Glorifying God by making disciples.

Luke 8:26-39 | What happens when the most powerful forces of darkness come face to face with the authority of Christ? In Luke chapter 8, we encounter a man so overtaken by evil that he lived among tombs, broke chains with his bare hands, and had lost every trace of the life he once knew. Yet when Jesus arrived on the scene, everything changed in an instant. This passage pulls back the curtain on the very real spiritual battle that surrounds us, reminding us that no darkness, no matter how deeply entrenched or overwhelming in number, can withstand the authority of Jesus. The story of the demon-possessed man in the region of the Gerasenes is not just an ancient account of a miraculous event. It is a declaration that the same Jesus who conquered a legion of demons is the Jesus we walk with today. For those of us who feel pressed down by forces beyond our control, this passage speaks directly to our condition. We are invited to trust that Christ's authority is not limited by the scale of what opposes us, and that the enemy's days are numbered. The hope we carry is not wishful thinking. It is grounded in the demonstrated power of a Savior who has already shown what he can do.

Luke 8:22-25 | After Jesus calms the, two crucial questions are asked. The first is a question Jesus asks his disciples. The second is a question his disciples asked concerning Jesus. the answer to these two crucial questions must be settled in each of our hearts as well. 

Luke 8:4-21 | "You're not hearing me." Maybe we have said this or it has been said to us. The point of this statement is not that the soundwaves from someone's mouth didn't reach another's ears, but rather that the message's entire point has been missed. Jesus teaches that it's possible to hear his words and completely miss his message. This passage helps us ensure we hear Jesus with ears that truly hear. 

Luke 8:1-3 | At the beginning of Luke 8 a group of women are mentioned. They are faithfully and radically following Jesus as they faithfully and sacrificially give to Jesus. It's a model of what a faith rooted in deep love and gratitude for Jesus looks like. As we look at these three verses today, may God move our hearts to follow Jesus in the same way. 

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 | God lavishes his grace upon us. This is something all of us as believers know. But we often subconsciously view the outpouring of God’s grace as only the spiritual high moments of life. As we dive into 2 Corinthians 12, we see the outpouring of God’s grace even in the hardest of moments and the sufferings of life.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 | How do we know we’re growing as disciples of Jesus? 1 Corinthians 13:1–7 reminds us that love is both the target and the evidence of Christian growth. Paul exposes the emptiness of spiritual gifts and religious activity without love, then shows us what Christlike love actually looks like. As we see and savor the love of Christ more clearly, we are compelled to reflect that love joyfully to one another for the sake of God's fame in the world.

Ephesians 4:1-16 | Your growth as a disciple affects the whole body. Truly. Your growth is bigger than you. The deeper we grow in our walk with the Lord the more we strengthen the body of Christ for the glory of Christ. So how do we connect our growth with our role in building up the body? Ephesians 4 will help us this week as we look at what it means to "Grow Up Into Christ.”

1 Peter 2:1-10 | Growing up we grew in community. Whether we consciously think about it or not, we all grew up within the context of family, friends, neighbors, etc. This community contributed to our growth. In the same way, we are to grow in Christ within the community of the Church. This week we turn to 1 Peter 2:1-10 to dwell on a powerful reality of what it looks like for us to be growing up in Christ together. 

Hebrews 5:11-14 | Every follower of Jesus Christ is somewhere along this pathway, whether you have just begun your journey of faith or have matured in Christ for many years. Use this resource as a tool to determine how you can take your next steps of discipleship and help disciple someone else too.

Luke 7:36-50 | Those who understand how deeply they have been forgiven by Christ live with a deep love for Christ. The gospel announces to us that we have all been forgiven a debt we never could have repaid and a chasm we never could have climbed out of. This radical forgiveness should lead to radical love. Luke 7:36-50 shows us a dinner scene of a sinful woman who got it, and a self–righteous man who didn't. 

Luke 7:18-35 | John the Baptist preached about the coming Christ. He shared a bloodline with Jesus Christ. He baptized Christ. And yet in Luke 7:19, we see John the Baptist ask a staggering question: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Some of us may ask the same question, “who is this Jesus?” John the Baptist had expectations for Jesus that went unmet, but Jesus still came worthy of our worship. Like John, we may have unmet expectations. As we get our eyes in Luke 7, we the Savior who came, how we behold him rightly, and that He is worthy of our worship.

Luke 7:1-17 | Why should we trust Jesus with every part of our lives? Luke 7 answers that question by revealing not only what Jesus can do, but who he truly is. Through the healing of the centurion's servant and the raising of the widow's son, Jesus displays unmatched authority over death alongside astonishing compassion for the broken. Seeing his glory doesn't merely produce admiration—it gives us confidence to follow him with our whole lives.

Luke 6:46-49 | Every single one of us is building our life on a foundation. We will either build our life on rock which will withstand all the floodwaters this world brings, or we will build our life on sand and be washed away by the storms. This passage gives us the blueprint to build a life on the rock that will withstand life's floodwaters.

Luke 6:43-45 | Like a tree bears fruit, so do our hearts — and it matters where we’re rooted. Where are you rooted? What is your treasure? And how do we find out what we treasure? In Luke 6:43-45, Jesus illustrates that our fruit comes from the treasure of our heart and is exposed by our words. But this is more than behavior modification, Jesus is telling us we can’t bear fruit on our own, but only through fervent dependence on Him.

Luke 6:35-42 | God has shown us great mercy. In his sermon on the plain, Jesus tells us to be merciful as our Heavenly Father as shown us mercy. But what does that look like? How do we do this? As we open our Bibles to Luke 6, we’ll see dos, don’ts, and come to understand that we can only show this mercy by following Jesus well.