text Matthew 15:21-28 excerpt: ...I'm not a "pet dog" before God. I'm far lower on the chain. This woman may deserve to eat the crumbs off the table, but I'm not even worthy to do that. As David says about himself in Psalm 22, “I am a worm and no man.” If God incarnate chooses to compare me to a pet dog in relation to the Jews, who am I to complain? He's right. And yet, the wonder of it is that despite my sin and rebellion, despite all that I've done, when I repented of my sins and surrendered to Christ, he made me a son and an heir. Though I am a worm, for Jesus' sake I'm counted as a child of God. And the same, judging from her next answer, is true for this woman...

Text: Matthew 15:21-28 When considering the problem of suffering, many, even in the Church, accuse God of injustice. How can a good God allow so much pain and turmoil. The Canaanite woman is different. She does not seek justice from Jesus. She seeks mercy.

Text: Matthew 15:21-28 A woman pleads for Jesus' help. Jesus ignores her. Egged on by his disciples, he tries to send her away. When finally confronted, he justifies his refusal to help by appealing to his ethnic superiority. He calls the woman a dog. He helps her in the end but only after she's been utterly humiliated. ...That's what many people see in Matthew 15:21-28, Jesus acting like the classic bigot. But is that really what is going on?

A continuing explication on the Parable of the Sower.

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23 The farmer Jesus' parable is incompetent. He sows the majority of his seed in places that cannot bear fruit. He is either incompetent or blind or both. And yet he is an encouraging model for those of us who do not feel equipped to share the message of Jesus Christ.

Text: Matthew 11: John the Baptist languishes in Herod's Dungeon, Jesus meets rejection in Galilee. To all appearances, Jesus' ministry in Capernaum has been a dramatic failure. And yet his response is to praise God and to call his followers to Rest. How do we rest in the midst of disappointment and failure? What does it mean to live under the yoke of Christ?

Youth Pastor Micah Towery discusses what it means to take the Gospel into all nations, as Christ commanded in the Great Commission.

Youth Minister Micah Towery discusses the question: What is the Gospel?

Text Romans 5:6-11: How can a loving God punish? How can a just God forgive? God acted to save us while we were "powerless". While we were still sinners Christ died on our behalf. What does this act tell us about God's character and what does it reveal about our own? Do we love and forgive others as we have been loved and forgiven by God?

Text: Matthew 9:9-13. What is the nature of the Church? What does it mean to follow Jesus? The Church that Jesus established is a hospital for sinners. It is the place people go to find divine forgiveness and mercy and to find grace for every day living.