Christ Community Chapel (Audio)

In Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus begins by telling a large crowd, Do not judge, or you too will be judged. It's a straightforward command and a valuable reminder that we should all be more concerned with addressing our own sins than with judging other people for theirs.

That's where the simple-to-understand nature of the message ends, however, as Jesus soon follows that up with, Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls to pigs. It's a statement which doesn't seem to make much sense on the surface, but when we dig a bit deeper, we realize that this message is just as valuable as the command to not judge. It turns out that Jesus' command about pearls is actually about pearls of wisdom, and the pigs Jesus mentions are people who don't recognize the value of those pearls... which sometimes includes all of us. Listen this week as Pastor Joe fills in the gaps, challenging us not to be piggy with pearls, pearly with pigs and to remember that the secret to true worth lies in the Gospel.

It's easy to become overwhelmed by worries - so much is out of our control! But have you ever stopped to question whether that's such a bad thing? Before sin came into the world, there was no worry... Adam and Eve had dominion over certain matters on Earth, and God took care of the rest. It was only after we began to seek control over every aspect of our lives that anxiety began to overtake us.

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus tells us to worry less, trusting God for everything we need. After all, worry is the opposite of trust, and making an effort to be less anxious is making an effort to trust God more fully. It may seem natural for us to worry, but the more we can accept our limits and believe that God will take care of the rest, the closer we are to living a life focused not on what we have now but the far better life that is to come.

We are all treasure hunters. We are naturally inclined towards collecting things of great value as we progress through life, but as Jesus points out in Matthew 6:19-24, not all treasure consists of gold, gems or other worldly riches... Rather, treasures stored up in heaven are far more valuable than those that can be stolen or degraded here on earth.

Jesus also states that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also and that you cannot serve both God and money. Besides being of no value after we die, money often has a way of changing our perspective on the world for the worse. It can blind us to sin, if not encourage us into it outright. Ultimately, we must remember that Jesus sacrificed everything to come make an exchange for us, his greatest treasure. If we are willing to embrace the risk and sacrifice that comes with serving him, we will soon find that we are exchanging our time and resources for something far more precious in heaven.

In Matthew 5:43-46, we hear Jesus say to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. It seems counterintuitive, and it's meant to be, as it allows us to stand out and show others how God has empowered us to live differently than most. That still doesn't make it easy though.

This week, we hear Tom Randall explain how he has faced adversity throughout his life - from the basketball courts of urban Detroit to a crowded prison in the Philippines. Through it all, he has found the strength to love his enemies with God's help, and as a result, he's been able to bring more people to Christ than he ever could have otherwise. It's a great reminder that whether we can change the hearts of others or not, we can definitely change our own hearts by loving our enemies.

God designed marriage as a sacred union that was to be broken only in the rarest of circumstances. Due to sin's entry into our world, however, that stable, lasting form of unity has seldom been the norm. In the Old Testament, we saw Moses mandate certificates of divorce be issued to a woman whose husband found fault with her, allowing for remarriage. During Jesus' teaching, however, he clarified that divorce should only occur when sexual immorality has taken place... and that those who remarry after a divorce was conducted for any other reason are committing adultery.

Are we treating our marriages the way Jesus commanded today, in an age where divorce is often viewed as normal? Or, as in the age of Moses, are we breaking God's sacred unions for many reasons that exceed the parameters outlined by Jesus? In this week's sermon, we hear about the importance of recognizing God's intentions for lasting marriages, seeking reconciliation in our relationships, and repenting when we find ourselves living outwardly holy lives, yet also living with sinful hearts.

As Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount, we are presented with an increasingly troubling look at the human condition. Jesus says that only those who are more righteous than the Pharisees - notorious for their stringent adherence to the law - will gain access to the kingdom of heaven. And as if that wasn't hard enough, Jesus raises the standard! Following the letter of the law isn't enough; the spirit behind it matters, and inner transformation and heart change towards God and others are just as important as external obedience.

But isn't this an impossible task? Thankfully, we're not on our own. Jesus is in the business of reconciliation, and even though our relationships with God and people get broken by our inability to meet God's standards, Jesus repairs those rifts on the cross and makes forgiveness and restored relationships possible.

Jesus' most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, starts off with the Beatitudes - a collection of statements often viewed as proverbs but which actually describe a series of steps leading a person into the kingdom of heaven and then guiding how they live in that kingdom. Along this journey, one begins to understand the truth about themselves, about others and about God, all while being transformed in these relationships as well.

Smartphones have applications - or apps - that are designed for a specific function or purpose. In a sense, the church has a kind of app that hasn't changed in 2,000 years: people interacting with people... people having an impact on the community outside of physical church walls. Jesus told his disciples a parable of a master who entrusts three of his servants with money to invest while he is away. In a similar way, God has entrusted us with money, skills, time, etc. of differing amounts to invest in and further his kingdom. It is through this investment that we are the app of the church. How will you live out the app of the church?

When we think of a "kingdom", we usually think of a place... but the kingdom of God is more like a force for change that works within people than a physical location. In Matthew 13: 31-33, Jesus explains this by relating the kingdom of God to a mustard seed or yeast - something small and subtle, but which has the ability to slowly create enormous change.

Like an acorn that holds the power to cover the entire planet with trees given enough time, the kingdom of God works within us through a million small changes, rather than an explosion of growth. The power of the kingdom should not be underestimated however. In the same way that a mustard seed can someday grow into a plant capable of breaking through concrete, God's power within us is enough to overcome the immense difficulties of life. And in the same way that yeast works its way gradually through a whole lump of dough, the power of God within us can create drastic (positive) change within us as we gradually transition towards the person Jesus created us to be.