Luke 8:16–18

Luke 8:16-18 

English Standard Version 

  Our faith is not meant to be separated from the rest of our lives.  If you cover your lamp with a basket, you could have 12 different lamps, each covered with a separate basket, and no one would know.  You could pick a different lamp each day and set it on the stand to guide you that day.  

  That's not how faith is meant to be.  It should be the principal light by which we see -- the light by which all of life is understood.  This is why Jesus tells us to take care how we hear.  We should listen with active hearts and minds, expecting to hear guidance from God on how we should live, on how we should interact.  The Word of God is something that should be poured into our lives daily, and we should receive it eagerly, as one who is hungry and given nourishment to sustain us through the day.  When we attend to God's Word with focus and consistency, we learn what God has to say to us, where God is calling us, and how God is sending us.

Call to Confession

Luke 8:9–15

Luke 8:9-15 

English Standard Version 

  This passage is a reminder to all of us:  faith is not supposed to be easy.  We often buy the idea that faith should be easier, and that we're messing up somewhere along the way.  The reality is that faith is hard, and Jesus never portrayed it as something easy.  The world is aligned against us -- we have so many competing priorities, so many other things that cry out for our attention, many of them seeming more urgent than faith.

  And yet, Jesus says -- hold fast.  Hold fast in an honest and good heart, and be patient, and fruit comes.  If you plant an apple tree, you don't walk outside the next day and expect apples.  It takes time.  When you plant tomatoes, you don't hope for homemade salsa the next week.  It takes time.  In the same way, when we follow Christ, it takes years and decades for the Holy Spirit to root in our hearts and for fruit to be displayed to the world.  Hold fast, Christ says, and trust in God with patience in our hearts.  Do not give up.  

Sermon on Ephesians 2:1-10 (February 1, 2026)