July 4, 2021
Change: Excuses
Stories that change the World and your heart.
Listen to an audio version of the message
Songs for this week: Spotify
Luke 14:15-24
Message Questions:
- Tell the story behind the best meal (feast!) you’ve ever eaten.
- Read Isaiah 25:6-9. This is the backdrop to Jesus’ parable and the comment, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast of the Kingdom of God.” The most popular assumption in Jesus’ day was that only law-observing Jews would “eat at the feast.” What is the most popular assumption in our day about who will “be saved”/be part of the Kingdom to come?
- What do you make of these excuses? Do they seem reasonable to you?
- In the story, the lame and the poor are invited in and welcomed, and then even those on the country roads and beyond are earnestly invited. What would a church look like that lived like this?
- What does the phrase “so that my house will be full” reveal about the heart of God?

Extend your small group discussion with the expanded guide for today’s message. It includes more questions and soul training practices for you and your small group.
Share with a friend
Recent Sermons

James 2:14-26 -James continues to press deep into the muscles and tissues of our faith. Is your faith doing what it was designed to do? Just like you might go to the doctor for a physical check-up, James offers a self-administered faith check-up in this passage. Where do you see signs of life in your faith?

Empowered Baptism is recognized throughout the Church as the beginning of a ‘God thing.’ John’s baptism was a visible demonstration of the start of a new life — clearing out the junk to prepare for what God was about to do. Jesus’ baptism reveals the true heart of baptism: God’s desire to bless and express His delight. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the start of the Kingdom. Ordinary women and men were now filled with the Spirit of Jesus to continue on the ministry Jesus started.

Luke 3:1-20 - The first mention of baptism in the Bible begins with John. John was the cousin of Jesus and also His opening act. John called the people of his day to "Get Ready." The public sign of a life getting ready for God was, and still is, baptism. Get washed so God can do what God wants to do.