I am humbled and honored to begin our newest series at Apologia Church: The Kingdom of God: An Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew God's people have been savoring the divine truths preserved for us in this book for 2,000-years. Think about that for a moment. We have the privilege of opening this treasure chest containing the story of the promised Messiah that our brothers and sisters drank deeply from long before us. Many of those in our spiritual lineage sealed their love for this book and their desire for you to know it with their own blood (in one way or another). That kind of thought causes me to pause and take a deep breath only to stare back at the page again in wonder. Sometimes I wonder how many sets of eyes scanned the text of Matthew. I sometimes wonder how many times certain passages were covered in tears. How many were tears of joy? How many tears dropped because despair was being lifted? How many tears dropped because someone approached the book and fell in love with Jesus for the first time and they painted these pages with salt? Only God knows how this book has been used. Only He knows what He intends to put into you as a result of committing yourself to owning the truths contained within its pages. There is so much to say. There is so much to learn. I can only begin this series thanking God. Thanking Him for using someone like me to even speak from it. Thanking Him for the gift of its preservation. And thanking Him for what He is doing in our lives through this book to bring about the exaltation of the Messiah throughout the whole world. No King but Christ! Jeff Durbin Lead Pastor/Elder Sunday, February 16, 2014