Matthew 18 The disciples asked Jesus a question that most of us have probably pondered at some point: "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Our Sunday school answer would all be to yell out: JESUS! But who, after Him? Jesus, recognizing their heart (as He always does) tries to help them understand that their heart is in the wrong place when they ask this questio...

Matthew 17 Today's chapter begins with Peter, James John on top of a mountain witnessing the amazing transfiguration of Jesus. Suddenly Moses Elijah appear, and an audible voice of God is heard saying, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him." The disciples are terrified and they fall face down on the ground. Jesus calms them and they trav...

Matthew 16 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." A few years back at church-wide leadership meeting we looked at this ...

Matthew 15 "Watch your mouth!" Those words take on a significantly more serious tone when they come from Jesus instead of just your Mom. But, that is exactly what the Lord warns us about in Matthew 15. Jesus warns His disciples: (Matthew 15:18-20)"What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, mu...

Matthew 14 Matthew 14 records two famous miracles of Jesus: The feeding of the five thousand, and walking on water. One displaying his provision, and the other his incredible and overwhelming power as God. Jesus Feeds The Five Thousand In verses 13-21 Jesus is actually trying to get away, to retreat, meditate, and spend time in prayer, but in his compassion he stays, as...

Matthew 13 "He who has ears, let him hear." Matthew 13:9 In Matthew 13 we see the record of Jesus telling a number of parables. As a matter of fact, there are 8 of them. In previous chapters we see Jesus using parables to illustrate his teachings such as in 5:14-16 where Jesus says, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do pe...

Matthew 12 Today we're going to do something a little different. Instead of a single writer, we decided to have each of the staff members give a brief thought from Matthew 12. Bobby Pruitt "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Jesus drops this theological bomb on a group of Pharisees. Mark's Gospel account includes the instructive statement, "The Sabbath was made ...

Matthew 11 Are you tired? Are youoverwhelmed by life? Are you stressed? More so than any time in history, we live in a society, which runs at an unsustainable pace. There are more things demanding our time. People have constant access to us. There's no way to escape the pressure. There's always another soccer practice There's always another email to respond to ...

Matthew 9 Just recently someone responded to a Facebook post inviting him to church on Easter with some harsh words. I won't quote him, because I hope he'll someday come to regret those words and I don't want to further tie them to him. But the comment was similar in many ways to the famous quote by Richard Dawkins: "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most un...

Matthew 8 Matthew starts to explore the actual work of Jesus Christ. He gives us four different examples of Christ's power. Christ's Power Over Diseases Leprosy (v1-4) The leper started by kneeling before Him and calling Him "Lord". The leper was able to recognize Jesus' authority and power. He had the faith to trust that Jesus could do what He said He could do. As s...