Mercy, Not More Time: Why We Cannot Repay God The servant in Jesus’ parable did not need a better payment plan. He needed mercy. So do we. An impossible debt Jesus told a story about a servant who owed a king ten thousand talents. This was not a debt he could...
Stop Keeping Score: What Jesus Meant by Seventy Times Seven Peter wanted to know when forgiveness could end. Jesus answered by taking away the scoreboard and calling His followers to a life shaped by mercy. Peter was still counting Peter’s question sounds...
Church Discipline Is a Rescue Mission, Not a Firing Squad The words “church discipline” can produce uncomfortable images. Some imagine public embarrassment, angry business meetings, or a church looking for an excuse to remove someone. That is not the pattern Jesus...
You Can Win the Argument and Lose Your Brother At the center of Jesus’ teaching about conflict is a phrase that changes the purpose of the entire conversation: “If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”Matthew 18:15 ESV Jesus does not say, “You have won the...
Is It Sin, or Is It Something I Just Don’t Like? Jesus begins His instructions in Matthew 18 with an important condition: “If your brother sins against you…”Matthew 18:15 ESV That word “sins” matters. Jesus is not telling us to confront someone every time we feel...
The Goal Is Not Silence but Grace “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”Ephesians 4:29 (ESV) When we talk about toxic speech, it is easy to focus...
