Baldhead Bible Podcast

With this episode, we continue with the telling of the conversion of Matthew. Now that Matthew is a follower of Jesus, he wants others to hear about Jesus, so he invites all his friends to one big party—a party where they could meet with Jesus and decide whether they should follow Jesus. But the thing is, Matthew was an outcast in Jewish social circles, and because of that, many of his friends were outcasts as well. People shunned by polite society, are now coming to Jesus, to be saved and to follow Him. This sounds all good, right? But to some people, this was the worse thing imaginable. Listen to this week's episode to hear more about Matthew and all his friends. To follow along, turn to Matthew 9.

What is your spiritual story? When did you get saved? How did you come to faith? In this week's story, we hear the call of Matthew by Jesus to follow Him. We hear the beginning of his spiritual story and the healing by Jesus of a paralyzed man. But Jesus did not just heal this paralyzed man but also forgave his sins. And when He said that, some scribes in the audience began to cry blasphemer, heretic. Why would that cause these men to accuse Jesus of such a thing? Isn't forgiving sin a good thing? Well, listen to this week's episode to find out more. To follow along, turn to Matthew Nine.

Can you imagine asking God to leave because He is doing too much good? Well, that is what the townsfolk of Gaderene asked Jesus to do. To go, get out of town, leave before you do too much good. Jesus had faced two men who were demonically possessed, who had threatened and hurt their people, and He defeated them. He cast the demons out of these two men, and for His good work, the people asked Him to leave. Why? Why did they do that? Well, you better listen to this week's episode to find out. Or turn to Matthew 8 to follow along.

This is the exciting story of Jesus and the disciples caught in a terrible storm on the Sea of Galilee. It is a story where Jesus demonstrated His power over nature, and it is the moment some of the disciples finally realized that Jesus is God. This is also a story about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and what it takes to follow Him. To follow along, turn to Matthew 8.

Jesus gives the greatest sermon of all time. We know it as the Sermon on the Mount. This week, we touch on this sermon, but we mainly tell the backstory of what happened after Jesus preached. We give you the story around the sermon and tell the miraculous story of the faith of a Roman Centurion. It was faith in Yahweh that the Bible says amazed even Jesus. Turn to Matthew 5 - 8 to follow along.

Jesus triumphed over Satan and his temptations, and now Jesus is ready to continue His earthly ministry. He was preaching and teaching in Nazareth, but then Jesus heard that John the Baptist was arrested. And so for His own safety, Jesus leaves Nazareth and heads north to a small fishing village called Capernaum. There Jesus begins to preach the same message that John the Baptizer preached: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." And while preaching, teaching and healing, and calling for repentance, Jesus also calls four disciples to leave all they had to find life and come follow Him. Listen to this week's story to find out who those disciples were, and what it means to repent and follow Jesus. Turn to Matthew 4 to follow along.

Jesus had just been baptized. He had heard His Father say to the world how proud He was of His son. This must have been a wonderful moment for Jesus during His short time here on earth. But now we see Jesus facing one of the darkest chapters of His life. During the next 40 days, Jesus is asked by His Father to go without food, to face wild beasts, and to wander in a hot and dangerous desert. And then, at the end of it, Jesus would have to face one of His greatest tests: He would have to face being tempted by Satan. How Jesus handles Satan's onslaught is a perfect example for us today of how to handle our daily temptations and should make us love our Savior even more. Turn to Matthew chapter four to follow along.

This week we tell the story of the angelic announcement to the Shepherds of the arrival of the Messiah. How would you react if suddenly a glowing figure appeared before you? How would you handle it if all of a sudden, the place where you were standing was full of other supernatural beings all glowing with a great fire, proclaiming that a miraculous event had occured? How you would handle it,? Well, these shepherds were afraid enough that the main angel had to tell them to stop being afraid. They had good news of greaforjoy for all people. And you want to know what it was? Well, listen to this week's story and follow along in Luke chapter two to find out.

Matthew tells the story of Mary and Joseph and the virgin birth of Jesus. Now he moves on to establish that Jesus is the heir to the throne of David. He clarified that earlier when he shared the genealogy of Jesus, but now he confirms it when he tells the story of the Magi from the East who came to see the new King, and they honored Jesus as King. Listen as I share how tough it must have been for Joseph and Mary to raise Jesus in first-century Palestine. But then moments like this, meeting the Magi who came to see their little King, reminded them of the specialness of their little boy and the importance of Jesus' mission here on earth. If you want to follow along in your Bible, turn to Matthew chapter two.

What was it like to be Joseph and to hear your beloved wife-to-be tell you that she was pregnant and that the Father was God almighty? What must that have been like? I think I would not have believed her either, and instead of putting her away privily as my King James Version says, I would have divorced her loudly. But Joseph wasn't like you or me. Instead, he was a righteous man, and a loving man, and a man of great faith. Hear the story of Joseph and what he went through and what we can learn from him about how to live righteously in our chaotic, confusing times.