The Lord’s Prayer with Emphasis Placed on “As we ourselves also have forgiven our debtors.” This seventh reflection on the Lord’s Prayer shifts our focus to the forgiveness we offer others in the light of the Father’s immeasurable love shown to us through his forgiveness of our sins. Our Father […] Read more
Forgiveness
The Lord’s Prayer: Reflection VI
The Lord’s Prayer with Emphasis Placed on “And forgive us our debts.” This sixth reflection on the Lord’s Prayer turns our eyes toward the Father’s immeasurable love and how he has forgiven us for our sins. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. – All praise to you, Father, […] Read more
Matthew 19:1-15 – Divorce, Eunuchs, and Little Children…Again!
This may seem redundant since we just recapped our study of Matthew’s Gospel last week, but here it is again: an outline of our study of Matthew’s Gospel thus far: With 18 chapters of Matthew and six petitions of the Lord’s Prayer behind us, our present discussion will move into […] Read more
Matthew 18:1-14 – Humble Little Children and the Father’s Forgiveness
As we approach a new section of Matthew’s Gospel, let us take a look back and see how our previous study of Matthew’s Gospel helps us better understand each petition in the Lord’s Prayer. In Matthew 1-2, God’s power through history is a reason for praying, “Our Father in heaven, […] Read more
Matthew 6:1-34 – The Righteous Practices of the Kingdom
You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 We read these words and probably think Jesus is talking about perfection with regard to sin — our thoughts and actions — but I’m not so certain that’s what Jesus really meant. Everything preceding this is a […] Read more
Matthew 7:1-12 – The Father’s Forgiveness
I’ve been told for most of my life that God’s love is unconditional; I think that’s probably true. But I also think we can misunderstand what that means. Certainly, any sort of sin that we have committed, or will commit, is covered by the blood of Jesus and is forgiven […] Read more
For if you forgive others…
Jesus said, “Amen” so shouldn’t we be at the end of our discussion on prayer? Actually, no. In both Matthew 6 and Luke 11, Jesus continues discussing prayer after providing his prayer to the disciples. He told us we should pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven […] Read more
Forgive us our debts, as we ourselves forgive…
Forgive us our debtsas we also have forgiven our debtors… I think forgiveness is the centerpiece of Christian belief. Humanity, in the hands of Adam and Eve, fell into sin thus condemning us all to death. And just as Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden and covered […] Read more
