Luke

Kingdom Business – Luke 19:11-17

/ Bob
This is the final lesson containing one of Jesus’ parables as recorded in Luke. We have previously established that the parables Jesus shared offered insight into the Kingdom of God and how it compares with the Earthly Kingdom. In this parable – The Parable of the 10 Minas – Jesus gives us a story about an earthly kingdom with an earthly king and earthly kingdom subjects to instruct us as to how things work and will work in the Heavenly Kingdom.

The parable seems to follow the historical account of Archelaus, son of Herod the Great, and his seeking the kingship of the area we now know as the Holy Land. This happened between 4 B.C. and 6 A.D. It was a piece of history that would have been well known by the people listening to the parable. So Jesus uses this story of this earthly “king” to speak of His Kingship and His Kingdom and to exhort His Kingdom Subjects.

Just as Archelaus left his territory to secure his kingship in Rome, so Jesus left His earthly territory and returned the Father where He was enthroned as King. He will return in glory and in victory and at that time there will be a day of reckoning in which everyone will have to give an account of what they have done to advance the Kingdom. Those who rejected Christ on earth will face the same fate as those who opposed Archelaus – death. Those who have accepted his Kingship will be judged and rewarded according to how they engaged in Kingdom Business while here on earth. As we read in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior will be saved, but their Kingdom transactions will be tested by fire. Salvation is not in question, but there will be great joy for those whose work is proven to be true as there will be regret for those whose work is found wanting.

Therefore, our response to Jesus in light of this parable is be engaged in Kingdom Business until He comes again. This engagement in Kingdom business is what we were made for according to Ephesians 2:10. Furthermore, our engagement in Kingdom Business is the gauge of our love for Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:15 that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments? Do you love Him? Are you keeping His commandments? Are you engaged in Kingdom Business? As a subject of the King, take an inventory of what He has given you and see what you’re doing with His resources to advance His Kingdom.


This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, April 14, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
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A Tale of Two Worshippers – Luke 18:9-14

/ Bob

Do you believe in God? Do you believe in the God of the Bible? Do you trust God? We, as Americans, tend to rely on ourselves for just about everything in life. We trust in ourselves before we trust in God. We trust in our abilities to the exclusion of trusting in God. It may not be a conscious act of willful disobedience, but it is at its heart, arrogance.

Jesus, in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, points out the arrogance of the Pharisee who proudly proclaimed how wonderful he was in God’s eyes and contrasted that arrogance with the contrition of the tax collector who fell on his face before a Holy God in true humility and repentance.

We must come to the Holy God as unrighteous, undeserving sinners. We must come in humility on our knees. And when we humble ourselves before God Almighty, He will lift us up. This promise is made in Luke 18:14 as well as in James 4:10 and 1 Peter 5:6. However, God cannot lift us up unless we first humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, April 7, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

YouTube – youtube.com/@fromthebackporch

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Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

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Ars Longa – Vita Brevis – Deus Eternus – Luke 16:1-13

/ Bob
The aphorism “Ars longa, vita brevis” literally translated is “Art long, life short.” It comes from a quote by Hypocrites and it means that our art and/or what we create and build will outlive us because life is short. In the Parable of the Shrewd Manager, Jesus deals with the same issue, but He has a solution. First, recognize the brevity of your life and it’s relationship to eternity. Second, prioritize accordingly.

The ways of the world are not the ways of God. The thoughts of humans are not the thoughts of God. It is foolish for us to think that we can shrewdly manipulate our way through this life without considering what follows that shrewdly manipulated life. It is the well-lived life that subjects itself to the Eternal God of the Universe and lives to please Him rather than satisfy our temporary desires.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21




This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
YouTube – youtube.com/@fromthebackporch
X – FromtheBackPorch@nationalfast
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
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Check the Lost and Found – Luke 15:1-10

/ Bob

We all lose things. We have all searched diligently for our keys, glasses, or wallets. It is as if our life gets put on hold until we find those lost items. So it is with the woman who lost 1 of her 10 coins and the shepherd who lost 1 of his 100 sheep. Everything came to a grinding halt until they found that which was lost. And then it was party time because what was lost was now found. Yay!!

