We turn a corner here—Jesus is going to Jerusalem and to the cross Matthew marks the moment by turning attention to how Jesus’ ministry fulfills the OT Craig Blomberg, “from this chapter onward, Matthew begins to quote the OT explicitly with much greater frequency, reminiscent of the opening chapters of his gospel.”[1] Five Points:  1.…

Justified by faith–marks a beginning with new desires, new direction, new orientationAll this “newness” brings about our commitment to GodAccess into his grace–through Christ’s work we are brought into a gracious relationship with GodRejoice in Hope of the glory of GodProphetic past tense here, like Isaiah 53, “he WAS despised, he WAS rejected…” referring to…

*The battery on the camera died about 10 minutes in, we’re very sorry about that. The manuscript below isn’t word for word but it is very close. “Two Cups, but One Savior”                                         3/12/23                                                Matthew 20:20-34 HI:  serve to give away your life in dependence on the savior who did give his life INTRODUCTION There are…

“The Cost of Forgiveness”                        3/5/23                                                   Matthew 20:17-19 The Big Idea: Live with a purpose of forgiveness Introduction:  its commonly said that a person has to hear something about seven times before they remember it. It wasn’t any different for the disciples—Jesus’ death is the central purpose and central point of the gospel, yet they didn’t…

“It’s All Grace”                                  2/26/23                                                Matthew 20:1-16 Let me begin by commenting on how we should interpret parables:  by understanding its broad point The greatest reward from Jesus is himself and with him is life and light And along these lines of misinterpretation by focusing on details:  we can confidently say that Jesus isn’t teaching anything…

“Eyes for Heaven”                                                           2/19/23                                                    Matthew 19:16-20:16 HI:  live for heaven by seeking positive holiness as a pilgrim Introduction: If getting saved was dependent on a person praying the sinners’ prayer, then what was Jesus doing with this guy? It has to make you question your understanding of salvation if you did believe that the…

“Inheritors of the Kingdom”                                        February 12, 2023                                     Matthew 19:13-15 HI:  grasp and pursue God’s promises Introduction:      “I’m sure God loves the sound of little children laughing and playing in his house” ~ paraphrasing Corrie Ten Boom  Tramp for the Lord Thomas’ baptism—running around the church…the understanding of the covenant promises we had then. …

The Disciples came to an erroneous conclusion about marriage, namely that it is better not to marry if divorce leads to adultery. Jesus offers gentle correction and points them to the timeless truth of marriage’s goodness and God’s rare gift of celibacy for the kingdom’s sake. We take the principles of the passage and apply…

“God’s Standard, Not Ours”                           January 29, 2023                               Matthew 19:1-9 Introduction:  God created man in his image (Gen. 1:26) We have to be on guard against the world’s view of life, and we have to guard against our own view being influenced by our sin and the world’s sin We see this same kind of…

“Love and Forgiveness”                                 January 23, 2023                                               Matthew 18:15-35 It’s so easy to read 15-21 only as what to with unrepentant believers—but in context, we see Jesus’ bigger point is about love and forgiveness Skipping to the end first (parable of the unforgiving servant given in reply to Peter’s question) Forgiveness implies sin Why is…