Posts Tagged ‘Gospel of Matthew’
Do YOU Want Eternal Life?
When Jesus was asked, “What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” He responded by saying, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matthew 19.16-17) After listing all the commandments the rich man chose to push the issue further by saying, “All these things I have kept from…
Read MoreEpisode 375 – Let Go of the Past
As we learn in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18.23-35), God’s first position is to forgive the debt of our sin. We owe Him so much that we could never live long enough to repay Him. He still forgives, but there is a catch. He will only forgive us if we forgive others…
Read MoreLife Isn’t a Game
When we were children we played games like hide-and-seek. The “seeker” would count to ten and call out “ready or not, here I come” and then rush out to find those who were hiding. Once the “seeker” reached “10” there was no chance if we had not found a place to hide. Our best chance…
Read MoreBest Kept Secret
I’ve been hearing this saying my entire life. People have been telling me that the Orthodox Church is the best kept secret in America. I think this is meant to be a compliment. I think we are supposed to be proud that we have something so special, and nobody knows about it. I think we…
Read MoreHypocrites or Sinners?
It comes up all the time in conversations. The Church is full of hypocrites. I know how those people are when they leave the Church. They pretend to be so holy on Sunday. I don’t want to have anything to do with them. The normally opens the following conversation. Me: Do you know any alcoholics?…
Read MoreEpisode 374 – Prayer and Fasting Nurtures Our Faith
When we turn to God in prayer and fasting, our hearts are changed to better understand God’s desire for us. Faith the size of mustard seed is enough to move mountains, but every seed needs to be nurtured to produce. When we pray and fast, our faith is nurtured. When we bring ourselves and others…
Read MoreQuestions of Faith
What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ? Most people would answer by saying they believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came into the world to save sinners. And they would be correct, but is it enough to offer these few words about belief? The difficult answer unfortunately is, “NO!”…
Read MoreEpisode 373 – We are Safe in the Church
If we are inside the Church building, we are safe from the turmoil outside the walls of the Church. When we are baptized into the Church, we are safe with the protection and peace of God. The longer we stay outside the Church, the more we lose our focus, and we begin to sink in…
Read MoreIt is Safe in the Ark
We read the story of Noah’s Ark in the Old Testament. (Genesis 6-8). The only way for Noah and his family to be safe from the flood was to get in the Ark. For forty days and forty nights the storm raged and the floodwaters came. Everything that was not in the Ark was swept…
Read MoreThe Key is Humility
We live in a society that is constantly comparing itself to others and we are not immune. We sit at work and compare our coworkers. We compare our neighbors. We even compare our brothers in sisters in the pews on Sunday. Some say our society is the best on the planet. Some say we are…
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