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Luke: Living with the Christ
Sometime around middle of the first century, a physician by the name of Luke began interviewing the men and women who had witnessed the life and ministry of Jesus. He wrote a careful account of everything he learned, and these accounts became our New Testament books known as the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Over the next few months we’ll be exploring this remarkable book with the goal of answering a most important question: Who was this Jesus, the man who was called the Christ?
Today’s notes
“A Banquet of Judgement or Grace?” | Pastor Sam Gyorfi | April 19, 2026
8 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’
11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.
13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. 14 ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”
The Parable of the Great Banquet
15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
Themes: We will be trying to find a balance of judgement and grace in the teachings of Jesus about the parable of the banquet. How can we find this balance in our own lives today? How does this parable teach us about the world around us as we live with the Christ?
Series overview
Living with the Christ
Previous sermons
Devotionals by Pastor Sam
Baptism & dedication
Worship all week
At our core, we are passionate, engaged, and willing. What we do certainly involves Sunday worship, but it’s also about worship all week long in the form of discipleship, service, fellowship, and care.
