More Than Bread

Send me a Text Message! There r moments in time --the Bible calls them kairos moments-- moments in time  that are spiritually historic. In the moment, it doesn't always seem historic, but the  moments gather, and build, and something happens. I believe globally and locally we are in one of those moments. I believe that history will record these days as a kairos moment for the Kingdom of God;...

Send me a Text Message! Luke's gospel is filled with seekers? Are you a seeker? Probably at heart we're all seekers.  We're all on a quest.  We may each give the quest a different name.  The quest for meaning, the quest for purpose, the quest for knowledge, the quest for security, the quest for success, the quest for pleasure. But  I want to suggest that the longing behind every que...

Send me a Text Message! Some sociologists suggest that we are in a season where disappointment is the primary American emotion. We expected life to be always up and to the right, and then it wasn't. And even if it is, social media reminds us every day that it's not as far up and to the right as someone elses. But what if disappointment is a good thing? What if dasappointment is a signal...

Send me a Text Message! Can I tell you something?  It's not just the birth of Jesus that draws our hearts at Christmas.  It's not just that Jesus lived and died; it's how he lived and why he died, that draws a life-weary world to celebrate Christmas.  The greatest gift ever given, the most uncommon Christmas gift ever given was not found under a tree, it was found on a tree. Jesus w...

Send me a Text Message! In Luke 22, we experience a difficult moment between Peter and Jesus. Peter was a guy who experienced as much breakthrough as anyone in the Bible, but he was also a guy who experienced failure. Broken fragments of life, crippled heart, feeling like he would never be enough, all moments that Peter experienced. Think about this. He walked on water, was in Jesus' inner ci...

Send me a Text Message! There’s something in our hearts that longs for family. Is that part of the draw of Christmas? We long to be part of a family. We long to connect and when we connect there are such amazing opportunities to thrive, to bless and be blessed. So in Luke 22, we're going to look at the beginning of a new chapter in Christmas family of Jesus. It's a meal around the table...

Send me a Text Message! A lot of Luke 21 sounds at least a bit like the book of Revelation. If you have been joining us in person or online at Calvary, you know we’ve been spending time, this Christmas season, in the book of Revelation. Our advent series theme has been “More to Come.” You know I didn’t realize till I started prepping for that series, that the birth of Christ was not a big month lo...

Send me a Text Message! Here's the deal. Jesus was born to die. The manger led to the cross and the cross was the ultimate blow-out love-burst of God. But we never would've known that without the resurrection. Before the resurrection, from our perspective the cross was nothing more than abounding despair, unmerciful judgement and victorious evil. The resurrection changed the cross from a...

Send me a Text Message! Yes, that's right. I'm sorry. I know it's supposed to be a chapter a day. 24 chapters. 24 days from December 1 to Christmas Eve. But I just couldn't leave Luke 19. So now we are a chapter off and you'll have something to listen to on Christmas Day! I couldn't leave Luke 19 without pausing on Palm Sunday. It's a Palm Sunday moment on the wa...

Send me a Text Message! After the last episode and its focus on someone who missed Christ, who you might say, missed Christmas, we can’t skip Zachaeus; the wee little man, his tree, and the celebration in his home. Zach is a guy who got it, a guy who didn’t miss Christ and you might even say, didn't miss the true meaning of Christ-mas! And through his story, we are going to ponder the love of...

Send me a Text Message! In this episode we are going to hear Jesus say something quite interesting to a rich, young leader. This leader wants to follow Jesus and so he comes to Jesus to ask what he needs to do and Jesus says, "You only lack one thing." Now before you hear what he lacks, let me just say as we prep for Christmas, wouldn't it be great if that were really true? If this...

Send me a Text Message! At the risk of sounding a bit too much like the creators of "elf on a shelf," in this episode we are going to ponder the question, "Where is Jesus this Christmas?" That's my question, "Where do we find Jesus this Christmas?" So in this episode we're going to look at three moments where people find Jesus. I'm not sure what's...

