Highlands Baptist Church Sermons (Centennial, CO‪)‬ Highlands Baptist Church, CO

What would make Jesus say, "Wow"? In Luke 7:1-17 we are told Jesus marveled at someone's faith. A centurion had a terminally sick servant. Some Jewish elders begged Jesus to come and heal the servant because the centurion had done good things for Israel. In other words, they believe he is worthy (vs. 4). But the centurion disagrees. He tells Jesus not to come because he isn't worthy (vs. 6). Who is right? What does this story teach us about the nature of true faith? 

Jesus concludes his sermon on the plain (Luke 6:17-49) with two poignant illustrations: two trees and two foundations.

The fruit of a tree reveals the root — its nature (verses 43-45). It’s the same with hearts. The heart produces fruit after its true inner nature. Houses reinforce the point further. The foundation is what matters most, not the above ground appearance. Similar to fruit, which can help identify the nature of a person’s heart, the storm (verses 46-49) ultimately reveals the eternal stability of a life. The reason you often cannot tell the difference between true faith from a false profession is that the deep foundations of people’s lives are often hidden from view. The storm, that will eventually come upon every life, will reveal what sort of spiritual house we have.

The Sermon on the Plain is not meant to serve as an ethical manual as a pathway to God’s grace. It’s an ethical reversal to expose the foundation of our life and lead us to salvation in the gospel of God’s grace alone.

Is Jesus Christ the anointed Promised One or not? In Luke's gospel we see Jesus made numerous claims that all proved he is indeed God's Promised Anointed One. These powerful claims are confirmed in two ways: (1) Jesus repeatedly predicted his own resurrection (Luke 18:33, 24:7); (2) The Apostles saw undeniable proof of Jesus' resurrection and believed in it so tenaciously they died for this belief (Luke 24:11-12; John 20:6-8, 24-28; Acts 1:3, 17:3). Why does this matter? Simply stated, Romans 10:9-10 tells us, "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Do you believe?

Jesus orchestrated the details of his entry into Jerusalem. It is highly symbolic. Jesus presented himself as a different kind of king. In Luke 18-19, we see Jesus as the promised Messiah-king, a humble king, a compassionate king, and a sacrificial king who is also the coming king.

In Luke 6:20 Jesus begins to teach how radically different the values and priorities of his kingdom are compared to this world's kingdom. The Kingdom of God is an alternate community where radical, generous, self-sacrificing love is extended, even to our enemies. This kind of love is vastly different from the "love" so commonly demonstrated in this world's kingdom. How is this kind of radical love possible? Because of Jesus. Jesus became poor so you might be rich in him. He experienced thirst and was forsaken on the cross so you could be brought near to God. God's kingdom is marked as a community of people who treat others the way Jesus has treated them - with self-sacrificing love and mercy.