Matthew 1, Luke 1-3
His Amazing Mother: Why Evangelicals Can and Should Embrace Mary TO HEAR THE SERMON CLICK ON THE LISTEN BUTTON ABOVE Note: Mike Andrus authored this sermon, but it was presented by his associate Dick High, due to the death of Mike’s father. While this sermon is included in our Matthew series, it is really a follow-up on last week’s sermon on the mother of Jesus and is based on the first chapter of Luke. Scripture reading: Luke 1:26-45 In the sixth month, God sent…
Matthew 1, Luke 1
Holy Mary, Mother of God? Introduction: The cover story for Life magazine a few years ago was entitled The Mystery of Mary. The story begins: “Two thousand years after the Nativity, the mother of Jesus is more beloved, powerful and controversial than ever.” I may be adding to the controversy this morning. Before we get started, I would like to know how many of you grew up Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, or perhaps even now belong to a Catholic or Orthodox Church. I had a dear…
Matthew 2:1-12
Wise Men Still Seek Him, (or “Curse Those Filthy, Wicked Magi”) Note: This sermon was preached at First Free in St. Louis. Introduction: I want to read a news article to you from next Sunday’s St. Louis Post Dispatch. If you wonder how I can get hold of a news event a week in advance, well, I’m a senior pastor, you know; we have special connections. This short article is from page 3 of the international news section and is headlined: “Jesus Christ Returns to Earth.”…
Matthew 2:13-23
When God Doesn’t Make Sense Note: This sermon was preached by Associate Pastor Jeff Schultz at First Free St. Louis. Introduction: How are things going for you? Is life working out the way you planned? Maybe things are going well, but you still fear that if you don’t keep it together, things will fall apart? We follow a God who doesn’t always (or often!) do things the way we would – what makes sense to us is often not the way God…
Matthew 3:1-12
Messiah’s Strange Advance Team Introduction: A few years ago on Dateline NBC there was an hour-long expose of faith healer and televangelist Benny Hinn. I personally don’t trust network investigators much further than I can throw them, but even after adjusting for the media’s obvious bias against Christians in general and televangelists in particular, I am still amazed at the gullibility of vast crowds of people who come to watch a flamboyant entertainer like Benny Hinn, accept his claim that he is…
Matthew 3:13-4:2
From Coronation to Crucible Introduction: We come today to two of the most important events in Jesus’ life–His baptism and His temptation by Satan in the wilderness. I think it is not accidental that these two events occurred back-to-back. The author is trying to communicate an important truth to us, namely that times of significant victory are often followed by great times of trial and temptation. There are several causes of this common occurrence. First, we ourselves help bring it about. When things are…
Matthew 4:1-11
Getting Victory Over Temptation Introduction: As most of you know, our preaching schedule got a little out of order due to a couple of snow Sundays in January. Last week Josh Black brought a great message on the calling of Jesus’ first disciples in Matthew 4, but today I’m going to back up to an event which just preceded the calling of the Twelve–the Temptation of Christ. We broached this subject three weeks ago as we talked about how vulnerable we can be…
Matthew 4:12-25, 5:13-16
A Light Has Dawned Introduction: One of my special memories as a child is open air evangelism meetings at Creve Coeur Lake in the late 40’s. My father pastored a little church in Maryland Heights. From time to time in the summer, the church family would gather out at Creve Coeur Lake on a Sunday night and my father would preach out in the open to anyone who would stop to listen. But what I remember most was the singing. Someone in the church had…
Matthew 5:1-12
A Sermon for the Ages: Character Qualities of a Counter Cultural Christian Introduction: I thought I should clarify that when I use the title, “A Sermon for the Ages” this morning, I’m not referring to my sermon but rather to The Sermon on the Mount, which is the subject of my sermon today and for the next seven weeks. Jesus’ sermon, as recorded in Matthew 5-7, is probably the best-known and most often quoted of all of Jesus’ teachings, though arguably it is also the least…
Matthew 5:17-26
A Sermon for the Ages: What Does Acceptable Righteousness Look Like? In our journey through the Life of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew, we have arrived at the Sermon on the Mount. This discourse takes up three full chapters, Matthew 5-7, and opens with the Beatitudes, a description of the life of a true disciple that is radically opposed to our nature and our culture. Twice in our study of the Beatitudes last Sunday we came across the term “righteousness.” In verse 6 we…
Matthew 5:27-32
A Sermon for the Ages: Hard Sayings on Adultery, Divorce, and Remarriage Introduction: My sermon this morning is going to make some of you uncomfortable; in fact, it has already made me uncomfortable. But I think it is a message that needs to be heard and taken seriously. The title, “Hard Sayings on Adultery, Divorce, and Remarriage” pretty well describes today’s Scripture text, Matthew 5:27-32. Listen carefully to these words spoken by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. You have heard that it was said,…
Matthew 5:33-48
A Sermon for the Ages: Abnormal Kingdom Living Introduction: We continue in our study of the Sermon on the Mount this morning by tackling three more of Jesus’ startling statements that come in the form, “You have heard that it was said, but I tell you….” As we noted two weeks ago, Jesus is bent on rescuing the original intention of God’s revelation from the twisted interpretations of the religious leaders of His day. In the process, though, He shocks us at times and…