Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Introduction We have never been great at gardening. We have had a few small attempts at growing vegetables with mixed success. It has never been quite what we had hoped it would be. But I would like to tell you about the time that we had the greatest harvest of any place … Read More “Sow What?” »
Matthew 10:24-39 Introduction There are certain biblical phrases that have entered common speech. You have heard the phrase “reap the whirlwind” meaning you will face the consequences for your actions. That comes from Hosea 8:7. There is “by the skin of your teeth” which comes from Job 19:20. There is “the writing is on the … Read More “Taking Up the Cross” »
Matthew 16:13-23 Introduction We have a lot of information in the Bible about the lives of people who have sought to follow God. But why? Why not just have a list of commands, the dos and don’ts of what life is supposed to look like? Rules are fine but lists of commands do not necessarily … Read More “Learning From Peter” »
Matthew 6:7-13 Introduction We are now approaching the end of our series on the ACTS model of prayer. We have seen that prayer is not just about asking for stuff but also includes adoration, confession, and thanksgiving. However, this is not the ACT model but the ACTS model and so we have to look at … Read More “Supplication as Prayer” »
Matthew 3:1-12 Introduction As I was talking to Amanda about our current sermon series looking at various people from the Bible, she recognized that I had picked people who could be considered “B list.” That is not to say that they are not important. We have already looked at Ruth and Jonathan and they both … Read More “A Life of Repentance” »
Matthew 22:39-40 Introduction When I was a church attender and not a pastor, I generally hoped for new insight into the Scriptures. I was hoping the pastor would find some deep truth about God that I had never thought about before, a hidden gem that would bring about a fresh understanding of God. Not the … Read More “Love Our Neighbour” »
Matthew 22:34-38 Introduction We have been looking at what Jesus wants from us. This is an extremely important question for us to wrestle with. Thankfully, we have plenty of material available for us to find Jesus’ thoughts on the matter. Last week, we saw that Jesus wants us to follow him. Logically, that is the … Read More “Love God” »
Matthew 25:31-46 Introduction How do you feel about tests? My suspicion is that most of us do not enjoy tests but at the same time they are necessary evil. There are times that we have to measure how well people grasp the material that has been presented to them. My father was a truck driver … Read More “Testing the Church” »
Matthew 25:14-30 Introduction Do you have any experience in investing? I can almost guarantee that you do. It may be what we traditionally think of as investing, such as putting money into the stock market. Doing that is not just to energize the economy but because you hope to make some prophet for the risk … Read More “An Amazing Investment Opportunity” »
Matthew 22:15-22 Introduction I have been pastoring for approximately twenty-five years and have seen a lot of things over that time. But I can say that the COVID-19 pandemic was by far the greatest challenge and in many ways can be seen as a turning point for the church. It was a challenge in many … Read More “Dual Citizenship” »
Matthew 21:28-32 Introduction I am proud to be a Canadian and there is no other country that I would rather live in. Having said that, I find even myself contrasting Canada with other nations in ways that are perhaps not completely factual. For example, Canadians tend to pride ourselves on being openminded and hospitable to … Read More “Us and Them” »
Matthew 18:15-20 Introduction I want you to think about your experience with church over the course of your life. I am sure that you can think of a number of people that you really connected to and that have meant a lot to you. Now I want you to shift to at least one person … Read More “Hard Conversations” »
Matthew 23:23-24 Introduction Last week, as we looked at the activity of Christian disciples, we focused on the topic of prayer. That was pretty uncontroversial. I know Christians from many different traditions, from different ends of the theological spectrum, and none of them would push back against the idea that we as disciples should be … Read More “Fighting For Justice” »
Matthew 22:34-40 Introduction Have you ever attempted a New Year’s resolution? How successful were you at it? Do you think these things are generally helpful? I have had mixed results in the past. There have been many that I have quickly forgotten about but there are some resolutions I have made that have actually had … Read More “Discipleship Resolutions” »
