Guy Sayles begins the book for this study with a statement about what he sees as a primary purpose of the Gospel we call Matthew:  “Matthew’s Gospel seeks to form a community of faith in which people faithfully confess Jesus as ‘the Messiah and Son of God’ and follow him in lives of creative and adventurous discipleship.  This Gospel, like all the writings of the New Testament, is honest about the people who follow Jesus:  they (we) are simultaneously devoted to Jesus and distracted from that devotion, committed and wavering in those commitments, hopeful but acquainted with the temptation to despair.”

 

We are very much like those early disciples/followers of Jesus, living in a pluralistic culture and seeking to understand how we are to live in and relate to such a culture and world.  While this endeavor is a lifelong journey filled with valleys and some mountains, this study may assist us in resetting our sights and being more aware of the call to discipleship.  Come along on this brief journey through Matthew.