This Week What do the “The Beatitudes” mean to you? This week we come to Matthew 5:1-12, one of the most famous sections of the Bible, the Beatitudes. They sound so appropriate and so honorable. And they are. But when you read them, you must also be horribly unsettled. What do we do when we haven’t…

This Week He healed them What happens when you come alongside the hurting? You are, in Paul’s words, “participating in Christ’s sufferings.” Oh, you’re not suffering as the substitute for sinners. You’re doing it to show the love of Christ, our substitute, to the person who is hurting. That’s better than any physical healing. Matthew…

This Week Follow me If you like what you see in some social media apps, you’re invited to “click, like, and subscribe.” Other apps are more direct and simply say, “If you like what you see, follow me.” They stole that from Jesus! Early in his ministry, Jesus invited four people to “follow me.” They…

This Week Jesus began What comes as second nature to you now, was once a beginning. That goes for everything from walking to driving a car to writing a computer program. After about 30 years of living a “normal” life, Jesus began his public ministry. Matthew records this beginning with some unique details. What he began then,…

This Week Who are you? Imagine you lived 2,000 years ago and Jesus invited you to follow him. Your first question might be, “Who are you?” Matthew’s first record of Jesus’ “active ministry,” after his baptism, would have given you the answer. He’s the one who’s not tricked by Satan. He’s the one who puts…

This Week Well pleased With what or whom are you well pleased? Was it the same a decade ago? Will it be the same in a decade? Read Matthew 3:13-17. God the Father said he was well pleased with Jesus, and he never withdrew that status. Can God say the same about you? Why or why not?…

This Week Pointing to Jesus Of all the good things you can do, and you can do plenty, what could be better than pointing someone to Jesus? That good thing could have eternal results. That good thing was also the special role God gave to John the Baptist and the special role God gives to…

This Week From where? Are you impressed by people born in impressive places? I recently ate at a restaurant named for a man born while his parents were climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, inspiring his parents to carry him to the top. Or was it all a marketing gimmick? Still, no one would name a restaurant after…

This Week The Lord’s plan for . . . No one likes a detour. It always means a longer drive in a direction you didn’t want to go. It’s one thing to encounter a detour on a trip, it’s quite another to encounter a detour in your life, a change of plans you can’t avoid…

This Week Come a long way to follow him That’s what the wise men, or magi, did. Join us to celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord, which means Jesus was revealed not only to one people, but to all nations. May our response to Jesus’ presence be like that of the wise men. Worship the…