Avoid sin, not sinners

Coty Pinckney on Luke 5: Let’s read vignette four, which takes place immediately after Levi leaves his tax booth to follow Jesus. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes … More Avoid sin, not sinners

Are you a stretcher-carrier or a sermon critic?

Bob Deffinbaugh  comments, There are numerous lessons to be learned from our text. I will underscore just a few. First, our text serves to contrast the faith of the stretcher-carriers with the unbelief of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. The stretcher-carriers believed in Jesus, the Pharisees and teachers were skeptical. The stretcher-carriers were … More Are you a stretcher-carrier or a sermon critic?

Ask! God is Willing and Able to Give You the Best Gifts

We read in Luke 5 today about Jesus’ encounter with a man full of leprosy.  John Bloom, Executive Director of Desiring God Ministries comments in the January 2009 Newsletter: He was one of the walking dead. It had almost been three years since the priest examined that suspicious spot on his left arm and looked … More Ask! God is Willing and Able to Give You the Best Gifts

Of Fish and Men

Coty Pinckney on Luke 5:1-11 Jesus has gone out to preach elsewhere. He is no longer in Capernaum, but in another town on the same lake. The crowd keeps coming; as more and more arrive, they push those in front up toward Jesus, forcing Him into the water. So He goes out into the lake … More Of Fish and Men

“already/not yet”

Pastor Coty Pinckney in a sermon, “The King and His Kingdom” comments: Jesus enters the synagogue on a Sabbath, takes the Isaiah scroll, and unrolls it to what we call chapter 61. Note that this section of Isaiah is about the Kingdom of God. Consider the verses that immediately precede what Jesus read: Violence shall … More “already/not yet”

An intentional contrast

Coty Pinckney makes this very interesting observation regarding Luke 3 and 4: Most written accounts of a person’s life would put the genealogy right at the beginning – like the Gospel of Matthew. Again like Matthew, most often the genealogy will start with the ancestor and work forward to the subject of the account. But … More An intentional contrast

The Issue is Repentance

John Piper, in a sermon, “John the Baptist and the Brood of Vipers”- This is the meaning of repentance: a turning of the direction of our life and the affections of our heart, so that we become oriented on God and love the things he loves. John promises the people “forgiveness of sins” in response … More The Issue is Repentance