A Story of Death and Taxes
August 2, 2020 • Collin Mayjack
Jesus is slowly but surely headed for Jerusalem, where he knows he will suffer and be killed. Along the way, the collectors of the temple tax ask Peter whether his rabbi pays the tax. Through a parable about kings and through the belly of a fish, Jesus shows his disciples what it looks like to live secure and rooted in the Father’s love.
The Way of the Mustard Seed
July 26, 2020 • Tyler Staton
Guest teacher Tyler Staton, from Oaks Church in Brooklyn, New York, discusses the value of prayer and fasting to the follower of Jesus. They are the humble, hidden ways we choose the tiny seed over the suit of armor. And in the upside down Kingdom of God, that seed of divine love grows and blossoms into a force of divine power.
On Listening
July 19, 2020 • John Mark Comer
At the fulcrum point in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus goes up on a high mountain where he is transfigured before his apprentices. Over their fear, the apprentices hear a voice from heaven saying, “listen to him!” Thousands of years later, in our own fears, the call to find a mountain and listen to Jesus is greater than ever.
Take Up Your Cross
March 8, 2020 • John Mark Comer
From the Series “Gospel of Matthew.” In a culture of hedonism, digital instant gratification, and postmodern propaganda, Jesus’ call to deny your self and take up for your cross sounds bizarre. But in yielding control to God in trusting love, we enter the kingdom. At first this sounds hard, but what if control is actually an illusion? What if yielding is actually the path to freedom and joy?
Who Do You Say I Am?
March 1, 2020 • John Mark Comer
In this teaching on Matthew 16, we explore Jesus’ famous question, Who do you say that I am? As well as the background of the city of Caesarea Philippi as the city of the Greek god Pan and his gate to Hades. We imagine living a world where Jesus is far more than just a rabbi, and as a result, we move from fear to faith.
Sign Seeking & Scarcity Mindset
February 23, 2020 • Collin Mayjack
Jesus critiques the religious leaders for asking for a sign and urgently warns his disciples not to fall into their way of thinking, lest it take over their mind and keep them from discipleship.
Bring Us Home
February 16, 2020 • Christian Dawson
Jesus heals the sick and feeds over four thousand people. On first read, it seems as if Matthew is reiterating what he has shown about Jesus already, but as we look closer we see that there is more to this encounter and to Jesus than meets the eye.
Canaanites and Breadcrumbs
January 5, 2020 • Collin Mayjack
In this passage, Jesus encounters a Canaanite woman looking for mercy. Instead of compassion and help, she’s met with silence and a cold shoulder. Yet, she persists and in a bizarre turn of events, Jesus changes his mind and heals her daughter.
The Heart is a Sewer
December 29, 2019 • Josh Porter
Jesus constantly frustrated the religious leaders of his day by challenging their legalistic adherence to the Scriptures. Today Jesus frustrates his modern-day disciples by challenging any hesitation to take the Scriptures seriously.
Jesus on Becoming a Non-Anxious Presence
September 1, 2019 • John Mark Comer
In this well known, but often missed-out-on story of Jesus walking on the water, we notice the writer Matthew’s key insights from Jesus’ life and teaching about becoming a “non-anxious presence” in a world caught in a vicious cycle of anxiety. We have faith and release control.
Jesus and the Five Thousand
August 25, 2019 • Bethany Allen
Facing rejection and grief Jesus retreats from the busyness of his work to find a quiet place to be alone. When he gets there he’s faced, not by silence, but by need.
What can we as modern disciples of Jesus learn from one strange story of how Jesus turns a little bit of food into a lot more?
Severed Heads and Phony Kings
August 18, 2019 • Josh Porter
In the middle of Matthew’s biography of Jesus, we learn the awful fate of John the Baptist. If this is what happens to the one who prepares the way for the Messiah, what will happen to the Messiah himself? This haunting story acts as an enduring reminder that the way of Jesus will always be an affront to the powers that be.
The Inevitability of Rejection
July 7, 2019 • Josh Porter
When Jesus returns to the familiarity of his home and his family he is met not with a celebratory welcome, but with skepticism and rejection. The divisive nature of Jesus’ person and teachings serves as both warning and encouragement for all who would follow in his footsteps: Rejection is inevitable.
The Wheat & the Weed Wackers
June 30, 2019 • Christian Dawson
Throngs of people crowded around Jesus on a lakeshore. The question on their minds was, “what is the coming Kingdom going to be like?” Jesus’ answer is surprising, frustrating, and seemingly foolish: God’s rule is like good people and bad people growing together.
The Four Soils
June 23, 2019 • Collin Mayjack
Matthew 13 begins a series of teachings of parables. These common stories are meant to surprise us and invite us to re-evaluate our lives from the ground up. Jesus begins his parabolic teachings with a story about a farmer sowing seed, encouraging his audience to think and re-think whether or not they have truly heard the message of the kingdom.
Big Fish, Queens, and the Family of Jesus
March 24, 2019 • Collin Mayjack
The religious leaders challenge Jesus and demand a sign from him. Like them, many of us have asked Jesus for a sign, demanding that he proves himself and that he is worth following. Yet, Jesus’ will not play the leaders games and he will not play ours. Instead, Jesus invites us to draw near, to listen, and embrace the posture of discipleship at his feet.
Brood Of Vipers
March 3, 2019 • Josh Porter
Jesus is accused of being a glutton, a drunkard, a criminal, a fake, even an evil sorcerer. What his accusers seem to overlook are the powerful consequences of loose talk. This is more than a little sobering for disciples of Jesus some 2,000 years later. Our words have the power to steward faith in Jesus, or to stamp it out. To lift others up, or to bring them down.
A Problem With Tradition
September 2, 2018 • Bethany Allen
As Jesus continues his work, he stirs up controversy with religious leaders by doing good at the expense of formal rule-keeping. And in normal fashion, Jesus is constantly challenging our desire for a black and white world by offering us something unexpectedly better. What does it mean for us, as disciples of Jesus, to understand the value in tradition without lapsing into ritualism?
The Secret of the Easy Yoke
August 5, 2018 • Bethany Allen
As apprentices of Jesus, we are just as capable of following Jesus in some aspects of our lives as we are to completely reject him in others. What does it mean to fully accept the easy yoke Jesus offered?
We’re All Thomas Now
July 29, 2018 • John Mark Comer
Jesus warns and encourages his disciples about what will come as they live into his Kingdom mission. What would it look like to live as a disciple, free of all fear, fully alive to his power?