The Castle Church Door

Matthew 12:1-8 5/25/2008 Audio Version “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” So says Jesus. The burden of Jesus is light, and His yoke is easy, He says. And yet, sometimes we feel as if the burden should be heavier. There are some Christians who would prefer a life of self-accusation, self-burdening, self-atoning, self-salvation. Such people are likely to add to the law of God. The Pharisees were like ...

Matthew 11:25-30 5/18/2008 Audio Version One man challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he had. “I don’t get it,” ...

Matthew 11:20-24 5/11/2008 Audio Version Gentle Jesus, meek and mild. A Jesus who doesn’t judge anyone. God doesn’t judge me. Therefore, if I do the best with what I have, God will overlook my mistakes. God would never wend anyone to hell. Do any of these ideas sound familiar? People constantly repeat them. In fact, so keen are people on repeating these thoughts that you would think their life depended on ...

Matthew 11:16-19 5/4/2008 No Audio Available I’m sure you know people like this. They never smile at parties. They never cry at funerals. They are never impressed with something incredible. Instead, they wear a stone face all the time, as if to say, “Don’t you have anything better than that?” They will not be shown to love any part of life. Because if they did show something any emotion in life, ...

Matthew 11:13-15 4/27/2008 Audio Version Here are Edgar Fiedler’s Forecasting Rules. (1) It is very difficult to forecast, especially about the future. (2) He who lives by the crystal ball soon learns to eat ground glass. (3) The moment you forecast, you know you’re going to be wrong — you just don’t know when and in which direction. (4) If you’re ever right, never let them forget it. This is true ...

Matthew 11:12 4/20/2008 Audio Version Polycarp of Smyrna was one of the very earliest Church Fathers. He was a bishop of Smyrna, which is in Asia Minor, now called Turkey. He was a disciple of the Apostle John. So he was only one generation younger than the apostles. Polycarp lived into his 80’s. However, at the very end of his life, he was taken by the Romans. They asked him not ...

Matthew 11:7-11 4/13/2008 Audio Version In music, one of the most exciting things a composer can do is to have a long drawn-out crescendo. A crescendo is what happens when you get gradually louder and louder until finally you reach a mountain peak of sound that stuns everyone with its beauty and power. That’s a little bit like what Jesus does here in our passage. The crescendo hits a high note ...

Matthew 11:1-6 4/6/2008 Audio Version  A Christian was witnessing to a Jewish rabbi in New York City. The Christian was telling the Jewish rabbi that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, the one that the Jews were expecting. The Jewish rabbi shook his head, went to the window, looked out, and pointed to the city, and said, “No, when the Messiah comes there will be justice.” I have a hunch that ...

Matthew 10:40-42 10/28/2007 No Audio Available During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade which he knew would be held in Picadilly Circus after the war. First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. ...

Matthew 10:34-39 10/14/2007 No Audio Available The picture many people have of Jesus is of a gentle Jesus, meek and mild, who wouldn’t hurt a fly, and who wants world peace. Of course, there are a few passages that are difficult for them to explain, such as the cleansing of the temple. And then there’s this passage, in which Jesus tells us that His purpose was not to bring peace on ...