Yes, Christmas is supposed to be merry . Christ has come! But Christmas - the advent of the Savior - exists because this world is marked by sickness, sorrow, and suffering. Why would God allow things to be this way? This Sunday we see a woman whose life was marked by the worst of sorrows for a dozen straight years ... yet she never lost hope, moving toward Christ in faith when she had her chance. We are all invited to do the same.
Dec 19, 2021•33 min
This Sunday we see Christ direct his fishermen-disciples to steer the boat toward ... Gerasa? Yes. This would be like a Celtics fan heading to Staples Center or a vegan hitting the drive-thru at Taco Bell. No 1st century Jew would purposefully steer toward that city. But Christ did, to set a captive free and send a message that His gospel was going to be further reaching than anyone had ever imagined. Luke 8:26-39
Dec 12, 2021•38 min
This week, we will pause from our normal rhythm of preaching Luke to jump ahead and look at Luke 16. Jesus tells one of his stranger parables to pose this penetrating question: Do we love God or love money? Someone who loves God views themselves as a manager, while someone who loves money views themselves as an owner.
Dec 05, 2021•26 min
Sunny days or cloudy skies: How do you respond? The situations outside of human control tell you something about a person. Luke records a view of the disciples in some weather. Their response exposes their underlying beliefs. We will let this text shine on us to see what (or who) is our go-to in stormy times. Luke 8:22-25
Nov 21, 2021•31 min
Your nuclear family or church family: which is more important? We Bostonians tend to pit these against each other, as if they are part of some zero sum game. But Christ won't let us think this way. Instead, He teaches us to that both of our families - as long as they are marked by an all-in commitment to Him - are to be prized ... because they work in concert for the advance of His gospel.
Nov 14, 2021•36 min
The sudden emergence and lingering presence of COVID-19 have presented a serious challenge to the harmony of local church communities like ours at Seven Mile Road. From day one of the pandemic, we have asked the Father to give us an uncommon unity, even though many of us hold different convictions about what’s best around lockdowns, masks, vaccines, and all the rest. This Sunday we’ll unpack how an embrace of gospel centrality makes this unity possible. Romans 14:1-9
Nov 07, 2021•36 min
Listen for an update about this month at Seven Mile Melrose!
Nov 04, 2021•14 min
How are you doing receiving the Word of God? Like listening to it, really hearing it, and then letting it change your life… Robins, Rocks, Riches, and Resilience all will tell us something about how we are doing at this. In our next section of the gospel of Luke, we get to read an account from Jesus, the master storyteller, about this very question. As He walks through the possible responses to the Word of God, we are left with a point of helpful examination on our own receptivity to God’s Word....
Oct 31, 2021•30 min
Luke momentarily pauses his account to give us a quick glimpse into the makeup of the “ministry team” that accompanied Jesus. With Him were the 12 men he prayerfully appointed to the office of Apostle AND a number of women. This brief snapshot accords with how God intends for gospel advance to happen in a home, church, and city: men and women rightly-related and fully-engaged on mission together. This Sunday we’ll unpack this glorious truth and ask the Spirit to make it real at Seven Mile Road....
Oct 24, 2021•39 min
The depth of our love for the God of the gospel is directly tied to how clearly we see our need for His grace. This Sunday Luke juxtaposes for us two sinners: one who owned how bad her sin was, and the other who refused to do so. It's no surprise whose affections for Christ are richer. Which type of sinner are we? Luke 7:36-50
Oct 17, 2021•40 min
While Christ 100% calls us to practice critical thinking, he 100% calls us away from embracing a critical spirit. This Sunday we are back in Luke's gospel where we'll see Jesus calling out the religious elites of his day on their closed and critical spirit. In rejecting both John's message and His own they were in danger of missing out on the Spirit's work. May it not be so with us! Luke 7:31-35
Oct 10, 2021•37 min
Sara and Michael get you caught up on all things Seven Mile Melrose for this month!
Oct 05, 2021•17 min
A s a bookend to the Vocation Workshop we held on Friday night, this Sunday we are going to preach about how the gospel informs the way we view our work. Whatever you do for work - whether teacher or accountant or plumber or or anesthesiologist or mother or marketing manager or social worker or pediatric pharmacologist or quarterback for the Patriots or cook or receptionist or pastor or disc jockey or actuary - do you view it as a job or a calling ? The way you answer this question changes every...
Oct 03, 2021•34 min
One of the things that Jesus loved and affirmed about His cousin John what that John was not a soft man.Yet even this steel-in-the-back prophet was susceptible to wavering doubts.This Sunday we’ll see where John went with His doubts and how Christ received them.And in doing so we doubters will find great hope, too. Reference: Luke 7:18-28
Sep 26, 2021•30 min
We live in a post-Christian context, so we are neither surprised nor thrilled when we see Jesus moving toward those who are hurting with compassion." He's Jesus, That's what He does, right?" But this is not how it had to be.This Sunday we are (hopefully!) going to be surprised and thrilled as we see Christ - moved with compassion - give a grieving widow her son back.
