Do You Die to Deny Yourself? (Matthew 16:21-27)

Is Jesus inviting you to die? Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24).

• "The center of salvation is the Cross of Jesus, and the reason it is so easy to obtain salvation is because it cost God so much"? Oswald Chambers.

1. Why did Jesus need to explain that he "must go to Jerusalem" to suffer and die (Mt 16:21)? How often did he do so from this point on (Mt 17:9, 12, 22-23; 20:18-19, 28; 21:38-39; 26:2)? Why so often??
2. Why did Peter strongly object (Mt 16:22)? Why is it so easy to proclaim who Jesus is (Mt 16:16), but so hard to accept how he works?

Who is Jesus to You? (Matthew 16:13-20)

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” (Mt 16:15)

• If Jesus asked you directly “Who do you say I am?” how would you answer in your own words—not with a memorized statement or verse or gospel trophe, but from your current experience and relationship with Him?

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven" (Mt 16:17).

• How Do You Know that You Know Jesus? Has your understanding of Jesus been shaped more by culture, family, tradition, or popular opinion than by personal revelation from God?

Do You Feel Entitled or Unworthy? (Matthew 15:21-28)

"He replied, 'It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs'" (Mt 15:26).

• Can you be humble and humorous when humiliated?
• Do You Feel Entitled to Wonder Bread or Leftover Crumbs?

1.   Why is the location of this encounter significant (Mt 15:21)?

2.   What does she reveal about her understanding of Jesus (Mt 15:22)? Like her, what burdens do you carry for others?

Walk on Water (Matthew 14:22-33)

“But Jesus immediately said to them: 'Take courage! It is I. [ego eimi {Gk}] Don’t be afraid.'” “'Come,' he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus” (Mt 14:27, 29). [Walk on Water.]

• Peter becomes frightened and begins to sink, not the other way around.

Compassion and Responsibility (Matthew 14:13-21)

"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick" (Mt 14:14). "You give them something to eat" (Mt 14:16).

• How can I know the depth of God's compassion and of my responsibility?

1.   What preceded this miracle (Mt 14:13, 8-12)?

• How might Jesus have felt (Isa 53:3)?
• What does his response (Mt 14:14) show about him (Mt 9:36; 15:32)?
• Have you experienced Jesus’ love and compassion (Jer 31:3)?
• Do you serve others when you’re hurting?

The Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:24-43)

"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field" (Mt 13:24).

1. How did Jesus explain The Parable of the Weeds (Mt 13:24-25, 30, 36-39, 40-43)?
2. How is the kingdom of heaven like a man who sows good seed (Mt 13:24, 3, 19, 37; 4:17)?
• Are you like the "the man who sowed good seed" (Mt 13:24, 37)? How (Lk 9:60; 1 Cor 1:22-23; 2:2, 2)?
  
3. Do you "write off" some people as a "weed" (Mt 13:28)?
   
• Do you judge and decide who is "in" and who is "out" (1 Sam 16:7; Jn 7:24)?

A Christian is Unconquerable (Romans 8:26-39)

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Rom 8:37).

"A Christian is an impregnable person. He is a person that never can be conquered." Richard Sibbes. The Bruised Reed. 17th Century. [See Notes below.]

** Memorize Romans 8:28, 8:31-32, 8:37-39.

      A Christian Cannot be Conquered because the center, core and crux of Christianity is that Christ was Crucified for the Church and the Cosmos.

Lofty Love is to Love God and Others (Matthew 22:36-40)

Full quote below.

"Teacher, which is the greatest cpmmandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Mt 22:36-40).

Jesus' core teaching is that love for God and love for neighbor are the inseparable foundation of all Scripture (Mt 22:37-40).

Paradox (Matthew 10:37-42)

Full quote below.

"Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it" (Mt 10:39).

1. Priority / Allegiance / Exclusivity /Preeminence. Why does Jesus' command you to love Him more than your family (Mt 10:37; 22:37-38; Dt 6:5; Lk 14:26)?
   
• Does this contradict the command to "Honor your father and mother" (Exo 20:12)? Why or why not?

God is Light (1 John 1:1-2:11)

“God is light” (1 Jn 1:5). “...walk in the light...” (1 Jn 1:7). “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did” (1 Jn 2:6).

