Strive to Enter Through the Narrow Door

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark preached from Luke 13 on a question someone put to Jesus: "Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?" Rather than giving a number, Jesus told the man to strive to enter through the narrow door, and the sermon followed that answer carefully through the surrounding passages in Luke. It was Mother's Day, and the service also included a Psalm 118 reading that brought the morning to a...

Read together

1. Luke 13 primary text for the sermon, setting where Jesus teaches about the narrow door
2. John 10:40-42 Jesus went beyond the Jordan where John was first baptizing and many believed
3. Luke 14 the dinner party story preached the previous week, referenced as what comes right after Luke 13
4. 1 Corinthians 9:25 everyone who competes in the games exercises self control, they do it for a perishable wreath
5. Colossians 1:29 Paul striving according to God's power which works mightily within him
6. Colossians 4:12 Epaphras striving earnestly in prayer for the Colossians
7. 1 Timothy 4:10 we labor and strive because we have set our hope on the living God
8. 1 Timothy 6:12 fight the good fight of faith, take hold of eternal life
9. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 Paul saying he fought the good fight, finished the course, kept the faith, crown of righteousness reserved
10. John 18:36 Jesus says his kingdom is not of this world, servants would not be contending to keep him from being handed over
11. Luke 16:19-31 rich man and Lazarus, the great chasm fixed between heaven and hell, conscious torment
12. 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 now we see through a glass dimly, then face to face, fully known, faith hope and love remain
13. Revelation 12:11 by the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony, God wipes away every tear
14. Luke 1:46-53 the Magnificat, Mary proclaiming the great reversal, humble lifted up, rich sent away empty
15. Luke 6:20-26 the beatitudes in Luke and the woes, blessed are the poor, woe to the rich
16. Isaiah 30:15 in repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you were not willing
17. Psalm 118 read in full as a closing, includes the cornerstone verse and blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord
18. Psalm 118:26 blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, connected to the triumphal entry
19. 2 Peter 3:9 the Lord is not slow or slack, He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but all to come to repentance

Talk about it

1. The pastor used the story of the bi-vocational pastor in Mexico to illustrate trusting God's providence even when things don't go as planned. Can you think of a time when something you forgot or got wrong turned out to be exactly what was needed?
2. Jesus answered the question 'Are there just a few who are being saved?' by saying 'strive to enter through the narrow door' rather than giving a number. Why do you think He redirected the question that way, and what does that redirection say to you personally?
3. The pastor pointed out that the people outside the shut door said 'we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets,' yet Jesus said He did not know them. What is the difference between being around Jesus and actually knowing Him?
4. The sermon described what Luke calls 'the great reversal,' running from Mary's Magnificat through the Beatitudes and the woes. Where do you see that reversal showing up in your own life or in the life of the church?
5. The pastor closed by saying that John the Baptist performed no miracles, yet everything he said about Jesus was true, and many believed. What does that suggest about how ordinary people in this congregation can point others toward faith?