1. Kingdom of God / Heaven
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!"
Matthew 4:17
"I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!"
Matthew 18:3
"Nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst."
Luke 17:21
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, so that the wild birds come and nest in its branches."
Matthew 13:31-32
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all the dough had risen."
Matthew 13:33
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field."
Matthew 13:44
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he found a pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and bought it."
Matthew 13:45-46
Parable of the Sower — Matthew 13:1-23 | Mark 4:1-20 | Luke 8:4-15
Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat — Matthew 13:24-43
Parable of the Dragnet — Matthew 13:47-50
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard — Matthew 20:1-16
Parable of the Two Sons — Matthew 21:28-32
Parable of the Wicked Tenants — Matthew 21:33-45
Parable of the Wedding Banquet — Matthew 22:1-14
Parable of the Ten Virgins — Matthew 25:1-13
Parable of the Talents — Matthew 25:14-30
Parable of the Sheep and the Goats — Matthew 25:31-46
Parable of the Prodigal Son — Luke 15:11-32
Parable of the Great Banquet — Luke 14:15-24
Parable of the Rich Fool — Luke 12:16-21
If the kingdom of God is already in your midst, what are you waiting for?
2. Judgment / Eternal Destinies / Hell
Jesus spoke of eternal loss more than He spoke of prayer or money. Gehenna appears eleven times in the Synoptics alone.
"Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!'"
Matthew 7:23
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
Matthew 10:28
"And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched."
Mark 9:47-48
"But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults a brother will be brought before the council, and whoever says 'Fool' will be sent to fiery hell."
Matthew 5:22
"I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town!"
Matthew 10:15
"I tell you, I do not know you."
Matthew 25:12
"Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."
Matthew 25:45
Parable of the Sheep and the Goats — Matthew 25:31-46
Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus — Luke 16:19-31
Woes to the Unrepentant Cities — Matthew 11:20-24
Parable of the Wedding Banquet — Matthew 22:1-14
Parable of the Dragnet — Matthew 13:47-50
What does it mean that Jesus spoke of eternal loss more than He spoke of prayer or money?
3. Faith
"Have faith in God!"
Mark 11:22
"I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you."
Matthew 17:20
"Let it be done for you according to your faith."
Matthew 9:29
"Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?"
Matthew 8:26
"Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Luke 7:50
"I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
Luke 22:32
"However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Luke 18:8
Where are you treating faith as an outcome to achieve rather than a posture to hold?
4. Prayer
"So pray this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Matthew 6:9-13
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Matthew 7:7-8
"But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you."
Matthew 6:6
"Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Matthew 26:41
"If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Matthew 18:19-20
"Your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
Matthew 6:8
Parable of the Persistent Widow — Luke 18:1-8
The Lord's Prayer in context — Matthew 6:5-15 | Luke 11:1-13
What have you stopped bringing to the Father because you stopped expecting an answer?
5. Money and Possessions
"Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:19-21
"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
Matthew 6:24
"Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out — a treasure in heaven that never decreases, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys."
Luke 12:33
"If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Matthew 19:21
"Again I say, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
Matthew 19:24
"Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you."
Matthew 5:42
Parable of the Rich Fool — Luke 12:16-21
Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus — Luke 16:19-31
The Rich Young Ruler — Matthew 19:16-22 | Mark 10:17-22 | Luke 18:18-23
Zacchaeus — Luke 19:1-10
Where is your treasure — and does your spending confirm your answer?
6. Discipleship / Cost of Following
"And he said to all, 'If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.'"
Luke 9:23
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
Matthew 16:25
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."
Luke 14:26
"In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions."
Luke 14:33
"Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'"
Luke 9:62
"He said to another, 'Follow me.' But he replied, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.' But Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.'"
Luke 9:59-60
Counting the Cost — Luke 14:28-33
What have you kept that He asked you to renounce?
7. Hypocrisy
"When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward."
Matthew 6:16
"Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye,' while there is a beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Matthew 7:3-5
"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me."
Matthew 15:8
"Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean."
Matthew 23:27
Woes to the Pharisees and Experts in the Law — Matthew 23:1-36 | Luke 11:37-54
Teaching on Alms, Prayer, and Fasting — Matthew 6:1-18
What is the distance between what you present to others and what you are before God?
8. Love
"You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength."
Matthew 22:37 | Deuteronomy 6:5
"You must love your neighbor as yourself."
Matthew 22:39 | Leviticus 19:18
"I give you a new commandment — to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples — if you have love for one another."
John 13:34-35
"My commandment is this — to love one another just as I have loved you."
John 15:12
"No one has greater love than this — that one lays down his life for his friends."
John 15:13
"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Matthew 5:44
The Good Samaritan — Luke 10:30-37
What would it cost you to love the next person in front of you the way Jesus loved you?
9. Forgiveness
"For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins."
Matthew 6:14-15
"Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times!"
Matthew 18:22
"I do not condemn you either. Go, and from now on do not sin any more."
John 8:11
Note: John 7:53-8:11 is absent from the earliest manuscripts. The NET Bible includes the passage with a note on its manuscript status.
"Your sins are forgiven."
