Ankeny Gospel Church

Immediately after leaving the temple, Jesus tells everyone it's going to be destroyed. Alarmed and confused, the disciples come up to him in private and ask him when these things will happen. Jesus gives them an answer in very dense imagery to tell them that Jerusalem will fall within the generation. His message to the disciples, and to us, is the same: don't be alarmed, endure, an

In Matthew 23:25-39, Jesus uses symbols from the surrounding culture to reproach the Pharisees. These sharp words will be his last to the Pharisees and constitute his final visit to the temple before he is crucified. Jesus minces no words to warn of the dangers of self justification and external religion. He warns them to turn their attention from external purity to internal purity

This section of Matthew 23 starts the Woes to the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus proclaims seven woes, each one calling out the hypocrisy and failings of the dead man-made religion the Pharisees advocated for. This week, we explore the first four woes of Jesus.

In Matthew 23, Jesus starts his rebuke of the religious leaders of his day. This chapter is filled with seven woes, oracles against the hypocrisy and performative religion of the Israelite leaders. However, this passage acts as a mirror in our lives and hearts. Before we can change the world, we must first follow Jesus' call to self-examination and humility. Listen in and reflect.

As we conclude chapter 22, we find Jesus getting confronted by an expert of the law, demanding an answer to the greatest law in the entire Torah. Jesus' response both clarifies and confuses the religious leads, and then he asks them a question. In all this back and forth, we're confronted with a similar question: how have we been so immersed in our paradigms that we fail to see the

Our lives are aimed at something, and sometimes we can hit the bullseye only to realize later that we are aimed at the wrong target! When the Pharisees and Sadducees approach Jesus to test him, Jesus shows them how their lives are aimed at the wrong target, because they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. Do we?

The King has prepared the wedding feast - how will you respond?

Jesus confronts the Chief Priests and elders of the people with more parables. What do they mean? What can they teach us today?

In one passage, Jesus curses a fig tree, makes bold claims about prayer, and silences those challenging his authority. What does this do to our hearts?

The temple itself is not bad; what the leader of Israel did with it was bad. Generation after generation, God was calling Israel into His presence, reminding them of who they were! Yet, generation after generation, Israel traded in God's plans and purposes for a cheap substitute. Who are we, as the new temple of the living God? What might God be calling us into as a people?