Our text in Matthew's Gospel pose three powerful questions for us: Do we understand who Jesus is? Do we understand what he has done for us? How do we find courage to obey our king?

God himself answers the first question: "This is my beloved Son, Listen to him” (Matthew 17:5).

The Apostle Paul summarizes what Jesus has done: As God's Messiah, Jesus came at God’s set time to die on the cross and to rise from the dead in order to save us, and put the Holy Spirit into our hearts to cry out “Abba, Father!” (Galatians 4:4).

How do we find courage to do as God Commands? We listen to Jesus! What does he tell Peter, James and John? "Be not afraid!" We are unafraid today because our King is God’s beloved Son. We can follow him with confidence as we show his goodness, kindness, and love to the world.

First we'll look at the Revelation 21 vision of Kingdom Life and see how that is a present and future vision. We will look at the process of developing a loving and trusting relationship with Jesus and see how the disciples managed that process.

Wherever Jesus is, the Kingdom of God has come near. The church is the bride of Christ and when the bride and groom are together as they should be, Kingdom Life happens. We will discuss what we can do when our relationship with Jesus gets off track. We will look at ways we can start things new with Christ who is able to change the order of things and make all things new.

Jesus shows the disciples that He is consistently loving, gentle, and compassionate. He proves to them that the nature of God is always to invite us to come to Him. He never wants to send us away. The disciples will want to test what they know about Jesus with all that they are hearing about Jesus from the world. Jesus responds to their confusion as a loving parent would when the disciples test His authority as their Lord. They will soon learn that Jesus is not only loving, compassionate, and gentle, but that He is God, and wherever Jesus is God, the kingdom life is near.

We are called to trust God in the midst of His Story. How does God deal with evil?

God acts in a variety of ways to limit the effects of evil in each of at least six covenants (Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and in the New Covenant).

Our Lord Jesus Christ—God’s anointed King—came as our savior from evil (selves, sin, death, and devil). He paid the price for our rebellion.

In this time of Community, there are Weeds among the Wheat. We cannot condemn and reject others. But we must repent of our own evil. And we need to be willing to pay the price for evil in our society and act redemptively.

Here is a pointed example of how this might work: I am not proposing a political action when I suggest that Christians be willing to take babies found to be unbearable in the third trimester of a woman's pregnancy. I don't mean to judge or condemn any woman facing a crisis in the third trimester. Is there a way, without judgment or condemnation, disciples of Jesus can offer to adopt the baby and so come along side a woman who finds her situation intolerable? In the second century of our era, Christians adopted the children exposed to doe outside the city gates. Can we learn from their example? Can we also act redemptively in our culture?

In Jesus’ powerful sermon we call “The Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus teaches us the way God always intended for us to act and the way God always intended for us to live in our relationship with Him and with one another. Jesus also lived out these teachings as He modeled for us the life God intended for each of us to live before the catastrophe of the Garden of Eden broke God’s creation through the sins of Adam and Eve.

These final closing thoughts of this powerful sermon challenges, invites and asks us to consider whether we put or trust in the world or our trust in the Lord. He asks us to examine ourselves and find out if our lives resemble being a citizen of the kingdom of heaven or a citizen of the world. Because if we live our lives as a citizen of the kingdom of heaven then that means we experience heaven each and every day of our lives in the present. It means we experience the presence of Jesus guiding us, loving us, healing us, and transforming us, NOW – not just later when we get to heaven, but here on earth as well.

In these challenging final verses of Jesus’ sermon we are asked to consider what foundation we have built our lives upon – the world or Jesus. He then invites us to examine our lives and determine what we will do with all that Jesus has taught us. Will we hear His words, nodding our heads, believing what He has said and walk away unchanged? Or, will we hear His words, nod our heads in approval, and incorporate the principles of Kingdom of Heaven living in our everyday lives? If we respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and allow Jesus’ words to penetrate our hearts and transform us then Jesus says we are wise for our lives are rooted and grounded in Him. However, if we chose to listen and not respond then our lives are rooted and grounded in the world.

Jesus also teaches us that no matter what foundation our lives are built upon each of us will face storms in our lives. If we are rooted and grounded in Jesus then we will withstand the carnage of all the evil the world brings against us. However, if our lives are built upon the morals and values of the world, then when the storms come against us we have no anchor to hold us up and often our lives fall apart when we face the evil of this world. What is your foundation and who are you anchored to? If it is the world and not Jesus, then I invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to examine your hearts and reveal the dark places of your life that resist God’s love. I pray for you to cry out to Jesus and ask Him to heal you and help you surrender yourself to Him.

Today’s No-Brainer: The stories we tell say something about us. The world makes heroes of both Good and Bad people. For us, God is always the hero who works through people.

When we trust in our Abba God and our Lord Jesus Christ, we are not the heroes. Again, God is always the hero who works through people. When we tell God's Story with our six Cee words, we are lifting God up as our hero!

I Timothy 6:17-19 tells us the “how” of sending your treasures ahead! Here is the big idea: Invest in others, and be rich in good works!

As we concluded our month of sermon on giving with an emphasis on missions, we had the privilege of having Jeff and Mim Nellermoe with China Service Ventures with us for our Missions Fair and they brought us the message. Listen here for the entire sermon from Good Shepherd.

