Luke 10:25-37 Many people in this world think of themselves as good. The lawyer in today's reading was just such a man. He believed that he was not only good, but that he had kept God's law flawlessly. But he wanted to make sure he had done enough to earn salvation, so he asked Jesus, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The problem is that the lawyer wasn't nearly as good as he thought he was. He was, in fact, a sinner like the rest of us. He had failed to keep the basic law of God to "love your neighbor as yourself." The man needed the law of God to show how sick with sin he really was so that he could see his need for a savior. The same is true for us. We need God's law to reveal the sin within us so that we never forget our need for Jesus. The old cliche is true: Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven.

Luke 10:1-20 "Even the demons are subject to us in Your name!" The disciples were very excited about what they had been able to do, by the power of Jesus. He had sent them to drive out demons, heal the sick, and proclaim the good news that the Kingdom of God had come. But what Jesus really wanted them to rejoice in was not what they were able to do, but to rejoice that their names were written in heaven. We too can rejoice that through Jesus our names are written in heaven. He wrote His name upon us in baptism, therefore we are His. Because we are His, we can be confident that salvation is ours.

Luke 9:28-36 At the Transfiguration we get to see the reality that Jesus is true God. He shines with the glory of God and together with Moses and Elijah they discuss His "departure," which is to say His coming death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension. Below is a hymn about the Transfiguration from "The Lutheran Songbird Project." Check out this video and maybe some of the other videos from "The Lutheran Songbird Project" too.

Luke 9:18-27 What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Throughout the history of God's people there had been speculation about what the Christ would do, but when Jesus revealed that as the Christ He would lay down His life and be raised on the third day, it was shocking to Peter and the other disciples.  They had their own ideas of what the Christ was to do. But their ideas weren't the important thing; the reality of what it meant that Jesus was the Christ was the important thing. They needed to lay down their own ideas and believe the truth Jesus was telling them. The same thing often happens with following Jesus. These days there are myriad ideas of what it means to "be a Christian" and to follow Jesus.  But Jesus makes clear that following Him involves sacrifice. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. Are there things in your life that you are putting before Jesus? If so, now is the time to confess that to ...

Luke 9:1-17 Go! Don't take anything with you! Don't worry about it, God will provide. And God did provide. How can we feed all of these people? Don't worry about it. God will provide. These are lessons Jesus was giving to His disciples. Again and again He showed them that He could and would provide. Yet each time there was a new chance to trust Jesus, it seems that the disciples needed to learn the lesson all over again. The same is often true for us. Though God has provided for us time and time again, we still find ourselves doubting.  Yet Jesus patiently teaches us again and again that He will provide, just as He did for the disciples.

Luke 8:40-56 In today's reading Jesus raises the daughter of Jairus from death to life and heals a woman who had been dealing with blood discharge for 12 years. Jairus boldly came to Jesus asking for help. He fell at the feet of Jesus and begged him for help! The woman however, timidly tried to "sneak a healing" from Jesus. She didn't directly go to Him, but touched His garment in such a way that she hoped not to be noticed.  But Jesus did notice.  And she did receive healing. In this we see bold faith and timid faith, yet both receive help from Jesus. This shows us that the most important thing isn't the strength of our faith, but the object of our faith: Jesus.

Luke 8:16-25 “Who then is this, that  he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” This was the question the disciples of Jesus asked after Jesus calmed the storm. They asked the question, but they knew there could only be one answer: this Jesus, the one who had called them to follow Him, was God in human flesh. The disciples had thought Jesus had forgotten them as He slept through the storm. They feared that He wouldn't help them. We too have times when we think that maybe Jesus has forgotten us.  When things get rough we, like the disciples, cry out as if He has forgotten us. But He hasn't. He won't. The prophet Isaiah writes, “Can a woman forget her nursing child,      that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget,      yet I will not forget you. The Lord hasn't forgotten you.  He won't forget you.  And, as Jesus shows in today's reading, He is mighty and powerful and...