Genesis | Judah and Tamar (Audio)

Despite Jesus initially showing indifference and making a hurtful remark, the Canaanite woman's steadfast faith and determination ultimately bring about her daughter's healing. From this story we learn that we are called to examine our own biases and preconceptions, and to extend God's grace to everyone we encounter. The gospel's powerful message of inclusivity, challenges us to embrace and welcome others with the same love and acceptance shown by Jesus.

References:

• Map of Tyre & Sidon

• Structure of Matthew 14-15

  • Jesus Feeds the 5,000
  • Jesus Walks on Water
  • Jesus Offends the Pharisees
  • Jesus Offends the Canaanite Woman
  • Jesus Feeds the 4,000

TRANSCRIPT

Jesus warned us against greed when we taught on generosity and the over accumulation of possessions. He challenges us to prioritize being rich toward God and to live selflessly, not allowing money to hinder our spiritual growth. Instead, he prompts us to embrace the tension, constantly questioning, "Could I be more generous?"

Jesus warned us against greed when we taught on generosity and the over accumulation of possessions. He challenges us to prioritize being rich toward God and to live selflessly, not allowing money to hinder our spiritual growth. Instead, he prompts us to embrace the tension, constantly questioning, "Could I be more generous?"

Following Jesus is an open invitation for all. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to follow Jesus, although it comes with a price and is a daily decision to become more like him.

If you have decided to follow Jesus, the question is, do you look more like Jesus today than you did yesterday? Do you look like a person who is more filled with love than you were five years ago? Does your presence resemble the joy of Jesus when you interact with other people? Put maybe a different way, when people encounter you, whether that is your spouse or your friends, or the barista, do they experience the presence of Jesus? Does his presence radiate from your being, his love and joy and kindness and generosity? Is that what people encounter when they come in contact with you? 

Do you feel a gap between these questions and your reality? What would it look like for you to step into faith and not feel the gap, but to experience more deeply the life Jesus has on offer, the life that we are all longing for, but we are somehow missing out on? What would it look like to say today to say, “Jesus, I am yours”?

References:

• "My secret is that I want to be relevant and popular.  I want my desires fulfilled and my pain minimized. I want a manageable relationship with an institution rather than messy relationships with real people. I want to be transformed into the image of Christ by showing up at entertaining events rather than through the hard work of discipline. I want to wear my face on my sleeve and not look at the darkness in my heart, and above all, I want a controllable God. I want a divine commodity to do my will on Earth as well as in heaven.” Skye Jethani, The Divine Commodity 
• “I want to be generous, and I want to be rich. I want to follow Jesus and to live like a Hollywood celebrity. I want character, but I don’t want the suffering and perseverance that it takes to produce that character. I want humility, but I definitely don’t want any form of humiliation. I want patience, but I don’t want to actually wait. I want to be a person who is full of kindness, but I don’t want anyone in my life who annoys me or agitates me. I want to hear God’s voice and to experience his presence in my life, but I don’t want to actually get up early in the morning and take the time to focus on prayer. I want the life of Jesus, but I don’t want to take up the cross of Jesus." John Mark Comer

Following Jesus is an open invitation for all. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to follow Jesus, although it comes with a price and is a daily decision to become more like him.

If you have decided to follow Jesus, the question is, do you look more like Jesus today than you did yesterday? Do you look like a person who is more filled with love than you were five years ago? Does your presence resemble the joy of Jesus when you interact with other people? Put maybe a different way, when people encounter you, whether that is your spouse or your friends, or the barista, do they experience the presence of Jesus? Does his presence radiate from your being, his love and joy and kindness and generosity? Is that what people encounter when they come in contact with you? 

Do you feel a gap between these questions and your reality? What would it look like for you to step into faith and not feel the gap, but to experience more deeply the life Jesus has on offer, the life that we are all longing for, but we are somehow missing out on? What would it look like to say today to say, “Jesus, I am yours”?

References:

• "My secret is that I want to be relevant and popular.  I want my desires fulfilled and my pain minimized. I want a manageable relationship with an institution rather than messy relationships with real people. I want to be transformed into the image of Christ by showing up at entertaining events rather than through the hard work of discipline. I want to wear my face on my sleeve and not look at the darkness in my heart, and above all, I want a controllable God. I want a divine commodity to do my will on Earth as well as in heaven.” Skye Jethani, The Divine Commodity 
• “I want to be generous, and I want to be rich. I want to follow Jesus and to live like a Hollywood celebrity. I want character, but I don’t want the suffering and perseverance that it takes to produce that character. I want humility, but I definitely don’t want any form of humiliation. I want patience, but I don’t want to actually wait. I want to be a person who is full of kindness, but I don’t want anyone in my life who annoys me or agitates me. I want to hear God’s voice and to experience his presence in my life, but I don’t want to actually get up early in the morning and take the time to focus on prayer. I want the life of Jesus, but I don’t want to take up the cross of Jesus." John Mark Comer