All we like sheep have gone astray. Each one of us has turned away from God to follow our own path. (Isaiah 53:6) And yet God doesn’t give up on us. He pursues us like the Hound of Heaven. He will not let us go until we realize that in our search for meaning we realize that Jesus is who we have been searching for all along. And when we repent of our sinful ways He is there to lovingly caress us with His gentle hand even as he gestures with his other hand for the party to begin.

Check the lost and found. Are you lost or are you found?

(Follow this link to read “The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson – houndofheaven.com/poem)

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, March 3, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
X – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

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RSVP for a Seat at the Table – Luke 14:1-24

/ Bob
In Luke 14 Jesus is invited to the home of a prominent Pharisee . . . on a Sabbath . . . . to be observed, scrutinized, and hopefully trapped in some error of Sabbath practice. As He always did, Jesus turned the tables (no pun intended, or maybe it was) on those who meant Him harm.

First, he healed a man who was there. The man was obviously a plant – a set up – for Jesus because they knew that He would not miss the opportunity to heal a man even if it was the Sabbath. Still, they were speechless when He did just that and they remained speechless as He questioned them about what the proper etiquette was for Sabbath healings. He went on to talk about Banquet etiquette.

He addressed the entire group gathered concerning humility as he cautioned them about grabbing the best seat for themselves at a banquet. Then he addressed the host by asking him if maybe he couldn’t have invited some less-than-desirable guests instead of just his friends. And then he told the Parable of the Great Banquet to share what was coming in the Great Banquet of the Lord.

He made clear this point – that there are some in this world who consider themselves to be a part of the chosen few, the elite. The Jews at that time quite often saw themselves as such and many Christians do so today. They figure that they’re in God’s camp and that they are God’s kind of people – always doing the right thing unlike the reprobates around them. He also made it clear the Kingdom of God was open to everyone who believes – to everyone who answers the call of God in faith.

He concludes the parable with a commandment for us as His servants. We must go out and find those who need Him most and “compel” them to come to the Kingdom of God – the Banquet of God – and sit down at the table that He has prepared for them in the presence of their enemies.



This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, February 25, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at:
fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .
Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
X – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
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It Ain’t Nothin’ Until He Calls It – Luke 13:1-9

/ Bob

Bill Klem was a legendary baseball umpire who set the pattern for umpires to follow right up until today. He was the first to use hand gestures for calls. He was the first to use a chest protector. He was the pioneer of the slot position. He proved his value by calling more World Series games than any other umpire in history. Once, when asked by a batter if a pitch was a ball or a strike, he replied, “It ain’t nothin’ until I call it.”

Who is in control of the world? Who is in control of our country? Who is in control of your life? If the answer isn’t God, then we’re all in a world of trouble. God makes the final call on literally everything that happens in this world, in our country, and in our personal lives – it ain’t nothin’ until He calls it.

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree illustrates God’s Sovereignty and God’s Providence. In this study we answer the question “Why am I not dead yet?” and we find that God’s wisdom rules in the answer. It also gives us reason to respond to God’s delay in “calling us home.”

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, February 18, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .

Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org

X – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast

Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

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Parties, Patches, and Wineskins

/ Bob

Parties, Patches, and Wineskins – Luke 5:33-39

Today we began our study of the parables of Jesus as found in Luke’s Gospel.  Parables are short stories about everyday life that Jesus used to teach about eternal concepts.  In Luke 5 we have a brief look at the attitudes displayed during the Jewish wedding celebration as Jesus taught us about the joy we should experience when the bridegroom is in the house.  Then Jesus uses the the patching of old garments with pieces of fabric from new garments as well as the pouring of new wine into old wineskins to help us see the importance of embracing the new while leaving behind the old.  

We have laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.  (Colossians 3:9-10)   If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold,
all things have become new.  (2 Corinthians 5:17)      We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life!  (Romans 6:4)

Instead of recognizing that we are totally new people in Christ, we try to fit Jesus stuff into our old lives.  We try to look at our old lives through Biblical glasses and make our old lives work with a fresh perspective.  We must learn to walk in NEWNESS OF LIFE.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, January 7, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .
Handouts with slide content can be requested at:
fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .
Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
X – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
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