This month we have been focusing on how Jesus has used our stewardship gifts to spread the goodness and kindness of God in the world. This week we will be gathering to seek the answers to the following questions: 1) Why do we give our money, time, talents, and creative energies to God? 2) What is God calling you to do in 2019? 3) What excites you the most about the future of Good Shepherd? 4) What is the dream Jesus has placed in your heart for His church here at Good Shepherd? And 5) What are you willing to contribute to see these dreams become a reality?

2 Corinthians 9:10-11 tells us that God, who is the Creator of all things, is the supplier of all our needs and He has called us to excel in gracious acts of giving (2 Corinthians 8:7). Therefore, if God is the supplier of all our needs then shouldn’t talking about stewardship be easy? If all that we give to the work of God’s kingdom came from our Lord in the first place, then isn’t stewardship simply surrendering back to Him what He first gave us? Isn’t stewardship simply acknowledging that everything, our property, health, vitality, our past, present and future God’s? If this is true, then why is it so difficult to be obedient when it comes to presenting our gifts of tithes and offerings to the Lord?

My dear friends in Christ, 1 John 4:19 tells us that we love because God first loved us. We also give because God first gave to us out of an expression of His love. Therefore, our giving is an expression of our love for God as well. God gives to us, and we give to others as conduits of God’s love. So, as we go and serve in the various missions and ministries Jesus has commanded us to participate in, we strive to spread His kindness and mercy, His love and grace to the world. Part of doing this is coming together each week to present our praise to our Sovereign God through our offerings and gifts of tithes. We present our offerings of praise to God in response to Him giving His only Son to the world so that all who believe in Jesus can have eternal life.

In the Gospel lesson found in Mark 6:30-44; Matthew 14:13-21 and Luke 9:10-17 Jesus teaches us the keys to a successful ministry. First, Jesus needs to call us to Himself and give us the power and authority to act in His name. Second, Jesus will then send us out to preach, teach, heal, and cast out demons in His name the same way He sent His first disciples out two by two. Third, in order to have a successful ministry we must learn to trust solely on Jesus to provide all our needs. When we follow these three simple rules we are able to go and serve, to go and love, not because we have to, but because God’s love compels us to go. What passion is the Holy Spirit fueling inside your heart as you dream for God’s kingdom work here at Good Shepherd? What excites you the most as you look back at 2018 and contemplate what God is calling you to do in His name in 2019? What do you feel Jesus asking you to do to strengthen the mission work of Christ here at Good Shepherd in 2019 so that God can be glorified?

Paul talks about three kinds of giving. We will call them sowing, "grudgy giving," and "gifting." Sowing is giving with expectations of a return on investment. “Grudgy” giving or transaction giving is giving with reluctance or under compulsion while expecting an exchange of equal or lesser value. The third type of giving is to gift. To gift is to completely let go of the thing of value and give it with hope that the gift will be a source of joy and life to the receiver.God loves a cheerful giver. The word in Greek is hilaron – like hilarious. It means won over. God is completely won over by us. He proved that by giving us Jesus. When we are won over by God, we can give to Him without expecting a transaction, but in the hope of His inevitable kindness.

How do I become a "gifter?" Love/Agape - when you love someone and trust them and you’re won over by them it is so much easier to “gift,” to empty your hands completely.This is why Abram was able to give the first tithe. He was totally won over on God in love and trust. Abram emptied his hands to show God he loved God, trusted Him, and would have no God but Him. With Abram’s empty hands God blesses the nations. And God is so won over by Abram that God and Abram finally cut the covenant together and lock in their relationship with one another forever.

God loves a cheerful giver, someone who is completely won over by Him, who trusts Him enough to empty his hands for Him. And when we empty our hands to God the blessings flow all over the place.

God is celebrated throughout the Bible for his goodness and generosity. We love Psalm 23 because God is abundantly generous with us as our Good Shepherd.

We see God's generosity in the gift of Jesus our savior, and in God's provision for Mary and Joseph as they fled to Egypt (Matthew 2:1-13).

The Macedonian Christians generously gave themselves to the Lord, and then gave their offerings to help the poor in Jerusalem (II Corinthians 8:1-7).

Here at Good Shepherd, we need to follow their example and give generously. But we need to do this as God has instructed and blessed us. Our history includes a call to bless the little ones. We are doing this through the Children of Peace International, through Royal Family Kids Camps and Clubs, through our partnership with International Health partners in Tanzania, and through China Service Ventures' work with the rural poor in Hunan province. Beloved, thank you for your faithfulness and service.

Let us give thanks to God for his goodness to us!

Christmas is more than a singular event worth celebrating. It isn't just a birthday. It is about God and the world.

God is love. He made us in perfect love, in total selflessness, and in perfect freedom. We rejected God and broke the relationship we were made to have for eternity. God's love for us was bigger than our mistakes, rebellion and sin.

Through a series of friendships and relationships God points to a time, a place, and a way for us to be made new in Him so we can be with Him forever. All of the past pointed to Jesus Christ, God's love made present for us. Jesus was the time, the place, and the way for us to be redeemed, renewed, reconciled, and reunited with God.

Like the shepherds, we look for Jesus, and when we find Him, know Him, and love Him that's when life truly begins.