Jesus prepares His disciples for His departure by giving them a new command to love one another, promising to return for His people, and declaring that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Our love for one another should set us apart and show the world that we belong to Jesus. We can live with hope and confidence, knowing that Jesus will return for His Church. Because Jesus is the only way to the Father, we can trust Him completely for our salvation and eternal future.
Jesus is the Light of the World—the One who leads us out of the darkness of sin and into the light of salvation. As followers of Jesus, we are called to carry the light of Christ wherever we go.
Jesus asks each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” We can’t answer that question based on what our family, friends, culture, or church says—we each have to decide for ourselves who Jesus is. So this week, ask yourself: Who do I say Jesus is, and does the way I live reflect my answer?
We begin the Hebrews Sermon Series this week and see how God our Creator, throughout history, has communicated to His creation. The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that he has done so faithfully, finally, and fully. Jesus is the last word! Listening to Jesus is not “like” but IS listening to God!
Paul urges us, in light of God’s incredible mercy, to offer our whole selves as a living sacrifice. This, he says, is true worship. But what does it mean to be a living sacrifice?
This passage (familiar to most) describes and encourages living in a Kingdomly way that impacts every area of our life.
In today’s passage, John the Baptist seems to be having some doubts about who Jesus is. At Jesus’ baptism, John seems pretty confident that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Son of God. Now, John is in prison and Jesus doesn’t seem to be the Messiah He expected. Jesus, ever compassionate to the weak, speaks into John’s doubts with words of assurance. The questions for us: What causes doubts to rise in our minds about our Savior Jesus Christ? How should we combat those doubts?
This particular sermon, as is true of the others in this Christmas series, will be Christ-centered, but with a bit of a twist. The “Magi” or “wise men” as some translations render it, will take the stage so to speak and will focus specifically on what they say and do and then consider what that means regarding the baby before them.
Many debate whether we ought to say “Happy Holiday” or “Merry Christmas”, but such a debate misses what is most critical – to know and trust the Christ of Christmas. Matthew helps us know more about Christ and helps us see how we can trust Christ.
As is well known to most, this passage is the genealogy portion of Matthew. But it is more, much more, than just “so and so begat so and so …” Within this rich portion of scripture much is revealed regarding who this child really is and what He is able to do!