Here is a sermon I wrote with a handout.

This softened my heart this morning.

Brothers and sisters of theBlack Sheep fold, I’m reaching out because this group feels like a place where we can truly bear one another’s burdens and walk in authentic community—the kind where everyone has a voice, a gift, and a purpose, and we submit to one another in love. After more than 8 years in prison, I’m now 53 and trying hard to get back on my feet. I have no family and no support network. I’m living in a halfway house, and they’re pressing me daily to find employment. I’m actively trying—attending CNM skills workshop classes to build basic job skills and exploring another training opportunity—but I keep running into roadblocks that make it hard for employers to say yes. I can’t force anyone to hire me, and I’ve asked everyone I know for help, but doors have stayed closed. My small congregation is mostly elderly folks on fixed incomes, so they don’t have much to offer practically. Right now, two big needs are holding me back: a reliable bicycle (for transportation to interviews, classes, and work) and a laptop (to improve my skills, complete applications, and take full advantage of training). Probation wants to see a job first, but the classes could help me become more employable. I feel stuck in the middle and honestly a bit discouraged. If the Lord leads any of you to pray for me—for favor with employers, wisdom in navigating these systems, provision for these practical tools, and strength to keep pressing forward—I would be deeply grateful. If anyone has experience with reentry challenges, job search encouragement, or knows of Spirit-led ways to walk this out, I’d value your counsel or testimony. I believe God is in the business of restoration and that true discipleship includes helping one another step into our calling. I’m longing to contribute, grow in maturity, and be part of building the Kingdom instead of just surviving. Thank you for being a community that values relationship over religion. Any prayers, words of encouragement, or guidance are a blessing.

A fresh look at Matthew 7:13-14 Scripture Focus Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Key Insight from the Greek English translations often collapse two different Greek words into the single idea of “narrow.” The original text uses: - Stenos (στενός) – the gate is dimensionally narrow (tight, with obstacles standing close together). - Tethlimmene (τεθλιμμένη) – the way is compressed, pressed, or crushed. This comes from the verb thlibō (θλίβω), the same root as thlipsis (θλῖψις), the New Testament word for “tribulation” or “affliction” (used 45 times). The broad way is eurychōros (εὐρύχωρος) – spacious in every direction, with no resistance and no extraction (a rare word Jesus used only once). Main Teaching Points 1. Two Different Words, Two Different Ideas The gate is a tight entrance (stenos). The road itself is an ongoing process of compression (tethlimmene). This is not primarily about moral rules or “being restrictive,” but about an inner mechanism of pressure that extracts something precious. 2. The Destination of Each Path The broad, spacious way leads to apoleia (ἀπώλεια) – often translated “destruction,” but the same word the disciples used for the “waste” of the expensive ointment poured on Jesus (Matthew 26:8). It carries the sense of squandering or losing what one could have become. The compressed way leads to zoē (ζωή) – not mere biological life (bios) or soul life (psychē), but the divine quality of life that Jesus embodies. He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life (zoē)” (John 14:6) and “This is eternal life (zoē): that they know you…” (John 17:3). Jesus also came so we could have zoē abundantly (John 10:10). 3. How We Travel the Way Many people simply “enter” (eiserchomai) the broad way. On the compressed way, the few find it (heuriskō – the root of “eureka!”), implying active seeking and discovery after searching (see Matthew 7:7 – “Seek and you will find”). 4. The Picture of the Oil Press The Greek word for compression (thlibō) is the same used for pressing olives or grapes to produce oil and wine. Gethsemane literally means “oil press.” Jesus walked the ultimate compressed way in the garden, where the pressure produced the oil of redemption. The narrow way is not punishment — it is production. What is false gets pressed away so that what is precious (zoē) can flow. 5. Connection to the Rest of the Sermon on the Mount Right after this passage, Jesus warns about false prophets, trees known by their fruit, and builders on rock vs. sand. The broad way can look externally “righteous” but lacks the inner transformation that only comes through compression.