PassageWay Church

School’s out and it’s Memorial Day weekend, marking the official start to summer. Whether you’re hanging out at the pool or in the backyard grilling some quality meats, it brings to mind the smooth sound of Lionel Richie and the Commodores’ 1977 classic “Easy.” “I’m easy, easy like Sunday mornin…” It’s actually a sad song of sorts as it tells the story of a young man who’s tired of trying to make...

Desperate times call for desperate measures. High above Bologna, Italy sits the Sanctuary of San Luca, home of a sacred 12th century statue of the Madonna, the Virgin Mother Mary. Religious pilgrims will climb nearly two and a half miles of stairs under the world’s longest portico to obtain divine favor. The especially devout will even ascend on their knees. But what of the person who’s never hear...

Nobody wants to be a hypocrite. To be called a hypocrite is universally received as an insult. The term was originally used for play actors, people pretending to be something they were not. Like a bowl of plastic fruit decorating the table, though it might look good, appearances can be deceiving. Sadly, you’ve probably met some people like that. As we continue reading in our salvation story, Jesus...

The most well known, oft quoted verse in the Bible today is surely “Judge not, lest you be judged.” It is thrown about by Christians and non Christians alike as an immediate defense against any perceived personal attack or any supposed imposition upon one’s belief or behavior. “Don’t judge me!” This quote is lifted from Jesus’ most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. So was Jesus suggesting th...

Moralistic, inspirational quotes abound. Some are oriented to the achievement of one’s goals. Such as: “The future depends on what you do today.” There are many others that relate to love. For example, “Love doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be true,” or “How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.” Maybe the most well known word art decorating countless American homes is...

We define success in predictably human ways; wealth, winning, or by something even more subjective such as personal satisfaction. “I just want to be happy.” Whatever one’s definition might be, we all have an inner sense of what success looks like versus failure, so we naturally chase after it. However, as we continue reading in our salvation story, Jesus radically redefines success for his discipl...

As Americans we are blessed to live in a free country. Yet freedom has constraints. There are governing principles handed down to us by the Founding Fathers that provide the basis for our commonly shared life. In the Bible, covenants are arrangements that govern how God interacts with His people. The books of the Old Testament describe God’s dealings with His chosen people of Israel and include mo...

The Bible contains two distinct parts, the Old Testament and the New. What is the difference between them and why is it important? Perhaps you like to eat bacon or sport a goatee. Maybe you have a tattoo. You might be hospitable and planning a wonderful meal for family and friends on Sunday after church. These behaviors and many others were addressed by more than 600 Old Testament commands regulat...

Ministry can be messy. The Pharisees were known to be of high moral character. They would have heartily agreed with the maxim, “Bad company corrupts good morals.” So Jesus’ association with the tax collector, Levi, and his unsavory friends offended their ethical sensibilities. Luke 5:27-32 contains the second of five episodes in the so called “Pharisee controversy,” which will end with them discus...

Titles confer rights and privileges not afforded to any ordinary person. A police captain might flash his badge to gain entry to a crime scene or to access otherwise classified information. An MD can prescribe medications, including controlled substances. An honorable judge enters into the courtroom and everyone stands. Her decisions are binding and authoritative. Beginning in verse 17 of chapter...

In biblical times, leprosy was a generic term for a variety of highly infectious skin diseases. For the health of the community, people afflicted with one of these skin diseases would be forced to live alone, outside of their town or village until they could prove that they were clean. In the Bible, leprosy was also a graphic illustration for the destructiveness of sin, causing shame and separatio...

Simon lived in Capernaum with his wife and family. He and his brother Andrew owned a fishing business. They were partners with the sons of Zebedee, James and John. But one day Simon and his associates had a life changing encounter with Jesus. In obedience to Jesus’ command Simon hauled in his most successful catch ever. There were so many fish the nets were breaking and the boats were sinking. But...

Authority. It’s something we all deal with on a daily basis. You may submit to the authority of your parents, teachers, law enforcement officers, building inspectors, or your boss at work. These are authorities that we commonly interact with and maybe even sometimes resist. But there are other authorities that have the power to govern or control our lives too, both in the physical and spiritual re...

