Simon the Pharisee is handed a simple riddle about two debtors, one forgiven five hundred denarii and the other fifty, and he answers it perfectly. That flawless answer is exactly what gives him away, because he grasped it with his mind while his heart walked straight past. Luke’s Gospel (Luke 7) sets him beside a woman who comes into his house uninvited and pours out on Jesus’ feet perfume worth a year’s wages. Love for Christ cannot be manufactured by religious practice, because it is born only from knowing how much has been forgiven. Listen and ask whether your own answer about grace is merely correct, or whether it actually does something to you.
One Encounter
One on One
Who wouldn’t want to be able to change the world for the better? Although God Himself will bring about this ultimate change, there is a place for each of us in His plan, because He wants to use each of us. And Jesus Himself set an example for us of how we can do this. When we look at how Jesus interacted with those around Him, we discover that although He was often surrounded by crowds, He always paid attention to individuals. His approach was one-on-one. So how can we use that one encounter, that one meal, that one conversation, so that one person might experience the goodness of God Himself?
View the whole series
12 sermons
