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There is a distinction among those who would call themselves followers of Jesus. There are some who truly take His words to heart, and others who think they follow Christ, but do so only superficially. i.e. There are those who might be intrigued with Christ, and those whose lives are built on Christ and His Word.

We are always in danger of having nothing intelligible to say to the world outside the church. We seem to marginalize ourselves. Yet, what we have in Jesus is to be that which is shared with the world around us. Jesus did not come in order to be a well-kept secret, b ut to be known.

Jesus does not always make Himself clear. There are those who have hardened their hearts to Him (to God). At times, the way He teaches is not to open their hearts, but to allow them to suffer the consequences of their own decisions - a further entrenchment into selfishness. Thus, His word can easily polarize.

The desire to be "someone" and to be recognized; the safer position -- humility. The tables will be turned: The first will be last and the exalted will be humbled. Invite those who cannot repay; God takes notice. That's the way God has treated us. What are the implications for Church officers?

The imagery: The new and the old cannot co-exist. The birth, then, of New Covenant Christianity, was, historically, a difficult beginning, and this parable explains the tension. One must "let go" of one to embrace/use the other.

God's grace is extravagant, but is an offense to those who believe God ought to operate by the merit system. These people resent grace given to others, because, confident of their own self-righteousness, they alone believe they are deserving of His favor. But God's grace is designed to melt our hearts and cause us to delight not only in His favor toward us, but toward others, in Christ, as well.

Amazing grace "demands" or brings an amazing response. The greater the debt, the more powerful the response.

Context: dinner invitation The Issue: a woman with a terrible reputation comes in and makes a scene over Jesus; a scene motivated out of gratitude.

The story (parable) displays some of God's passions: mercy, helping the helpless, hopeless, powerless, and hurting.

There is a challenge to Jesus (in the context of talking about the commandments.) The question: Who really is my neighbor? What do I "do" to inherit eternal life?

We are entrusted with participation in God's kingdom. We are stewards of His kingdom and of the kingdom resources and are accountable to Him.

Take disasters that happen in life, and let those serve both as a warning and as a motivation to respond to Christ (see Luke 13:1-5)

It is so easy, so easy, to walk through life with Christ and yet have fairly severe blind spots. More scary is the fact that Jesus identifies "the religious" as being the blind guides. It can be our goal to ask Jesus in the context of fellowship and family, to help us see - and to do something about our blind spots. If Jesus is making us more like Himself, then that is a worth goal. How will this be accomplished in your life?

Finding God's kingdom; finding the King of heaven, is worth everything. It is more valuable than anything we can imagine, and is worthy of our whole-hearted pursuit.

Where does lasting wealth come from? In what do we find lasting value? Is it the material "things" we possess, or is it that which wse are given in Christ?

We must be careful not to despise the grace of God by holding to a theology of merit; as though we are accepted by God because of our own efforts. Sometimes it becomes easy for Christians to frorget grace.