Scripture: Matthew

The Bible uses the word “world” in more than one way, and understanding the difference helps us understand what God is asking of us. Sometimes the world means God’s creation and the people He loves. Other times it means the systems, values, and ways of thinking that stand…

There is a war going on, and James tells us plainly where it starts. It does not begin on battlefields or in courtrooms. It begins in our own hearts, in the quiet place where we decide what we love most. When strife and fighting break out among us,…

A cup is a simple thing, defined more by what it carries than by what it is made of. This morning we gather around two cups. The first is the one Jesus held in the upper room, the cup of the new covenant, poured out in blood for…

James 3 gives us a map this morning, and we do well to study it carefully. True wisdom is not loud or proud. It shows itself in how we treat the people around us, even the ones who are hard to love. We fear God, we trust Him,…

There is a question that cuts deeper than most of us like to admit: do we really believe? Not believe in the way we might believe the sun will rise, with a distant and comfortable certainty, but believe the way a man stepping off a mossy rock into…

There is a kind of treasure that does not glitter, and yet it is worth more than silver. Jesus tells his disciples a small but weighty parable: a wise homeowner brings from his storehouse both the old and the new, combining aged wine and fresh bread into a…

There is a word that sounds hard but is truly peaceful, pleasant, and full of warmth. That word is surrender. We often think of surrender as losing something, like a soldier giving up in battle. But in God’s kingdom, surrender works differently. It is not about losing. It…