Two Sons, Two Responses

Later and Greater

Why does life sometimes feel like we are working hard with little to show for it? And why do certain old patterns keep producing consequences years after we thought we had moved past them? Many people sense that some kind of fairness is built into how life unfolds, but few are sure how it actually works. This week, we will discover what God says about taking responsibility for our lives and the principle He has woven into the very fabric of His creation.

The Blame Game

Most of us can name an irresponsible person we know within seconds. We can describe what they ought to be doing, what they keep failing to do, and who is paying the price for it. But when that same question turns back on us, the answer suddenly becomes much harder to see. Why is irresponsibility so easy to spot in others and so difficult to face in ourselves? This week, we will discover what Scripture says about how this pattern began and what it costs us.

The Grief of God

Matthew 23 contains the harshest words Jesus ever spoke in public. Yet the chapter does not end the way we would expect it to. In its final three verses, Jesus says something to the city that reveals what has been in his heart the whole time, and it raises a question every believer eventually asks: What does God actually feel about people who keep him at arm's length? This week, we will discover what Jesus says happens when God's people keep telling him no.

Woe to the Hypocrites

Most of us know what it feels like to keep up appearances -- to present one version of ourselves in public while something very different is happening on the inside. What happens when that gap shows up not just in our personal lives but in our religion? Jesus walked into the most religiously precise environment in the ancient world and unleashed the most severe indictment of His entire ministry. What He exposed was not irreligion; it was something far more dangerous. This week, we will discover what Jesus says happens when we neglect the transformation of our inward spiritual life.

Imaginary Jesus

Have you ever been completely confident you knew the right answer, only to discover your answer was missing something critical? The Pharisees found themselves in exactly that position when Jesus turned their own Scriptures back on them with a question they could not answer. What was it about their understanding of the Messiah that collapsed under the weight of a single psalm? This week, we will discover what happens when our assumptions about Jesus are measured against what Scripture actually reveals about Him.