Paul gets into the nuts and bolts of what it means to be a Jesus community in the world. He discusses how we are citizens of heaven who live on earth and how we should relate to earthly society and government. He finally talks about what it means to live as men and women transformed by the gospel.

In this short exchange, the whole story of humanity’s fall and redemption is re-told and re-enacted by Jesus. Jesus appears to them for a moment at the end after explaining that He’s been there the whole time, drawing Israel and all of humanity toward himself and toward redemption.

Trusting people is something all of us can identify with, whether it’s a lack of trust or total trust toward others. All of us need to develop key relationships with people we can trust. Especially in the area of our faith. If we lack trust in God and His Word, then how can possibly fulfill God’s purpose for our life? Trust is vitally important to our faith.

We look at a tender moment between Jesus and a leper who confronts him just as the Lord finishes the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus shows us what the kingdom looks like by welcoming those like the leper who have been excluded from society and giving them a place the table.

“You are saved by grace,” this is a wonderful, repost worthy quote to share, but it lacks the important context. In light of God’s grace, we should be growing in grace. The believer struggles in their faith when grace is viewed as a one-time event that brought then into faith, but is not seen as something that sustains the believer’s faith.

Taken out of context many Bible verses can appear to offer blessings or promises that are out of line with the rest of Scripture. Philippians 4:13 seems to offer blank check promises that will leave us with a bankrupt faith relying on a strength that comes from us and not from God. - Join me as we dive in to see what Paul is really getting at!

All of us come across sayings and quotes throughout our day that we find funny, inspiring, or thought provoking. The best of the best quotes get a repost for others to enjoy. As Christ followers, we must resist the temptation to build our faith on these quotable sayings divorced from their context. When we don’t have context, we lose understanding.

Personal struggles make us feel like we are the only ones going through our pain. We feel forgotten, we feel like we’ve done something wrong, and we feel like nobody knows the true pain of what we’re going through. It’s not uncommon for someone to turn a destructive habit as a means of coping with their circumstance. But God offers an alternative path through His Word to guide us through our struggle.

Paul calls us to do life together in gracious community, loving each other as Christ loves us. As we fellowship together, we “practice heaven,” seeing glimpses of what eternity will look like as we commune with our Christian brothers and sisters.