Have you ever felt appreciative of those in ministry for their ability to speak into your life and encourage your faith? Have you ever felt like that’s something you would love to do but feel ill-equipped to do yourself? Good news: that is the reason Jesus gives us great ministry leaders. The goal of a ministry leader is not just to encourage us to keep the faith but to equip us to build faith in others. Paul says, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evang

Have you ever wondered why Jesus spoke in parables? Have you ever struggled to understand some? Jesus gives his reason to the disciples in Matthew 13, saying, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” First notice that the knowledge of the secrets of Heaven are given in Jesus’ parable

Jesus’ Great Commission, his final instruction to his disciples before his ascension, was this, “ All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Notice something. Did Jesus say for us to go and be disciples, or go and m

The account of Jesus feeding the 5000 with naught but 2 fish and five loaves is among the most well known stories of Jesus’ ministry. But did you know that the purpose of it was not to establish Jesus’ own ministry, but to train his disciples for ministry? There are many teachable aspects to this account, but look to this one: though the disciples knew not how to feed the flocks, Jesus still commanded them to do so (v.16–“They do not need to go away; you give them something t

The Prodigal Son is a well-known parable to the point of it being more of a cultural idiom of general forgiveness than picture of how we are welcomed back to our Father in repentance. The parable itself is a picture of how the exchange happens, but how does it happen? The key facet secular culture misses in their application of the parable is how the work of Christ enables this welcoming home. Paul addresses it in Romans 8, saying, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God