Chapter # 7 Paragraph # 1 Study # 2
June 29, 2008
Lincolnton, N.C.
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<448> Thesis:   Great faith begins with great humility. Introduction:   Last week, as we launched out into our study of Luke's record of the healing of the centurion's slave, we considered three main elements of his introduction to the record. First, we are to carry into this study the fact that Jesus had publicly thrown down the gauntlet of His perception of the Kingdom of God and what is required of its "disciples" along with His declaration of what would happen to those who embraced that perception and what would happen to those who rejected it. Second, we are to carry into this study the fact that, for Luke and Jesus, "embracing" the perspectives of the Word of God are rooted in the specific details of God's revelation. The issues of revelation and life are too complex to survive a "generalized" belief that has no "specific" roots. And, third, we are to carry into this study what Luke has already told us about "Capernaum". So, this morning, as we move further into Luke's record of the centurion's faith, we are going to carry these three things with us and look into his words about the centurion's approach to his plight. The large "point" of this paragraph is that the centurion demonstrated the kind of "faith" that Jesus was looking for in Israel and it is that kind of "faith" that is required of those who would seriously embrace the Kingdom of God as Jesus laid it out. One of the lesser "points" is the one before us this morning in the part of the record that deals with the centurion's plight and his response to it. The relationship between this lesser point and the larger idea seems to be this: how one views his plight, and what he does to address it, is the foundation of what his "faith" will ultimately be like. So, with this in mind, let's get into the study.