But What Did Jesus Say About It?

Who is the greatest teacher who ever lived? Many people would point to Jesus Christ and recognize the significance of His teaching.

So what could be more important than knowing what was taught by the One who claimed to speak the words of God? What did Jesus teach about responsibility, humility, forgiveness, and faith? And what does it mean to absorb His teaching and let Him transform your thoughts, behavior, and relationships? Is this the freedom in Christ we are promised?

In this series, Stuart Briscoe considers the notion that we live in a world where we know much about little that matters. As Stuart explores Jesus’ parables, he uncovers the deep and profound teaching about matters of prime significance.

While wineskins aren’t something we talk about today, they were so prevalent in Jesus’ day that He used the illustration of wineskins in a parable. The people in that day would have easily understood the practical advice that Jesus presented at a surface level, but what He was really talking about goes a lot deeper. He was actually addressing the Jewish society’s belief that we are basically good, maybe need an occasional patch to fix a threadbare part of our lives, and should avoid contamination from outside influence.

Instead, Jesus was saying that we are fundamentally sinful and in need of entirely new life, found in Christ. In this message, Stuart Briscoe helps us understand the cultural relevance of this parable and urges us to trade in those patches for radical transformation.

Scripture: Luke 5:27-5:39

How would you feel if someone cancelled all your debt right now? Mortgage, car payments, student loans, hospital bills—all of it, washed clean. You’d be pretty relieved, right? And you’d probably be pretty expressive and exuberant when it comes to showing your gratitude. 

Now if I tell you that Jesus has cancelled all your sin debt, are you feeling as grateful? The truth is that we can’t fully understand forgiveness until we understand our sin—what needs to be forgiven! When Jesus joined Simon the Pharisee for a meal, He encountered a woman of “doubtful reputation” who understood just how much sin debt she had and used her tears and hair to wipe Jesus’ feet as a way to show her gratitude for all the forgiveness she was receiving. 

In this message, Stuart Briscoe walks us through Jesus’ dinner with Simon and the parable of the two debtors, and encourages us to consider what sins we might be holding onto.

Scripture: Luke 7:36-7:50

What kind of soil are you? Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed is probably one of His best known parables. The sower goes out and sows seed on a hard pathway, in shallow soil, thorny soil, and good soil. The point of the parable, however, isn’t really the sower or the seed—it’s the soil. The seed, the Word of God, was the same everywhere it fell, but what determined if the seed took root was the reception it received in the soil. We, like the soil, have a responsibility to respond to the Word of God!

In this message, Stuart Briscoe walks us through this parable, explaining how the different types of soil respond to the seed and encouraging us to be good soil.

Scripture: Luke 8:1-8:15

Many of us hear the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan, and we take from it that we should help people who need help, even when we don't stand to gain anything. But is that really what Jesus was saying?

The context for the parable was a conversation between Jesus and a teacher of the law who wanted to know what he needed to do to "inherit eternal life." Jesus' response—to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength and love your neighbor as yourself—is a tall order! 

In this message, Stuart Briscoe explains what Jesus really meant in His conversation with the teacher of the law and helps us find encouragement in Jesus' gift of salvation.

Scripture: Luke 10:25-10:37

We all are looking for financial and material success. Who wouldn't want a bigger house, nicer car, maybe a boat or some extra zeros in the bank account. All these things in themselves aren't bad—yet they become "bad" when we look for satisfaction in these material things or when we start to think that we deserve them.

Jesus warned against such greed when He told the parable of the rich fool—a man who saw his success as the result of his own actions instead of acknowledging that it was a gift from God. 

In this message, Stuart Briscoe teaches us what Jesus had to say about the amassing of wealth and encourages us to keep sight of the eternal and not the temporal.

Scripture: Luke 12:13-12:21

Why do bad things happen to good people? This is a question many people ask, particularly when we see tragedies occurring around us. In the ancient world, the general thinking was that if you were good, God would bless you in material ways for being good. So if something bad happened to you, the community would think that you had done something bad to deserve it. When Jesus was questioned about such things—whose sin caused which disasters—His response was countercultural and personal. 

In this message, Stuart helps us gain new insight on the parable of the unfruitful fig tree and shows us how to respond when calamity strikes.

Scripture: Luke 13:1-13:9

We live in a culture of getting what we want when we want it. Language in advertising tells us that we “deserve” the best and we should get what we want. From trash-talk in the sports arena to commercials on television, self-promotion and self-aggrandizement are everywhere. With so many self-centered messages around us, what are we to do with humility? 

When Jesus was invited to dinner in a Pharisee’s home, he told two parables about people who were lacking in humility and what happened to them as a result of their arrogance.

In this message, Stuart teaches us what humility really is and challenges us stop listening to what our culture tells us and start listening to what God says.

Scripture: Luke 14:1-14:24

When you picture God, what do you see? You might picture someone staunch, reserved, and dignified with long, white hair and a beard, perhaps something similar to Michelangelo’s portrayal on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Pharisees also had ideas of what God is like, so they objected when Jesus told some parables that gave a portrayal of God that did not fit their picture of who He is. 

In this message, Stuart uses three well-known parables of Jesus to show us what the Father is really like and give us a glimpse at God’s heart toward us.

Scripture: Luke 15:1-15:32

We all have to deal with money, and we all deal with money in different ways, from penny pinchers to big spenders, from those living paycheck-to-paycheck to those investing millions. If we asked for financial advice from those around us, we would probably get many different answers. But consider we came into this world with nothing and we leave this world with nothing. Everything we have between coming into this world and leaving it is entrusted to us from God. So what did Jesus say about how we use our wealth? 

In this message, Stuart explains Jesus’ parable about the dishonest steward and shows us that what we do with what we’ve been given can have a long-lasting impression.

Scripture: Luke 16:1-16:18

One look at the news and you may ask yourself, “Are we living in the last days?” With so much uncertainty going on around us, we may be wondering if the end is drawing near.

After Jesus told the disciples that Jerusalem’s huge, ornate temple would be destroyed and not one stone left standing, they were concerned about when that would happen. They asked Him for signs to watch for, clues so that they could be ready. Instead, Jesus told them the only thing they needed to be worried about was standing firm. So what can we do to stand firm and be faithful? 

In this message, Stuart explains Jesus’ brief parable about the budding fig tree and encourages us to stand firm in our faith.

Scripture: Luke 21:5-21:38

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