 Throughout the Gospels, Jesus prioritized teaching over miracles. His goal was for people to seek a genuine relationship with God. Returning to Nazareth (His hometown), there may have been a special hopefulness as He preached and taught the Word of God to his family and friends. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out that way. The unhealthy assumption of familiarity led to contempt, offense, and a tragic limitation of what Jesus was able to do for the people in Nazareth.
It’s essential for every disciple of Jesus who sows the good seed of the Gospel to acknowledge the reality of just judgment found in the Old Covenant as well as the reality of redemption found in the New Covenant.
But too often, the Good News is overemphasized without providing the reality of the bad news. People are invited to be saved without truly understanding what they are saved from. The Good News is good only if the bad news is understood. As sowers of God’s Word, we must faithfully share the whole gospel in love with all who have ears to hear. Watch our study of Matthew 13:47-52 as we consider the whole Gospel. Jesus gave His disciples the interpretation of the Parable of the Sower—those who lingered longer to learn from Him. They would also be sowers, sharing the Good News with others. But they needed to know that Gospel ministry was not inherently successful. Sowing the good seed of God’s Word will be difficult, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching—yet worthy work.
But most sowers don’t give up, even though this worthy work can be difficult. Most give up over what Jesus articulates in His next parable in Matthew 13. Watch our study as we consider the Parable of the Weeds and find encouragement to not give up. Have you ever wondered if you truly have eternal life? Many hope, wish, or even strive for it, but still aren't sure. So how can we be certain about eternal life? What are the criteria? How can we know for sure?
God’s word is clear—He extends eternal life to all who believe in the name of Jesus, and wants you to know that you have eternal life. In fact, in the letter of 1 John, there are 8 times that John emphatically tells us, “By this we know…” Watch our study from Sunday as we unfold the amazing, beautiful, and indestructible eternal life we have in Jesus. Holding to cultural superstitions instead of Scripture can lead to some wacky conclusions. That’s why it’s always important to examine a belief to see if it’s following cultural norms or if it’s based in Scripture. When a cultural belief clashes with what the Bible says, it needs to be set aside.
Just as in Christian culture today, some in the Jewish culture during Jesus’ time held certain beliefs about what the devil could do that may not have been rooted in Scripture. So Jesus carefully provided some Scriptural teaching to address these ideas. Consider His wisdom as we look at our study of Luke 11:14-26 from this past Sunday.  Jesus is a gentle man. He calls out to us because He loves us. He corrects us gently and comes alongside us, asking for permission to take His rightful place upon the throne of our hearts.
But Jesus doesn’t do this forcefully. He knocks at the door of our heart, but He will never pound and demand entry. He patiently convicts and convinces until a decision is made—either an invitation to enter, or a dismissal of His offer. And like a gentleman, when the knocks go unanswered, He will eventually stop knocking. This past Sunday, we examined the evangelistic ministry of Jesus through His Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Watch our study of Matthew 12:15-32 as we considered the testimony of God. After countless confrontations, the religious rulers relentlessly questioned Jesus about His violation of traditions. Sensing their intent, Jesus challenged them about their disregard for God’s commandment in favor of their own customs.
This question should have initiated a respectful discussion. Lacking reason, logic, and intellectual integrity, these religious rulers clung to tradition—even when it defied truth. Driven by irrational hatred and senseless malice, they focused solely on destroying Jesus. Watch our study of Matthew 12:1-14 as we carefully considerJesus’ response when He was challenged about the man-made traditions of religion. In Matthew 11, we read of Jesus addressing two vastly different groups. On one side were the arrogant, overfed, unconcerned, and self-righteous religious elites who either opposed Jesus or were indifferent to Him. On the other side were the seventy Jesus had sent out to minister to the surrounding cities. These were the foolish, the forgotten, the unworthy, and unimportant in the eyes of the religious elite.
Jesus rebuked the first group with a warning and received the second group with rejoicing. But some of the self-righteous just needed a clear invitation for salvation. And so Jesus addresses them and invites them to come to Him. Watch our study in Matthew 11:27-30 as we thoughtfully consider Jesus’ invitation to those who are weighed down and burdened by religion to come and enjoy a relationship with Him. As Jesus went to preach and teach in the cities in Judea, He encountered the religious elite who were either indifferent to Him or actively resisted Him. Even after witnessing all that Jesus did, they still did not believe. This prompted Jesus to call out to them with a broken heart, warning the hard-hearted and self-righteous.
But even when the majority of people in cities or countries are indifferent to or resist Jesus, there is always a remnant of individuals that accept His invitation to come to Him and find salvation, forgiveness, and rest for their souls. Watch our study of Matthew 11:25-30 as we consider these individuals—the wise, unlikely ones. |
From Pastor Dom...When I first gave my life to Jesus, there were friends in my life who helped me to grow in my understanding of God, through His word, and for those friends Archives
January 2026
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