{"id":9768,"date":"2026-06-21T13:05:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T17:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=9768"},"modified":"2026-06-21T13:05:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T17:05:15","slug":"courage-challenge-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=9768","title":{"rendered":"COURAGE, CHALLENGE &#038; CHARACTER"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>COURAGE, CHALLENGE &amp; CHARACTER<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Luke 13: 31 &#8211; 14: 14<\/b><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>by Rev. Richard Jones<\/b><\/h2>\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-9768-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/06-21-2026.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/06-21-2026.mp3\">http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/06-21-2026.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Divine Timetable<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><b>Luke 13:31-35 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">31 <\/span><\/sup><span class=\"ind\">\u00a0At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, \u201cGet away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.\u201d<br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">32 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And he said to them, <span class=\"JesusWords\">\u201cGo and tell that fox, \u2018Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">33 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.\u2019<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">34 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">35 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, \u2018Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>John 10:10-11 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">10 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">11 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Romans 11:25-27 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">25 <\/span><\/sup><span class=\"ind\">\u00a0Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.<br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">26 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, <span class=\"poetry1\">\u201cThe Deliverer will come from Zion,<\/span> <span class=\"poetry2\">he will banish ungodliness from Jacob\u201d;<\/span> <span class=\"poetry1\"><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">27 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0\u201cand this will be my covenant with them <span class=\"poetry2\">when I take away their sins.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Man Who Came to Lunch<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><b>Luke 14:1-6 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1 <\/span><\/sup><span class=\"ind\">\u00a0One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.<br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">2 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.<br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">3 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, <span class=\"JesusWords\">\u201cIs it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">4 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away.<br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">5 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And he said to them, <span class=\"JesusWords\">\u201cWhich of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">6 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And they could not reply to these things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Choice of Humility<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><b>Luke 14:7-11 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">7 <\/span><\/sup><span class=\"ind\">\u00a0Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,<br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">8 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">\u201cWhen you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">9 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">and he who invited you both will come and say to you, \u2018Give your place to this person,\u2019 and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">10 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, \u2018Friend, move up higher.\u2019 Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">11 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Matthew 23:5-7 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">5 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">6 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">7 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Proverbs 25:6-7 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">6 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Do not put yourself forward in the king\u2019s presence <span class=\"poetry2\">or stand in the place of the great,<\/span> <span class=\"poetry1\"><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">7 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0for it is better to be told, \u201cCome up here,\u201d <span class=\"poetry2\">than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.<\/span> What your eyes have seen <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>1 Peter 5:6 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">6 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,<\/p>\n<p><b>James 4:10 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">10 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. <span class=\"ind\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Unusual Guest List<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><b>Luke 14:12-14 (ESV) <\/b><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">12 <\/span><\/sup><span class=\"ind\">\u00a0He said also to the man who had invited him, <span class=\"JesusWords\">\u201cWhen 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.<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">13 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,<\/span><br \/>\n<sup><span style=\"color: #000000;\">14 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"JesusWords\">and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COURAGE, CHALLENGE &amp; CHARACTER Luke 13: 31 &#8211; 14: 14 by Rev. Richard Jones &nbsp; The Divine Timetable Luke 13:31-35 (ESV) 31 \u00a0At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, \u201cGet away from here, for Herod wants &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=9768\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,24,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-sermon-series","category-sermons-by-rev-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9768"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9768"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9771,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9768\/revisions\/9771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}