Luke 7:48
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant — Matthew 18:23-35
Parable of the Prodigal Son — Luke 15:11-32
The Sinful Woman Forgiven — Luke 7:36-50
Who have you not forgiven — and what has that cost you?
10. Eternal Life
"Now this is eternal life — that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent."
John 17:3
"For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16
"I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my word and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life."
John 5:24
"I tell you the solemn truth, the one who believes has eternal life."
John 6:47
"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand."
John 10:28
"I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
John 11:25-26
"Whoever obeys my word will never see death."
John 8:51
Are you treating eternal life as something that begins at death, or as something you are living now?
11. The Identity of Jesus
"Before Abraham came into existence, I am!"
John 8:58
"The Father and I are one."
John 10:30
"The person who has seen me has seen the Father!"
John 14:9
"The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark 10:45
"You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!"
Matthew 16:17
Caesarea Philippi — Matthew 16:13-20 | Mark 8:27-30 | Luke 9:18-21
The Seven I AM Statements — John 6:35; 8:12; 10:7-9; 10:11-15; 11:25-26; 14:6; 15:1,5
The Son of Man Sayings — Matthew 8:20; 9:6; 10:23; 11:19; 12:8; 16:27-28; 19:28; 20:18,28; 24:27,30,37,44; 25:31; 26:2,24,45,64
Who do you say He is — and what does your ordinary week say?
12. Suffering and Persecution
"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me. Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way."
Matthew 5:11-12
"If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first."
John 15:18
"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage — I have conquered the world."
John 16:33
"I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
Matthew 10:16
Persecution Discourse — Matthew 10:17-39
The World's Hatred — John 15:18-25
What would you be unwilling to lose for following Him?
13. The Law — Fulfillment and Interior Application
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them."
Matthew 5:17
"I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place."
Matthew 5:18
"The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath."
Mark 2:27
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Matthew 22:40
The Six Antitheses — Matthew 5:21-48
The Dispute over Clean and Unclean — Matthew 15:1-20 | Mark 7:1-23
On Tithing and the Weightier Matters — Matthew 23:23-24
Where are you keeping the rule while avoiding what the rule was pointing to?
14. Humility / Servant Leadership
"But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark 10:43-45
"The greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
Matthew 23:11-12
"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example — you should do as I have done for you."
John 13:14-15
"Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 18:4
The Foot Washing — John 13:1-17
Parable of the Places at the Table — Luke 14:7-11
Who in your life are you not serving because you think you deserve better?
15. Mission / Sending
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest."
Matthew 9:37-38
"Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you."
John 20:21
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth."
Acts 1:8
"In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:16
Sending of the Twelve — Matthew 10:1-42 | Mark 6:7-13 | Luke 9:1-6
Sending of the Seventy-Two — Luke 10:1-20
Where have you been sent that you have not gone?
16. The End of the Age
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."
Matthew 24:14
"Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
Matthew 24:2
"I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place."
Matthew 24:34
"But as for that day and hour no one knows it — not even the angels in heaven — except the Father alone."
Matthew 24:36
"For this reason you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
Matthew 24:44
The Olivet Discourse — Matthew 24-25 | Mark 13 | Luke 21:5-36
Signs of the Times — Matthew 16:1-4 | Luke 17:20-37
If this generation fulfilled Matthew 24, what does the rest of the discourse ask of you now?
17. Children / Childlikeness
"I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!"
Matthew 18:3
"Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."
Matthew 18:5
"But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea."
Matthew 18:6
"Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Matthew 19:14
"I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Mark 10:15
What would you have to put down to receive the Kingdom with empty hands?
18. The Holy Spirit
"I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit."
John 3:5-6
"Then I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see Him or know Him. But you know Him, because He resides with you and will be in you."
John 14:16-17
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you."
John 14:26
"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own authority, but will speak whatever He hears, and will tell you what is to come."
John 16:13
"Receive the Holy Spirit!"
John 20:22
"The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life."
John 6:63
"If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
Luke 11:13
"For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."
Matthew 12:31-32
The Paraclete Discourse — John 14:15-31; 15:26-27; 16:5-15
Are you asking the Father for the Holy Spirit, or working from what you already have?
19. Marriage and Divorce
"What God has joined together, let no one separate."
Matthew 19:6
"It was said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.' But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
Matthew 5:31-32
"For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."
Matthew 22:30
The Pharisees on Divorce — Matthew 19:3-12 | Mark 10:2-12
What does Jesus's refusal to negotiate the covenant tell you about how He sees it?
20. The Church
Jesus used the word ekklesia twice in four Gospels. He established the gathering, the keys, the discipline process, the ordinances — then handed it to the Spirit. What the Spirit has been building since is the answer to what Jesus intended.
"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."
Matthew 16:18
"If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector."
Matthew 18:17
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven."
Matthew 18:18
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Matthew 18:20
Church Discipline — Matthew 18:15-20
The Great Commission — Matthew 28:18-20
Two ekklesia references in four Gospels — what did He intend to build, and what has the Spirit been building since?
"Now this is eternal life — that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent."
John 17:3
Soli Deo Gloria