1. Why emphasize Jesus being “heard,” “seen,” “looked at,” and “touched” (1 Jn 1:1; Jn 1:14; Lk 24:39)?
• Is this your experience of Christ?
2. What is eternal life (1 Jn 1:2; Jn 17:3; 1 Tim 3:16, 1 Cor 1:9)?
• Why does sharing this message bring joy (1 Jn 1:3-4; Phil 2:2; 2 Jn 12)?
• Do you have joy from sharing Christ?
3. What does it mean that “God is light” (1 Jn 1:5; Ps 27:1; Jn 8:12; 1 Tim 6:16)?
• What does "light" do (Jn 3:19–21)?

Live Free Without Fear (Matthew 10:26-33)

Live Free, Leave Fear. 12th Sun in Ordinary Time.

"So do not be afraid of them..." (Mt 10:26). "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body..." (Mt 10:28). "So don't be afraid..." (Mt 10:31).

• What do you (people) fear?
• Being lonely? Disliked? Unpopular? Critized?
• Not loved? Honored? Acknowledged? Recognized? Given credit?
• Being insignificant? Ignored? Betrayed? Taken for granted?

What is a Christian?

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Therefore, the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20).

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor 5:17).

• Why has Gal 2:20 and 2 Cor 5:17 been regarded as among the best verses that describe what a Christian is?

An Extravagant Expression of Emotion (Luke 7:36-50)

"...her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little” (Lk 7:47).

"She has done a beautiful thing to me." "Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Mk 14:6, 9).

1. Why did Simon the Pharisee invite Jesus to dinner, yet fail to provide basic hospitality (Lk 7:36, 44, 45, 46; 11:39, 42-43; cf. Rom 12:10)?
   
• Why did he question Jesus' prophetic credentials (Lk 7:39; Isa 64:6)?
• How does the parable of the 2 debtors:
• Expose Simon's spiritual condition (Lk 7:40-43; 18:9, 11-12; Mt 7:3-4; Jer 17:9)?

Extravagance (John 3:16-21)

Familiar as Jn 3:16 is to us, they were uttered to Nicodemus for the 1st time. They're the revelation of the nature of God, and the ground of our love to God and man.

"The very nature of God is extravagance." Oswald Chambers.

• Is God's nature extravagannt? Why (Jer 31:3; 2 Sam 12:8; Lk 15:12, 22-23, 31)?

CONTINGENCY (Genesis 48:15)

See God in the Contingencies of Your Life.

• "..the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day.." (Gen 48:15, NIV).
• "...the God who has looked after me all my life till this day..." (Robert Alter).

** Are you here today because every contingency throughout your life has led you to this very moment?

Contingency in every person's life:

Does Jesus See Your Faith? (Mark 2:1-12)

"When Jesus saw their faith...” (Mk 2:5).

1. What does the size and enthusiasm of the crowd tell about Jesus’ popularity (Mk 2:1-2; Jn 2:23)?
2. What does the 4 friend’s extreme steps reveal about their faith (Mk 2:3-4; Jas 2:18, 22, 26)? When Jesus saw "their faith" did he include the paralytic?

Preaching: Do's and Don'ts

1. Don’t be Clever.                   1a. Do be Careful. 
2. Don’t be Controversial.       2a. Do be Consecrated. 

3. Don’t be Conceited.             3a. Do be Concentrated.

• 
  The Gospel has to move men to do what they are dead-set against doing, namely, giving up the right to themselves.

• The central, difficult requirement of the Gospel is for individuals to stop claiming rights to their own lives, ambition, and self-direction.

• The core challenge of Christian discipleship is separating mere belief from actual transformation.

Is Jesus Worth It? (Luke 9:57-62; 14:25-27, 33)

"...those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples" (Lk 14:33). [Is Jesus too demanding? Worth the trouble?

1. To the 3 people who approached him or were called by him (Lk 9:57-58, 59, 61), why did Jesus respond so abruptly/bluntly/curtly (Jn 2:24-25)?

Chosen Yet Rejected (1 Peter 2:4-10)

"...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house..." "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone" (1 Pet 2:5, 7; Ps 118:22).

• How does it feel to be chosen by God yet rejected by friends and family (Jn 1:10-11; 15:18)?

Do You Get It? (Luke 24:13-35)

• "They stood still, their faces downcast" [with grim, saddened expressions] (Lk 24:17b).
• "...but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem/liberate Israel" (Lk 24:21a).
• "They asked each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?'” (Lk 24:32)

** Do you have a "lightbulb moment"? An epiphany? An "Aha" moment?

Give Up Your Donkey, Your Cloak and Your Expectation (Matthew 21:1-11)

"If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them..." (Mt 21:3).

