Download Lesson: 5.12.19 Class Notes – Luke 8.19-21
LOOK:
The gospel must be responded to in faith, but saving faith is more than mere intellectual assent. True faith endures. It perseveres. It puts into practice the teachings of that faith. Luke believed that we are indeed saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. This faith is accompanied by action (Jas 2:17), expresses itself through love (cf. Gal 5:6), and puts God’s word into practice (Luke 8:21).
Download Lesson: 5.5.19 Class Notes – Luke 8.16-18
LOOK:
It is a serious thing to hear and understand the Word of God, because this puts on us the obligation to share that Word with others. Everyone who receives the seed then becomes a sower, a light-bearer, and a transmitter of God’s truth (see 1 Thess 1:5–8). If we keep it to ourselves, we will lose it; but if we share it, we will receive more.
Download Lesson: 4.14.19, 4.28.19 Class Notes – Luke 8.11-15
LOOK:
Many confuse popularity with fruitfulness. When large crowds flock to a church, the preacher and the congregation think, “Look how God is blessing!” But, is He truly blessing? Jesus knew that large crowds did not equal God’s blessing unless those in the crowd were truly responding to God’s Word with saving faith. Jesus knew the selfish and fickle hearts of sinful men. He also knew the intensity of the spiritual conflict when the gospel is preached, that Satan waits to snatch the seed before it can take root in hearts. So, He spoke this parable as a warning of the danger of a superficial response to the gospel.
Download Lesson: 4.7.19 Class Notes – Luke 8.1-10
LOOK:
Whatever the current state of our hearts, we can appeal to God to grant us a new heart so that we will hold fast to Him and bear fruit with perseverance. Clearly, Jesus was not teaching some sort of fatalism, that the kinds of soils are fixed forever. By God’s grace, a person can change. Let’s read the passage.
Download Lesson: 3.24.19 Class Notes – Luke 7.40-50
LOOK:
Your love for the Lord is directly related to your estimate of how greatly you have sinned and how much he has forgiven you. It’s not how much you sin, but how deeply you feel it that matters. If you figure that you are a “little sinner,” then all you need is a “little Savior.” If you are a “moderate sinner,” then what you need is a “moderate Savior.” But if you are “big sinner,” you need a “big Savior.” And those who have a “little Savior,” will love him very little. But those who have a “big Savior” will love him greatly. Many of us who were raised in the church struggle precisely at this point. We don’t love Christ very much because we have forgotten what we were and what we would have been if Christ had not found us. When our sin seems small, our love cannot be very great.
There are hundreds of people like the Pharisee today: respectable, conventional, good people. They look down their noses at the permissive society. They curl their lip at the decay in moral standards. Like the Pharisee, they think they’re good, but they are not; they’re simply dull. They think they’re being moral, but they are not; they’re simply feeling sanctimonious.
What an important warning to those of us who value righteousness and truth. Humility, compassion, love, and righteous tolerance mark true followers. We can never forget that we are debtors to grace who, in the presence of Jesus, know we still have a long way to go.
Q: How does Jesus helps us? [We can’t do it, but there’s One who can. Because of Jesus, this is possible]