The Cross Section - RMB Blog

Jesus, as the Creator of the Earth and Mankind, completely understands how human beings should interact with each other.  In His parables, Jesus used what the normal people of the day understood to be true about the natural world to explain aspects of the kingdom of heaven.  In Matthew 20 in the Parable Of The Laborers In The Vineyard, Jesus uses parts of natural economic law like the legitimacy of private property, subjective value theory, and property based natural rights, in order to teach about God’s kingdom. Later in Matthew 25 and also Luke 19, He tells another parable where He uses natural economic law again to explain truth about God’s spiritual kingdom.  This parable is commonly called the Parable Of The Talents or Minas. Using the English word “talent” makes some think Jesus is talking about a person’s skills, capabilities, and expertise.  Anytime we see someone accomplish something great, it is normal to think, “wow, that person is so talented!”  Howe...

I preached this sermon at North Village Church on 7/13/2025 discussing 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18   Introduction Good morning everyone.  I want to welcome everyone to North Village Church this morning.  I am very glad to see you all.  For those of you I don’t know my name is Rhesa, and I helped start the church back in the day.  Also, I wanted to acknowledge Jerry Chou.  He was scheduled to teach this morning but became sick at the start of the week, and I am filling in.  I got notice on Tuesday so please bear with me, and thanks to Jerry for sending me his manuscript.  Just know, if anything I say this morning sounds insightful or intelligent, most likely, that is from Jerry’s sermon. This Sunday we are going to go through 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.  But before we go there, I would like to give a review of what we have learned so far in this book.  This will help us understand what Paul is teaching in this morning’s passage and why he is tea...