It’s easy to talk about being bold for Jesus until opposition comes—when it’s dangerous, uncomfortable or people may look down on us. In Matthew 2, Joseph and Herod both have choices to make in response to God coming into the world. Do our own responses to God look show bold faith or frantic fear?
Jim takes us to the question “What sort of Redeemer is needed to bring us back to God?” as we start part 2 of the New City Catechism.
When we find ourselves demanding mercy from God do we see all the mercy He’s already provided? Do we understand the true mercy He’s offering?
We have a hard time listening to God. A phone vibrates, a mind runs off, and even when nothing interrupts we still lose the thread. The wise men of Matthew 2 trusted His word enough to travel months toward a king they couldn’t yet see—can we listen and trust Him when our own picture still looks unfinished?
Jim takes us to the question “Who is the Redeemer” as we wrap up part 1 of the New City Catechism.
When the warnings are there that we’re falling into sin, do we turn and go the other way? Or do we keep spiraling forward and crash?
Most of us navigate life by a quiet, practical question: what’s the minimum I need to get by with my time and my money? In Matthew 2, the wise men travel months across dangerous roads and then open their best treasures before the child—and the gap between what they did and what they could have gotten away with is exactly where this passage challenges us.
Jim takes us to the question “Is there any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God’s favor?” Where do we find hope after we recognize our situation before God?
We begin a new series in Genesis 4, looking at the impact of sin on early human beings… and all of us today.
We can hear God’s Word, begin moving in the right direction, and still stop short when the journey lasts longer than expected. In Matthew 2, the wise men do not settle for reaching Jerusalem; they keep following God’s leading toward Bethlehem, raising a searching question for us: What will we do when obedience requires another step?