Love for neighbor is when you love others practically the same way you love yourself. Put yourself in the shoes of this half dead man. What if that was you? You were traveling and out of nowhere you got mugged, beaten up and that was you bleeding on the side of the road. How would […]
Jesus
Incarnation: Longing to See Jesus (pt1 of 3)
Today is part 2 of our Christmas series. I am going to follow up on the theme of the incarnation that I introduced briefly last week. But today as we wrap up the new year, it’s also going to be part reflection, part confession, part hope for how things might be different in the new […]
Matt 15: Religion is Outside In, Christianity is Inside Out (pt2 of 3)
What about the ordinances? There are 2 ordinances or traditions that Christ himself ordained for us to observe. One is the Lord’s Supper and the other is baptism. Catholics observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday and many Protestants look at that and say, that’s just a meaningless ritual. So why bother observing it? Attending church […]
Matt 12 – The Lord of the Sabbath and the Promised Messiah (pt3 of 3)
RECAP 1) Religion is all about rules. 2) Religious people are more interested in self than others. 3) Religious people think God wants them to sacrifice and mercy is completely foreign to them. 4) Religious people bear bad fruit. 5) Religious people deal with sin through human effort. Religion cannot save us. If we are […]
Matthew 11 – Rest for All, Disciples Included (pt4 of 4)
4) Rest for the sinner Jesus provides rest for those who minister, he provides rest for the doubters, he provides rest for those who are suffering, and lastly, Jesus provides rest for the sinner. Jesus prefaces the verses about rest with verses 16-24 about sin. Before we can talk about true rest, we cannot ignore […]
Matthew 10 – Fear the Lord, Not Man (pt2 of 3)
How many times does Jesus say, do not be afraid, in this chapter? 3 times. First, in v26– 26 “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. Second, v28– 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the […]