21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
The Parable of the Persistent Widow 18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The Parable of the Two Sons 28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Comparing God’s blessing in the OT, to the NT. In the OT it was in provision, abundance, and protection. Which is still true. But in the NT, when Jesus spoke in Matthew 5 He talks about those who hunger and thirst, who mourn, who are meek... these things that seem negative, they are actually the one who’s blessed. In their brokenness they will see more of God. So if you feel like your house is falling apart, everything is a mess, relationships are straining... Jesus says you are blessed, because if you are willing, He will meet you right there.
And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Revelation 12:11 Do you ever feel trapped by your past? Defined by your heritage? Have you ever experienced such trouble and distress that you felt out of options? The chains that bind you are not too heavy for our Rescuer. We want to celebrate the stories of conversion. The testimonies that changed the world. We all have a choice. Will we allow Love to break through to us?
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Mt. 21:1-3- Jesus asks His disciples to essentially go steal a donkey. Obedience isn’t the same as agreement. Obedience shouldn’t be conditional upon our understanding. Simple obedience marks the true disciple of Jesus (Jn 3:36) and child of God (1 Jn 5:2). Faith is not static but is active and leads to obedience (Rom. 1:5). It is the litmus test whether one is a follower of Jesus or simply a fan.
Water baptism may not be necessary to salvation, but it is essential to be a disciple of Jesus because it is an expression of repentance and allegiance to Jesus (Acts 2:37). Associating ourselves to the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is also how we live in victory over sin (Rom 6:1-14). We see the trinity in Jesus’ own baptism where the Father declares his approval of the Son and the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus.
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