​Caesarea Philippi was a satanic supermarket with all sorts of little temples to participate in all sorts of pagan worship. It was here that Jesus took His disciples to reveal to them that He is The Messiah, that He would suffer and die, and that they must be willing to suffer and die as well.

Jesus was declaring the necessity of self-sacrificial love and service in pagan places (like Caesarea Philippi) for pagan people so that they too can be saved. Soon, He would send His disciples to places like this for people like these.

We must understand that Jesus did not come to save you from your circumstances. If you look to Him for this, you will miss out on life. He came to save you from your sin. To do that, He needed to suffer and die. As The Messiah, He willingly sacrificed Himself to save others. To be His disciple, you must understand that He is calling you to a similar life—one that will include self-denial and self-sacrifice so that others can be saved. This is the life that is truly life!

The life of a believer isn’t just being born again to wait around in a spiritual diaper until He returns. We have work to do that we have been called to do—saving souls and making disciples.

To participate with Him in this work, we must learn what it means to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.

This is something that the disciples of Jesus were still learning, even after three years of ministry with Him. Watch our study of Matthew 16:13-28 as we consider the importance of self-denial and self-sacrificial service so that others might live.

Jesus will not be approached through ritual or religion. He is a person, and He is also God. There is nothing too hard for Him–not even feeding 5,000, or 4,000, or healing a blind man, or healing a deaf man, or casting many demons out of a man, or casting one demon out of a little girl.

​And yet, in the midst of all of this, the blindness of religion demands a sign. But if you approach Jesus through ritual or religion, you won’t see it. Jesus is not a robot. He does not perform at our whim or pleasure.

​How quickly we forget the lesson of the loaves. How swiftly we cease to remember that He is a person who isn’t persuaded by ritual or religion. But He has compassion on our condition and desires to draw us into a deeper fellowship with Him. Though it may seem that He doesn’t listen, He does–and continually reminds us that He loves us and will do anything that blesses us and brings Him glory. Jesus is God–nothing is too difficult for Him.

Have we learned the lesson of the loaves yet? If we’re anything like the Apostles, we may easily forget and need frequent reminders. The miracles Jesus performed show us that Jesus is God. There is nothing too hard for God. Therefore, there is nothing too hard for Jesus.

​More than that, Jesus loves us. He would do anything for us if He knew it would bring us blessing and glory to God. We can trust Him and pursue Him, just like we saw in several scenes we studied on Sunday.
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​Watch our study of Matthew 15:21-16:12 as we also consider the parallel passage in Mark 7 as we continue to learn the lesson of the loaves.

Even with all the good that Jesus did, the religious rulers were upset that His disciples didn’t wash their hands before they ate. They came all the way from Jerusalem to evaluate His ministry, which was part of their responsibility to protect God’s people from false prophets. But they didn’t measure Jesus’ ministry against Scripture. If they had, they would have seen that there was no doctrinal error or disqualifying sin. Their legalism was rooted in the traditions, the culture, and the commandments of men.

Legalism is an attempt to tame a sick and wicked heart through outward rules and ropes. It might appear to have a form of godliness, but it just doesn’t work. That doesn’t mean we are hopeless to change. If you’re in Christ, you have been given a new heart, in addition to your old nature  that is “continually corrupted by its deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22). Learning how to walk in your new nature as a new creation is extremely important.

Galatians 5:16 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Just like the disciples developed a reliance on Jesus, you can walk with Him daily. You don’t need rules and regulations. You just have to practice the presence of God. Start walking and talking with Him as you develop a personal relationship with Him. Like any relationship, it will take time as you walk and talk with the Holy Spirit every day.

Jesus of Nazareth went about doing good, for God was with Him. And yet, the scribes and the Pharisees from Jerusalem were constantly finding fault with Jesus. They were supposed to be devoted to Scripture, but at some point, they began to believe that their culture was more important—even than Scripture.

Culture isn’t necessarily bad or evil. You just have to have the courage to call it what it is. We, too, are guilty of sanctifying our own preferences, or writing our own set of rules, or preserving our own culture at the expense of Scripture.

And when we do that, we are in danger of the same exhortation from Jesus we read of in Matthew 15. Watch our study from Sunday as we explore the differences between legalism and love.

Be equipped to answer questions and objections that others bring up with a better understanding of apologetics. With a deeper understanding of Scripture, you can articulate why you believe what you believe and effectively respond to questions about Christianity.

Join us on Sunday, March 22nd, from 6-8 pm for a FREE apologetics equipping presentation with apologist Charlie Campbell. Charlie will provide thoughtful and Scripture-based answers to various objections about God and the Bible.

Always Be Ready is a ministry dedicated to equipping Christians to answer questions and objections about God and the trustworthiness of the Bible. They help Christians to stand strong in the truth and “always be ready” (1 Peter 3:15) to lovingly share the gospel and “contend for the faith” (Jude 1:3). 

This event is free, but please register so we know how to plan.

​We often give Peter a hard time for failing in his faith after he got out of the boat (see Matthew 14:30). But we must remember that he was the only one of the Apostles who actually had the faith to get out of the boat.

When we consider this event (recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John), we realize that Peter was afraid of sinking in knee-deep water. It was only when he took his eyes off of Jesus and focused on his circumstances that he began to sink.

We may falter in our ventures of faith, but we too must get out of the boat to be equipped by Jesus to do what He commands us to do—even if it’s impossible for us. When we take our eyes off of Jesus and fret over our circumstances, our faith will falter too—even if we are in knee-deep water.

Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author, perfector, and finisher of your faith. He will equip you to do what He commands you to do—even if it seems impossible. Nothing is too difficult for the Lord! 

​There’s no difference between the miraculous power of multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish to feed over 5,000 people and walking on water. And yet, just after the first miracle, the Apostles were surprised by another amazing miracle.

Are we any different? Just as the Apostles quickly forgot the miracle they witnessed, we also begin to forget—whether we are five feet or five minutes from God. Doubt starts to harden our hearts, and we’re surprised when Jesus does something that He promised He would do. 

Thankfully, Jesus knows this about us. Instead of condemning us, He continually calls us to Himself to make us into His disciples. This was just one of the many lessons learned as we studied a wild interaction with Jesus in Matthew 14. 

God’s vision for His church isn’t complicated: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)

From these commandments, we see the vision for the church summarized in three words: Worship, Discipleship, and Evangelism.

We worship the Lord with all that we are and all that we have. Our love for our neighbor takes two shapes: if they follow Jesus, we encourage and help them in their faith (that’s discipleship). If they do not yet follow Jesus, we introduce them to Him (that’s evangelism).

The purpose of the church is to mature believers for the work of the ministry (see Ephesians 4:11-12). And it looks like what the church did when it first began: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42) When we gather, we study the Word of God, enjoy fellowship with one another, partake in communion together, and seek the Lord in prayer.

​This is all we’ve got…but this is all we really need!