Pastor Tim helps us think about the next question in the New City Catechism (“No, Christ died once for all. The Lord’s Supper is a covenant meal celebrating Christ’s atoning work; as it is also a means of strengthening our faith as we look to him, and a foretaste of the future feast. But those who take part with unrepentant hearts eat and drink judgment on themselves.”).
Do we really have to show love to those whom we consider “enemies”? God calls us to show His love to everyone, so let’s think about what that means.
We love remembering that Jesus overturned tables in the temple—especially when we imagine them belonging to someone else. But in Luke 19:45–48 when Jesus drives out those who sold, and declares, “My house shall be a house of prayer,” His challenge isn’t just to those people who annoy us. What might He overturn when our own convenience, usefulness, and preferences begin to define worship?
As people struggle through things, it can be hard to understand how to help them. We may not always get it right, but how can we be more Christ-like in helping them through struggles?
We keep wanting peace now—the right circumstances, the right outcome, the right person in charge—and that hunger is not wrong, just misdirected. In Luke 19:41–44, Jesus weeps over a city shouting for peace while blind to the only kind that lasts, and his tears raise an uncomfortable question about what we’re actually seeking when we seek it.
Pastor Tim helps us think about the next question in the New City Catechism (“Is baptism with water the washing away of sin itself?”) as we continue to explore what exactly it is that Baptism does.
Pastor Tim thinks about how God tells us to show care for others in a different way than our natural impulse — and why that matters.
We can say all the right things about Jesus and still expect the wrong things from him. In Luke 19, the crowd welcomes its King with praise, peace, and glory—but what happens when the Savior we celebrate does not pursue the earthly victory, security, or power we wanted?
Pastor Tim helps us think about the next question in the New City Catechism (“What is Baptism?”) as begin our examination of what baptism is and what it means to be baptized.
Pastor Tim cools off in the pool as we think about cooling off our uncontrolled wills and being more focused on the things God values.