In the middle of Matthew’s account of Jesus life comes a big turning point: The penny drops for one of Jesus’ disciples, Peter, who realises “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. It’s from this point on that Jesus starts telling his disciples that he must travel to Jerusalem, to suffer, die and then be raised from the dead. The disciples initially fail to grasp this properly – how can suffering and death be the path of the great king? But as they travel towards Jerusalem, Jesus continues to explain his mission and the nature of his kingdom.
In term 4 2019, as we study Matthew 16-20, we are going to walk with Jesus on that road to Jerusalem, learning with the disciples what kind of king Jesus is, what kind of kingdom he has ushered in, and what it means to belong to him.
Our small group studies will initially lag behind the sermons by a few weeks, but as the term progresses and we have a few ‘special event’ Sundays, the small groups will catch up with the sermons.