Author

Jonathan Swift

Keywords

Love

Scripture

Romans 12:9-10, Luke 19:1-10, John 4:1-26, Galatians 5:14, Matthew 22:37-40, 1 John 4:20-21, John 13:34-35

We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to makes us love one another.

Quote

Author

David W. Augsburger

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:2, John 4:1-26, Luke 10:38-42, Romans 12:15, Proverbs 1:5

Being heard is so close to being loved, that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Luke 12:32-40

Author

Bradley Long

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 12:32-40

Context This passage takes a number of turns that may, at first, seem disconnected from one another. Our text is part of a larger teaching discourse of Jesus in Luke’s gospel that has been causing te...

lectionary

Second Sunday of Advent

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:1-11, Lamentations 1:2, Lamentations 1:9, Lamentations 1:17, Lamentations 1:21, Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:2-3, Luke 3:4-6, John 1:23

Advent 2020: Tear Down the Heavens Comfort My People Updated & expanded for 2023 AIM commentary Ancient lens What's the historical context? Longing created by exile While crise...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Isaiah 40:1-11

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:1-11, Lamentations 1:2, Lamentations 1:9, Lamentations 1:17, Lamentations 1:21, Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:2-3, Luke 3:4-6, John 1:23, Lamentations 1:2, Isaiah 40:null, Isaiah 40:3, Mark 1:14, Isaiah 40:1-11

Ancient lens What's the historical context? Longing created by exile While crises seem innumerable in the OT, none could compare to the crisis of exile. Babylon, in 587 BC, destroys the city ...

lectionary

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 6:17-26, Matthew 5:1-12, Luke 4:33, Luke 16:19-31, Psalm 9:10, Psalm 12:6, Isaiah 41:17, Zephaniah 3:12, Luke 4:18, James 4:8-10, Luke 5:11, 28, Luke 14:25-33, 1 Peter 4:14, Jeremiah 6:13

Preaching Commentary The context The beatitudes are one of the most well-known aspects of Jesus teaching. As in the more familiar account in Matthew (5:1-12), Luke presents these words as Jesus’ fi...