Update 2023-09-07: Week 7 podcasts added.
Here’s another series of Formed in God’s Story. This one covers the Gospel of Matthew.
The live Bible study will be at Riverview Church (Burswood, Western Australia) each Wednesday 7–9 pm, starting 26 July 2023.
If you can’t make it in person, you can download the notes (available before each week’s session) and the podcasts (available afterwards).
We cover two chapters of Matthew each week. After seven weeks we take a break, with the second half (Matthew 15–28) from 18 October to 29 November 2023.
As we go we’ll add the notes, podcasts, and the second half. Bookmark this page for the links.
Schedule
Here’s the first half (Matthew 1–14):
Week 1: The birth of the king (Mt 1–2) — Notes for 26 July 2023.
• Jesus in the Jewish story (Mt 1) — Podcast.
• Jesus on the global stage (Mt 2) — Podcast.
Week 2: The king’s commission (Mt 3–4) — Notes for 2 Aug.
• Jesus according to heaven (Mt 3) — Podcast.
• Jesus in the cosmic battle (Mt 4) — Podcast.
Week 3: An address from the king (Mt 5–6) —Notes for 9 Aug.
• Living under God’s anointed (Mt 5) — Podcast.
• Living under heaven (Mt 6) — Podcast.
Week 4: The king’s authority (Mt 7–8) — Notes for 16 Aug.
• Our relationships under his authority (Mt 7) — Podcast.
• How the king implements his authority (Mt 8) — Podcast.
Week 5: The gospel he gave us (Mt 9–10) — Notes for 23 Aug.
• Setting his people free (Mt 9) — Podcast.
• Commissioned with the king’s authority (Mt 10) — Podcast.
Week 6: Conflicting agendas (Mt 11–12) — Notes for 30 Aug.
• Do they recognize his kingship? (Mt 11) — Podcast.
• Conflicting perceptions of Jesus’ authority (Mt 12) — Podcast.
Week 7: Seeing the kingdom (Mt 13–14) — Notes for 6 Sep.
• What his kingdom is like (Mt 13) — Podcast.
• What his kingdom is not like (Mt 14) — Podcast.
Weeks 8–14 (covering Mt 15–28) will follow.
Background
According to Matthew, the gospel is a person. The anointed son of David (1:1) is raised up with all authority in the earthly and heavenly realms, all nations being trained under his command (28:18-20).
From start to finish, Matthew’s gospel is the Christ (God’s anointed). As we see him announce and embody this good news, we are discipled to announce and embody his gospel as the community that exists in him, the kingdom that exists in the king. Nothing is more transformative for his world. Join us on this journey of discipleship.
Related posts
The first series surveyed the narrative of the Torah and historical books of the Old Testament: Formed in God’s Story: Genesis – Esther.
Seeking the kingdom 
I stumbled across your blog today and your message is an answer to my years of prayer.
With all going on in the world today I have found myself stepping away from the church and looking for answers without a doctrinal lens.
God is Revealing to ME what he has Revealed to You!!!!
I cannot sum up for you what this journey has been like for me except to say my understanding has been turned RIGHT SIDE UP and I cant keep up with all the Revelations He is sharing.
Thank you so much for this teaching.
I plan on spending hours and hours reading everything you have to share.
Question: There is a description of the times we are living in and some are calling it The Great Awakening.
Any thoughts on this??
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Hi CJ. God is indeed restoring this bigger understanding of the gospel of Christ as our God-appointed leader, restoring humanity to life in God’s care and governance, transforming us as his kingdom).
Not sure what to label it. (Church historians tend to provide labels after the event.) It does feel like living in a new kind of reformation: rediscovering how the gospel reframes our human identity and purpose in his Messiah.
God bless, inspire, and sustain you as we follow him.
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