Sanctify My Heart podcast

Part 2 of our latest series: "The Controversial Teachings of Jesus"

"Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?"
(Matthew 16:24-26, ESV)

Today we begin a new series, looking at the more controversial of Jesus' teachings. To kick off the series, we're going to look at one of the hardest for some to accept, that Jesus is the only way to the Father.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father buy by me." - Jesus

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field—and to get the treasure, too!
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!"
Matthew 13:44-46 (NLT)

Barbara Walters once asked in an interview the question, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" Jesus tells a parable in Luke ch. 8 that challenges us with a slightly different question. Are you hard-packed pathway, rocky soil, thorn-prone soil, or good soil that readily causes the seed of God's Word to take root and produce fruit in your life?

In this study, we look at the Parable of the Sower.

The Christian life is a transformation, not an upgrade. This week we look at the Parable of the Wineskins in Luke 5.

Jesus said, "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins." (Luke 5:37-38 ESV)

A look at the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders in Matthew 7

We dig a bit further into Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.

(Part 2 of 2)

The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
(part 1)

Continuing our study of the parables of Jesus, we look at the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.

Luke 20: The Parable of the Vineyard

"He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.
At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.
He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.'
But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?"
(NIV)

The Parable of the Pharisee & the Tax Collector:

"He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The parable of the wise & foolish virgins before the wedding feast, and the parable of the talents.

Both of these parables are "Judgment Day" parables, and while they give us warning, they also reveal how Judgment Day can be a day of joy instead of sadness, of being welcomed into gladness rather than a day of fear.

This week we look at two of the parables of Jesus on prayer, the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18) and the Parable of the Unexpected Guest (Luke 11).

"Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?'

Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.'"

In this broadcast we take a look at what can be a very difficult, but life-transforming lesson to leart--how to live forgiven and forgiving.

"The man with the most toys wins!"
"You can never be too rich, or too thin."
"You gotta look out for numero uno."

Jesus takes all these ideas and turns them on their heads in his parable of the rich fool.

We take a look at Peter's answer to Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?"

This week we picked back up on our study of Jesus' parable of prodigal son to explore it from another angle, this time that of the older brother.

A message from Paul's letter to the Roman church from Romans 15 about bearing with one another in love.