Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11) Whenever I hear these words of the Lord’s Prayer I cannot help but be brought back to the wilderness in Israel and the 23rd psalm. In June of 2014, Stephen and I had the privilege of going to Israel on a walking tour. We learned so…
“Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9a) For many Christians, the Lord’s Prayer is the first prayer we learned by heart. We may pray it every week in worship or every day at meals. This prayer has worn deep paths in our souls. However, our familiarity with the prayer Jesus taught…
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14) This is an interesting end to the parable of the wedding banquet. The parable begins with a joyous invitation to the wedding banquet of the King. Then suddenly, shockingly, unbelievably, the guests decline the invitation. They have better things to do: more work to do,…
“…In anger his master handed him over to the jailors to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.’ ‘This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’” (Matthew 18:34-35) If I’m honest, I find these verses a little…
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away…
On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11) Gifts. Gifts are always a huge part of our celebration of Christmas. We give gifts to friends and family,…
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’)” (Matthew 1:22-23) I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and…
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and…
