Want to learn more about Luke? Use these Bible Studies for personal devotion, group Bible studies, or teaching a church class. Below are links to the lessons in this 13-part series.
We start a new series studying the Gospel of Luke. I’m
excited, and I hope you are too. Luke is a physician and a historian.
He is an educated man who is writing for a non-Jewish audience. When
you write, do you want to be clear? I know some writers are more
concerned about you concluding that they are smart, rather than being
clear. Luke wants to be clear. He suggests that he will bring a
better account than any prior accounts of the life of Jesus. Let’s
dig into Luke and his clear teachings about our Lord Jesus!
Have you wondered how you should share the gospel with
those around you? Jesus calls us to tell others about Him, but
exactly how is a challenge. Hold on to your hat as we study the
approach of John the Baptist! How do you deal with temptation in
your life? We are also going to look at how Jesus and the Holy Spirit
teamed up to defeat Satan’s temptations. Let’s dig into our study of
Luke!
The debate continues as to the nature of Jesus. Was He
merely a great man, a good prophet, or was He fully God and fully
man? Was He the Messiah, the Son of God? Luke, we decided, is fully
convinced of what he is writing. So, far, he recorded that Gabriel
and the angels said Jesus was God. Let’s dive in and continue to
explore what Luke records that Jesus said about Himself!
Have you been on a mission trip? If you speak to your
neighbor about the gospel, is that a mission trip? If you find that
people don’t want to hear what you have to say about the gospel, what
should you do? Keep trying? Make your presentation more
interesting? Our study this week is about how Jesus called the
disciples and sent them out as His representatives. If you want to
represent Jesus, come with me and let’s explore what the Gospel of
Luke has to teach us!
What do you think about the Old Testament? Is it filled with
harsh rules? Do you think of the New Testament as being focused on love,
rather than rules? Recently, the controversy over homosexual rights has me
reading and discussing the Bible’s approach to marriage. Have you considered
that the New Testament tightened the rules on marriage compared to the Mosaic
law of the Old Testament? See Matthew 19:3-9. It also appears (Matthew 5:27-28) to have tightened the rules on adultery. If it is wrong to think that the
New Testament replaced stricter rules with love, what about the Sabbath? Are
the rules about the Sabbath tightened or loosened in the New Testament? Could
it be that the whole question about the enforcement of the rules is missing
the point? Perhaps Jesus is simply restoring the original application of the
rules. Let’s dig into our study of Luke and find out!
One morning this week I read an article reporting that
women are treated like animals in many places of the world. I don’t
personally know if that is true, but I am sure that in some places
now, and in Jesus’ time, women did not have equal status with men.
How did Jesus relate to women? What lessons can we learn for today?
Let’s jump into our study of Luke and find out!
How is your prayer life? Could it use an infusion of
energy? Since God already knows about your needs, maybe you don’t
need that much energy. Indeed, why should you have to repeat what God
already knows? This week we learn some exciting things about prayer,
the Holy Spirit, and boldly asking. Let’s plunge into our study of
the Bible!
In a discussion about outreach, a fellow told me that
at his church “we preach the straight gospel.” I understood they just
preached church teachings with no frills and outsiders should be
attracted to an honest message. “How is that working out for you,” I
asked? He lowered his head and confessed they had one new member in
the last ten years. Luke records Jesus’ amazing strategy for
outreach. Let’s jump into our study and learn more!
Have you read a car bumper sticker saying “Resist
Authority?” How about “Question Authority?” I never read a sticker
saying “Act with Authority.” Is authority bad? What do you think is
behind these sayings which attack authority? People attack authority
because they think they are smarter, or in some way better, than
those in authority. Is this a reasonable assumption? If you claim
authority, aren’t you claiming to be better? Our lesson this week is
about Jesus as teacher, but it also has a great deal to teach us
about authority. Let’s dig into our study of the Bible and learn
more!
Do you want others to have a high opinion of you? I do.
When I’ve made mistakes, my main concern was about my reputation.
During my years of Bible study, I’ve learned that I should be more
concerned about God’s opinion of me. Part of being concerned about
what others think is good, if the goal is to influence others towards
God. But, this week I had a conversation with a Godly man who told me
that he was worse than I thought. I’ll bet you would say the same
thing – you are worse than your reputation. What does that say about
your concern regarding God’s opinion of you? Let’s explore what the
Bible teaches us about this!
I often write about the Kingdom of God and I mention it
when I’m talking to others. What, exactly, is the Kingdom of God? You
would hope that I have an idea of what I’m talking about, right?
While I do, our lesson this week showed me I had a lot to learn to
better understand what God has in mind. Let’s dive into our study of
the Bible and learn together!
Luke 19:28 starts out “After Jesus had said this.” What
had Jesus had just said? The story we studied two weeks ago about the
servants, the minas and executions! Recall that Jesus rewarded those
who were diligent, and even gave the fellow with the most wealth the
mina of the lazy servant! Then the king’s enemies were killed. It
was not a typical Jesus’ story, but it is the lead into our study of
Jesus’ last week on earth. Is there a connection? Let’s dig into our
study of the Bible and find out!
The goal of Luke’s writing comes down to this, our last
lesson: to bring us to the conclusion that Jesus is God. God came to
earth and lived as a man to reveal God’s character, and then God died
in our place to save us. Jesus rose from the grave to eternal life
giving us the choice of eternal life. It is a powerful story that has
changed the course of history and given the highest hope to humans!
Let’s dive into our final study of Luke and learn more!
