A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others” (Luke 20:13-15). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Do you remember last week when I told you the key to understanding any of the parables is to look for the point where it departs from everyday life? Well, good luck with this one! No one behaves in the way that we would normally expect them to behave. I mean, what landowner would keep sending his servants to collect the rent when they’re being so mistreated. Couldn’t he send a couple of big guys with swords? Maybe the sheriff? Or the mili...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure” (1 John 3:1–3).  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! This short text is brimming with Good News:“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” Did you hear that? God deals with us in love and calls us His children.  Not only that: He calls us “Beloved!” Much loved. Dearly loved. We’re not just some orphan children God brought into the world and then left to fend for ourselves. God is not some deadbeat absentee father. We are His dear child...