• "Discipleship means following the man on the donkey all the way." Donald English, United Methodist minister.

1. What “donkey” (possession, privacy, time, comfort) is God asking you to release for His use (Mt 21:1-2)? Why is this difficult?
• How dare God demand this of you (Mt 21:3; Dt 10:14; Ps 24:1; 50:10-12; Jer 10:23; 1 Cor 6:19-20)?

God's Gentle Love (John 13:1-17)

"Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" (Jn 13:1b). 

1. What is the nature of love (Jn 13:1b; Rom 5:8; 1 Jn 4:10)?
• Why was Judas' problem (Jn 13:2)?
• What did Jesus do with his power (Jn 13:3; Phil 2:5-8)? What did he not do (Mt 26:53)?
• Do you have power to do what Jesus says (Mt 5:44)?

Plato: The Allegory of the Cave

"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil" (Jn 3:19).

Chained since birth (like the man born blind in John 9). Plato's allegory is of prisoners chained since birth deep inside a cave. They face a blank wall and can only see shadows cast on it by people, animals and objects (illuminated by a fire they can't see). For these prisoners, the shadows are reality, their only reality; it's all they've ever known, as they have never seen the light.

What Happens When the Light Shines (John 9)

"Jesus said, 'For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind'” (Jn 9:39).

• Key Theme: What happens when the light shines (Jn 9:5; 8:12)? Some are made to see, like this man born blind (Jn 9:25b), while others who think they see, turn away blinded, as it were, by the light (Jn 9:39-41). Jesus' mission is to bring spiritual light to a world in darkness.
• Key Irony: The healed beggar progresses from physical blindness to spiritual sight and faith in Jesus (grows in his understanding of Jesus (a man → a prophet → from God → Lord/Son of Man), while the Pharisees, who, despite having physical sight and claiming superior Bible knowledge, regress, becoming increasingly hardened and blind, and descend into spiritual blindness by willfully rejecting Jesus, the light of the world (Jn 9:5; 8:12).

Overview of Lent

John 4:5-29 [Week 3; 3/8/26]

Week 1: Overcoming  (Mt 4:1-11 Jesus’ Temptation). 1st Sun of Lent (2/22/26).

• Read Mt 4:4,7,&10.  How did Jesus overcome temptation?  How did Jesus succeed where we had failed?  Even though we are not perfect like Jesus, how can we learn overcoming faith?  How can fasting help us seek Jesus?

Week 2: Mercy  (Jn 3:1-17 Jesus Helps Nicodemus). 2nd Sun of Lent (3/1/26).

• Read Jn 3:16-17.  How did Jesus show patience and mercy to a self-righteous Pharisee named Nicodemus?  What does it mean to be “Born Again”, and why do we need Jesus’ mercy to embark newly on a spiritual journey to God’s kingdom? (Gn 12:1-4)

When God Disciplines You, You Discipline Yourself (Hebrews 12:1-13)

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however..." (Heb 12:11).

Overview: What do you do when you are disciplined? 3 verbs + a few more:

1. FIX (Heb 12:1-3), "throw off," "run" (Heb 12:1) and "consider" (Heb 12:3).
2. ENDURE (Heb 12:4-10).
3. WAIT (Heb 12:11-13), "strengthen" (Heb 12:12), and "make level paths" (Heb 12:13).

Caveat: If the discipline is tolerable, bearable, not too bad, and not that painful, it's NOT discipline.

God's Masterpiece (Ephesians 2:1-10)

"For we are God’s handiwork [workmanship, masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph 2:10).

1. The Human Condition (Eph 2:1-3).
2. The Divine Intervention (Eph 2:4-7).
3. The Gift & The Result (Eph 2:8-10).

1. What does it mean to be "dead in your transgressions and sins" (Eph 2:1, 5; Lk 15:24, 32)?

Be Happy Attitudes (Matthew 5:1-12)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:3). "How blissful the destitute, abject in spirit..." [...a poor man or beggar, but with the connotation of one who is abject: cowering or cringing.]

1. How were "the crowds" and "(h)is disciples" different (Mt 5:1; 7:24-25; Jn 8:31).
• What is the repeated theme and emphasis of what Jesus taught (Mt 5:2, 3, 10, 12; 4:17; 6:10)?

