Jesus started at Capernaum, but he kept going. He spent three years traveling up and down through the parts of Israel. And he often told stories about the kingdom of heaven. He told them with great confidence. The stories explain kingdom values and direction. They seem to say, “Here’s what it would look like to […]

Jesus picked up where John left off. Proclaiming the kingdom. I mean Jesus picked up with exactly the same message John had proclaimed. When Matthew tells the story, he says that John said, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And then, after John is arrested, Jesus starts preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom […]

Of course, when John had these amazing teachings which called people to repentance, people started to speculate about him. They asked whether he was the messiah. Because they had been looking for a messiah. The people John spoke to, the Jewish people, had been living under Roman rule for generations. They had been looking for […]

John told people that the kingdom of heaven was near. He told them that repenting was the appropriate response. And he said that they couldn’t use their genealogical connection to Abraham as a reason to not worrying about repenting. John’s argument was that repentance doesn’t result from your family tree, but it does result in […]

There is a marathon coming to Fort Wayne. On October 1, there will be an opportunity to run for 26 miles and 385 yards. There will be medals, there will be celebration, there will be a finish line. I’m planning to run it. And you can run that marathon with me. (Or you can sponsor […]