One of the most famous phrases from Jesus' life and ministry was when He called the disciples by saying to them "follow Me." The 12 disciples were ordinary men that were given an extraordinary calling. They could have never imagined all that God would do in their lives when they decided to "leave their nets" and follow Jesus. What can we learn about following Jesus from their call?

As Matthew records Jesus' move from Nazareth to dwell in the region of Galilee, we find out that every single step that Jesus took in His life was in accordance with the Father's will. We also see the beautiful truth of Jesus bringing light to the darkness through the message of repentance. Matthew is beginning to teach us that the primary focus of Jesus’ ministry was not to relieve our earthly sorrow but to redeem us from our spiritual darkness.

Immediately following Jesus' baptism, He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. In this story, we learn so much about our Savior and find so much truth and comfort to face the temptation in our own lives. We - as sinners - discover in this story a sinless Savior who is able to sympathize with our weakness and is strong enough to save us from our sin.

If John the Baptist baptized people for repentance, then why would the sinless Son of God - Jesus - enter the waters? The answer in part was so that He could be identified with the sinners He came to save. This is a glorious truth that we will unpack in this sermon.

The Gospel of Matthew obviously focuses the narrative on Jesus, His life, and teachings. However, in this one part of the story, Matthew breaks away to talk about another character - John the Baptist. John's ministry and message stand in contrast to much of what we see and hear from churches in America today. His message was simple: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." What is repentance and why does it matter so much?

In the next section of our journey through Matthew, we take a look at Matthew's account of Jesus' life before He began His public ministry. We will cover topics such as His time in Egypt as He escaped Herod, His baptism, and His temptation. We hope you'll join us as we kick 2022 off together as a church family!

Though the wise men didn't actually visit Jesus at the manger (nor are we sure there were three of them), they are nonetheless part of the Christmas story. Their visit to see and worship young Jesus is a story we should look at and learn from as we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas once again!

Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus contains far fewer details than Luke's. However, in a short amount of time, Matthew drives home many of the most foundational truths about the baby to be born in Bethlehem. Matthew answers questions such as: How would Jesus be born? Who is He? What would He do? Let's dive into a former tax collector's account of the birth of Jesus.

Have you ever been reading your Bible and all of a sudden you run across a long list of names known as a genealogy? Many of us choose to skip over that portion of Scripture. We know it's important, but we aren't really sure why. As we kick off our journey through Matthew, we find that a genealogy is maybe the best way Matthew could have kicked off his Gospel account and the entire New Testament.

Nate O'Brien closes out our series talking about the shoes of readiness given by the Gospel of Peace. This is not only a great way to close out our series in the armor of God, but it's also a great way to kick off the Advent season as we focus on the readiness and peace that the Gospel gives.