What did Jesus say? 

Back in the early 1990s, a worldwide Christian phenomenon emerged from the unlikely location of Holland, Michigan, a town on the outskirts of Lake Michigan previously best known for its annual celebration of its Dutch roots, the Tulip Time Festival.

Janie Tinklenberg, a youth group leader at the town’s Calvary Reformed Church, was searching for a way to encourage young people to live out their faith during the week. She’d noticed that friendship bracelets were all the rage, and ordered 300 to be printed with the question, ‘What would Jesus do?’, a phrase first coined by the 19th century minister and writer Charles Sheldon. Many of us may remember wearing WWJD bracelets ourselves, simple but powerful reminders to think about dilemmas and to relate to people in a way that was faithful to Jesus.  

During the summer in SBC, we’ll be exploring a similar and equally challenging question. Instead of asking ‘What would Jesus say?’ we’ll explore, ‘What did Jesus say?’ Over seven Sundays, we’ll look at passages that record his teaching on the topics that he spoke about most.

As I’ve reflected on the list of topics he spoke on, I’ve been struck by how so many of them have to do with relationships and priorities. Number one on the list is ‘The kingdom of God’, followed by ‘Father God’, ‘Faith’, ‘Money’ and ‘Satan’. During July and August, we’ll look at seven passages from the Gospel of Luke where Jesus teaches on these vitally important subjects.

The WWJD movement is not the only one to have invited the wider church to think more intentionally about our everyday actions from the perspective of Jesus. Another group has emerged in recent years, calling themselves ‘Red Letter Christians’, a nod to Bibles where the words of Jesus are printed in red text. As we focus on these words in SBC, our prayer is that God will make us people more attentive to the priorities of Jesus, and equipped to live in ways that are faithful to him seven days a week.