Posts with the category “be-become-do”

Highlight The Resurrection of Jesus is absolutely fundamental to Christianity. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:13-15 that “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your fai...  Read More

Highlight Few scenes in the crucifixion account are more dramatic than the release of Barabbas. While we don’t have all of the details about Barabbas’ history or crimes, the historical context tells ...  Read More

Highlight The Gospel accounts do not attempt to describe Judas’ full motivation from deciding to betray Jesus. There are several theories. One is that it was triggered by his anger after being rebuk...  Read More

Highlight Jesus’ description of the Final Judgment is a text that has been debated for centuries. The biggest area of debate is regarding the identity of who Jesus refers to as “my brothers” and “the...  Read More

Highlight Let’s just say it directly - Matthew 24 is confusing. Many of the passages in Scripture that describe the parousia (The Second Coming of Jesus) are confusing because they are filled with im...  Read More

Welcome Welcome to Week 5 of the 2023 Be. Become. Do. Reading Plan This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name. This is a series all ...  Read More

Highlight Chiastic or chiasm is a literary technique that presents a concept and then repeats it back in reverse order. The structure puts the emphasis on whatever is placed at the middle of the struc...  Read More

Highlight All throughout the Gospels one can see the rise of frustration the Pharisees and religious leaders have towards Jesus. With each parable, miraculous healing, and tricky question, the dislike...  Read More

Highlight The last parable in Matthew 21 is a very condensed retelling of the Old Testament. Let's set the stage: God = landowner, nation of Israel = vineyard, Jewish leadership = tenants, Old Testame...  Read More

Highlight The book of Matthew was originally written as a letter. Chapters, verses and chapter titles were all added much later. And sometimes, those chapter titles can be slightly misleading. For exa...  Read More

Highlight In these chapters, Jesus begins to focus more on the attributes a person should possess. As mentioned in previous days, the Jewish people were looking for a Messiah who would come in power a...  Read More

Welcome to Week 4 of the 2023 Be. Become. Do. Reading Plan! This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find informatio...  Read More

Highlight “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” Ben Franklin In Matthew 17, Jesus speaks on both death and taxes. We will get there in a moment. Let’s start first on the mountain. Two key Old...  Read More

Highlight When we read the Gospels it comes from a place where we are already aware of the ending. Jesus suffered, died, and was raised to life again. But the disciples did not know the ending. So whe...  Read More

Highlight Two important cultural contexts appear here in chapter 15. The first is found while Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They approach Jesus, asking why his disciples ...  Read More

Highlight At first glance, these miracles seem to be disconnected. Yet looking closer, Matthew is highlighting the disciples' lack of understanding more than the miracles being performed. In the feedi...  Read More

Highlight In Matthew 13, Jesus speaks to the crowds and his disciples about the Kingdom of Heaven. His use of parables, which is a simple story used to illustrate a spiritual lesson, are common throug...  Read More

Welcome Welcome to Week 3 of the 2023 Be. Become. Do. Reading Plan. This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find info...  Read More

Highlight Matthew 12 focuses on the religious opposition that Jesus and his followers experienced. The Pharisees were a group of religious leaders who, in order to prevent their fellow Jews from brea...  Read More

Highlight Chapters 11 and 12 focus on the disappointment and opposition that began to arise in response to Jesus’ ministry. The disappointment is expressed through a surprising source - John the Bapt...  Read More

Highlight Matthew 10 is the second of the five discourses that form the organization of the Book of Matthew. Matthew 10:37-39 is the perfect example of a famous idea put forward by C.S. Lewis (the fa...  Read More

Highlight For anyone familiar with the Gospels, it can be confusing why some of the stories seem out of order from one another. The answer lies in the difference between ancient and modern biographie...  Read More

Highlight In Matthew 8, Jesus uses a term that he will continue to use throughout the Book of Matthew to describe himself: “Son of Man.” Just taken as three words, it seems like a very simple and gen...  Read More

Welcome to Week 2 of the 2023 Be. Become. Do. Reading Plan. This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find informat...  Read More

Highlight Jesus ends his famous Sermon on the Mount with four warnings, each with a paired contrast: two ways, two trees, two claims, and two builders. The theme of these contrasted pairs is to make ...  Read More

Highlight Verse 1 sets up the first half of the chapter. This is a principle that unites the next three examples that Jesus gives. A Jewish audience would have thought of specific behaviors when Jes...  Read More

Highlight The Sermon on the Mount is the first of five great teachings of Jesus recorded for us by Matthew. This is yet another example of the way that Matthew is intentionally connecting Jesus to th...  Read More

Highlight The Temptation of Jesus is a fascinating passage of Scripture. To understand what’s happening, one of the important things to remember is that Jesus is the fulfillment of not only Old Testa...  Read More

Highlight The Book of Matthew’s primary purpose, like all of the Gospels, is to record the words and life of Jesus to show his divinity and capture his teachings for His followers. But each Gospel wa...  Read More

Welcome to Week 1 of the 2023 Be. Become. Do. Reading Plan. This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name. This is a series all about how...  Read More