In our lives, we'll face monumental and profound losses, it feel as though we have endured falling towers, but because Jesus bore the weight of the eternal tower, none of the trials will ultimately define us or mark the end of our journey. In addition, these experiences are not a result of our faithfulness or unfaithfulness. The reason hard, tragic and evil things happen is because we live in a broken, fallen world. Jesus calls us to repent, and to realign ourselves with him. In doing this we remember that this world is not our home. Death is not the end, it's a transition point into new life.

References:

• September Twelfth, 2001 – Boston poet X.J. Kennedy
• Christopher Plummer, Sound of Music
• "To feel at home in a place, you have to have some prospect of staying there. Your life is a grain of sand on the eternal beach." Wendell Berry
• "You have nothing in and of yourself. You and I are made of clay and spit. Any holiness of ours is polluted beyond our petty comprehension. I have nothing to offer Him but a bent neck, a neck He has helped me bend. I have nothing to offer Him but filth, and He has taken it and exchanged it for blood, like wine, and his own body, broken like bread. Do you resent this world? Do you hate Him for cancer, for car wrecks and for the sudden shocking sleep of the young? Do you hate Him for those waves that break too high, for those hours when far more than six-thousand die? Do you resent your story, your height, your baldness, your itchy feet, your unstable lower intestine, the forest-fire sunsets, and your own mortality? Buy cream for your wrinkles. Whiten your teeth. Have doctors staple back your scalp until you die and decompose, and only the staples remember you. Go to Him or go to hell. Those are the only two choices, because hell will be wherever He is not." N.D. Wilson, Notes from Tilt-a-Whirl, 178

In our lives, we'll face monumental and profound losses, it feel as though we have endured falling towers, but because Jesus bore the weight of the eternal tower, none of the trials will ultimately define us or mark the end of our journey. In addition, these experiences are not a result of our faithfulness or unfaithfulness. The reason hard, tragic and evil things happen is because we live in a broken, fallen world. Jesus calls us to repent, and to realign ourselves with him. In doing this we remember that this world is not our home. Death is not the end, it's a transition point into new life.

References:

• September Twelfth, 2001 – Boston poet X.J. Kennedy
• Christopher Plummer, Sound of Music
• "To feel at home in a place, you have to have some prospect of staying there. Your life is a grain of sand on the eternal beach." Wendell Berry
• "You have nothing in and of yourself. You and I are made of clay and spit. Any holiness of ours is polluted beyond our petty comprehension. I have nothing to offer Him but a bent neck, a neck He has helped me bend. I have nothing to offer Him but filth, and He has taken it and exchanged it for blood, like wine, and his own body, broken like bread. Do you resent this world? Do you hate Him for cancer, for car wrecks and for the sudden shocking sleep of the young? Do you hate Him for those waves that break too high, for those hours when far more than six-thousand die? Do you resent your story, your height, your baldness, your itchy feet, your unstable lower intestine, the forest-fire sunsets, and your own mortality? Buy cream for your wrinkles. Whiten your teeth. Have doctors staple back your scalp until you die and decompose, and only the staples remember you. Go to Him or go to hell. Those are the only two choices, because hell will be wherever He is not." N.D. Wilson, Notes from Tilt-a-Whirl, 178

Jesus calls us to embrace compassion instead of harsh judgment, urging us to extend empathy and understanding to others. This call doesn't require us to dismiss our principles or beliefs; rather, it encourages us to uphold them with grace and humility. In doing so, we can demonstrate the profound balance of compassion and conviction that Jesus exemplified in his teachings and actions.

References:

• "Alistair Begg Meets the Politically Correct", by Russell Moore, Christianity Today
• "To Judge, or Not To Judge", sermon by Tim Mackie

Jesus calls us to embrace compassion instead of harsh judgment, urging us to extend empathy and understanding to others. This call doesn't require us to dismiss our principles or beliefs; rather, it encourages us to uphold them with grace and humility. In doing so, we can demonstrate the profound balance of compassion and conviction that Jesus exemplified in his teachings and actions.

References:

• "Alistair Begg Meets the Politically Correct", by Russell Moore, Christianity Today
• "To Judge, or Not To Judge", sermon by Tim Mackie

In Luke 14:26, Jesus uses strong language, saying, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple." This statement is often interpreted metaphorically, emphasizing the radical commitment required to follow Jesus. It underscores the idea that discipleship involves prioritizing one's devotion to God over all other relationships and personal attachments.