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Treasuring Jesus
The surpassing wealth of following Christ.
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The curse of abundance
When we allow the deceitfulness of riches to distract us, we create something that looks good but isn’t bearing fruit. We need fruit in the American Church.
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Pursue the richness of the Kingdom of God
http://fl.vu/g6CJr
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Greed isn’t about being rich
Then Jesus said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourself against all kinds of greed. After all, one’s life isn’t determined by one’s possessions, even when someone is very wealthy.” (Luke 12:15) If we could easily identify “greed” as just a dollar amount, it would be so much easier. We often try to put a dollar amount on greed… and then tax it. The…
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Culture Wars
I grew up in a great political era. Honestly. My family was very aware of the news and it was discussed at the dinner table. I was a political geek, knowing the names of the Supreme Court justices, the leaders of the Congress, and many key cabinet leaders in the sitting president’s cabinet. I knew key world leaders. Key events…
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Parables
“The parables, in fact, are told as kingdom explanations for Jesus’s kingdom actions. They are saying: ‘Don’t be surprised, but this is what it looks like when God’s in charge.’ They are not ‘abstract teaching,’ and indeed if we approach them like that, we won’t understand them at all.” — N T Wright, Simply Jesus
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You BETTER Listen!
9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear had better listen!” (Mark 4:9, NET Bible) That has a little more command to it than other translations. Wake up. Pay attention! We are a church asleep these days. We’ve become bored with our Christianity. It’s time to quit sleep walking and realize that following Christ is NOTHING close to boring. We…
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Treasuring Jesus
The text this Sunday is Matthew 25:1-13. As I work through this text, and all of Matthew 25 really, I am struck by how this passage brings together a lot of Matthew’s gospel. In particular, I see the 5 foolish virgins in the parable of the soil. They received the word with joy, but without roots, the “joy” is stripped…
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Living Without Excuse
Looking ahead to the texts for next week’s message, I find myself in Matthew 25. It looks like the remainder of November to Advent will be in Matthew 25. This passage comes at the end of a larger context beginning in Matthew 23. As I begin to read through all of this material, then focus in on Matthew 25, the…
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The Weeds
I am preaching this Sunday on the parable of the wheat and the weeds. What is so challenging for me is to understand a couple of things: 1. Jesus works this all out in the end. We are so busy trying to work it out NOW. We want to identify the weeds and pull them. Jesus says, “Let this go.…
Tag: Parables
