The last couple weeks we have looked, inwardly, at the intent of our hearts. Where is our treasure? What are you worried about?

And this week we are doing a major shift from looking at ourselves to looking at those around us.

Luke 5:17-26

Today we are looking at “The Faith of the Centurion” which is recorded in Matthew and Luke.I would encourage you to look at them and study them for yourselves. It will enrich your appreciation of the fullness that can be found in Scripture. Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10

So right off we see that in Luke’s passage Jesus speaks to a delegation, where Matthew records Him speaking only to the centurion. We also have Jesus saying more to one crowd in one account than another. So why the discrepancies? The answer is there really are none. And we see this when Matthew warns of the “subjects of the kingdom” who will miss out of the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth

So, how could they be so different but still so true? There was centurion, he did talk to Jesus and Jesus was amazed by his faith.

We should go to Jesus ourselves (in prayer) and exercise the same kind of faith the Centurion did. This Roman Centurion was asking for something for someone besides himself. And he was asking… IN FAITH!! He believed in and had faith in Jesus Christ for a miracle! Do you have that today? Have you experienced that lately? Do we have miracle working faith? Do we have the kind of faith that amazes Jesus?

Hebrews 13:8 If Jesus can marvel, and take action, at a Centurion’s faith yesterday, can He marvel and take action at our faith today? And if He marvels and takes action at our faith today, can we not count on Him to marvel and take action in the days, weeks, months and even years to come?Yes! And Yes!

You want to see miracles happen? You Gotta Have Faith!! Simple. Childlike. Unquestioning. Faith!

Last week we read about storing up treasures in heaven and asked the question, “Where is Your Treasure?” This week we are continuing in that vein of thought but discussing how our treasures may cause us to become anxious. The same type of question can be asked about anxiety. What Are You Worried About? Luke 12:22-34

For life is more than food … and your body more than clothing … What Are You Worried About? What does worry accomplish? Worry can ruin, ruin, ruin… but it never accomplishes.

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 26 And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things? What does worry solve?

Why not seek eternal things instead? Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

Don’t worry about work, school, cars, houses and all the other stuff that consumes our minds and hearts. TRUST IN GOD!!!!

You may be sitting here thinking, “I’d like to, but I just can’t.” Jesus is asking… Why do you have so little faith? And He is telling us… don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.

You don’t think He will take care of you, His child? What Are You Worried About? And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.

When you are worried and consumed with the cares of this life you are no longer focused on the things in the next.

Sell your possessions, and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe, no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. 34 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Live a life where the knowledge that God owns it all is not just a mental ascent, but a spiritual one for you! You can have surety knowing that if your treasure is in heaven, your heart will be there as well. . And you can do so without a care in the world! “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life” - Jesus

We place value on the things in our lives. And often there is a misplaced value to begin with.

And sometimes things can distract us from caring about what is really important. Eternal things.

Matthew 6:19-24 Where is Your Treasure?

Is it here on earth chasing after the next new thing? Or is it in heaven?

How about this question… what do you treasure? The things of man or of God? Are you more consumed with comfort? Are you more concerned about status? Are you driven by luxury?

Or are you consumed with church? Are you concerned about how to be a better Christian? Are you driven by the Great Commission which tells us to “Go”?

Because as the Scripture states: The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

We can say that we are driven by the things of God… but when we examine our treasury, what do we see? How about when others examine our treasury… what will they see? Where is Your Treasure?

We all know the things of this world will not last, yet we sometimes get caught up in pursuing them. Because when we pursue the things of the world, we have stopped pursuing the things of God. Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

What are your eyes seeing? Are your eyes open and in God’s Word? Are your eyes taking in the beautiful things found in God? Are your eyes taking in light?

Or has darkness creeped in? Has the spark of pursuing God gone out? Have you pulled the curtains shut and blocked out any light?

Are you using world based rationale when determining the return on investment when you give to the church? There is no spiritual cost analysis! Put a price on saving a soul! Where is Your Treasure?

You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.

I would encourage you to seek the Lord! 1 Peter 4:11 Where is Your Treasure? Let’s show the world that our treasure lies in heaven!

Today we will be looking at part 3 of a group of 3 acts that Jesus is telling us to do righteously. We have covered Alms (Charity), Prayer and today Fasting. Let’s get into Fasting – When No One Else Knows.

Sometimes people “do” correct things to get that attention. They put on an act if you will to become more noticeable. And that includes fasting. Fasting is a tool to help us draw closer to God. It is a tool to help us strengthen self-discipline. It is a tool to prepare us to do things that God wants us to. It is a tool to overcome the evils of Satan. Matthew 17:21

The kind of Fasting – When No One Else Knows.

