The Balance of ExtremesStudies in the Gospel of Luke

 “…there were shepherds out in the field…and the angel said the them…for born to you this day…is Christ the Lord.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:8-14 (ESV)

JESUS EMBRACED THE TENSION OF EXTREMES

Luke 4:18-28“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,…to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor” …

And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth…

…When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill

on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.

Peace or No Peace

Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’

Luke 10:5

 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather

division.

Luke 12:51

Judgement or Mercy?

Luke 11:37-40  

While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.  38  The Pharisee

was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.  39  And the Lord said

to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but

inside you are full of greed and wickedness.  40  You fools! Did not he who

made the outside make the inside also?

Luke 13:10-13

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  11  And behold, there was a

woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could

not fully straighten herself.  12  When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.”  13  And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was

made straight, and she glorified God.

Church Polarity Management• Tradition vs Innovation • Individual Health vs Institutional

Health • Management vs Leadership • Staff Leadership vs Non-Staff

Leadership • Inreach vs Outreach • Nurture vs Transformation • Duty Vs Calling

Luke 23:39-41(ESV) One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”  40  But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God,

since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  41  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 

We Deserve Death yet are more Valuable than Life itself.

Embrace the Tension of Living Between The Ages

Acts 1:10-11 (ESV)

And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into

heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the

same way as you saw him go into heaven.”