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Key Verse: Luke 12:1b “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Nobody likes a hypocrite. There’s something instinctive about this distaste — rather like our dislike for foul odours, snakes, and dishonest salesmen. We prefer people to be who they say they are. Regardless of the masks we ourselves may wear, we […]

Matthew 5 Divorce vv.31 & 32 – Part 5 Malachi starts the argument by declaring that Israel has one God and a unique covenant. Israel will be his people and he will be their God. But they have become disloyal to their national family (V. 10), their spiritual family (vv. 11,12), and their marriage partners […]

Key Verse: Luke 11:9 “And I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Have you ever thought of prayer as a process? Usually we think of it only in terms of verbalizing: articulating a need. But if you […]

Key Verse: Luke 10:20 “…do not rejoice…that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” In the last chapter, we read of Jesus sending out the twelve disciples “to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (9:2). In this chapter, He sends out seventy […]

Key Verse: Luke 9:58 “…Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Read the last part of this chapter, and you get the distinct impression that Jesus didn’t have the foggiest idea, when it came to public relations. Before you get […]

Key Verse: Luke 8:15 “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” Hear. Retain. Produce. That’s what “noble and good hearts” do. The object of hearing and retaining  is the Word of God (v.11). […]

Key Verse: Luke 7:9 “…I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” Most everyone likes to know what others think of them. And if it were possible, to know what God thinks of them. What most of us know, however, is what we think of ourselves. Generally, when […]

Matthew 5 Divorce vv.31 & 32 – Part 4 Then he warns them that divorce for “any reason” is not on the table. In fact only “sexual immorality” is reason for divorce. Apart from the exception, a man is not free to remarry. And the same principle applies to a woman. Jesus says in Mk. […]

Key Verse: Luke 6:47 “Whoever comes to Me…hears My sayings and does them…” Verbal Christianity can be quite enjoyable. You talk about love, discuss theology, give to the poor at Christmas, get lots of “amens!” when speaking about faith to the converted–in fact, it beats most other service clubs all hollow. Mainly because a “Christian” […]

Key Verse: Luke 5:38 “…new wine must be put into new wineskins…” Let’s follow Jesus’ thinking here. New wine needs new wineskins–that makes sense. Old wineskins have already been stretched by the fermentation process. Stretch them any more and they’ll burst. So the old wineskins are useless now; they’ve served their purpose. But does that […]

Key Verse: Luke 4:24 “…no prophet is accepted in his own country”. You’ve heard the old adage, “familiarity breeds contempt”. And if not contempt, familiarity breeds at least neglect. This was the case with Jesus. Interestingly, it was also the case with the nation of Israel. And, if we’re honest, it’s the case with you […]

Key Verse: Luke 3:8 “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…” John the Baptist must have seemed a rather arrogant fellow to some–how may preachers do you know who address candidates for baptism as a “brood of vipers”? He was so opposite the typical evangelist/prophet with their promotional schemes and follow-up plans. In fact, when people […]