Read: Matthew 3:13-17 It is well known that the four Gospel writers each chose to highlight different aspects of Christ’s ministry. Often we find them recounting the same event in a very similar way. Occasionally, we find slight variance of expression due to the different perspective that each writer or eyewitness may have had of […]
Category Archives: Articles
John the Baptist, Preparing the Way of the Lord
Series: Jesus in the Wilderness Read: Matthew 3:1-12 John the Baptist must have been a strange sight to behold. He dressed in an outfit made from camel’s hair tied together with a leather belt and ate locusts and wild honey. If you know anything about me, then you know that I like to grow my […]
Christmas: The Gospel of Matthew | Jesus, Kings Still Hate Him
Read: Matthew 2:13-23, Revelation 3:14-22 There has been a common trend in the last decade or so to write complexity into the motivations of villains in cinema, television, and literature. Gone are the days of simple conflicts between good and evil, arch-nemesis who simply mirror each other’s complexities, or evil masterminds bent on world domination. […]
Moving Biblical Characters Off the Felt Board by Nancy Guthrie
Return as an Adult with New Eyes If you’re like me and you grew up going to Sunday school, how we understand so many of the people that we read about in the Bible can, in some ways, be stuck to what I would call the “felt board of our minds.” Our understanding of who […]
Hindsight is 2020: Moving Ahead from A Difficult Year by Adam Miller
I think C.S. Lewis captured our collective sentiment quite well when he wrote his first installment of The Chronicles of Narnia, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” As the four Pevensie children found themselves in a magical winter wonderland, there was one hitch: it was always winter, but never Christmas. I love winter. I […]
Christmas: The Gospel of Matthew | Jesus, Wise Men Still Seek Him
Read: Matthew 2:1-12 We have made it through another Christmas. Arguably, this was a little more unusual than previous years, but we got through it all the same. That is, we are past the first day of Christmas, but there are still 12 full days of celebration. Our resilience to listen to Christmas music into […]
Celebrating Jesus: A Christmas Eve Message
Matthew 1:21, 23 Merry Christmas Eve! It is a day when children of all ages experience the overwhelming excitement of celebrating, arguably, the best holiday of the year. Yesterday was Christmas Adam. It’s the day before Christmas Eve. Being the good uncle that I am, I have made a big deal of “Christmas Adam” with […]
Advent: The Gospel of Matthew | Jesus, Emmanuel
Part 4/5 Read: Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:10-14 Christmas is the time that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. The baby Jesus is the kind of Jesus that everyone likes. It’s why Christmas is celebrated by so many people, even those who would never find themselves going to Church every Sunday. I’ve even heard people pray […]
Advent With Children
“Please don’t say we need to color this candle purple too.” That was the report from one of my second grade students as we worked through the Advent calendar coloring sheet for Advent Week 3, which occurred last Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent. There was a palpable sense of relief when she discovered that […]
Advent: The Gospel of Matthew | Jesus, the Savior
Part 3/5 Read: Matthew 1:21, Isaiah 35:1-10 Christmas is a season that we are reminded of the story of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. It’s a familiar story and, perhaps, familiarity has caused us to grow disenchanted by the whole affair. We are much more likely to get excited about the entailments of Christmas, like […]
Advent: The Gospel of Matthew | Jesus, Son of Joseph
Part 2/5 Read: Matthew 1:18-25, Isaiah 40:3-5 Are you ready for Christmas? I think it is safe to say that nobody is ever really ready. There is a lot to prepare. Sometimes it feels like too much to do. During this second week of Advent, we are focusing on preparation, so I encourage you that […]
Dont Skip Advent: To Everything There is a Season
We finally made it to December. It felt touch-and-go for a while. More than any other year, there might be a temptation to relax, to treat ourselves, or to let ourselves go upon reflection of the many difficulties and trials that occurred. There are times when this is an appropriate and even recommended activity. We […]