by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin In this chapter, Jesus charges the twelve apostles to go out among the lost sheep of the House of Israel to preach ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand,’ with accompanying signs and wonders in order to confirm their message.  He then exhorts them to dedicate their lives to this task that they would not to be distracted by the things of the world, before warning them of the persecution they…

by David Groendyk I’ll confess, sometimes it’s hard for me to read the Gospels. Not because they’re not gospel-centered or soul-refreshing or Christ-exalting, but because when I get to passages like Matthew 8 and 9, it’s hard to see a rhyme or reason for why these handful of stories are grouped the way they are. In my ESV Bible, I’ve got seven different headers in Matthew 9 alone. My control-seeking and organized-obsessed brain wants to…

by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin The commonality between many of the passages in this chapter is that of physical healing.  First, Jesus heals a leper, then he heals the paralyzed servant of a centurion.  Later that day he heals Peter’s mother-in-law who is sick with a fever, and then that night he heals all who are sick and oppressed by demons.  In v.17, Matthew tells us that he did all these things “to fulfill what was…

“Your Good Father” by David Groendyk Every good sermon needs a strong conclusion. The preacher needs to drive home his point and impress upon his audience a lasting thought. Jesus’s sermon on the mount in Matthew 5–7 is no exception. This sermon is perhaps the most famous sermon in all of Christianity, and Jesus concludes it with the most important exhortation and most important warning he could. It would be tempting, after listening to or…

Anxiety and Prayer by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin It’s hard to believe that the whole world might be anxious at the same time, but it certainly seems to be.  Every news channel from around the world is continuing to update us on the number of people with the virus and how many have died from it, and every day we are hearing of new measures taken by our governments that limit our freedoms as individuals and…

by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin The first thing that stuck out to me in this chapter, in light of our current circumstances, is verse seven, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”  In times like these it is easy to be a hoarder of goods and to turn a blind eye to a neighbor in need.  But this is an opportunity for the mercy of Christ to be put on display through pity and…