In chapter 2 of his letter to the Colossians, Paul encourages Christ followers to continue working on their relationship with the Lord Jesus. Certainly, we can rest assured in our salvation through faith in Jesus’ Gospel, but our new spiritual life in Him should be much more. Paul also tells us of the benefits of growing in the knowledge of our Lord. Of course, we must continue to learn about God through His Word, but even more so, we must cling as closely to Jesus as possible and allow the Holy Spirit to direct us throughout our days – all while remaining intentionally focused on Jesus as Lord over our entire being.

The Twelve apostles of Jesus were not outstanding in any way, at least before they met Jesus. However, Jesus called these men personally. He knew all their flaws, faults, and apprehensions, yet He still chose them.

In His so-called “Great Commission” found in Matthew 28, Jesus calls us to go and make disciples. But to make disciples, we must first be disciples. What does being a disciple entail?

Matthew 15 records some miracles performed by Jesus – casting a demon out of the daughter of a gentile woman of Tyre, and feeding 4000 in the region of Decapolis.

In Matthew 15:1-20, Jesus was challenged by Pharisees from Jerusalem about why His disciples did not wash their hands before eating. Jesus turned their accusation back around asking why they imposed a man-made tradition on the people that led them to disobey the 5th Commandment to honor father and mother. Then Jesus explained to His disciples that it is not the physical cleanliness of what we allow into our mouths that defiles us, but the evil words we allow out of our mouths from the fullness of our hearts which defiles us.

We will pick back up with our study through Matthew’s Gospel on Sunday Evenings. This video is a recap designed to bring everyone back up to speed.

This message begins a new series focused on Paul’s epistle to the churches surrounding Ephesus. It’s no secret that Christians are called to be different. We are to be “new” and not hold on to the “old”. In Ephesians Paul teaches what it’s truly like to be different. We live in a world of rapid moral decline. Therefore, as followers of Jesus Christ, we must train ourselves to function differently than the world. We must learn to fully commit to living a surrendered life and allow the power of God’s Spirit to help us walk in God’s ways and not our own.

Biblical illiteracy and lack of spiritual maturity is quickly becoming an alarming trend across Christian churches. God – since the moment He granted Adam dominion over the earth has always encouraged His children to pursue knowledge, understanding and wisdom. He did this because He knew how desperately we would need His laws and His structure as we daily face the trials and tribulations our current culture is forcing onto the believer. We must develop a personal plan of discipleship, we must teach the next generation about God, Jesus, Salvation, and the Holy Spirit. No longer should it be acceptable to sit at home or in the pew with the attitude of, “the church doesn’t need me anymore. They have plenty of others to do that.” God expects every believer to study and then teach someone else all that God has taught them.

Christians need to hear the Good News just as much as unbelievers do. We need to remind ourselves daily of the salvation we have in Christ, remembering what our Savior sacrificed in order for us to possess eternal life. Consequently, we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves in daily preparation for meeting the challenge to preach it to the lost we encounter in our day-to-day lives.