None of us has been faithful in our relationship with God (see Romans 3:23). God has every right and reason to leave us. Though He is permitted to divorce us, He does not. In fact, He continues to pursue us and has made Himself the means of restoring our broken relationship with Him.

Matthew 19 initially appears to address marriage, divorce, singleness, and parenthood. However, its message reaches beyond these topics. When we read the Bible, we often seek solutions for others' sins. Yet, God's word is meant to work within us and draw us into a deeper, unhindered relationship with Him. 

After 25 years of waiting, Abraham was finally blessed with the son God had promised him. But years later, the Lord commanded him to take his only son and offer him as a sacrifice. At the last minute, the Lord stopped Abraham. Isaac was spared. And God provided them with a sacrifice. This account in Genesis 22 wasn’t just about Abraham or Isaac. It points to another Father and another Son. And the two of them went to the same mountain. But this time, the knife didn’t stop. And that changed everything.

What will Heaven be like? Guest teacher Charlie Campbell lays out ten wonderful truths about the eternal home awaiting all who are redeemed through Jesus Christ.

Over and over, God has proven Himself faithful to give insight and understanding as we simply commit to wrestling with Him. Like Jacob in his actual wrestling match with the Lord, we can say, “I’m not going to let you go until You bless me” as we wrestle with Him through His word. We can say, “I’m not letting this passage go, Lord, until you bless me and give me insight and understanding.” And then, it can be our glory to search those things out as we wrestle with Him (see Proverbs 25:2). Watch our study of Matthew 17:24-27 as we wrestled with the Lord about the topics of death and…taxes?

What does it mean to be greatly used of God? How does Jesus view and define greatness? How does one become great in His Kingdom? These are the questions we asked as we considered the stark and serious statement Jesus made to the Apostles, who promptly argued afterward.

The only hope for lasting change in our country and communities is not found in our own intellect, abilities, or strategies, but only in Jesus. Our only aim is to bring people to Him and watch Him pour out His power in love by His Holy Spirit. This might seem irrelevant in light of the section of scripture we considered this past Sunday. But as we work our way through it, we see the importance of looking up instead of within—of looking to Jesus instead of anything else as we bring people to Him.