Luke 6:40-46

"[Jesus continued,] "A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never..."

"[Jesus returned to his teaching on our interactions with others:] "And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own?....."

"Why do you notice the little piece of dust in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood in your own eye? How can you say to your....."

"[Jesus continued,] "So why do you keep calling me 'Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say?""

"[Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,] "Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like..."

Inspirational illustration of Luke 6:40 -- Every disciple when fully trained will be like the teacher

"Dear Beloved, Learn to wait and think before you speak. Give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to guide your conversation instead of being thrust into....."

Tired of sitting on the dock? Then jump in! Rick Brown challenges us to get off the dock and into the water, to quit talking and to start obeying, to dive in and to swim.

"Then Jesus gave the following illustration: "Can one blind person lead another? Won't they both fall into a ditch? Students are not greater than their..."

Why is it hard to let Jesus have control of our lives? I wonder what would happen if we truly let Jesus have control of our lives.

How does this happen? Rubel Shelly tells of a tragic murder in a family over a soccer game and a TV show about faith.

Have you been listening lately? We need to listen to our Teacher: Jesus is the one we must look to for our answers in how to help and bless others.

Will your character collapse under pressure? Are we anything more than a facade, or does our character run deep and can it be seen in the world of quiet and inner places in our lives.

What ever happened to kind, courteous, and respectful speech? We need to put kind and courteous speech back into our lifestyle.

What does the doctor hear when he hears your heartbeat? Rick Brown reminds us that what we need is a heart transplant from God so our heartbeat is that of Jesus.

So do we make people think of Jesus? Phil Ware continues his series on What is Core by calling us to true discipleship, people being conformed to be like Jesus and living out the cross, burial, and resurrection in their lives.

God isn't after change, that happens all the time: God wants transformation! Phil Ware continues his series on Jesus and transformation and focuses today on our walking with Jesus each day in the gospels and learning his words and talking with him and taking on on his character and compassion as the Spirit transforms us.

Into whose image are we trying to make new Christians conform? So often we force new Christians into the mold of something or someone who isn't really Jesus.

Do we realize the grace of getting to tune our lives to Jesus? Phil Ware and James Nored remind us that the core of our faith is Jesus, that Christ is our defining note around whom all of us must tune our lives and recognize the grace of being called and transformed to be like him.

Do we realize the grace of getting to tune our lives to Jesus? Phil Ware and James Nored remind us that the core of our faith is Jesus, that Christ is our defining note around whom all of us must tune our lives and recognize the grace of being called and transformed to be like him.

Who is your pilot? If anyone controls our life but Jesus, then our life is headed for disaster.

How good are you at your communication skills? A humorous story about a date is a reminder of how hard it can be to communicate well.

Who do you look like? Rubel Shelly reminds us that even when things or people look alike doesn't mean they actually live the same way or live out the same role.

Do we realize the grace of getting to tune our lives to Jesus? Phil Ware and James Nored remind us that the core of our faith is Jesus, that Christ is our defining note around whom all of us must tune our lives and recognize the grace of being called and transformed to be like him.

What we say is a reflection of our heart and mind. The wisdom of the world often reflects the words of God. For example: what you say reflects what is in your heart.

All anyone wants to talk about is Jesus! Phil Ware concludes his series on Inviting Jesus back to church with this message on Jesus being our center.

Jesus is not only our Savior and Lord, but he is also the model on whom we are to build our lives! James Nored and Phil Ware share in video and word how we can share in the life of Jesus in our lives today.

What's in it for God? Bill Sherrill reminds us that the spirit of the Christmas season is giving, not receiving and that we need to be a people with a spirit of thanksgiving.

Is it really faith if it doesn't do anything? Belief and faith are not the same thing. Belief becomes faith when it goes into action.

Is there any other kind of Christian? All Christians have the Holy Spirit and are spirit-filled so their lives must demonstrate this reality.

Jesus isn't calling us to keep a list of do's and don'ts; he is challenging us to obey the Father from our hearts, in love. James Nored and Phil Ware remind us of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and that he was not giving us a list of do's and don't do's, but was calling us to put into practice the way of God from the heart.

Jesus said this was the right thing for him to do! James Nored and Phil Ware remind us of an important reason to be baptized: not only was Jesus baptized, he also said it was the right thing to do and called on all his disciples to be baptized and baptizers.

What can we learn about God by looking at Jesus? Phil Ware compares Jesus to a keyhole through which we look at God and the closer we get to Jesus the more clearly we see God.

I remain convicted that these passages give us the CORE of what we must believe and practice as Jesus' disciples. Phil Ware brings his series on 'What is CORE!' to a close, giving us a short summary to help us remember these three CORE passages and what they teach and call on us to do.

We've allowed our modern definition of faith to be drained of depth and turned into a shallow kiddie wading pool of little more than mental assent. Phil Ware reminds us that faith as understood in the New Testament was much more robust than what we often call faith today.