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

Mark 5:1-20; Matthew 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-39; Mark 5:21-43; Matthew 9:18-26; Luke 8:40-56 Jesus revealed his power throughout his ministry on Earth. He revealed his power over demons, death, and illness in his early ministry. His greatness was undeniable─sadly, not everyone responded correctly to his power. The most saddening response to Jesus was the crowd who asked Jesus to leave upon seeing the f...  Read More

Matthew 13:10-23; Luke 8:9-18; Mark 4:21-29; Matthew 13:24-30; Mark 4:30-34; Matthew 13:31-52; Mark 4:35-41; Matthew 8:23-27; Luke 8:22-25 Being a good listener is a necessary part of the Christian life. The psalms, the prophets (especially Isaiah and Jeremiah), and now Jesus tell us the necessity of listening well. Sure, we should listen to people, but the focus today is learning to hear from God...  Read More

Luke 8:1-3; Mark 3:20-30; Matthew 12:22-45; Mark 3:31-35; Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21; Mark 4:1-9; Matthew 13:1-9; Luke 8:4-8; Mark 4:10-20 C.S. Lewis famously argued that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. There is no room for the position that Jesus was simply a great moral teacher or revered religious man. He says people need to take the position he was intentionally deceptive, misg...  Read More