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Matthew 5 The Pure in Heart v. 8 – Part 1 I was raised on the Canadian prairies, son of a preacher who pastored small town churches. His congregants were subsistence farmers, all poor and semi-literate. My view of church “buildings” was limited. Most of them weren’t even purpose-built houses of worship. They were converted […]

Key Verse: Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” If we were to poll your local church and its members for definitions of faith, we might get as many definitions as people giving them. We’d hear everything from, “faith is religion” to “faith is a […]

Key Verse: Hebrews 10:10 “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (NIV). Let’s follow the writer’s reasoning in the first part of this chapter. The Mosaic Law, and the animal sacrifices it requires for sin, are only a “shadow” of the […]

Key Verse: Hebrews 9:14, 15 “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who […]

Key Verse: Hebrews 8:6 “But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded in better promises” (NIV). In verse seven, the writer say, “if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no placed […]

Matthew 5 The Merciful v.7 First a word from Shakespeare, and then Jesus’ brother James: “The quality of very is not strain’d It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesses him that gives and him that takes: ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The […]

Key Verse: Hebrews 7:15, 16 “And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestors but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life” (NIV). Who was Melchizedek? There are only […]

  I’ve been cohosting an Internet prayer meeting over the past few months (biblediscoverytv.com) and have been pleased at the altruistic tone of  the prayer requests. Yes there have been personal needs presented but many have asked prayer for others. There was/is an old prayer song sung in church when I was a kid-“Others, Lord, yes […]

Matthew 5 Those who Crave Righteousness v.6 Ps. 37 is not alone. Again and again the Old Testament speaks of the short shelf-life of the godless rich, and the long, everlasting future that awaits the virtuous poor. The young Virgin Mary captured it in what we not know as “The Magnificat” when she said, “God […]

Matthew 5 The Mourners v.4 Here we have what an old theologian called “a deep doctrine of sin, a high doctrine of joy.” St. Paul’s, “O wretchedness man that I am…” is followed by, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…” (Ro. 7:24, 25). Comfort comes to those who mourn. Jesus is addressing both […]

Matthew 5 The Poor in Spirit v. 3 – Part 2 According to the “Etymological Dictionary” the English word “bless” comes from old English, “blestsian”, “to consecrate, make holy” and the Proto-Germanic, “blouson”, to hallow with blood” — originally  to sprinkle blood on an alter. Both Latin and Greek words for “bless” indicate a “speaking […]

The Poor in Spirit (v. 3) – Part 1 Jesus prioritized the poor. His “mission statement” was Isaiah 61 — “to preach good news to the poor…” (see Lk. 4:16-21). He made it clear that God the Father loves the poor because of their total dependency upon him. What’s more, it stood to reason that […]