At a time when we have every reason to pull together and work in harmony to get the job done, it seems as though some would much rather weaken the ranks and hinder our effectiveness. Today, let’s go back to some of the basics that our indulged era seems to have forgotten.

In this section of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is with His disciples on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. They are full of questions, and He graciously responds to their concerns.

The parable we are considering today appears on the surface to be to be about a man and his slaves, but it actuality symbolizes the Saviour and His followers. Read it closely. Think it through. See if you don’t agree that it has a great deal to say about how we are to respond to the blessings of God.

We are the recipients of so much from God’s gracious hand. Why? Why all these tremendous blessings? These Psalms 67 and 103 answer that question.

God cares about good leadership—the kind mentioned in Scripture, modelled by men and women who served their generations with integrity and refused to lag behind because of pressure, demands, or ingratitude. Strong and determined yet gracious and godly are the qualities we witness in those we will study in this lesson.

Evangelism and discipleship were never designed to be ministries limited to “the pros.” Many of us grow up believing that serving God is for somebody else. Let’s take some time to examine the truth.

Let’s seek the Lord’s counsel as we attempt to uncover the reasons an individual will admit his or her error, turn around, and come back to the Lord as a humble, repentant child of the King.

Let’s start living as good neighbours to the people God has placed in our paths. To help us begin doing that, let’s eavesdrop on a conversation held in the street back in the first century between a lawyer and the Lord.

Why don’t we experience more victory in the Christian life? We have neglected the spiritual disciplines and opted for comfort and mediocrity. So now what do we do to find victory?

No one will ever know how much energy the human race has wasted through worry. Today, we want to think along scriptural guidelines as we rediscover a life characterized by rest instead of rush, calm instead of confusion, peace instead of panic, tranquility instead of turmoil.