Christ Insight

Based on: Matthew 18:15-20

When you think about love and what the Bible says about love, what parts of God's Word come to mind?  For most people 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is the first thing they think of - “love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does no boast.”  After all, Paul, in very elegant and sublime prose, defines love.

Based on: Matthew 16:21-26

Here is a dollar bill.  By itself it is not going to buy very much, about a quart of gasoline or a small order of french fries.  But if you put more dollars together you can buy more things.  The problem is we all have a limited supply of these so we have to constantly decide, out of all the possible things we could do with our money, what has the greatest value.  The choice can be difficult.  When it comes time for me to buy a new car, do I go to the local Ford dealer in town and buy a minivan or do I really go in debt and get the Ferrari, two-seater convertible that will certainly out accelerate the minivan, but costs five times as much and only gets about 14 miles to the gallon? Perhaps sometimes our choices are very clear.  In our gospel today, Jesus asks us to consider, "What is your soul worth?"

Based on:  Matthew 16:13-20

Every once in awhile I see a bumper sticker where the first line reads, "No Jesus, No Peace."  The word no is spelled N O, and of course that means that if you don't have Jesus of course you don't have real peace either.  The second line of the bumper sticker says, "Know Jesus, Know Peace.”  And the word know is spelled K N O W.  If you know who Jesus is then you also have peace. 

Based on: Matthew 15:21-28

Have you ever had food so good that it you didn't want to leave a single crumb on the plate? That's how I felt about the cheesecake I would buy in the a little town called New York.  That's New York, Texas, not to that other New York on the East Coast.  Every crumb of New York cheesecake was worth eating.

Based on: Romans 9:1-5

A few years ago I had the privilege of meeting a brave little girl who had leukemia.  She was only 8 years old and yet, the amount of pain and suffering that she had endured in her short life was more than many adults that I know.  I am sure that many times her father wished that he could endure the pain for her.  If God would let him he would have gladly taken that burden off of his daughter and placed it on himself.

Based on: Isaiah 55:1-5

Are you looking forward to the pot-luck? I know it is still early in the morning, but have you started thinking about the food that's down in the kitchen? Maybe Lutherans enjoy food more than others, I don't know, but sharing a meal together is a great way to come together as a group of believers.  And a pot luck is a great way to do it.  Just think, you have all that food in front of you and you can try a little of this and little of that.  Then when you go back for seconds, you know exactly what you want.  There is usually more than enough for everyone to have their fill.

Based on: 1 Kings 3:5-12

You are walking down the street one day and you find an ancient looking oil lamp.  You pick it up and notice how dirty it is, so you rub it a little bit.  Out comes a genie to grant you your wish.  What would you wish for? Would you wish for power, fame, money, or would you wish for something to help you serve your Lord better?

Based on: Joel 3:12-16

What you think about your birthday? Is it something you look forward to every year? Or is it something you dread? Either way, for as long as you live your birthday will come every year.  It is inescapable, isn't it? The same is true of God's judgment.  It is inescapable.  Another illustration as we talk about God's judgment on the final day is the punishment you knew you would receive as a child when you did something wrong.  If your father was a disciplinarian you probably dreaded those words, “Just wait until your father gets home.”

Based on: Isaiah 55:10-11

When you were younger you probably played games and used your imagination to pretend you were something or someone else.  You imagined that things to be true that weren't necessarily true as you played house or pretended to be at war with your neighbor.  I don't know, maybe you still use your imagination, may be to pretend you won the lottery.  Today we are going to use our imagination a little bit and pretend that we can evaluate God's statement that his Word is effective.  Of course we are only God's creation, and we have no right to stand in judgment over what God says.  But for a few moments we are going to pretend and we are going ask the question, "Does God's Word work?"

Based on: Exodus 33:12-23

Have you ever played marbles?  You know,  the actual game where you put marbles in a circle and you and your opponent try to hit the marbles out of the circle.  The game certainly isn't as popular as it once was.  It seems that it used to be the case that as you collected marbles you would see marbles of many different colors and patterns.  You would pick and choose the ones you like best.  Today, if you go to Wal-Mart and buy a package of marbles every single marble in that package is identical.