The Cross

Dennis McCallum
Matthew 26:36-27:54

The most important event in human history occurred when Jesus Christ went to the cross. Jesus' crucifixion was the epitome of physical torment, and included being stripped naked and flogging. Not only that, but Jesus endured spiritual torment by taking on God's wrath to pay for humanity's sin. Jesus paid the certificate of death for all humanity in the greatest demonstration of sacrificial love. As Christians, the cross is a constant reminder of God's love for us and something we should thank God for regularly. For those who aren't Christians, making a decision about Jesus' work on the cross is the most important decision to make.

Overcoming Prejudice with Love

Jim Leffel
1 John 3:17

James calls us to practice the love that Christ showed us. The world sees people in terms of their temporary status or wealth, but we are called to see people how God sees them. God sees them as loved, and so we should see everyone as a masterpiece of God's own creation.

Why the Waste?

Scott Risley
Matthew 26:1-16

The story of Mary pouring out her expensive perfume on Jesus to anoint him before his burial is still being told for almost two thousand years, just as Jesus predicted. The Lesson we can learn from this is nothing that we pour out on Jesus is a waste. Most people won't understand, but Jesus sees it differently. "Have our eyes been opened to see the preciousness of the One whom we are serving?...that nothing less than the dearest, the costliest, the most precious, is fit for Him?"

Religion vs. True Spirituality

Dennis McCallum
Matthew 23:1-39

Jesus takes one final shot at the Pharisees, and their legalistic mentality associated with religion. The Pharisees practiced false spirituality by living in hypocrisy, bossing and putting others under legalistic standards and being egotistical. Jesus' life emphasizes what real spirituality looks like: a humble, others-centered lifestyle of love that emphasizes Biblical truth and where what is on the outside reflects the internal change of the heart through loving and trusting God. Jesus came to offer eternal life, while the Pharisees merely wanted to look righteous on the outside, but inwardly were far from God. This religious mentality is a big barrier for people to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Good Deeds

Jim Leffel
1 Peter 3:9

Do we believe in the truth of the statement from Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive? Good deeds are a way to communicate in a way that, where our words may cause offense, what we do cultivates understanding and a desire to learn more. When we are able to sacrificially serve and help those around us we are putting the Gospel on display to a witnessing world.

What an Amazing God

Jim Leffel
Isaiah 43:4

What is our view of God? What is going on in our relationship with Him? It's easy for us to get distracted and lose focus of how loved and honored we are in God's sight. God has made Himself totally approachable and has done everything and given everything to move towards us who know Him and towards those who don't know Him. \r\n

Paradox of the Kingdom: The Way Up is Down

Dennis McCallum
Philippians 2:3-8

As Jesus is going up to Jerusalem, he teaches his disciples about what true spiritual leadership is in God's sight. Human leadership comes from very little power and is selfishly motivated to try and take love, praise, protection and security from others. In contrast, Jesus perfectly exemplified biblical leadership by choosing to set aside his own praise and glory to sacrificially love others, going to great lengths by dying for humanity on the cross. Two principle lessons come from this teaching of Jesus: 1) we should be willing to follow Jesus' leadership; and 2) we should learn to imitate him in our own leadership roles.

The Deep Mysteries of Grace

Dennis McCallum
Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus teaches about the Kingdom of God through a parable about the laborers. This parable reveals a lot about God's perspective of grace, perhaps the controlling theme of the Bible. Problems often arise when we do not deeply understand God's grace. When Christians deeply understand and live under grace, we understand our lack of worthiness before God, and yet are incredibly grateful that Jesus paid the way for us to have a new standing before Him. Under grace, we are freed up to love and serve others because of the security that comes from being under grace. Grace was revealed through Jesus paying for human sin on the cross so we could have access to this incredibly undeserved relationship with God.

What Does It Take to Get to Heaven?

Scott Risley
Matthew 19:13-30

The rich young ruler asked Jesus what good deed he must do to have eternal life. Rather than answer his question directly, He asks the ruler questions to uncover his profound misunderstanding of how good God really is. Jesus revealed how high the bar of goodness truly is. In spite of all his efforts to be good enough, he needed to give up on relying on his own merits and come to Jesus like a little child. Once he received grace (if he ever did) he needed to follow Jesus.