The Lord’s Prayer Today’s passage: Luke 11 Focus verse: “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1) When Jesus’s disciples ask him how to pray, he gives them an example. We call this “The Lord’s Prayer” (though “The Disciples’ Prayer” may be a better label). Some people call it the “Our Father” after its opening phrase. […]
Priorities Matter Today’s passage: Luke 10:38–42 Focus verse:“You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed.” (Luke 10:41–42) Jesus and his disciples travel to the village where Martha and her sister, Mary, live. Martha invites them to her home. They accept and drop by to hang out and enjoy some tasty […]
His Disciples Carried Weapons In the Bible, Dr. Luke records the scene: Jesus is eating his final meal with his followers. He is sharing some parting words when he makes a perplexing remark about buying swords. His disciples matter-of-factly reply that they have two swords. Did you catch that? Jesus’ disciples carry swords. I don’t know […]
Love Your Neighbor Today’s passage: Luke 10:1–37 Focus verse:“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27) We call one of Jesus’s more beloved teachings the parable of the good Samaritan. While […]
God’s Spirit Is in Us Although the terminology and even the timing vary between the various Christian traditions and perspectives, a generality is that first, someone decides to follow Jesus and then the Holy Spirit is given to guide and direct them. While each stream of Christian thought assigns different terms to these events and […]
See the Kingdom of God Today’s passage: Luke 9:28–62 Focus verse: “This is my Son, whom I have chosen.” (Luke 9:35) Eight days after Jesus said some of his disciples wouldn’t die until they saw the kingdom of God, we perhaps see his promise play out. Jesus takes his three main followers—Peter, John, and James—on […]
Jesus is sleeping in a boat; the disciples are crossing the lake. A major strong whips up and the disciples are overwhelmed—remember that several of them were fishermen, so it must have been a bad one to scare them. In a panic, they wake up Jesus. He says, “You have little faith; why are you […]
Who Is Jesus? Today’s passage: Luke 9:1–27 Focus verse:“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.” (Luke 9:20) Jesus asks his disciples an interesting question, “Who do people say I am?” This is an easy question that they don’t have to think about. They quickly give him […]
Discover What Scripture Says I’ve read through the Bible many times and can find no same-sex marriages in Scripture. Zero. Beyond that, I see no homosexual relationships either. Though some may try to twist the biblical narrative and take it out of context, they’re wrong to do so. They can’t theorize the existence of same […]
The Parable of the Sower Today’s passage: Luke 8:1–18 Focus verse:“The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (Luke 8:15) Luke records many of Jesus’s parables. What makes this one stand out is that Luke also shares […]