Brian Maloy
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Intro Consider last week — the charge, the call to be courageous and strong. It was repeated in several different ways. Be courageous and strong in light of God’s: This context is important for where the story pivots. Especially because of WHO enters into the story, and the way that God in His good providence…
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As always — it’s really important to consider context when we’re studying Scripture. Where were we RIGHT before beginning Joshua? The Pentateuch — the first 5 books of the Bible, the Books of Moses. We would have just read Deuteronomy, and been reminded of the commands of the Lord, and how they (the Hebrews) were…
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Tower House became our home for 14 months, almost to the day. After all, home isn’t necessarily a building per se, but where you go back to, where you remain, where you are safe, and where your family dwells. It’s a curious thing, because many people move around often, are empty-nesters, or any combination of…
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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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