Forgiveness is hard. Really hard. And yet Jesus seems very serious about how important it is.

Do you argue a lot?  Get frustrated by other people who are obviously wrong?  Wonder how we ended up in a world where everyone takes sides? What can we do about it?  How can we settle our arguments in a way that’s fair?

Have you ever felt on such a high one minute only to be brought down a peg or two the next? To be praised one minute and chastised the next? Well, in today’s reading that’s exactly what happened to Peter.

Jesus asks, 'Who do people say I am? And what about you? Who do you say that I am?' Identity is a big deal. We all want to be known… and known for the right things, but who is Jesus? And what difference does that make to me? Stewart Cutler explores a big question for all of us.

Clean hearts. There’s a phrase that gets used often in churches. But what does it mean to have a clean heart? Today Jesus takes on the idea that it is practices and rituals that make our hearts pure… It’s not the things that go in but what comes out that shows what we are really like. But then the very next thing he does is have a really awkward conversation with a woman from a different culture to his. He calls her a dog. Not exactly a great example of what he’s just been talking about. So what’s going on?

When Jesus walks on the water we’re less than surprised. Sure, it’s unusual, but he’s the son of God and earlier that day he fed 5,000 men, along with all the women and children there with a few loaves and a couple of fish and he healed many diseases. So when Peter is bold enough to get out of a perfectly good boat so he can do some water walking we need to ask some big questions about what’s going on.

Jesus feeds 5,000 men.  And there were woman and children there too, but only men counted.  Some things haven’t changed much.  They were hungry… but I think we perhaps forget to ask why?  Why were they hungry?  And what does Jesus do to change that?

The kingdom of heaven is like… well, like what?  It’s like a mustard seed, yeast, treasure found by accident, a pearl found after a long search and fish caught in a net.  But how?  How can it be like those things?

Someone has ruined everything! They’ve sown weeds in beside the wheat. It’s an outrage. We should rip the weeds out. Even though we don’t know anything about farming or what impact that will have on the young wheat.

Jesus tells a story about a farmer who sows some seed.  He throws the seed everywhere. and some doesn’t go where it’s meant to… and some lands on good soil and is fruitful.  But I’m not a farmer so what does this have to do with me?