Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Luke 19 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it   42  and said,  “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.   43  The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.   44  They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.  They will not leave one stone on another,  because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming  to you .” Jesus was now coming to the end of his journey, as he headed up toward Jerusalem.  In this chapter, he continues to show and tell the people what the kingdom of God looks like.  He goes to Zacchaeus' house to show how he came for all people.  For those that thought his kingdom was coming immediately, he told them the parable of the minas, where servants were given money while a king was gone.  The one servant who assumed the king (Jesus) was not coming back and di

Luke 18  The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector "To some who were confident of their own righteousness  and looked down on everyone else,  Jesus told this parable:   10  “Two men went up to the temple to pray,  one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.   11  The Pharisee stood by himself  and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.   12  I 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 all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” The fact that two men went up to temple to pray was a good thing.  It was their attitude toward God and themselves made all the difference in the world. F

Sin, Faith, Duty 17:3-6   “If your brother or sister [ a ]  sins against you, rebuke them;  and if they repent, forgive them.   4  Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” 5  The apostles  said to the Lord,  “Increase our faith!” 6  He 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. This is an instance where it is important to interpret a bible passage in its context within the overall teaching in a given chapter.  Most people take the verse, "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 ", and separate from Jesus' teaching on forgiveness.  Jesus is teaching the disciples to forgive their brother or sister no matter how many times they sin against them.  Jesus is using hyperbole

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager 16  Jesus told his disciples:  “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.   2  So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ In this parable Jesus compares a manager in charge of managing his master's riches to how his followers should handle the riches God has given us.  The bottom line was the manager was cheating his boss out of his money and eventually he was held accountable for it.   In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man neglected poor Lazarus who was lying at his gates covered in sores and begging him for a crumb to fall of his table.  When the rich man died he went to hell, and Lazarus went to heaven.  The rich man begged for another chance.  But his actions on earth determined his place in eternity.  The rich man was accountable for how he used his wealth.   Note this is not saying

The Parable of the Lost Sheep Luke 15  Now the tax collectors  and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.   2  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”   3  Then Jesus told them this parable:   4  “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?   5  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders   6  and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’   7  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. The three parables in chapter 15 in Luke have one thing in common. They each represent God as caring for lost people because they matter to him.  When someone repents and turns to God for forgivene

Luke 14:7-11 " When he noticed how the 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.   9  If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10  But 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 the other guests.   11  For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” In Jesus' day weddings were a gala event.  The seats of honor were carefully calculated so as not to offend anyone.  The most honored guest sat in one seat, the next most honored in the seat next to him, and so on and so on.  If someone sat i

The Narrow Door 22  Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.   23  Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”  He said to them,   24  “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Many people misunderstand this parable for many reasons.   1. The narrow door means God is stingy and narrow minded.  He makes it hard for people to get to heaven. 2. When we see the words, "Make every effort", it means we get to heaven by trying harder or doing more things for God.   3.  There are going to be relatively few people that are going to get into heaven. It is good to note that within Jewish teaching, one school said that only a few Jews will be saved, and another school thought all Jews would be saved.  So the man asks the question, "Are only a few people going to be saved."  So what does Jesus mean when he says

“ I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.   9  But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned  before the angels of God. As the crowds following Jesus began to increase, he started upping the ante in what it would mean to follow him.  He know that those who publicly confessed faith in him would soon do so at the risk of their lives.  The persecution of followers of Jesus started right after Jesus rose from the dead and grew stronger throughout the rest of the first century.  Jesus makes it clear how important it is to acknowledge him before others regardless of the cost.   It is increasingly hard to acknowledge to Jesus today in a world that is increasingly hostile to Christians.  The media makes fun of Christians and others think Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites, racists, or worse.  The easy thing would be to hide out in our "holy huddles" and be afraid to even mention t

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer 11  One day Jesus was praying  in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord,  teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2  He said to them,  “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom  come. 3  Give us each day our daily bread. 4  Forgive us our sins,      for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’” 5  Then Jesus said to them,  “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;   6  a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’   7  And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’   8  I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you a