325 / 'The narrow path' is not about where you go when you die

325 / 'The narrow path' is not about where you go when you die

With only two weeks left in our series on the Sermon on the Mount, we open up a passage that has all too often been used to exclude and shame. 'The narrow path'—as well as the accompanying teaching on false prophets—is usually thought of as an 'us vs the world' scenario. Yet when we rightly read it as a part of the Sermon on the Mount, we realise it's less about what happens when you die, and more about how we live now...

324 / Don't treat God like a vending machine

There's something intuitively wrong about treating God like a vending machine — insert prayer, out comes what you asked for. And yet in Matthew 7, Jesus famously says 'Ask and it will be given to you.' So how do we bring our needs before God with the right heart?

322 / No worries mate, she'll be right

In the middle of a sermon full of heavy hitting teaching, Jesus drops in some of the most comforting words in all of scripture. The 'do not worry' passage has helped many not to be anxious, but if it's true, why do Christians still experience hardship? If God is going to provide, why do so many in the Kingdom go without?

321 / What do you truly treasure? And would your bank statement agree?

Another of Jesus' revered teaching is on treasure — 'do not store up for yourself treasures on earth'... It might be a familiar saying, but what does it really mean? If you made a table with one column being 'treasures on earth', and another saying 'treasures in heaven', what things would go in each column? The answer may surprise you.

320 / A word for the 'Instagram quiet time' generation

We live in a world that's obsessed with authenticity. Brands live and die by it. A shred of insincerity can crush a celebrity's career. But ironically, thats in the midst of a culture that's never been more curated. Turns out this isn't a modern problem. As we get into chapter 6 of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus turns to authenticity — in the practice of our faith.