The Barefoot Evangelist

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Kids Korner: Jesus is the Messiah (August 27th)

Read Matthew 16:13-20 with your family. One of the more confusing things Jesus said was not to tell anyone he was the Messiah, even though we know that is who he was. Why wouldn’t he want people to know that? Perhaps it has to do with what the people who lived around Jesus thought the…
Sunday Reflection – August 20, 2023

Challenges and frustrations Matthew 15 10 Jesus called the crowd together and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. 11 The food you put into your mouth doesn’t make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.” 12 Then his disciples came over…
Kids Korner: Frustrations (August 20th)

Read Matthew 15:10-28 with your family. Today’s Bible readings give us two stories of frustrations and challenges. First a Pharisee challenges Jesus and his followers for not washing their hands properly before they ate and how that made their meal ‘unclean’. The second story is Jesus being challenged by a mother from Canaan who wanted…
Sunday Reflection – August 13, 2023

Walking on water Matthew 14 22 At once, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake. But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. 23 Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later in the evening, he was still there. 24 By this time the…
Kids Korner: Walking on water (August 13th)

Read Matthew 14:22-33 with your family. Even people who don’t know much about Jesus have heard about Jesus walking on water. Too often we pay attention to the extra things Jesus did, like turning water into wine or walking on water, or even healing and feeding large numbers of people. When we have stories of…
Sunday Reflection – August 6, 2023

Feeding more than 5000 Matthew 14 13 After Jesus heard about John, he crossed Lake Galilee to go to some place where he could be alone. But the crowds found out and followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw the large crowd. He felt sorry for them and healed…
Kids Korner: Feeding the crowd (August 6th)

Read Matthew 14:13-21 with your family. The story we read today was so important to the early Christians that it is the only miracle story found in all four Gospels (the Gospel of John usually has different stories). Imagine sitting in that crowd so long ago. Matthew tells us there were 5000 men, plus women…
Sunday Reflection – July 30, 2023

Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven Matthew 13 31 Jesus told them another story: The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field. 32 Although it is the smallest of all seeds, it grows larger than any garden plant and becomes a tree. Birds even come and nest on…
Kids Korner: Heaven is like… (July 30th)

Read Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 with your family. We have bounced around Mathew 13 over the last few weeks. When the writer and editor put this chapter together, they picked up on the first part of a few stories later in the chapter. That is why we have been bouncing around. But all of Matthew 13…
Sunday Reflection – July 23, 2023

Wheat & Weeds Matthew 13 24 Jesus then told them this story: The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a farmer scattered good seed in a field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and scattered weed seeds in the field and then left. 26 When the plants came up and began to mature, the farmer’s…