The Jesus Way
The Lord’s Manifesto in the Sermon on the Mount
23. Treasure in Heaven
As we “practice our righteousness,” by giving, praying, forgiving and fasting, Jesus moves from the specific to the general purposes behind those practices. Which world are we living for? This earthly one that is falling apart before our eyes? Or the spiritual kingdom...
22. When You Fast
Fasting has become pretty popular from a health and dieting perspective, but its primary purpose is spiritual – to draw closer to God and reduce our dependency on ourselves and the things of this world. Jesus does not say, “If you ever get around to this thing called...
21. How to Pray
The Lord Jesus taught us what not to do in prayer, and now He shows us how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer is genuinely the best prayer ever prayed and the best model for us to follow as we learn the practice of prayer. There are five steps Jesus outlines for us: beginning...
20. Pray and Forgive
As we pray “give us this day our daily bread,” we can often mis-apply it as “give me right now my every desire.” God does not promise to give us everything we want. Instead He promises to change our desires to match His (see how the Lord’s Prayer begins!). And it is...
19. When You Pray
As Jesus begins to teach His disciples about prayer He first corrects some common misunderstandings about prayer and then directs us to the right way to think about prayer and to grow in the practice of it. Prayer is not a show for people, a religion to score points...
He is Risen!
Jesus started His ministry preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). In His birth, life and ministry the reign of God had truly arrived on earth in fulfillment of God’s work and many promises in the Old Testament. Not just the kingdom of...
Invest in the Kingdom
This is a special Sunday service as we will hear from a number of people who have recently been on a short-term missions trip and are excited to share how God is working in their lives as a result. We have scheduled a summer trip with Filter of Hope for late July and...
The Structure of Matthew
https://youtu.be/3Dv4-n6OYGI?si=Yl7-UsQU464C-e0x The Bible Project does a beautiful job of illustrating how the gospel of Matthew is constructed to highlight that Jesus is the Messiah (king like David), the new Moses (the great teacher, revealing the truth about God)...
18. The Grace of Giving
As we enter the middle of the sermon on the mount we build on the command to be perfect (5:48) and shift into the “practice” of righteousness (6:1). Jesus outlines several disciplines (clearly not an exhaustive list) that his followers are expected to practice and...
17. Love Your Enemies
This week we complete the sixth and final “But I say to you,” as Jesus completes His section on righteousness and calls His followers to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v. 48). Though God’s people are to be different from the non-believers around us,...