And those who mourn or grieve with you may fast alongside of you. Psalm 35:13

Matthew 6:16-18 Righteous acts can become perverted and skewed if we are not careful. What starts out as a holy obligation can quickly become the measuring stick we judge others by.

Jesus shared this parable in the company of some Pharisees. Luke 18:9-14 And we see how that righteous act became an opportunity to be arrogant. No one is exempt from perverting the motivation of why they started do what they do in the first place. God knows when that happens. He checks the heart.

Many of the commentators state that these people put on a show while putting on a show. That they are laboring through the process of fasting to show people that they are fasting.

And that Jesus is telling us, they have just received their reward. It should matter what your Father who sees the motive of your heart thinks. Jesus is warning us not to be like the posers / hypocrites. Your private fast should not draw attention to yourself.

Are you fasting to hear from God? Are you fasting to prepare yourself for good works? Are you fasting seeking God’s direction in your life? Are you fasting to learn self-control? Are you fasting in a way that honors God? Are you fasting with righteous motives? Because that is what we should all be striving for. The approval of God who sees what is done in secret, not man’s.

Has God won over your heart? Not just lip service, not a show, not a decision made on emotion, but a decision made based on truth? Have you surrendered your life to Him by repenting and believing on the name of Jesus? Let today be your day of salvation!

We are looking at 3 acts (alms, prayer and fasting) that Jesus tells us we need to do with righteous motives.

What motivates us to speak with God? How are we entering in to His presence?

The passages that we are going to cover on prayer are recorded in Matthew 6 and Luke 11.

Now we are going to cover 3 parts here. 1)How we pray. 2)What we pray. 3)The impact our forgiveness has on our prayers.

1.How We Pray. Matthew 6:5-8 As believers we should go to our Father who is in the “secret place” of our hearts and what the Father sees in “secret” will be rewarded.

God know the secrets of your heart! If there be sin, confess it! Then begin praying. Don’t give vain praise.

Therefore, Therefore what? Therefore, do not be like them.

God knows the heart of even the simplest of prayers!

2.What we pray. Matthew 6:9-13

Jesus gives us a condensed framework in 6 parts.

1st - Acknowledge who God is!

2nd – Ask to be a part of His kingdom.

3rd – Provide us only what we need on a daily basis.

4th – Give me a heart like you!

5th – Let me be like Jesus!

6th – God – It is all in Your hands anyway and I submit to that!

3.The impact our forgiveness has on our prayers. Matthew 6:14-15

It is interesting that the piece that Jesus focuses in on, after giving us the prayer, is the piece that we are responsible for.

We are responsible for one line. “As we forgive our debtors.”

So, when we consider this whole idea of praying righteously… how are we doing?

How do we even have the guts to go before a holy God and make petitions to Him, for our sake, and not take the time to make sure that we are in good standing with Him by forgiving others?

We need to check ourselves. Jesus is giving us instruction on how to keep our prayers righteous.

Let’s go to our Father in prayer, but let us do it with pure and righteous motives.

Amen? Amen!

As we celebrate Veteran’s Day as well as hosting our Thanksgiving Potluck today, we have so much to be thankful for this weekend. Thank you to all our Veterans! Thank you to all who serve!

Today we are looking at “The Heart of Giving.” What is the motive of our hearts? Matthew 6:1-4 We are called to show our love, be light and salt, be generous, help others and often to do so is to do it publicly. What are seeing here is the warning from Jesus that while we are out doing those good deeds and being charitable, we need to make sure that we are doing so with the right intentions.

“Cornerstone Church’s Vision is to see every person in the Lolo Community and greater Bitterroot Valley receive the gift of salvation that is freely given by Jesus Christ.” We want this house of God to be a place that saves souls. Not by our power but by God’s. We want this house of God to be a place where people come to meet and know God.

“Cornerstone Church’s Mission is to show people the love of Jesus Christ through service within the Church and Community, to grow disciples through Bible study and godly mentoring, and to be a family that worships God together and cares for one another.” That involves us getting out into the community and loving on people regardless of whether or not they come through the front doors of this church. We are 1 church that God is using to love on His people. We need to have the heart of Peter and John in Acts when they were doing good deeds and were asked for money, they performed a miracle and they gave glory to God. Acts 3:4-13 Stop and think about this… that our simple acts of goodness may be so different that we can’t help but draw attention to ourselves. Where do we defect the praise? To God!

