Sermons from 2022 (Page 3)
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…
Matthew 6:5-15
This Is How You Should Pray Introduction: On this second Sunday of our month-long all-church sabbatical, I want us to return to the Sermon on the Mount. Last Lord’s Day, because of the outbreak of war in the Middle East, we took a brief excursion to the 40th chapter of Isaiah, but the remainder of our sabbatical themes will come from the 6th chapter of Matthew. I want to begin this morning by reading part of the passage I skipped last Sunday and then continue…
Matthew 6:19-24
A Sermon for the Ages: The Treasure Principle Introduction: In the Wichita Eagle ten days ago, there was an article about the 946 billionaires in the world today, including 6 Kansans, several of whom are from Wichita. Do you have any idea how much money a billion dollars is? If you laid dollar bills end to end it would take nearly a million of them to reach from here to Emporia. But a billion of them would go around the world 4 times! That is serious…
Matthew 6:25-34
A Sermon for the Ages: The Utter Foolishness of Worry Introduction: Today I want to speak about one of the most useless, debilitating, and destructive habits a person can possibly engage in, yet one that is so common that I suspect scores in my audience are doing it right this very moment. In fact, I suspect a few are so involved in doing it that they haven’t even heard a word I’ve said so far. I’m talking about worry. Not concern, not responsibility, not…
Matthew 7:1-12
What You Give Is What You Get Note: This sermon was preached by Executive Pastor Ken Epp at First Free in St. Louis. Introduction: The Golden Rule! Ask the average church attender and they’ll probably be able to recite it for you. Ask the average person on the street, and they may give you some form of it, or at least remember hearing it as a child. Actually, when I worked as a young man in manufacturing and then the trucking industry, the rule was:…
Matthew 7:13-20
How to Get to Heaven Introduction: For several months now we have been studying together the Sermon on the Mount–that incomparable message Jesus shared with His disciples early in his ministry, allowing the crowds to listen in. The overall theme of the Sermon is God’s standard of righteousness, which is diametrically opposed to the self-righteous, self-sufficient, and hypocritical standards of human beings. Jesus has shown us what His kingdom is like and what its citizens should be like. Now He presents…
Matthew 7:21-29
Once Saved, Always Saved? Introduction: Our Scripture text for today is Matthew 7:21-27, which constitutes the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount. Will you pay close attention to the words of Jesus, which are also the Word of God for us? “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not…