What if Jesus doesn’t heal me? As Matthew continues to narrate Jesus’ healing ministry we see him again heal by touch and by word, yet Matthew peels back the curtain and sets it in the context of Jesus’ larger mission. As he does so we find that Jesus everywhere transcends what we expect, so that even when he does not deliver us from this light and momentary affliction, he nevertheless prepares for us an eternal weight of glory!

How does an encounter between Jesus and a leper portray for us the wonder of the gospel? Join us as we examine this brief encounter that displays the depths of ruin and sin, the breadth of Jesus’ love, and the heights of the gospel’s power! And whenever you find yourself doubting the extent of Christ’s love for you, knowing he is able but doubting whether he is willing, return to this passage!

Paul’s description of Adam’s sin and Christ’s obedience helped frame our discussion of WLC 22–27 this morning as we dove into the bad news of Adam’s sin and its devastating effects, trying to bear in mind as we did so how the one man’s obedience is not like the trespass, for Christ’s obedience is able to undue all the damage Adam’s sin has wrought. Along the way we considered how sin touches every aspect of what it means to be human, how this helps us make sense of the world as we experience it, and how this relates to the importance of affirming the full and complete humanity of Christ, bearing in mind Gregory of Nazianzus’s phrase, “That which is not taken up is not healed.”

Will the kingdom of heaven be inhabited by pirates, with eye patches and hooks for hands? Jesus has strong words for us on adultery, lust, the fight against sin, and divorce. Join us as we consider the seriousness of sinful desires, our duty to fight sin, and the role of God’s mercy.

What does repentance look like in the life of a community? What will happen among the returned exiles after they have heard and understood God’s word (ch. 8) and prayed a penitential prayer (ch. 9)? Here in chapter 10 the community gathers once more to renew their covenant commitment. We see in the chapter that 1) a renewed community is the aggregate of individuals waking in repentance; 2) true repentance manifests in a sincere resolve to new obedience; and 3) new obedience, as a fruit of repentance, targets specific areas of struggle.

How does the history of God’s mercy free us to confess our sin and give us hope for the future? Join us as we walk through the next chapter of Nehemiah and see a people poised to hear God’s word, worship for a wondrous creator and redeemer, sweeping cycles of sin and salvation, and a penitential prayer that is finally resolved in salvation in Christ.

We’ve heard much of external threats to the community in Ezra-Nehemiah, but here Nehemiah turns to confront internal struggles, as brothers and sisters suffer oppression—even from oppressors in their community! Yet see how, through Nehemiah, the Lord meets the needs of those who need provision and of those who need forgiveness and accountability. And let us see how Nehemiah points us to Jesus, who meets our deepest needs.

A grievous and extensive sin comes to light among God’s people gathered in a fragile community with a precarious existence. Will God in his wrath finally snuff them out? How do we consider their sin in light of our own setting in redemptive history? What can we learn from them of the nature of true repentance?