Walking with Messiah Jesus

<p>Matthew 13:24-35, Mark 4:26-29 | A wise missionary once said, “What don’t start small, don’t get big.” He wasn’t original. Jesus’ parables are recorded to adjust the expectations of the people. The Messianic age had...

<p>Matthew 13:3-17, Mark 4:21-22 | The parables of Jesus help us to attach a nugget of teaching to a story that allows it to stick in our minds. What can we expect when we share with others about the kingdom of heaven...

<p>Luke 8:1-3, Matthew 12:46-13:3 | Jesus pushed the envelope on many social norms. He gathered women as disciples who assisted in the funding of the mission. He taught openly so that even the poor and the oppressed...

<p>Matthew 11:12-15, Luke 7:29-50 | John the Baptist cracked the door open to the Kingdom of Heaven and the people were all in, especially the downtrodden and outcasts. The religious leaders weren’t sure what to think...

<p>Luke 7:18-28 | Much of our lives are driven by how our expectations match up with reality. John the Baptist was no different. He had certain expectations for Jesus as Messiah. When those expectations weren’t being...

<p>Luke 7:1-17 | After the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus returns to his work of proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven through acts of mercy. Jesus has a knack of doing so in unexpected ways. First, a faith-filled centurion...

<p>Matthew 7:13-27 | We continue to explore how the Beatitudes serve as the overarching structure of the Sermon on the Mount. The 6th and 7th beatitudes closely map onto the last two sections of the Sermon regarding...

<p>Matthew 7:3-12, Luke 6:37-40 | In the previous episode, I wondered aloud if the Beatitudes were the outline and structure for the Sermon on the Mount. In this episode, I test the theory on a passage that seems to be...

<p>Matthew 6:25-7:2 | Worry is our make-believe superpower. So much energy expended for things outside of our control. Jesus wants us to trust in the power of our heavenly Father, to seek his kingdom and his...

<p>Matthew 6:13-24 | The end of the Lord’s Prayer corresponds to the beginning. We are delivered from evil in order to abide with our Father, who is in heaven. To be delivered from evil is a current reality too. We need...

<p>Matthew 6:11-13 | The Lord’s Prayer is structured in such a way that it reaches a pinnacle at the petition regarding our “daily bread.” This is the goal of the prayer. The petitions leading up to that pinnacle then...

<p>Matthew 6:9-10 | Jesus gave his disciples a prayer that summarized his teachings. This prayer sought to unite the hearts of those who prayed with the will of God in heaven, so that they may represent him in the midst...

<p>Matthew 6:1-9 | Jesus is all about the heart. Yes, he wants us to do good, but doing good without the right heart is the recipe for hypocrisy and steals away from us the actual reward for doing good. That reward is...

<p>Matthew 5:43-6:1 | God gives us the example of how to love our enemies. We see it every day as God gives good things to those who he could easily consider to be his enemies. When we reflect that kind of love, we...

<p>Matthew 5:39-45 | Injustice happens. It’s a broken world. The question is not whether injustice will happen to us, but how we will respond when it does. Will we return evil for evil and escalate the injustice, or...