Category: Year 1

The Elder Brother The parable of the prodigal son is driving home the point Jesus has been making through chapter after chapter. God accepts those the religious reject; and in their rejection, the religious should begin to see their own pride and rejection of God’s grace. The younger son has demanded his share of the

How is Your Money Spent? The parable of the shrewd manager in Luke 16:1-9 is one of the most difficult of any of Jesus’ parables to understand. The manager of a rich estate is called to account by his wealthy master. This manager sees no other ready kind of work he can do, so he

Good use for Money ‘I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings’ Luke 16:9 Money isn’t in itself evil but the love of money certainly is (1 Timothy 6:10). Money is a good servant but terrible master. In the

In God’s Mercy To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am

Completed and Held Together Jesus looked directly at them and asked “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone?” Luke 20:17 Imagine a builders’ site in Jesus’ day. It’s full of stone. The workers are sorting out the marble and granite into different shapes

Let Your Soul Catch Up A man went on safari in an African nation, hiring some local men as guides and to carry the bags. Because he had arrived late, he was already three days behind schedule and the original safari had left without him. After the first day of running in the jungle heat,

Critical People Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is

Preserved by God Now a man from the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son … But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it

Being Loved ‘Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us’. Romans 5:3-5 No one looks for