Book: Matthew

Jesus calls us to do the hard work to prepare the soil of our hearts an minds, ready to grow the fruits of faith, hope and love.

In Baptism, Christ has united us with himself in his death to sin and his resurrection to radically new life.

Christ’s desire to extend hospitality to us, to welcome us at his table, is so great that he will give even his own life to bring us into the experience of his love. This is the pattern for our call to hospitality too.

You might have been written off as a dead loss (even by yourself), but only respond to the call of Christ, and you will live!

The kingdom of God is celebrating our life together now and our shared hopes and dreams of a world where all might eat and drink, and we are called to do what we can to bring this world about.

Jesus full humanity meant that temptation was real for him, as it is for us. Temptation is not in itself bad, but indicates to us that we have a gift of choice.

The message of the cross cuts against everything that would divide us from one another, and so cuts against everything that would drive us out.

The coming Christ will accomplish his purposes, which will be the best for us but may conflict with what we want from him.

God’s merciful and all-inclusive love is steadfast, not arbitrary, and so fills us with hope in the coming Christ.

Amidst the variety of opinions about the Coming Christ, there is a real message of hope that reshapes our lives.

Every relationship in the universe – between God and creation, between humans, and between humans and creation – is driven by three dynamics: justice, mercy and faith.

We are given gifts from God – faith, love and hope – to help us cope with all that is less than God – especially when ‘principalities and powers’ overwhelm us.