Faith that Walks
Matthew 15:21-28 tells of a woman with a demon-possessed daughter, who sought Jesus’ power. The circumstances are interesting. First, true faith is sometimes found where least expected—“A Canaanite woman More →
Tag: Blog
Tradition vs Commandment
Blog, Christians, Church, Commandment, Covetous, Disciples, Doctrines, Elders, Erik Garthe, God’s Laws, Human Authority, Hypocrites, J C Ryle, Lord, Lord’s Table, Neighbors, No Longer Conformed, Pharisees, Principles, Puritan, Religion, Richard Baxter, Scripture, Scriptures, Self-Righteous, Tradition, Tradition vs Commandment, Word of God, Worship
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Matthew 15:1-20 reveals some important truths for us today. The principles of the Pharisees never die. First, hypocrites place great importance on outward things in religion—“Why do your disciples break More →
Like Raging Storms
Adversity, Blog, Boat, Circumstances, Darkness, Difficulties, Disciples, Erik Garthe, Faith, Fourth Watch, God, Hell, Jesus, Life, Like Raging Storms, Lord, Mountaintop, No Longer Conformed, Overwhelming, Peter, Power, Problem, Save, Sea, Serving, Situations, Storm, Sufficiency, Survive, Trust, Valley, Walking, Water, Waves, Wind
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The God who saved us from hell can also help us live this life. Life’s circumstances can often seem too much to handle. The disciples just experienced the feeding of 5,000, and Matthew 14:22-36 finds them in More →
Party of Five—Thousand
Blog, Compassion, Disciples, Erik Garthe, Fed, Five Loaves, Five Thousands, Healed, Hell, Helpless, Hopeless, Impossible, Jesus, Jesus’ Divinity, Jesus’ Salvation, John the Baptist, King Herod, Loaves and Fish, Miracle, Multitude, No Longer Conformed, Party, Party of Five--Thousand, Sinners, Sufficient, Supernatural, Teaching, Twelve Baskets, Two Fish
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Matthew 14:13-21 records one of Jesus’ greatest miracles, feeding thousands with a few loaves and fish. The passage begins, ‘When Jesus heard this …” that John the Baptist was dead. King Herod murdered him More →
A Sticky Situation
A Sticky Situation, Bitterness, Blog, Condemning, Conscience, Daughter of Herodias, Erik Garthe, Forgiveness, Guilt, Herod the Tetrarch, Herodias, Incest, Jesus, John the Baptist, King, Miry, No Longer Conformed, Oaths, Philip’s Wife, Pit, Rock, Ruler of Israel, Seduction, Sin
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Psalm 40:2 states, “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock.” At first we think we can handle sin, but then we begin to sink and get caught in its powerful More →
Fork in the Road
Blog, Church, Contempt, Doctrine, Erik Garthe, Faith, Fork in the Road, Human Perspective, James, Jesus, Jude, Nazareth, No Longer Conformed, Offense, Opportunity, Preaching, Pride, Prophecy, Prophet, Revealed Truth, Sight Versus Faith, Spiritually Blind, Synagogue, Truth
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The church is surrounded by spiritually blind people who desperately need to know Jesus. Matthew 13:53-58 records Jesus making a visit to His hometown, where His family lived. While there, He taught in the More →
It’s Good News!
Bible, Blog, Christian, Confucius, Erik Garthe, Eternal Life, Good News, Gospel, It's Good News, Jesus Christ, Kingdom of God, No Longer Conformed, Pearl of Great Price, Philosophers, Plato, salvation, Spiritual Truth, Stewardship, Talent, The King, The Net, Treasure, Truths
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Matthew 13:44-52 reveals four truths about the good news of Jesus Christ. First, salvation is hidden from most—“Like treasure hidden in a field.” (v. 44) The Kingdom of God is of great value to those who embrace it More →
Trust for Growth
Blog, Church, Erik Garthe, God, Good News, Growth, Harvest, Jesus Christ, Kingdom of Heaven, Leaven, Mustard Seed, No Longer Conformed, Parable, Reapers, Soil, Sower, Spirit of Christ, Trust, Trust for Growth, world
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The church is charged to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible, trusting God for the result. In the parable, the sower didn’t worry about the condition of the soil; he just kept on More →
Work the Soil
Among Thorns, Analogies, Analogy, Blog, Christ, Crisis, Emotional, Erik Garthe, Evangelism, Fruitful, Gift of Grace, Good Soil, Gospel, Jesus, Love of Money, Love of the World, No Longer Conformed, Parables, Plant Seeds, Reap the Harvest, Rocky Ground, salvation, Soil, Sow, Sower, The Path, True Repentance, Truth, unbelief, Unbelievers, Understanding, Water Seeds, Word of the Kingdom, Work, Work the Soil
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The purpose of evangelism is simple: lead people to Christ. Matthew 13:1-23 begins by informing that Jesus told the people “many things in parables.” (v. 3) Parables are an analogy in the form More →
Priority of Family?
Blog, born again, Brother, Earthly Blood Family, Erik Garthe, Family, Father in Heaven, Jesus, Mother, No Longer Conformed, Physical Birth, Priorities, Priority of Family, Sister, Spiritual Blood Family, Spiritual Rebirth
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When you read Matthew 12:46-50, at first glance, Jesus’ response to His mother and brothers’ request seems rather strange. Why would He treat them that way? These are Jesus’ own blood family members desiring More →