Topic: Discipleship

Jesus calls us to take the way less travelled, to leave behind the sin that entangles, to be welcomed by God, that we may have power to welcome and love even our enemies.

Even those whose actions are morally indefensible usually have attributes that challenge our own failings.

Our liturgical expression of faith can nurture but not substitute for putting our faith into action.

Following Christ may take us into costly confrontation with the powers of the world, and we cannot be protected from the costs of that, but Christ will bring us through to the land of promise beyond.

Although the coming Christ is brings our deepest hopes to fulfillment, the transition will be traumatic and we still fear his coming because of our unhealthy investments in the present.

Summing up the previous section of the gospel, Bartimaeus is a model disciple – one who sees who Jesus is, has no pretensions to power, leaves everything, and follows Jesus on the way.

Jesus is not calling us to self-mutilation, but he is saying that our efforts to root out sin in ourselves need to be as rigorous as it takes, even if it means appearing like a fanatic.

The Bible highlights the consequences of the world’s unjust economic system, and we, as the church, are called to find ways of living out our prayer for justice.

Christians are to be known for what they do rather than what they abstain from.

Christ has come that we might have fullness of life, and it has cost him dearly.

The church rightly has an impact on the world, bringing out the taste of God, but it won’t come from pedantic obedience.

The Word has become flesh to redeem us. Now our redeemed response must become flesh.