A Child’s Prayer

Passage: Matthew 6:7-15 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 stands at the literary and the thematic center of the whole Sermon on the Mount. If we can pray like Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer, it will grow us into the beautiful community Jesus is…

True Colors

Passage: Matthew 5:48-6:6; 6:16-18 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary In Matthew 5:48, Jesus says that we must be “perfect”—literally whole, or complete—“as our heavenly Father is perfect”. In many ways, this is the unifying theme of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is seeking disciples whose lives are “whole”—whose deeds match…

Love Your Enemies

Passage: Matthew 5:38-48 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary There are few commands more frequently admired, and yet seldom applied than Jesus’ commands to love our enemies and avoid retaliation, in Matthew 5:38-48. Jesus’ followers practiced these commands, and in doing so, they turned the world upside down. And yet what do…

A Simple Yes or No

Passage: Matthew 5:33-37 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary Throughout Matthew 5-6, Jesus is unpacking what true righteousness looks like, and In Matthew 5:33-37, he continues to address the area of commitment making. In Jesus’ day, many people were using God’s law, and the teaching surrounding it, not as a pointer to…

The Freedom of Commitment

Passage: Matthew 5:31-37 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary Throughout Matthew 5-6, Jesus is unpacking what true righteousness looks like, and in Matthew 5:31-37 he addresses the area of commitment-making. Jesus calls for us to be people who keep our commitments—both in marriage specifically, and any time we give someone our word,…

The Heart of Adultery

Passage: Matthew 5:27-30 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus is unpacking what the “righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees” looks like in daily life, and in 5:27-30 he addresses lust. The Bible speaks very positively about the gift of sex, and yet it’s also…

The End of Outrage

Passage: Matthew 5:21-26 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary   In Matthew chapters 5-6, Jesus starts unpacking what the “righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees” looks like in daily life, beginning with anger. First, Jesus exposes what anger looks like at its origin. Whereas we know the command “You…

The Difference of Jesus

Passage: Excerpts from Matthew 4-7 Guide for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection Sermon Summary Today, many people ignore Christianity because the church itself seems not to take Jesus’ teachings seriously. It is crucial, therefore, for the church today—and in every generation—to embody the radical difference that Jesus makes in a community centered on his gospel….

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