Reading City Church Reading City Church

We're continuing to study this section of Luke by examining Jesus' warning to not fall into the temptation of greed. Jesus cautions against greed because the motivations of greed are not often obvious right away. Greed, at its core, is often driven by fear. We then remove ourselves from dependence on God and rely on our self. Greed motivates a person to exploit others, to forget the plight of the poor, to identify only with what our ego wants and to cast God aside. Greed can be a constant push and pull on our attention, seducing us to grab, own, and hoard.
Let's learn how to be rich towards God and reject greed in all its forms.

We're starting Luke chapter 12 with a section of scripture that can be confusing. Jesus asks us to reject hypocrisy and release fear of people or ideas that are threatening. The heart behind it is what matters.

Hypocrisy is presenting ourselves as God-lovers and worshipers while judging, despising, and even conspiring against the very ones for which He would sacrifice His Son. He aimed at taking off the heaviness of shame, the constant enslavement to self-perfection, and the fear of punishment that guided humanity. Knowing His intimate love enables us to represent that love in the face of misunderstandings and accusations.

For the past few years, we continue to return to the book of Luke for an in-depth study. You can find all sermons since chapter one under the sermon series marked "Luke." There are several small focused series under that title.

We're finishing chapter 11 of Luke by understanding Jesus' invitation to the religious leaders and how we accept what He offers as an invitation without restriction.

Jesus carried within Him the full desire of God for us, to know us, to love us, to BE WITH us, to heal us, to open us to kindness, goodness, and mercy and for us to carry that same fire so that we would want the same for others.

For the past few years, we continue to return to the book of Luke for an in-depth study. You can find all sermons since chapter one under the sermon series marked "Luke." There are several small focused series under that title.

We return to the book of Luke for another mini series, this time called "Stand Firm." We're picking up where we left off in Luke 11:33. In this passage, Jesus is instructing us how to share His light with the world and what it looks like to actually be light in the darkness. What does the world see in our eyes?
God's desire is to fill our bodies with His light so that we can live it out in our relationships.

For the past few years, we continue to return to the book of Luke for an in-depth study. You can find all sermons since chapter one under the sermon series marked "Luke." There are several small focused series under that title.

We are concluding this mini-series by focusing on the way of grace. The way of grace is peace in the midst of chaos, peace in unknowing, freedom in the midst of doubt, space in the place of cynicism, invitation in the opening. We give grace to others, but we must also be aware of our own need for grace.

Rescue requires nothing of the one needing to be rescued, it requires only that they keep calling out until they are found. Chasing salvation means that we are continually reaching out for rescue.

The Bible often describes the Holy Spirit as wisdom and mystery. Listening to the voice of God the Father means being attuned to His Spirit. We seek to understand what’s underneath our desires, our knee-jerk reactions, our fears. We aim to stay curious, not judgmental, and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal what needs to be revealed, redeem what needs to be redeemed, prune what needs to be pruned, and heal what needs to be healed.