Category: 2015 Sermons

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Sermon Audio: It Costs To Be A Disciple
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 14:25-35
Duration: 22:47
Size: 10.4 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
It Costs To Be A Disciple
Luke 14:25-35

If the message is too confrontational, or too judgmental, or too exclusive, scary, unbelievable, hard to understand, or too much anything else for your taste, churches everywhere are eager to adjust that message to make you more comfortable.

In contrast to the consumer-friendly counterfeit gospel of today, Jesus actually made it clear that following him would not be easy.

I. To Follow Jesus You Must Hate Your Family – Luke 14:25-26
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus…,
…and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be my disciple.”

In fact, this life-long commitment involved three separate criteria, the first of which is: to follow Jesus you must hate your family.

So, Jesus was teaching that your love for your family must pale in comparison to your love for him.

II. To Follow Jesus You Must Carry Your Cross – Luke 14:27
“And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

They would have immediately understood what Jesus meant because they were so familiar with the Roman form of execution by crucifixion.

It is in fact the suffering you endure because you are a follower of Jesus Christ.

III. To Follow Jesus You Must Count the Cost – Luke 14:28-35
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, …those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

In order to help his followers count the cost, Jesus gave two examples from daily life.

This is the third time in this portion of scripture that Jesus has said that you cannot be his disciple unless you fulfill a certain criteria.

Jesus concluded his teaching in this section by pointing out that it is worthless being anything less than a wholehearted follower of Jesus.

What it does mean is that you will live your entire life, moment by moment and day by day,

1. Following Jesus by loving him supremely,
2. Willingly experiencing humiliation, rejection, and suffering,
3. Renouncing your right to all that you have.

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Sermon Audio: The Parable of the Great Banquet
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 14:12-24
Duration: 22:14
Size: 10.1 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
The Parable of the Great Banquet
Luke 14:12-24

Then, he began to teach them about the Kingdom of God, first by introducing practical teaching.

I. The Reward of a Generous Heart – Luke 14:12-14
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

In other words, it deadens hospitality to invite with an expectation.

He told the Pharisees that in return for showing hospitality to those who couldn’t return it, “you will be blessed” – that God Himself would reciprocate with blessing and reward at the Resurrection.

II. Hopeful Remark – Luke 14:15
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

The problem was that the man who made this hopeful remark was presuming that he and all the other religious people deserved a seat at God’s great banquet.

III. Gracious Invitation – Luke 14:16-17
Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.'”

The parable of the great banquet is really about God’s gracious invitation to sinners to enter the kingdom of God.

The time for the great banquet had arrived, so in his teaching Jesus offered the gracious invitation, “Come, for everything is now ready.”

IV. Feeble Excuses – Luke 14:18-20
But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, “I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.” Another said, “I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.” Still another said, “I just got married, so I can’t come.”

The invited guests simply did not want to attend the great banquet. There is no other explanation for their feeble excuses.

V. Wider Invitation – Luke 14:21-23
The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” “Sir,” the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.” Then the master told his servant, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.”

So now Jesus was inviting all people – the Gentiles – to enter and participate in the great banquet.

VI. Dreadful Exclusion – Luke 14:24
I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.

People who dabble in religion, who want to go to heaven, who desire to attend the great banquet, but who do not turn to Jesus in faith and repentance will not be saved.

On behalf of Jesus, I invite you to accept the gracious invitation he extends to you to attend the great banquet.

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Sermon Audio: The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 14:7-11
Duration: 20:55
Size: 10.4 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Luke 14:1-6

They believed that they were pretty good people and that they were doing a good job following the rules that would make them citizens of the kingdom of God.

I. The Prelude to the Parable

So, when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor.

II. The Protocol in the Parable

Jesus’ parable is about a wedding feast, and he teaches people not to go and take the seat of honor, because a more distinguished person may have been invited to the wedding.

Do not claim your own honor or take the best seat in the house.

III. The Point of the Parable

If I hold on to this it helps prevent me from putting myself at the canter, and instead allows me to put God and other people at the center.

Jesus’ point is that people who exalt themselves – who think that they are good enough to stand before God based on their own merits – the Final Judgment will be a total humiliation.

Only those who come to God in humility, bowing before him, and who therefore put their complete faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ and repent of their sins, will discover that they are assigned seats at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.

“Why should I let you into my heaven?”