More Than Bread

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...

Send me a Text Message! Life is made up of moments, opportunities. Have you ever had an opportunity that you missed because you didn't prepare? Here's what I know; moments are not seized in a moment.  Life's greatest moments come to those who have prepared. John the Baptized was a man in the story of God, who prepared the way for Jesus.  His life-purpose came from the Prophet Isaiah...

Send me a Text Message! As we listen to and ponder Luke 2. I think the main message is simpley, "Jesus is  the treasure of Christmas." When it comes to the continuing story of  Christmas, Jesus is written all over the pages of the book. It's so easy to focus on all the other elements. Shepherds and Wisemen and angels, oh my. Mangers and Santa and Elves, oh my. But nothing matters mo...

Send me a Text Message! The full title of this advent Christmas series is “Christmas Preparations – 24 Days with Luke.” But I’m calling it "Christmas Prep" for short. Three plus years ago, we started this podcast with a jet-tour through the New Testament; the whole new testament in 40 episodes. We covered Luke back then, but it was 5-6 chapters an episode! For our Advent series we are go...

Send me a Text Message! For our last episode on gratitude, I’m going to read a very familiar Psalm, Psalm 23. It might not even mention gratitude or thanksgiving but if you believe the Psalm is true, it will give you all kinds of things which could explode in gratitude! Psalm 23 is a description of a life that has been blessed beyond belief. That's not a bad phrase to carry around in our hear...