Brian Maloy
things of first importance
Author: bmaloy
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As always, there is a lot in our passage this week — and it’s excellent. We just stepped a few weeks ago out of the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus’ ministry has officially begun publicly. We have to recap a bit from last week (because it’s been a couple weeks with the snow). Things…
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Intro In reading and re-reading this section, I was reflecting and asking God to show me how this passage — the healings of Jesus, the demoniacs, the physical and spiritual illnesses shown — how it’s connected with the stories we’ve recently studied. Matthew surely was building a narrative that was purposefully cohesive, and his goal…
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Our passage today begins in v15, but we have to acknowledge from where we have just come… the Narrow Gate. This is an important “build” into the passage we are studying today. Let’s look closely and consider it briefly. Matt 7:13-14: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is…
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In our quest to cover Matthew in 6 months… we pop over some spots. Sadly this week we pop over the Lord’s Prayer, and head straight to Matt. 6:19-34. Thankfully it’s a great spot to pick up our study in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7). After all, the Sermon on the Mount is…
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This week we pop into Chapter 5 (which is a familiar favorite for many, and misunderstood and misquoted too!). But sadly we don’t have time to read and study ALL of chapter 5. The good news is, there are probably more commentaries, books, and sermons than I can easily count written on “The Sermon on…
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One year ago I showed up to school, honestly pretty excited because it was the last week before Christmas Break. Finals were upon us (which is very chill as a teacher who is just proctoring). I even dressed up as Buddy the Elf (a little against my will) for the last day at Pawprint (our…
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I actually really tried hard this week to strive for brevity, which apparently is NOT my gift in Sunday School Prep… so we’ll see how I do! Intro Popping right out of our passage last week, immediately following Jesus’ temptation, is where we find ourselves. Jesus learns that John the Baptist had been taken into…
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Consider where we have been in the last year or so. We studied Exodus, into Leviticus. Where God freed His people from bondage, and helped them understand what it meant to live in His Kingdom, as a holy and set apart people. Then we went to 1/2 Peter, where so poetically and directly, we see…
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I can’t begin to tell you how much I have loved Deuteronomy this last quarter. I’ve read it at least a dozen times before, but slowing down, and seeing how the nuance and details fit into the larger narrative of Scripture is amazing, and a gift to us. We’re in Deut. 30 this week, nearing…
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FIRST THING FIRST — go read Deuteronomy 28 –> Deut. 28 Well this week we quick pop all the way to Deuteronomy 28, which of course, is an important chapter of Scripture (as all the inspired Word is indeed). We get to see a big contrast, between the promise of blessing, and the loathsome consequence…
Brian Maloy 