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At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? ” He called a child and had him stand among them. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child — this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me.
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses will inevitably come, but woe to that person by whom the offense comes. If your hand or your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire.
“See to it that you don’t despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
“If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.”
Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times? ”
“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.
“For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him. Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
“At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.’ Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
“That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe! ’
“At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he wasn’t willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? ’ And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”

Matthew 18

Who is the greatest? Jesus, not us. It’s easy to lose our way, and we should remember that when one of our own loses their way. We should be seeking to constantly be bringing others back to Jesus, and hoping they will do the same when we go astray. The Christian life is not intended to be an exercise in living in solitude, you can’t do it alone, you need a church around you to be a genuine follower of Jesus… you can’t be a body part without a body. When a fellow believer goes astray, when they are showing fruit that doesn’t come from the spirit, we have an absolute responsibility to go after them. We can’t just put our fingers in our ears and think “tisk, tisk, they shouldn’t do that.” When one member suffers, we all suffer. The church should draw bright lines and hold high standards for genuine Christian conduct. Go to people when there’s an issue, don’t go to other people. Go to them privately. If that doesn’t work, get a small group together and try to help them, go after them, try to bring them back into the fold. If you’re the only one who thinks what they are doing is wrong, then maybe you’re wrong… or maybe you’re in the wrong place. If, however, genuine believers lovingly confront a brother or sister in Christ and they are not willing to change, then for the sake of unity, they can’t remain a part of the fellowship. The church must be unified, sometimes that means when someone has separated themselves from the rest through their divisive words or actions, we have to give them what they want, separation. It’s better to have a smaller unified group, than a huge body who aren’t getting along. God is not divided, neither should his people be. In order for unity to happen, we’ve got to live by forgiveness. Forgiveness presupposes that we are all imperfect. We recognize that when a friend messes up, they can come back. And when we mess up, that means we can to. If we can’t forgive, then we won’t be forgiven. Jesus forgives, Jesus forgave… us, so we forgive others. There’s always a seat at the table of faith for repentant hearts. See you Sunday.

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good for us to be here. I will set up three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him! ” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown and were terrified.
Jesus came up, touched them, and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.” When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
So the disciples asked him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? ”
“Elijah is coming and will restore everything,” he replied. “But I tell you: Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before him. “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”
Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.
Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out? ”
“Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
The Second Prediction of His Death
As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.
Paying the Temple Tax
When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax? ”
“Yes,” he said.
When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers? ”
“From strangers,” he said.
“Then the sons are free,” Jesus told him. “But, so we won’t offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you.”

Matthew 17

Have you really encountered Jesus? Not the Jesus you thought you’d be following, the Jesus of a happy marriage, happy kids, happy job, happy life… but the real Jesus. The one where you don’t have to ask “is that you Lord?” But the Jesus you see and you just know “oh… that’s Jesus.” His glory and his power are undeniable. Even the demons obey him. He knew why he had come, to die, so when he calls us to die, do we listen? When he wants us to die to ourselves, do we hear him, or are we still listening to the Jesus of our own creation, the Jesus in our own minds, happy times Jesus? See you Sunday.

The Pharisees and Sadducees approached, and tested him, asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be good weather because the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy because the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can’t read the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.
The disciples reached the other shore, and they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
They were discussing among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”
Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you collected? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you collected? Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread? ” Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the leaven in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter’s Confession of the Messiah
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is? ”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am? ”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.” Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was the Messiah.
From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you! ”
Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Matthew 16

Purity. That means keeping anything that doesn’t look like what’s supposed to be there out. That’s true in our individual lives, and that’s true in the church. We can’t let ungodly/unhealthy people and attitudes persist in our lives. That stuff grows like a cancer. Before you know it that poison infects everyone around. Here’s what matters, “who do you say I [Jesus] am?” Is Jesus your Christ, your Messiah, or is he just an extracurricular activity to put on a college application or something to make you feel better by coming every once in a while? Is he real to you, or have you allowed the impurity of false faith into your life. Be real, be genuine, follow Jesus… really. Jesus’ life was about his death, and so too our life in him is about dying to ourselves. Our preferences, our plans, they are all secondary to his. Die to yourself, more and more each day, and don’t allow false friends, an impure faith, disingenuous belief into your life. Follow after Jesus, for real. See you Sunday.

Then Jesus was approached by Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, who asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”
He answered them, “Why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple,” he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have nullified the word of God because of your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines human commands.”
Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth — this defiles a person.”
Then the disciples came up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said? ”
He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.”
“Do you still lack understanding? ” he asked. “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”
Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”
He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me! ”
He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was healed.
Moving on from there, Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee. He went up on a mountain and sat there, and large crowds came to him, including the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he healed them. So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they gave glory to the God of Israel.
Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place to feed such a crowd? ”
“How many loaves do you have? ” Jesus asked them.
“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”
After commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They collected the leftover pieces — seven large baskets full. Now there were four thousand men who had eaten, besides women and children. After dismissing the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Matthew 15

“That’s not how we’ve always done it!” Tradition is an interesting thing. It’s a connection to the past and a way for previous generations to teach us the way, but it’s also not the scripture. What is meaningful at one time and leads people closer to Jesus might have become stale or might not have the same impact in a different place and time. Don’t be someone who honors Jesus with your lips, going through the motions of empty traditions that started from a good place, but now have become an empty ritual which doesn’t stir your heart. You aren’t a Christian because of what you say, or what you do, you’re a genuine follower of Jesus because his spirit resides in your heart and a your life is a reflection of him from the inside out. She wasn’t from the right family, she didn’t have the right background, her traditions were the wrong traditions, but her heart was right, she believed in Jesus, and he honored that. Jesus healed many people, not because of who they were, but because of who he was. Trust in him, follow him with your heart, from the core of who you are, don’t just go through the motions, give meaning to what you do. Don’t just do it, do it and feel it. See you Sunday.

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus. “This is John the Baptist,” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful for you to have her.” Though Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd since they regarded John as a prophet.
When Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them and pleased Herod. So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.
When Jesus heard about it, he withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick.
When evening came, the disciples approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
“They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them. “You give them something to eat.”
“But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to him.
“Bring them here to me,” he said. Then he commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate and was satisfied. They picked up twelve baskets full of leftover pieces. Now those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost! ” they said, and they cried out in fear.
Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter answered him, “command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.”
And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me! ”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt? ”
When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
When they had crossed over, they came to shore at Gennesaret. When the men of that place recognized him, they alerted the whole vicinity and brought to him all who were sick. They begged him that they might only touch the end of his robe, and as many as touched it were healed.

Matthew 14

“Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong? Is God really out there” These are our normal reactions when things go, according to our plans, horribly horribly wrong. There was no one more dedicated or committed to Jesus than John the Baptist. He was his family, both spiritually and literally. Yet, John doubted, and he even lost his life because of his faith in Jesus. Don’t judge Jesus’ faithfulness to you on your ability to judge your circumstances. The Lord is always faithful, we can rest in that. Sometimes that means we are persecuted, and sometimes that means 5,000 people are fed. We don’t know why, all we know is that what needs to happen to honor the Lord is what happens, he will work it to our benefit, for our good. Jesus is the Lord not only in our hearts, but in the world, real life. Even the basic elements of the universe obey his commands, walking on water? No problem, he’s Jesus. Sickness, pain, he can heal it… but he doesn’t always. We need to pay attention to this, his purpose is not that we avoid hardship (otherwise John would not have died) but his goal is for us to glorify him. Sometimes we do this best by facing suffering, even death, well. Don’t only follow him when the mood hits you, follow him. See you Sunday.