In the letter to the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13, we read the second of two letters that contains only praise and encouragement from Jesus for the church. Although the church in Philadelphia looked weak, it was actually strong, because it had done the one simple thing that all churches and all Christians must do: keep Christ’s word. Jesus’ instruction to them (and to us) was correspondingly simple: hold on to what you have.
The final parable in our summer series appears in Luke 18:1-8. Like last week’s parable, the Parable of the Unjust Judge focuses on the...
During three weeks, we are looking at Matthew 6:1-18, moving from the outside toward the Lord’s Prayer in the middle. First we considered Jesus’...
The Parable of the Banquet illustrates the various responses to the generous invitation of the King.