Paul's Passionate Pursuit (Philippians 3:7-14)

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:14). [Paul's persistent, passionate pursuit for the priceless prize.]

• Explain: "The goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God. To know Him, to serve Him, to be like Him—that is the prize of the upward call." A.W. Tozer.

Mission Imperatives and Indicatives

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit'" (Mt 28:18-19).

1. What is the indicative and what is the imperative in Mt 28:18-19 (aka the great commission)?
2. What is 
• an indicative?
• an imperative?
3. Identify the indicatives and the imperatives in the following verses:
• Gen 12:1-3.
• Exo 19:4-6.
• Exo 20:2-3ff.

Authority (Mark 1:21-34)

"...he [Jesus] taught them as one who had authority" (Mk 1:22). "The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority!" (Mk 1:27).

I: Authority in Word (Mk 1:21-22). Jesus teaches with authority.

II: Authority over Demons (Mk 1:23-28). Jesus exercises authority over demonic powers.

III: Authority over Sickness (Mk 1:29-31). Jesus exercises authority over sickness.

IV: Authority to the Multitudes (Mk 1:32-34). Jesus compassionately welcomes the multitudes.

• How is human authority different from divine (spiritual) authority?

Psalm 23

• 
  "If the Lord is your shepherd, then you have a God who is for you. And if God is for you, it doesn't matter who or what is against you." Tim Keller.

• "We must not think of the Christian life as a kind of pleasure cruise. It is a pilgrimage, and it often goes through the valley of the shadow." Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

1. How is the word “shepherd” the most comprehensive and intimate metaphor for God (Ps 23:1; Gen 48:15; Isa 40:11; Jn 10:11, 14)? If God is your shepherd, how should you live (Ac 20:28; 1 Pet 5:2; Rom 8:28)?
• What is it to “lack nothing”? Is contentment complacency (Phil 4:11-12)?

Mere Christianity. C. S. Lewis.

The main themes of C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity.

1: Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe (The Moral Law). Core Theme: The universal sense of "oughtness"—the Moral Law or Law of Human Nature—points to a moral Lawgiver.

• Romans 2:14-15: What does this passage say about how God's law is known to everyone, even without special revelation? How does this correspond to Lewis's argument?

• Matthew 5:43-48 & Luke 6:31: Jesus appeals to a standard beyond custom. What is He appealing to? How does the "Golden Rule" assume a universal moral law?

• James 2:8-11: What does breaking one point of the law reveal about our relationship to the whole law? How does this illustrate Lewis's point that we all know the Law but fail to keep it?

• Discussion: Can you think of a time you appealed to a standard of "fair play" that others recognized? What does that instinct reveal?

Paul and the Power of Grace--John Barclay

In his transformative book, Paul and the Power of Grace, John Barclay's central argument is that grace (charis) in Paul is not merely a forgiving attitude but an unconditioned and incongruous gift [see below]—given without regard to the worth of the recipient, which fundamentally reorders the recipient's life and creates a new community. Each section starts with a key concept from Barclay, followed by questions and key passages to study.

Part 1: The Nature of Grace as an Incongruous Gift

Concept: Grace is unconditioned (given freely by God) and incongruous (given without matching the worth, status, or ethnicity of the recipient). It shatters all systems of worth.

Wonderful (Isaiah 9:1-7)

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful..." (Isa 9:6).

1. What judgment is announced in Isaiah 8 (Isa 8:7-8)?
• How does this transition to hope (Isa 9:1) shape your understanding of God?
2. Why were Zebulun and Naphtali (Galilee) the first to suffer invasion and conquest (Isa 9:1; 2 Ki 15:29)? Why is this area called "Galilee of the nations"?

Has God Chosen You? (Genesis 28:11-22)

"He had a dream in which he saw a stairway...to heaven" (Gen 28:12). “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’” (Gen 28:17).

• Have you seen a "stairway to heaven"?
• Have you definitively experienced God's presence?
• Have you met God?

1. What do Jacob and Esau's struggle in the womb suggest about them and their future (Gen 25:22)?
• How does Jacob’s action during birth live up to his name (Gen 25:25-26)? See footnote.
  
2. What does Jacob’s behavior toward his famished brother show about him (Gen 25:29, 31, 33)? Is he a good fun guy to hang out with?