Sep 19, 2021•36 min
This Sunday we jump back into Luke's gospel. At the start of chapter seven, Christ is caught happily off guard at the insight that a most unlikely character (Roman military) has into His person and work ... an insight that only a man humbly oriented to the reality of authority in this world could have. May we share it. Luke 7:1-10
Sep 12, 2021•33 min
Matt and Sara give a quick update on some changes to viewing our Sunday services online.
Sep 08, 2021•6 min
This Sunday we welcome 6 new sons and daughters into the life of Seven Mile Road. In the coming years, these boys and girls are going to bring us joy in so many ways. But they are also going to disappoint and hurt us, sometimes deeply. How does a gospel-centered father or mother respond when their kids hurt them? For that matter, how does any of us respond when we are hurt by those in our marriages, homes, or church? Our text this Sunday offers a surprising and beautiful answer. 2 Timothy 4:16-1...
Aug 29, 2021•35 min
According to the gospels, whenever Christ preached, he would end his sermons with a bang: an urgent and direct call to action. This is because His listeners (then now) tend to hear His words and nod their heads ... but not do much about them. But that's not how the gospel life works. The gospel life is never one of merely paying Christ lip service, but of evidencing our faith with actual obediences.
Aug 22, 2021•35 min
Jesus looked at his disciples and told them the way God’s world works: the poor are the blessed ones, the rich are the distressed ones. It seems upside down or backwards to conventional wisdom but it’s true, God has good news for the poor and words of warning for the rich. We are located in an affluent time and place, how do Jesus’ words apply? Are we poor or rich? Sunday we get to wrestle with the good Dr Luke’s recording of Jesus’ word and decipher what is is God wants us to know from Luke 6:2...
Aug 15, 2021•35 min
“Do Not Judge” are some words from Jesus that most everyone can get behind in this cultural moment. The basis of these words though go to root of the gospel and the reason the God-man, King Jesus instructs His followers to live this way. This Sunday we’ll explore the contours of this text in Luke and talk about how we put this into practice as followers of Jesus. Reference: Luke 6:37-42
Aug 08, 2021•34 min
Aug 05, 2021•14 min
Up until this point Luke 6, we haven’t heard Jesus tell us what his disciples do. In this week’s passage, we will explore how Jesus tells his disciples to engage “Them”. Jesus’ people love their enemies & actively choose to do good to them. This is not our default, but has deep implications for how we posture ourselves to outsiders.
Aug 01, 2021•26 min
15 months ago COVID-19 hit. Everyone on earth's plans got wiped out overnight. Including ours. And there was nothing we could do about it. This happens often in life. When it does, God is in it. This Sunday - the last of this crazy church year together - we learn how. James 4:13-16
Jun 27, 2021•23 min
Sometimes an up close photo can capture the true quality or personality of a friend or loved one. The photo, in an instant, depicts so much of what we’ve come to know to be true about a person over years of their life. Luke gives us an insta glimpse of the twelve disciples, but this informs us not only on what they were like, but also what is true of all disciples of Jesus for centuries after.
Jun 20, 2021•37 min
Seven Mile Road exists to see every Bostonian Jesus gives us loved and gospeled well. One thing this requires is - whether by office, by circumstance, or by natural gifting - leaders leading well. So over the years we have tried to build a gospel-shaped leadership culture at Seven Mile Road. This Sunday morning we are going to consider the roots in which strong gospel leadership grows. The Word: 2 Timothy 2:20-21
Jun 13, 2021•35 min
There is a lot of info to keep you informed this month! Listen as Matt, Michael, and Sara get you updated on what to expect at Seven Mile Melrose in the coming weeks. Click below to listen.
May 31, 2021•27 min
Every one of us is, to some degree, a creature of habit. When we find something that works for us, we stick with it. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it doesn’t mean we are no longer open to embracing change for the sake of gospel advance. A gospel-shaped heart is always at the ready for a fresh work of the Spirit, and is willing to flex to be a part of it. This Sunday Jesus presses this truth home with us.
May 23, 2021•38 min
An unlikely title? There is a sense in which all of us are unlikely to be following Jesus, and any who are outside of Christ can seem so distant. We see in the Luke’s gospel this week the way Jesus moves toward the unlikely and the truth that gives hope for everyone. As followers of Jesus, we are sent to similar unlikely people, and we can follow Jesus in the ways we love & gospel folks however seemingly unlikely. Luke 5:27-32
May 16, 2021•32 min
Every story Luke gives us is like the richest, heaviest little piece of fudge you ever ate. How could so much (gospel) goodness be jammed into something so small? This week is no different. Four friends hustle to get their paralyzed fifth before Jesus. How Jesus responds sends shockwaves through the room. Jesus drives through the physical to the spiritual, making a provocative statement about who He was and the redemptive mission He was on. Christ has authority to forgive sin. There is no better...
May 09, 2021•34 min
