He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ -- Luke 18:2-3 (ESV)

How high do your prayers go? Like day-old balloons they seem to float only as high as our energy and then sink again. When we feel this way repeatedly, we can be discouraged and wonder if it is even worth it to pray. It’s in these moments we need to learn from a needy woman and godless judge. Jesus tells us another confrontational and troubling tale about prayer in Luke 18 .

"The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings." -- Matthew 16:8-9 (ESV)

We have all admired those stories about less than pure characters using only their brains to turn an impossible situation back to their advantage. Movies like The Sting, Ocean 11, and The Italian Job are modern stories like that. Jesus in Luke 16 uses a parable similar to those stories in an unusual way that teaches us some godly truths centered around a surprising character.

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. -- Luke 18:1 (ESV)

‘How’s your prayer life?’ It’s a question that turns discipleship groups silent and makes community groups find a rabbit trail faster then a hungry coyote. I’ve never met anyone that answered that question with a positive answer. We always feel we should pray more. We should pray with more consistency. We should pray longer. We should pray with less distraction.

". . . . , What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? . . . . , Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? . . . . , 'It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.' " -- Luke 15:1-32 (ESV)

Have you ever lost something really important to you and then found it again? Imagine those emotions when you realized you found it. This Sunday, Michael Bell will be sharing the parables of lost things from Luke 15 that should evoke similar emotions. We want to encourage you to take a look at this whole chapter in Luke before Sunday. Bring someone with you, maybe someone who has lost their way in life.

"When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." -- Luke 14:12-14 (ESV)

Have you signed up yet for "Dinners for 8" or have gone to one? Have you a dinner planned with invited guests this summer or will you be an invitee to one? Well, this next parable about a planned dinner may give you some "food for thought" for your next dinner conversation.

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”  -- Matthew 18:21 (ESV)

Scandalous. When we hear this word associated with church, we all cringe. Another story. Another fall. Another blight. But what if it wasn’t. What if scandalous didn’t refer to our sin but God’s grace? God’s grace is so big, so extravagant, so freely given that it has been referred to as scandalous. Often this scandal isn’t seen or felt when God’s grace is applied to us. (Because if we were really honest, we feel we deserve it). But when God’s grace is applied to someone else, especially those we think fail the most, we think of God’s grace as scandalous.