Matthew 12:38-50
Are You Looking for Miracles, Reformation, or a Relationship? Introduction: Few people would argue with the assertion that we live in a thoroughly messed-up culture and society. Even the church is full of confused people. Recently religious market researcher and pollster George Barna surveyed hundreds of people with the following statement: “The idea that God helps those who help themselves is taken directly from the Bible. Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with that statement?” Among those who claimed to be…
Matthew 13:1-23
The Parable of the Sower Introduction: Spirituality is much in vogue today. I Googled the term on Wednesday and discovered there were 82,100,000 entries. After checking each one I am convinced that the term “spirituality” can mean just about anything you want it to mean. And the people who talk about it the most seem to be the most confused. Spirituality is a regular topic on Oprah and on Dr. Phil. Political candidates feel compelled to let the voters know how spiritual they are, and sometimes…
Matthew 13:24-43
Don’t Be a Weed Puller! Introduction: My sermon title this morning is taken from the first of three parables in the middle of Matthew 13, all of which provide us clues about the Kingdom of Heaven. One of the parables talks about weeds, another about mustard seed, and the third about yeast. Jesus takes each of these items found in everyday life in the first century and uses it to reveal something about the Kingdom. Three times in this passage we read the words: “The…
Matthew 14:13-21, 15:29-39
The Feeding of the Nine Thousand (or Food Stamps and Faith) Introduction: We come this morning to two of the best known and best loved stories in the Bible–the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000, found in two successive chapters of Matthew. Thus, the title of my sermon, but I could just as well have called it “The Feeding of the Twenty-seven Thousand,” because in both stories Matthew goes out of his way to tell us that he…
Matthew 14:22-36
Truly You Are the Son of God! Introduction: In our journey through the Gospel of Matthew we come today to another of those amazing miracles which are so well-known to Bible students and even children–Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee. Sometimes these stories are so well known that familiarity can breed contempt; we may even yawn when we hear about them. But these were real events with profound truth behind them. May God help us to have ears to hear what He wants…
Matthew 15:1-20
Hand Washing Can Get Out of Hand Note: This sermon was preached at First Free Wichita in 2021. Introduction: It was ten years ago today, August 1, 2011, that I retired as Lead Pastor here at First Free. Which also means that today is Pastor Josh’s tenth anniversary as our pastor. He is still on study leave but I am sure he would be encouraged to receive notes of gratitude from many of you for the fine ministry he has carried on over this…
Matthew 15:21-28
Shocking Words from the Lips of Jesus Introduction: I doubt if anyone will argue with my sermon title this morning after we read our Scripture text from Matthew 15:21-28: Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged…
Matthew 16:13-20
Who’s Got the Keys to the Kingdom? Introduction: We are skipping several portions of Matthew as we come this morning to chapter 16, verse 13. Each of the sections we are passing over from 15:29 to 16:12 has a close parallel with one of the passages we have recently wrestled with, so I am going to move this morning to chapter 16, verse 13, which addresses the critical question of “Who is Jesus?” and the related question of “Who’s Got the Keys to…
Matthew 17:1-8
The Transfiguration of Christ: Preview of the Resurrection Introduction: On this beautiful Easter morning I want to ask you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 17:1-8, or you can follow along on the screen as I read aloud: After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as…
Matthew 18:21-35
SERIES: Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Freedom in Christ Forgiving the Hard to Forgive SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus Introduction: Joseph Parker was one of the greatest preachers of 19th century England. As a young man he used to debate in the mining fields with infidels and atheists. An infidel once shouted at him, “What did Christ do for Stephen when he was stoned to death?” Parker said the answer that was given him was like an inspiration from heaven. “He gave him grace to…
Matthew 18:1-9; 19:13-15
Too Small to Ignore Introduction: Today we are returning to the Life of Christ. We started studying the book of Matthew back in 2006 and completed the first eight chapters by June of ‘07. We picked it up again from Thanksgiving to this past Easter, covering chapters 9-17. Today we start in chapter 18 and, Lord willing, we will finish this amazing book by Easter, with a few planned interruptions along the way. We will not preach every single passage, because we have already studied…
Matt 19:16-30
The Rich Young Ruler Introduction: Turn with me, please, to Matthew 19:16-22. While you’re turning there, you perhaps will notice that I have skipped several paragraphs in chapters 18 and 19. That is because we dealt with those topics in other series the past few years. In 18:15-20 the issue of resolving conflict in the church is discussed, which was the topic of our series entitled Great Church Fights last fall.[i] The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant was preached in our series on parables a…