Send me a Text Message! In Luke 16, with all that we could focus on, we will end up focusing on a part of one verse that says, "The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is being proclaimed and eager multitudes are trying to get in!" I think what Jesus was saying is that the Kingdom of God is a treasure worth my life and when somebody really "gets it," with everything in their hearts th...

Send me a Text Message! Luke 15 contains three "lost and found" stories. There's a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. And with each story Jesus is telling us something deep about the Father's heart and what heaven celebrates! And in a way, he is reminding us of the "why" of Christmas. Jesus left home, so that the prodigals could come home! Jesus was born to show...

Send me a Text Message! In this episode I'm going to ask you, to ask yourself, two questions. First, do I live like I'm invited. Second, do I live like there's still room at His table? In Luke 14, Jesus describes a great banquet and you might say that Jesus is really talking about Christmas. In Jesus day, the idea of a banquet or a feast was often used as a metaphor for the coming o...

Send me a Text Message! In the midst of Luke 13, there is this moment where Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. And in part his message is, "Don't miss the significance of small seeds." This Christmas don’t miss the significance of small seeds; like a  baby born to a teenager in a manger. We like things big. I want a bigger house, a bigger car. More impact. Bigger c...

Send me a Text Message! In Luke 12, one of the things that we will hear Jesus say is, "Guard against every kind of greed." Did you know there's more than one kind of greed? I bet you didn't know that. Do you know why? It's because greed is sneaky. We know when we are struggling with lust or pornography, lying or anger. But it's rare that we recognize our greed. Greed...

Send me a Text Message! The Jesus of the gospels was simply amazing. Crying one minute, knocking tables over the next. Confronting leaders and then pouring out grace on prostitutes. Cursing hypocrites and forgiving a woman caught in adultery. Healing the sick, doing battle against Satan, and speaking stillness to the storm. His power was amazing. His teaching was amazing. His love was amazing.   B...

Send me a Text Message! Luke 11 is one of my "core" chapters. I explain that a bit in this episode, but it's an amazing chapter for Christmas Prep. At first glance, Luke contains three separate, somewhat unrelated stories. They are about going on a mission, loving our neighbors and being with Jesus. I use these three words to summarize the stories; Mission, Formation, and Union. But...

Send me a Text Message! As I've been pondering Christmas, aren’t we all looking for a mountain-top  experience this Christmas? As I ponder what I need to do to prepare for Christmas, Jesus keeps making it clear that strategically speaking, nothing matters more than His presence. In this episode, as we look at Luke 9, we'll ponder a mountain-top experience that Jesus had with his three cl...

Send me a Text Message! Way back in Luke 1, remember the angel came to Mary, the future mother of Jesus and said to her, "You are highly favored by God." Don't miss this, in this episode you will hear me say, "That same favor is for you." The favor of God was not just reserved for Mary. I mean Mary was amazing, but Mary didn't get more favor than God will give you. Ho...

Send me a Text Message! In Luke 7, John the Baptist asks a really important Christmas-Prep question. "Jesus are  you the one, or should we keep looking?" Here is what I believe. I believe that every heart-longing you have, or think you have, every ache that arises when you see something or someone that you desire; when you dream of more success, or  wake up hoping you are somehow more at...

Send me a Text Message! Right in the middle of Luke 6 is this kind of odd question that sticks out enough for me to pause and ponder. The question is, "What happens when the blind lead the blind?" So that leads me to my Christmas prep question for this episode. Do we really see people? Do we see them like God sees them? So much of Luke 6 challenges me to truly see people as God sees them...

Send me a Text Message! There is so much good stuff in Luke 5, but in this episode we are going to focus on a fishing story with this challenge, "Don't miss the boat." In church our Advent series is "More to Come" and last week, my challenge was "Don't miss Jesus, this Christmas." Same challenge in this episode but with different words. In this episode we ar...

Send me a Text Message! In Luke 4, Jesus goes from baptism to battle. He goes from the affirming voice of God to the wilderness. What we will find is that God drove Jesus into the wilderness, because He loved and had a mission for him. God had a world-changing life-giving mission for Jesus and those kinds of missions are not given to those who have never suffered. You will not change the world, yo...