Covenant of Grace Messages

In a world that tempts disciples to doze and drives the culture to distraction, Jesus calls his followers to remain awake and alert to the Kingdom he is building the Return he has promised.

The fact that Christ has not returned after 2,000 years makes some people doubt the reality of his second coming. Others obsess over possible signs of his return. In our second study through Matthew 24, we'll look at Christ's teaching on the sign of His return and consider how we should live in light of his imminent return.

When it comes to the topic of Christ’s return, many Christians either get confused or become engrossed in speculation and date setting. However, in our study of Matthew 24:1-14, we are urged to focus less on predicting the end and more on how we should live in light of it.

It’s sobering to realize that some of Jesus’s harshest words were aimed at those considered the most religious. In Matthew 23, we find Jesus judging those whose lives are marked by hypocrisy, pride, and self-centeredness. At the same time, He urges His disciples to live lives marked by service, humility, and integrity.

Jesus' enemies have been trying to entangle him. And until this point, Jesus has been the one questioned. But in this week's passage, we see Jesus go on the offensive. Jesus asks his own question, and not surprisingly, it's the question.

This week we see that corporate prayer is an essential means of grace for the body of Christ.

Most of us spend most of our waking hours engaged in some kind of work. This is good because God created us to work. But it is imperative that we connect Sunday worship to Monday work. We must connect what Scripture teaches us about rest to what it teaches us about work.

In this well-known but sometimes misunderstood teaching of Jesus, we discover that love is the measure of spiritual maturity. Nothing else. And that Jesus’s definition of love differs greatly from our culture's.

Special songs often mark special occasions. On the happy occasion of our church's 40th anniversary, we will study an inspired song to help us respond to God's blessing.

Once again Jesus masterfully refutes the attacks of the religious leader. He takes their complete lack of knowing the Scriptures or the power of God as an opportunity to affirm the consummation and regeneration of all things in the resurrection.

Lying about taxes and bowing to public opinion could be called national pastimes. The Pharisees bring both of these to bear on Jesus in hopes of publicly entangling him in his words. Jesus easily exposes their hypocrisy and enlightens them, and us, to the right way to think about him, public opinion and taxes.

Jesus responded to the Jewish leaders' challenge to his authority with three parables that spoke of consequences on those who oppose Christ. In telling this second parable, Jesus turned the tables on the leaders, revealing their rejection of God—a rejection that would lead to a reconstitution of God’s people by the one who has all authority.

Through His entrance into Jerusalem and clearing of the temple, Jesus is making clear His authority. He is the King. But in our passage today, we find the religious leaders challenging the very notion. “Who does Jesus think He is? Is He in charge of this place and what happens here?” The answer is yes, Jesus is. But these leaders think that is preposterous.

Many things can masquerade as the real thing but fail upon closer inspection. Jesus deals with this kind of charade in this shocking episode in Matthew: the cursing of the fig tree. In this inverted miracle, we learn the stakes of giving a fruitful impression but failing to back it up.

If you have ever wondered how you get from Psalm Sunday, when everyone was cheering Jesus, to Good Friday, when Jesus hung on the cross, the answer is what happened on the days in between. And especially what happened on Monday, when Jesus cleared the Temple. This was not Jesus meek and mild. This was Jesus in a righteous rage.

This Lord's day, we celebrate the significance of the empty tomb. Jesus has risen!

As we gather for Good Friday this year, we will reflect on how Jesus experienced physical and spiritual suffering that he might accomplish all that we need for our salvation.

Though Jesus came as a king, he was not the kind of king that most people expected. He didn’t come to provide immediate political and military victory. Jesus was different from other earthly kings. In our study of Matthew 21:1-11, we'll see that, despite our expectations, Jesus Christ is precisely the kind of king we need.

Several times in Jesus’ life, He showed that He was a man on a mission. He had a purpose, which He intentionally fulfilled. In this week's passage, we find Jesus resolutely setting out for Jerusalem, where He knows He will be killed. And this, he explains, is why He came; "to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt. 20:28).

Unlike the world, God does not favor the rich or powerful. He saves by grace, not by merit. And God is gracious to whomever He chooses. In this study, we'll examine the grace of God and how it should shape our lives.