Ever since he was a boy, after he and his parents had returned from Egypt, Jesus frequented the synagogue in Nazareth. He would go there every Sabbath. Being from a small town everyone knew who Jesus was. He was the son of the carpenter. His mother was Mary. His brothers were James and Simon. The townspeople heard that he’d become a rabbi. There were even reports of him doing miracles up in the vi...

A voice from heaven thunderously declared, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” There had never been a more stunning bestowal of divine favor upon any one man. As a descendant of Adam and as the perfect, one and only Son of God, Jesus was uniquely qualified to be the Savior of the world. But the Devil responded, “Prove it.” Immediately following his dramatic baptism and anointing...

After his baptism by John, Jesus began his public ministry, on his way to accomplishing the mission for which he had been sent. However, Luke interrupts the narrative to add a piece of historical data that might seem insignificant to some and even boring to others; the genealogy of Jesus. Biblical genealogies should not just be skipped over or ignored. In them we find hidden gems of truth. And so...

[Guest Speaker: Curt Isaacson | Worship Pastor | PassageWay Church] John the baptizer comes on the scene in Luke 3 nearly 20 years after the close of chapter 2. Like a good historian, Luke paints a picture of the date John enters the scene, as well as the state of both the Roman and Jewish political systems (and it wasn't good). John's ministry of repentance would stand in stark contrast...

Jesus grew up like any other devout Jewish boy in first century Palestine. The Bible is silent about his childhood, which indicates that it was probably quite normal. Normal except for one episode recorded in Luke 2 when Jesus is separated from Mary and Joseph. After a frantic search he’s found interacting with the rabbis in the temple at Jerusalem. Luke reveals that from a young age Jesus was awa...

Perhaps you received a gift this Christmas but you weren’t quite sure what it was, or perhaps how it worked. Appreciation for a gift is diminished when we don’t fully understand it. We may even misuse it. The first part of Luke chapter 2 describes an incredible gift, Jesus born to save us from our sins. We know that the story ends with Jesus’ death on the cross and his victorious resurrection, but...

Good news, great news, isn’t kept to oneself. Birth announcements, graduation announcements, engagement announcements are all moments that can’t be fully enjoyed unless shared with others. And so it was when the eternal Son of God entered into human history, born to save us from our sin. An angel shared this good news with a group of ruffian shepherds who went and saw the thing that the angel had...

In 31 BC Cesar Augustus ascended to power in Rome. Historians regard this date as the beginning of the Roman Empire. Caesar Augustus ushered in a time of unparalleled peace and prosperity referred to as the Pax Romana. He issued a decree that everyone in the empire should be registered for the purpose of taxation. So a Jewish carpenter from the town of Nazareth went up to his hometown of Bethlehem...

God had made some amazing promises by the angel Gabriel. He told a childless couple advanced in years that they would have a son. He told a young virgin that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit. This elicited praise. But what’s even more remarkable than promises made are promises kept. Luke records the fulfillment of God’s word with the birth of John the Baptist. Not only did God keep His word t...

After the angel Gabriel’s incredible announcement, Mary hurriedly went to visit her relative Elizabeth. Like a child on Christmas morning, Mary discovered all of the wonderful gifts God had bestowed upon her. She was truly blessed among women. Mary then poured out that blessing in a hymn of praise. Mary’s song reveals a profound and sometimes perplexing truth, God opposes the proud but gives grace...

After 400 years of silence, God had burst into human history with the angelic announcement of John’s birth. While the news of John the Baptist’s miraculous conception was good, that of Jesus is even better. Luke’s salvation story builds as he introduces us to the Savior. By an act of divine grace, Mary would conceive and give birth to a son. God had miraculously opened the womb of barren women in...

400 years had passed since Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, had promised that someone would come to prepare a way for the Lord, the Messiah of Israel. Had he forgotten? Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth had personal experience with the deafening silence of God. They couldn’t have children and were now advanced in years. But then everything changed when God spoke to Zechariah by the...