Do you know the ‘heaviness’ and ‘weariness’ that comes from living in this world? There is only one solution: the closeness of God. To be close with God in the midst of the brokenness that surrounds us — to know his comfort in the midst of our heartaches — this is to be truly blessed. But how do we get that blessing?

If you’re a normal disciple, you sometimes feel like a failure. Because sometimes you are. It’s all too easy to forget or lose sight of the one in whom we have placed our trust. At root, the most basic thing for us to get right as Christians is that we are disciples by faith in Jesus.

We live in dark days in the midst of a world of darkness. But the glorious light of Christ shines through. It sustains us and gives us hope: if we have eyes to see him.

Who wouldn’t want to live in a world of love. But love can’t be found within ourselves: it comes from God. God is love, and God makes his love visible when he sends his Son to suffer and die in our place. It’s a love we can see, a love that gives us life, a love that will flow through us to others.

We spend our lives planning, striving, working to try to avoid suffering. We long to attain comfort, safety, and pleasure. But some things really are inevitable. Inescapable. What does Jesus say MUST happen?

One day each of us will, with immortal bodies, see Jesus face to face. Each of us will need to give an answer for who we say Jesus is. Are you ready to answer? Who do you say that he is?

Like old age, unbelief happens to us all. How it happens, when it happens, and what we do with it is what Jesus wants to address in our hearts today.

Jesus spends time with the unclean gentiles in their own territory. What kind of a reception will he receive? How will he react to them?

A gentile woman from an unclean place comes to Jesus in desperation. She hopes to find in him the salvation she needs. What he finds in her is the faith we need.

When the Pharisees come from Jerusalem to challenge Jesus and his disciples, it’s clear they have a problem. The problem is different than what they suspect, however. And that problem is one that we all share.