Jesus is not telling us to be Secret Service Christians. We are not living, Christian Impossible! Jesus is cautioning us to make sure that our righteous deeds remain just that… righteous. The heartbeat of our church is: “Loving God, Serving People, Becoming Family” We believe that when we truly love God we will be motivated to serve people and they will naturally become family. And when that happens I would say the same thing to you today that Peter said all those years ago. “WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED? WHY ARE YOU STARING AT US FOR DOING GOOD WHEN GOD IS THE ONE DIRECTING OUR STEPS? GOD HAS ALLOWED US TO DO GOOD THINGS TO BRING GLORY TO HIM AND HIS SON NOT OUR OWN SELFISH GAIN!”

Last week’s passage we read from was Matthew 5:38-42 but it is also recorded in Luke 6:27-31.

And Luke opens and closes in an interesting way, which dovetails into today’s message. Luke 6:27; Luke 6:31

I wonder how many of us are willing to listen to Jesus today. I wonder how many of us are prepared to treat everyone the way that we would like to be treated. Are we proving to others that we are truly followers of Christ? Can we answer the question, “Yes” when asked, Do You Love Differently?” Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 6:32-36 And so, I ask again, Do You Love Differently?

You look around at all that is going on in the news and around the world. Are you willing to listen to Jesus’ words regarding that? How does our love look different than the world’s? How does the church’s love look different than the world’s? Matthew 5:46; Luke 6:33-34

Jesus is calling us to love different! He is calling us to love like His Father! Romans 5:6-11 All of us in here stand as testimony to this!

That is the power of God’s love!

Love can overcome multitudes of sin! Love can overcome checkered pasts! Love can overcome bad decisions! Love can overcome hate! Love can overcome fear! Love can change a person’s life! So, Do You Love Different?

Will you love different? Will you respond to our Savior’s instruction to do so? Will you love the unlovable? Will you love the outcast? Will you love those that God has called us to love? Will you love everyone?

Matthew 5:38-42 You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say, do not resist the evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. (NLT)

You see somewhere along the line, people took things a little too far when it came to getting even. So Jesus is recalibrating our hearts here.

Cain pleaded with God that the punishment did not meet the crime in Genesis 4:13.

We have witnesses in the Bible that endured unfair hardships and did not seek revenge. Genesis 50:19-21; 1 Samuel 24; 2 Samuel 1:17; Hosea 3

They Apostles counted it an honor to be beaten and persecuted for the name of Jesus. Hebrews 11

So here we have another, “you have heard it said, but I say,” moment followed by something that sounds so counter intuitive it makes you stop and wonder.

Proverbs 19:11

Jesus is telling us to offer the other cheek to those who would strike us, to give our coat if we get sued for our shirt, to walk an extra mile when we are forced to only go 1.

As Christians, we have to do things differently than the world does. Colossians 3:1-2; Colossians 3:12-13

It has to be a determination in our hearts that we will not retaliate, but rather we will give more than expected. We need to allow God to handle things when we are wronged and not seek vengeance ourselves. When it comes to Revenge – Leave that up to God. Romans 12:17-21

Jesus also calls for us to be a generous people. Jesus is expressing the better way. The way of Love.

Get on with living and as far as revenge is concerned… leave that up to God.

Pastor Chuck and Tara Keller share their testimonies about their powerful experience at The Dream Center in Los Angeles, CA.

Jesus has really been challenging us as we have been working through the Red Letters by showing the separation between God’s standard and man’s standard. There has been a lot of “You have heard” followed by “but I say”. Today we will be covering vows, making promises, swearing by things.

How often has our Lord’s name been used in vain due to empty promises or even worse used as nothing more than a swear word? Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12

You are advised to keep all of your vows but those that did not mention God were ones that if you were to break a vow… those would be the ones deemed ok to do so. One commentary stated, vows taken that you did not mention God’s name in were not as binding as the ones you did. And what Jesus is revealing is that in actuality all vows end up coming back to God.

The solution: stop making vows and let your simple “yes” be a “yes” and your “no” be a “no”… that’s all you need. Matthew 5:33-37 Jesus is telling us, it’s not ok to separate out our promises and vows and say that, “some were made before God and everyone and others weren’t.”

John 1:3 So then any vow you make is actually before God and whomever else is present. And any “thing” that a vow is sworn by actually comes back to God, the One who created it. See, all things come back to God.

Unfortunately we live in a society that doesn’t trust you and forces you to enter into legal agreements because in their view a person’s word is no longer enough. When you stop and think about it. People have been burned by idle promises and vows.

Matthew 5:37 Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no”.

Jesus challenged the people of His day with this teaching the same way we are being challenged today.

If we truly believe that His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, then we have to take the hard teachings with the easy. We have to receive the challenges the same way we receive praise. We have to desire to be more like Jesus Christ rather than making allowances for bad habits and entrenched behaviors.

Will you simply say, “Yes”?