Tag: Luke-The Investigative Gospel

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Sermon Audio: Thank God I’m Not Like…
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 18:9-14
Duration: 14:36
Size: 6.69 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Thank God I’m Not Like…
Luke 18:9-14

“In the eyes of Christ a person confessing sin is nearer to true goodness than a person boasting of his goodness.” (F.F. Bruce, Theologian)

Specifically, the parable of The Pharisee And The Tax Collector deals with the attitude with which we offer up our prayers:

Two Men

A Pharisee was a member of the Jewish faith set apart to maintain and further the divine cause.

A tax collector was at the other end of the spectrum. He would have been perceived by the community as the worst of the worst of Jewish citizenry, perhaps even lower.

Two Prayers

Yes God, thank you that I am not like these other people.”

He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to heaven as was common among those who came to pray but rather, he pounded his chest over and over again crying, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Two Outcomes

Pharisee
Measured himself to others rather than to God who is absolute in holiness; he built his self-worth on the moral failings of others.

Tax Collector
He recognized the sin in his life; he didn’t hide it or deny it. He recognized his need for God’s grace and pleaded for it.

Pray with a spirit of humility recognizing that we are sinners saved by grace.

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Sermon Audio: Persistent Prayer
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 18:1-8
Duration: 23:03
Size: 10.5 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Persistent Prayer
Luke 18:1-8

Probably more than just a few of us actually have given up and stopped praying, maybe not altogether, but at least quit praying for certain things.

1. Don’t Give Up There Is Too Much At Stake.

Who among us has not felt like since our prayers are not being effective, we might as well just quit?

We are told up front that this judge does not care about God or about men.

2. Don’t Give Up When Circumstances Seem to Be Against You.

As hopeless as her situation must have seemed, she was persistent.

3. Don’t Give Up the Answer May Be Just Around the Corner.

The judge is finally moved to help her not out of sense of justice or compassion but one of self-preservation.

4. Don’t Give Up God is Working Out the Answer.

Unless we see that Jesus is pointing out contrasts, we will get the idea that God must be argued or bribed into answering our prayers.

5. Don’t Give Up Jesus Always Keeps His Promises.

Without faith, prayer becomes little more than a ritual that we perform and then stand in wonder “Does it really work?”

What we need to concern ourselves in not the Lord’s faithfulness, but rather our own!

We are really faced with a choice between:

Praying or losing heart,
Going on with God or Giving up on God.

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Sermon Audio: Three Dangers with Reference to the Second Coming
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 17:20-27
Duration: 21:40
Size: 9.92 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Three Dangers with Reference to the Second Coming
Luke 17:20-27

“So what is a balanced Christian approach to the concern about the end times?”

1. Don’t Try to Make the Second Coming Fit your Preconceived Ideas and Expectations.

Over the last two thousand years lots of men have played neat little mathematical games with Bible prophecies in an effort to determine the exact date of the Lord’s return.

Jesus is saying, “Don’t look around you for the kingdom of God out there somewhere unless it is first of all in your own heart.”

2. Don’t Be Obsessed by End Times Thought and Study.

Jesus now turned to his disciples and instructed them not to become so obsessed with His return that they ended up doing nothing else except trying to track down the time of His return.

3. Don’t Allow Worldly Concerns To Dim Your Desire For the Lord’s Return.

The point is that when we live our lives for the things of the world, we lose the life that God intended us to live.

But what Jesus reveals is not intended for us to develop a chart, but for us to prepare our hearts.

I don’t know that it is too much different today for there are many professed Christians today who would see the Lord’s return as a terrible interruption to their plans.

The point of verses 34-36 seem to be that No matter how close two people are, either emotionally or physically, they may be separated by the judgment.

Jesus is coming again, make no mistake about it, and whether you believe it or not, or you’re ready or not, He Is Coming!

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Sermon Audio: How Do You Say Thank You To A King
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 17:11-19
Duration: 17:29
Size: 8.00 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
How Do You Say Thank You To A King
Luke 17:11-19

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Sermon Audio: Learning To Be Thankful
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 17:11-19
Duration: 19:03
Size: 8.72 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Learning To Be Thankful
Luke 17:11-19

From these ten lepers we can learn some valuable lessons about being thankful.

1. We learn to be thankful when…we think about the fact of how desperate our situation is before we met Jesus.

They were thought to be unclean, and incapable of having a right relationship with God.

2. We learn to be thankful when…we think about the fact of what we have gained.

By obediently making their way to the priest, the lepers were demonstrating that they had faith in the words of Jesus.

3. We learn to be thankful when…we think about the fact that what was done for us could not have been done by us.

This one leper was different than the others. He did three things; he turned back, he began praising God and he fell on his face at the feet of Jesus thanking him.

The more you train yourself to be one who praises, the less mistakes you’re going to make and the less regrets you’re going to have.

4. We Learn To Be Thankful When…We Think About How Much Our Ingratitude Grieves The Heart Of God

There should not be any doubt that when we are not thankful, it grieves the Lord.

While all ten lepers had received physical healing, only this Samaritan had the faith for spiritual healing as well.