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Gospels

By What Authority?

20-Sep-20 Matthew 21:23-32 It has already been a tough week for Jesus. He is in Jerusalem; it is the last week of his life. He’s already tipped over the tables of the money changers, and cursed a fig tree into oblivion, and it is only Monday. And now, he’s gone into the temple to teach, […]

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Gospels

The Prodigal Laborers, or the Unfairness of Mercy

13-Sep-20 Matthew 20:1-16 Sometimes it is fun to tell a story backwards. If I had been hired first thing in the morning, I would be feeling pretty fine right about now. I would be overflowing with joyful anticipation. Things don’t get much better than this. This is gonna be really good. I’ve been out there […]

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Gospels

The Forgiveness Challenge

30-Aug-20 Matthew 18:21-35 The debt incurred by the first servant in this parable is so unimaginably and so ridiculously absurd that it is impossible to calculate it in normal human terms. It is big, really big; it is a debt so large that it would take thousands and thousands of life-times to pay it back. […]