Matthew 10:16 Did Jesus love his disciples? Of course he did. Jesus loved people. The gospels are full of examples of his actions that resulted from loving and having compassion on people. In Mark 10:21 we read about how Jesus felt about the rich, young ruler who came to him. Jesus looked at him and…
Matthew 14:28-33 There are some days when so much happens it feels that a week passed in just 24 hours and Matthew 14 shows us one of those days in the life of Jesus. This is a fascinating chapter, full of drama. John the Baptist boldly confronted Herod Antipas who had married his half-niece Herodius,…
Ephesians 6:10-20 We arrive this morning at the end of Paul’s Ephesians letter. Let me remind you what I said about this letter in January when we began again working our way though this letter. Ephesians is one of four letters Paul wrote while in prison in Rome. He was 56 years old, just two…
Ephesians 6:5-9 There was extensive slavery practiced within Africa before the Europeans arrived and certainly afterwards. There has also been extensive slavery practiced in the Arab world. Slaves were acquired as captives in wars and by kidnaping by pirates. In the 1600s and 1700s and even in the early 1800s North African pirates kidnaped an…
Ephesians 6:1-4 Some of you are not parents but will be someday. Preparation for parenthood is not just a matter of reading books and decorating the nursery. I came across 12 simple tests for expectant parents to take to prepare themselves for the real life experience of being a mother or father. I’ll share just…