Week 29
The Doctor is speaking. In Matthew, Jesus acts as the Great Physician, speaking words of healing to the sick and teaching in puzzling parables. Meanwhile, the prophet Jeremiah speaks words of both warning and incredible promise to the spiritually sick nation of Judah during the last days before its fall to Babylon.
Week 29
This week we begin training in a new mark of the Master: INTEGRITY. It starts with a question: Is it okay to prioritize some of God's commands and dismiss others? Since Jesus wants his disciples "to observe all that I have commanded" (Matt. 28:20), our integrity requires us to bring our entire lives under his direction.
Week 30
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen... but Jesus. This week we see Jesus face immense hardship—grief, betrayal, and being misunderstood—yet His compassion never fails. His experience mirrors that of the prophet Jeremiah, who endures persecution that includes having the king himself burn his scroll of prophecy.
Week 30
Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). Purity isn't just about our outward actions; it begins with guarding our hearts from the inside out. Join us this week as we aim to point our thoughts toward "whatever is pure" (Phil. 4:8) and keep ourselves "unstained from the world" (James 1:27).
Week 31
We all face problems, but disciples are trained to see every difficulty as an opportunity for growth. This week in Cross Training, we're focusing on Character, because as Paul says, "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" (Rom. 5:3-4).
Week 31
It's time to face the test. In Matthew, Jesus masterfully navigates a series of tests from religious leaders before turning the tables and exposing their hypocrisy with seven blistering "woes." In the Old Testament, we move from the fall of Jerusalem in Jeremiah to the wild, exotic, and faith-testing visions of the prophet Ezekiel in Babylon.
Week 32
This week is about seeing the story fulfilled. In Matthew, we reach the stunning climax of the gospel: the trial, the cross, and the glorious resurrection. In Ezekiel, God uses vivid, powerful word-pictures—an unfaithful wife, a sharpened sword—to show the final, fulfilled judgment on a nation consumed by sin.
Week 32
From Nathan's "you are the man!" to Esther's royal requests, the Bible is full of courageous saints who stepped up and spoke up. This week, we're training to join that long line, learning to speak the truth in love "for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear" (Eph. 4:29).