December 2020
I Thank You
Standing before the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus stops to tell the Father how thankful He is. The things that Jesus is thankful for are things that we should still be thankful for today.
November 2020
Who Knows?
Prayers of thankfulness usually include things we consider to be blessings, or a the very least things that we consider to be positive. We do not often consider being kept in the dark to be a good thing. In Matthew 11, Jesus thanks God for His way of hiding and revealing, reminding us to trust […]
I Have Prayed For You
It is so comforting when someone says, “I have prayed for you.” Jesus prays frequently in the New Testament, but He only says those words once. There are great things to learn from His prayer for Peter.
Trust in the Lord
This week we begin a short series on the prayers of Jesus. Prayer is a regular practice throughout His life. From the prayers of Jesus, we learn about what is important to Him, who God is and how we should pray.
Walk Through
At the close of any renovation project, it’s time for the final walk through. As Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount, it’s just the beginning for His followers. They key to the sermon is putting His teachings into action in our lives.
October 2020
Planting Trees
Although Matthew 7 begins with a warning about judging, the chapter continues with Jesus teaching that people will know who we are by the fruit that we bear. As Marshall Keeble said, “We are not judges. We’re fruit inspectors.” What kind of tree will you be?
Model Home
There are two likely ways to make rules easier to follow: multiply or reduce. We can make more rules to cover every possiblity, or a few rules that cover basic principles. The people Jesus taught were used to many rules, but in Matthew 7:12 He reduces the list to one: the golden rule. It is […]
Sermon – Open Door
Some of us struggle with prayer. We feel guilty that we don’t pray often enough. We struggle when the answers are not what we want. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 7 that God is a loving Father. As that Father He wants us to come to Him with our needs, and He provides in ways […]
Honest Reviews
“Judge not.” When Jesus says these words in Matthew 7, He is not doing away with right and wrong. He wants us to work on our own problems, to exercise mercy with others, and to help each other live more in line with Him.
September 2020
Home Warranty
Two of the prevalent scams of our current culture are emails offering money and phone calls about extended car warranties. These play on two of our greatest problems: greed and worry. Jesus addresses both of these in Matthew 6, where He teaches that only God can provide what His people need.