Luke 14:25-17:10; John 11:1-37 We all want to know we are loved and valued. We want to know we matter and someone cares about us. The repeated message of the Bible is we are loved by God. Further, this message was central to Jesus’ life. Jesus tells three stories to illustrate God’s love for all people. He tells a story about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. God chases after these lost o...  Read More

John 10:1-42; Luke 13:22-14:24 We live in a postmodern climate where claims of universal truth and exclusivity are mocked. Yet Jesus consistently makes these types of claims throughout his life. He says he is the gate and only by entering through him can someone be saved. Further, he describes the way to salvation as a "narrow door" (Luke 13:24). People often want to think that some vague sense of...  Read More

Luke 12:35-13:21; John 9:1-41 The average person watches about three hours of TV a day and spends another two hours on social media. Our eyes are constantly attentive to what is happening in our world and the lives of our friends, but are we equally attentive to the things of God? One of Jesus’ repeated themes is that of watchfulness. As followers of Jesus, we are to live with our eyes looking for...  Read More

Luke 11:14-12:34 We live in what is potentially the most materialistic culture in history. We may feel like Jesus' world is vastly different from ours. Yet one of the most common issues he dealt with was money; thus, materialism. He, not surprisingly, speaks to our world in his teachings from 2000 years ago. Jesus' warnings about material possessions in Luke 12 are stark and clear. Jesus warns aga...  Read More

John 8:21-59; Luke 10:1-11:13 One of the highest values in our culture is that of freedom. People uphold the ability to do whatever they want as one of the necessary rights of our age. Freedom is defined as the ability to do whatever someone wants, if it does not hurt anyone else, with a very vague notion of hurt. Yet the ability to do whatever we desire only ends up leading to bondage. Jesus in J...  Read More

John 7:1-9; Luke 9:51-56; Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:57-62; John 7:10-8:20 In our reading you may have seen something like, “The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.” We may find ourselves scratching our heads and wondering what we should do wit...  Read More

Mark 9:14-29; Matthew 17:14-21; Luke 9:37-43; Mark 9:30-32; Matthew 17:22-23; Luke 9:43-45; Matthew 17:24-27; Mark 9:33-37; Matthew 18:1-6; Luke 9:46-48; Mark 9:38-41; Luke 9:49-50; Mark 9:42-50; Matthew 18:7-35 How do you respond to failure? Do you find yourself grumbling, groveling in a sense of worthlessness, or trying to ignore it? The disciples experienced failure in their inability to cast o...  Read More

Mark 8:22-30; Matthew 16:13-20; Luke 9:18-20; Mark 8:31-9:1; Matthew 16:21-28; Luke 9:21-27; Mark 9:2-13; Matthew 17:1-13; Luke 9:28-36 Imagine playing a game you knew with absolute certainty you would win. No matter the ups and downs that might occur during the game, you would never be anxious; instead, you would have peace and confidence. Jesus tells his disciples (and by extension us) that as f...  Read More

Mark 7:24-30; Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:31-37; Matthew 15:29-31; Mark 8:1-10; Matthew 15:32-16:4; Mark 8:11-21; Matthew 16:5-12 Perhaps this is the hardest passage to understand in the Gospels. Jesus interacts with a Gentile woman and it has been used by skeptics to claim that Jesus is racist, antiwoman, and thus a sinner. The Bible is clear that Jesus is morally perfect and without sin. How are we...  Read More

John 6:22-71; Mark 7:1-23; Matthew 15:1-20 This past week we have seen firsthand that physical bread is not enough. Material things do not last. It is awfully easy, even after you have put your faith in Christ, to get caught up in material things or the trappings of religion like the Pharisees did, but none of that will satisfy. Physical bread is not enough. Material things alone do not satisfy. M...  Read More

Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15; Mark 6:45-52; Matthew 14:22-33; John 6:16-21; Mark 6:53-56; Matthew 14:34-36 What motivates you to serve? What compels you to love people, especially those who are difficult? Our motivation should be the same as Jesus which is compassion. Jesus saw the crowds and seeing their need for food fed them. Yet what caused him to respond this way was a heart of com...  Read More

Matthew 9:27-34; Mark 6:1-6; Matthew 13:53-58, 9:35-38; Mark 6:7-13; Matthew 10:1-42; Luke 9:1-6 God chooses to do his work through us. This may seem like a strange idea since God can always do it better by himself, but he has chosen you to accomplish his will. From the very beginning of history, he called Adam and Eve to work his garden. Now at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, he calls his disci...  Read More