Gary and Bob stopped by the church so we decided to read Matthew 7-9 together. Both of these guys are sharp on the Bible and we had a great discussion. We spent an hour talking about hell, faith, and Jesus authority. I don't know if there is a scarier passage in the Bible than Matthew 7:21-23. Some who thought they were in the Kingdom were denied entrance by Jesus, "Away from me, you evildoers!"
Bob pointed out that in Ch. 8 some thought they were in the Kingdom because of their birth into religious families. However, Jesus was impressed with the faith of a Roman centurion who had probably never even heard of "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (8:11)
Gary's favorite part of the reading was Jesus demonstration of authority over sin as well as sickness in the story of the paralytic. "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.....Get up take your mat and go home."
Jesus rules! Seriously.
It is great getting up early to start my day off in the scriptures knowing others in our church family are doing the same thing and reading the same verses. This is exciting!
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