The Canaanite woman came to Jesus seeking help for her daughter. Her simple 3-word prayer is a model for us today: "Lord, help me."

Jesus came to the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, walking on the water. Jesus comes to us today in the midst of our fear and confusion, saying to us as he did to Peter: "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

In feeding the 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus used the little that was available to provide much. As He instructed the disciples, so He instructs us today as well: "You give them something to eat."

It is through the cross and Jesus' redeeming work there for us and for our salvation that we can say with sure hope and confidence "nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).

Today we look back. Today we look ahead. Today we look to Jesus.

Jesus' parable of the sower and the seed calls us to examine our own lives and ask ourselves what kind of soil am I? Does the life-giving Word of God find good soil in my heart for it to grow and thrive? Thanks be to God that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross covers all our sins and that this is source for that seed to grow.

There ain't no rest for the wicked.

Jesus calls on his followers to take up their cross and follow him. As people rejected Jesus in his day, so today people can also reject the message which Jesus' followers bring to the world. Whatever we may be called upon to sacrifice or suffer for Jesus' sake pales in comparison with what Jesus sacrified and suffered for our sake.

You should be afraid, right?

The harvest outlook for the kingdom of God is what Jesus says it is: plentiful. Jesus calls us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers for his harvest fields.