New Worship Series – Hard Words
“Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem” (Luke 13:22). Jesus knows that when he gets to Jerusalem, he is going to die. If you expect Jesus to use these final teaching opportunities to share happy thoughts, you don’t know him well. With a sense of extreme urgency, Jesus shares truths we need to hear, even if we do not want to hear them. As Jesus teaches hard truth, he challenges conventional wisdom. He reverses the normal and natural order of things. This should not surprise us, considering this Teacher’s life and work are the opposite of what one would expect.
When the truth is hard to hear, the first temptation is to deny it. We cannot do that with Jesus’ teaching, for he never lies. When the truth is hard to hear, the second temptation is to simply ignore it. To do that with Jesus is to court eternal death. Thus, Jesus’ words contain an urgent warning: Listen! Take to heart what Jesus says! For his Word, though it contains hard truth, gives eternal life. Our path to worship will follow:
September 3rd – We Want Peace, But God’s Word Divides
September 10th – The First Will be Last; The Last Will Be First
September 17th – The Humble Will Be Exalted; The Exalted Will Be Humbled
September 24th – Put Down What You Love; Pick Up What You Loathe
October 1st – The Found Are Left; The Lost Are Found
October 8th – You Can’t Serve God and Money
October 15th – What Seems To Help In Life Fails In Death; What Seems To Fail In Life Helps In Death