Sermon Series

Seeing Life Through Jesus’ Eyes

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01: No Worries–Seeking the Kingdom of God
Matthew 6:24-34   MP3 | Sermon Notes

02: Learning to Pray with Jesus
Matthew 6:5-15   MP3 | Sermon Notes

03: Fasting and Giving with Jesus
Matthew 6:1-4, 16-26   MP3 | Sermon Notes

04: Seeing Ourselves Clearly with Jesus
Matthew 7:1-12   MP3 | Sermon Notes

05: What’s So Wrong with Getting Angry
Matthew 5:21-26   Sermon Notes


06: Lust, Temptation, and Divorce
Matthew 5:27-32   MP3 | Sermon Notes

07: To Tell the Truth
Matthew 5:33-37   MP3 | Sermon Notes

08: The Other Cheek & the Second Mile
Matthew 5:38-42   MP3 | Sermon Notes

09: “But I Don’t Want to Love My Enemies!”
Matthew 5:43-48   MP3 | Sermon Notes


10: Salt of the Earth, Light of the World
Matthew 5:13-16   MP3 | Sermon Notes

11: The Hard Road to Jerusalem
Matthew 7:13-20   MP3 | Sermon Notes

12: Blessed, Happy, Poor, and Mourning!
Matthew 5:1-9   MP3 | Sermon Notes

13: Building a Life Solid in Jesus
Matthew 7:21-29   MP3 | Sermon Notes

14: Blessed When Reviled and Persecuted?
Matthew 5:9-12   MP3 | Sermon Notes

15: Great in the Kingdom of Heaven
Matthew 5:17-20   MP3 | Sermon Notes

Jesus and Our Life of Prayer

Matthew 6:5-25

Seek First the Kingdom of God
At the beginning of the year, we started with Jesus' fundamental guidance: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." [Mt 6:33] A way of seeing everything with God at the center of reality. Seeking that reality amid all claims for other gods like Mammon.
Prayer for Jesus is a profound expression of that seeking. Prayer is engagement / connection with the God of the universe. Jesus, himself, often had refreshing, renewing times of prayer.


"When You Pray" -- Taking God Seriously
Even truly good things are vulnerable to corruption/distortion from little gods. When prayer is for public display it becomes work for pay, fully paid. A closed circle, no God involved.
Jesus urges a core of private prayer. The "Father in heaven" is not far away but very close. Trust God as knowing and caring. He is intimately acquainted with us and loves us.

What's So Wrong with Getting Angry?

Matthew 5:21-26

"But I Say to You..."
Jesus taught in a striking, authoritative way that amazed people (7:28-29). In Mt 5:17-20 he affirmed the Law and emphasized righteousness exceeding "the scribes and Pharisees," teachers noted for rigorous obedience to every commandment -- a 'fence around the law.' The law was moral / civil / criminal, enforceable by public courts and subject of debate.
If judgment found you in the right, you were right with God. Biblical code plus tradition.
Jesus' language creates an expectation that he sets up a more rigorous fence. Then Jesus gives a series of contrasts that use that expectation but undermine and transform it. Jesus is not giving new law, rather showing us a new starting point for thought & action, a new default.