Sermon

Sermon

What, Me Worry?

Matthew 6:24-34
July 2, 2023

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Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.

from Matthew 6:24-34

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"Do not worry about your life," Jesus says. Don't worry about what you will eat, or what you will drink, or about your body, or what you will wear.

Jesus doesn’t deny the need for these things, but he invites us to know the Father and his provision in the ordinary, not just the extraordinary. Jesus reveals life as far bigger and better than our immediate concerns. He shows us God who knows and is concerned about our needs.


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Rust-Proof Riches

Matthew 6:16-21
June 25, 2023

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Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust consumes
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

from Matthew 6:20-21

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Our choices reveal what is important to us. If someone watched you 24x7 for an entire week, what would they say guides your life based on the choices you made?

We are surrounded by voices that compete for our attention - each calling for us to go in different directions.

What do we say "no" to so we can say "yes" to things that are more important? If we say our health is important, do we say "no" to a TV show so we can get exercise instead? Do we say "no" to a super-sized order of french fries so we can say "yes" to a salad? This morning you said "no" to a number of other options so you can say "yes" to joining in worship.

Are the things that guide our choices of lasting value?

Jesus summarizes what he has been teaching in the Sermon on the Mount saying, "Store up for yourself treasures in heaven,"


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Starts with a Single Step

Matthew 6:5-16
June 18, 2023

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And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

from Matthew 6:13

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"The devil made me do it!" Flip Wilson as Geraldine Jones would explain about buying an expensive new dress. She blames the devil for leading her to the store, forcing her through the door, to the rack where she found the dress, and making her buy it.

We've all been there, facing the final line between resisting and succumbing to temptation. Momentum and impulse carry us toward that sin. We're standing at that line because we already took a lot of steps to get there.

Sin starts as we take the first step off the path God places before us - when we pay more attention to what we ought to avoid rather than what we truly need.

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The Gift of Forgiveness

Matthew 6:5-16
June 11, 2023

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And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

from Matthew 6:12

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Forgiveness is a great gift.

Forgiveness is not only a gift for the person forgiven; it is also a gift for the one who forgives.

Unforgiveness eats away at the heart and soul of the person who was wronged. It also disrupts our relationship with our God who loves us and is eager to forgive. To be unwilling to forgive is to be unwilling to be forgiven.

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Putting the Daily back in Daily Bread

Matthew 6:5-16
June 4, 2023

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Give us this day our daily bread.

from Matthew 6:5-15

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God's deepest love is revealed as we live with and for him, trusting in his ability and faithfulness rather than our own ability and resources. God's provision and direction are experienced in our dependence upon God rather than our independence.

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Thy Will Be Done

Matthew 6:5-16
May 21, 2023

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Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.

from Romans 16:110

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As God’s will is done, whether it is in us, through us, around us, or even despite of us, we experience a taste of what we were created and intended for. As God's will is done, God’s blessing, presence, and power fill our hearts and lives. We become people who bear God's light and love into a world that can be dark and lonely.

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A Mother's Love

Romans 16:13-16
May 14, 2023

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Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother,
who has been a mother to me, too.

from Romans 16:13

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Mothers are uniquely gifted and called to be living examples and sources of God's love. A mother's love is far more powerful than any sermon ever preached. Even when those who gave us birth let us down, we are surrounded by other mothers who are there for us, as examples of God's faithful and steadfast love.

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When You Pray

Matthew 6:5-15
May 7, 2023

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"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites."

from Matthew 6:5

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When it comes to prayer, some feel like they cannot speak or pray with the confidence and eloquence others seem to have. At the same time, others use times of prayer as an opportunity to show off.

Neither of those are God's desire for us.

Instead, God who loves us invites us to be ourselves and to be honest with him.

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Living Like Jesus Lives

John 20:1-28
April 9, 2023

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He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

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The good news of Easter, Jesus dying for our sins, and being raised, conquering death, is a reality that can and should alter every dimension of our lives.

People often look for a better life, when Jesus' resurrection is about new life.

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God's-Eye View

Luke 19:28-42
April 2, 2023

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“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Luke 19:38

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Every time Jesus does or says something that feels weird to us, we need to pay attention. He is revealing something of God we have not yet experienced ourselves.

Jesus reveals the heart of God as he does many things that did not make sense to those around him.

  • Jesus was welcomed by and ate and drank with the sinners, as well as Pharisees, even though they wouldn’t welcome each other.
  • Jesus said that he came to seek and to save the lost, not to elevate the 99.
  • Jesus gave himself for sinners rather than condemning them.
  • Jesus condemned the self-righteous and judgmental, rather than congratulating them.
  • Jesus approaches Jerusalem, where he has foretold that he would be betrayed, suffer, and be killed,

  • before he is raised on the third day.

Jesus sees the situation differently than those around him. Do we see ourselves and others the way Jesus does, or is there more that we have yet to experience?

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