Understanding the Kingdom of God

Understanding the Empowerment of the Holy Spirit

Matthew 3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.  We are revisiting the Baptism story in Matthew! The Holy Spirit had been all over the place from the very beginning of Matthew, introduced in 1:20 talking about how what was conceived in Mary was from the Holy Spirit, and now publicly the Holy Spirit makes His presence known to those witnessing Jesus' baptism (an anointing). All throughout the Old Testament, kings were anointed by prophets to set them aside and apart for the work of ministry. This was done publicly as a way to represent the "set apartness" of the anointed one (which is what the Christ means!). They were leaders, chosen by God, and anointed by a prophet of God for the work of ministry, and the dove that descended represented the Holy Spirit that hovered over the creation waters (thus showcasing the New Creation work that Jesus was about to begin by ushering in the Kingdom of God).

Discerning the Call of God on Your Life

Matthew 2:14-15 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew is the very first book of the New Testament, which obviously follows the Old Testament, and Matthew meticulously makes theological claims about the personhood and divinity of Jesus in the very beginning. Matthew's predominantly Jewish audience would have known the story of Moses, the one who brought the Hebrews out of captivity and into the Promised Land, and one claim that Matthew makes early on is that Jesus is a greater Moses. This would have been a huge claim for the Jewish audience! Moses was the hero of the Old Testament, the writer of the Torah, the archetype of faith and boldness, and most of their understanding of salvation was because of how God moved during that day (from the Plagues, to Passover, to the signs and wonders, and even their entry into Canaan). Moses was an incredible man of God, but there would be one who would be better. This motif is carried up in the book of Hebrews if you're wanting to read more, but it's first introduced in Matthew and even in Matthew's structure of Five Narratives that mirror the Five Books of the Law. All that to say, Jesus is better!

How to Decipher the Voice of The Lord

Matthew 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said... In the first few chapters of Matthew, there's something that happens that can easily be glossed over without careful investigation. God revealed His plans for Jesus' birth all in dreams! God speaks to Joseph multiple times in dreams: that Jesus was a gift of the Holy Spirit, to go to Egypt, and then to come back. And God speaks to the Magi to avoid Herod on their way back after visiting Jesus. When God wants to accompish something, He usually speaks in dreams! There are a lot of reasons for this, but all throughout the Old Testament, God was always revealing Himself in visions and dreams. These became moments that God's people could go back to and say, "This is what the Lord said and this is what the Lord has done!" We're going to look at some other stories in the Old Testament and learn what it means to be people that listen to the Lord when He speaks in visions and dreams.

What It Means to Be a Person of Faith

Matthew 1:1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah... We're finishing up our study in Jesus' family history by looking at Rahab! Rahab is such an interesting character study because she was an outsider (as a Gentile) but helped to bring the Hebrews into the Promised Land. For those familiar with the story, it's an incredible account of how God uses unexpected people to bring about His plans and His promises. Rahab is a relatively minor character but is used in a major way, and she is spoken of just three times in the New Testament: here in Matthew, Hebrews, and later in James. Her faith worked in a way that saw God's promises in action, and she partnered with the Lord in a special and powerful way. Much like Mary, the mother of Jesus and another powerful woman of faith, who said in the Gospel of Luke, "I am the Lord's servant. Let it be with me just as you have said."  There's a partnership available by saying yes to the plans of God, and we're going to talk about being a people that say yes to the works of God.

How to Navigate the Changing of Seasons

Matthew 1:1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham... We are returning back to Matthew chapter one for just another deep dive into the lineage of Jesus. Matthew is the very first New Testament book after the whole Old Testament, and it was intentionally placed because of Matthew's emphasis on Old Testament promises. For those familiar with the story, and Matthew's original audience would have been very familiar with the story because of their Jewish background, God's promises and provision goes all the way back to the beginning with Abraham. In Genesis 12, God establishes His covenant, His never-ending promise, that Abraham would be a father to many nations and that from his heritage all people would be blessed. This covenant comes to a climax in the person of Jesus Christ! All throughout the Old Testament, there's this waiting and longing and hoping that God would do what He promised to do, and He does but not fully. All these other ways that God fulfills His promises are pretty much appetizers for the main course that is Jesus Christ, God Himself! So we're going to spend some time looking at the story of Abraham and how God is faithful to His people!