Loving the Unlovable April 24, 2022 BBC Matthew 5:38-48 Introduction Justice! That is the cry of all people, whether justice for themselves or hopefully, justice for all people. We want justice. But what do we mean by justice? Very often when we speak of justice, what we really mean is vengeance. That person who did … Read More “Loving the Unlovable” »
Matthew 5:21-30 Introduction Throughout our time together, I will be sharing different parts of my faith journey. Today, I’m going to share one of the most painful parts for me. It was the time that I began to believe in Jesus. I know that it sounds bizarre that believing in Jesus would be a painful … Read More “Sins and the Mind” »
Matthew 5:17-20 Introduction I spend a fair amount of time on social media, with varying degrees of positive experience. I have been able to reconnect and keep in touch with people from my past. But I am also connected with and sometimes in conversation with people I don’t personally know. A number of years ago, … Read More “Jesus and the Old Testament” »
Matthew 5:13-16 Introduction You probably remember from school, whether it was high school, college, or university, that there were easy courses and hard courses. If you wanted to get a good mark with very little work, you needed to be very strategic in your course selection. When I was in seminary, I took Hebrew, which … Read More “Salt and Light” »
Matthew 6:5-15 Introduction There is one passage of Scripture that I have heard more than any other and it is not even close. It is not the 23rd Psalm and it is not the Ten Commandments. The one passage that I have heard more than any other is the Lord’s Prayer. Not only did the … Read More “Pray in This Way” »
Matthew 28:1-10 A Frightening Morning I want you to imagine that first Easter morning, specifically from the perspective of the women. Perhaps you think of an early morning stroll through a garden with a few friends. That was not really what was happening. It was very early in the morning, so early that it was … Read More “Do Not Be Afraid” »
Matthew 21:1-11 Introduction If you are a parent, or have at least spent some time with children, you will know that there is an ongoing lesson that needs to be taught. And that lesson is the difference between a need and a want. They need their favourite blanket. They need a bowl of ice cream. … Read More “The Lord Needs You” »
Matthew 2:1-12 Introduction You may think that Christmas is over but it is not. As the song says, there are twelve days of Christmas, starting on December 25 and ending on January 6. So Merry Christmas! When I think of Christmas, I often think of nativity sets. Each of us might be drawn to different … Read More “Welcoming the Outsider” »
A sermon based on Matthew 6:25-34, preached at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction Futurists, a number of decades ago, had some predictions about what life would be like now. The hope was that advances in technology would allow us to work less and live less stressful lives. We would be able to sit back, relax … Read More “What is the Kingdom of God?” »
I will confess that when I preach on the triumphal entry of Jesus, I usually preach from either Mark’s or Luke’s version. The reason I avoid Matthew’s account is that it looks at first glance that Matthew is saying that Jesus is sitting on two donkeys at the same time. That is too much to … Read More “Did Jesus Ride Two Donkeys into Jerusalem?” »
Last words are extremely important. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gives his disciples his standing orders. We call this the Great Commission. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the … Read More “8 Things We Learn From the Great Commission” »
A devotion based on Matthew 6:10. When I was in public school, we recited the Lord’s Prayer every morning. The church I attended prayed the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday. At least for that generation, the Lord’s Prayer was one of the most well known passages of the Bible. The problem is that the words can … Read More “Devotions: Matthew” »
Matthew 1:1-18 Introduction Communicators know very well that how you begin greatly affects how people listen to everything else you say. That is true for how we speak and how we write. People are looking for clues in your introduction that will indicate where you are going and will help them to interpret the rest … Read More “Notice the Women” »
Matthew 6:9-15 Introduction When it comes to learning how to do something, there are different kinds of people. Some people need everything spelled out for them. They don’t want to think, they want each step described in detail with no room for variation or error. There are others who find that far too constricting. They … Read More “The Lord’s Prayer” »
One of the projects I am working on is an apologetic commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. I am going to start it as a series of posts and then collect them as a book. Feel free to comment and help me to sharpen my arguments. “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the … Read More “Matthew’s Genealogy” »
