The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one & only Son,

who came from the Father, full of grace & truth.

Use the Advent Guide to help you reflect on this week's message.

Shepherds are the most ordinary and unlikely people to bear witness to the King of Kings—during that time they were not even legally able to be witnesses in court! But God is not bound by the laws of the earth’s systems and courts. These Shepherds unexpectedly find themselves thrust into a plot point of the Messiah’s storyline, with an active role to play.

When unexpected plot points enter into the storyline of our lives, the assurance of Jesus’ presence and promises equip and enable us to respond with faith and take practical action steps.

Use the Advent Guide to help you reflect on this week's message.

The Bible says; “God’s kindness leads us to repentance” and that repentance prepares the way for the Lord. (Romans 2:4, Luke 3:3-4)

Use the Advent Guide to help you reflect on this week's message.  

We get to live in the time of ‘now and not yet’. We have the full Bible and the fulfillment of Jesus’ first coming. But we also are still waiting for the complete fulfillment of God’s promises and Jesus’ second coming.

Use the Advent Guide to help you reflect on this week's message.

Some people think that Jesus came to destroy the law given to Moses in the Old Testament. The Pharisees often accused Jesus of breaking the law, especially God’s commands regarding the Sabbath. Jesus was perfect, He did not come to dismiss the law, but to fulfill and free it from the Scribes and Pharisee’s wrong understanding of it. Charles Spurgeon puts it this way;

“To show that he never meant to abrogate the law, our Lord Jesus has embodied all its commands in his own life. In his own person there was a nature which was perfectly conformed to the law of God; and as was his nature such was his life.”

This week’s passage begins a long discussion where Jesus explains many points of the law. His explanations drive us all to Him for our justification as we realize how much of it we have broken.  Remember, we are not made righteous by keeping the law, thanks be to God that Jesus offers us a different righteousness, one that He earned on our behalf through His perfect keeping and fulfilling of the Law and payment for our breaking it!

Prepare for this week’s message by reading Matthew 5-7 giving special attention to 5:17-20

These words of Jesus are a great commendation and also a weighty responsibility. Jesus didn’t say we are becoming salt and light, He says His followers are salt and light. This is a part of our identity. The challenge is to live into that Identity so that God is glorified and others come to know Him. It can be scary and uncomfortable to shine light into darkness, or to have a “flavorful and preserving” influence in our culture. At times we fulfill this responsibility and at times we fail it. Jesus knew we would be tempted to lose our saltiness and dim our light. The Beatitudes scaffold us, reminding us of the upside down values of Christ’s kingdom and the blessing of relationship with Him. This is the source of our strength and empowerment to shine brightly, not so that anything is made of us but that much is made of Jesus!

“The object of our shining is not that men may see how good we are, nor even see us at all, but that they may see grace in us and God in us, and cry, ‘What a Father these people must have.’” (Spurgeon)

Prepare for this week’s message by reading Matthew 5-7 giving special attention to 5:1-16

When we make and maintain peace we reflect the character of God, who pursued ultimate peace with us by sending Jesus to pay the price for our sin. When our association with and reflection of Christ’s character is shown to the world, it will either bring about worship and thanksgiving to God or repulsion and rejection of God. There really is no middle ground. In this world we will have trouble, but we do not need to lose heart, for Jesus has overcome the world! And we look forward to our great reward in heaven, namely the forever presence of Jesus Himself! In the mean time we have the Holy Spirit who helps us as we get to know Jesus better through our fellowship with Him in His sufferings. 

> The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:15-17)

Prepare for this week's message by reading through Matthew 5-7, giving special attention to 5:9-12

In our world and in our own hearts we often hunger and thirst for power, pleasure, and peace. In our quest for earthly happiness, we are left empty and unsatisfied. As we learned last week, we have things all backwards, the values of God’s Kingdom are not the values of this world. A hunger and thirst for right standing with God will be satisfied – in Jesus – and will give us a peace and happiness that is eternal. 

Jesus was completely righteous; He was perfectly merciful and pure in heart, that is, undivided in His devotion to the Father. Since our relationship with God is the source of these blessings, and this relationship is made possible through Jesus alone, let us make it the priority of our lives. To be truly satisfied, to receive mercy and to see the face of God far surpasses any temporal happiness available to us here on earth.

Prepare for this week’s teaching by reading through Matthew 5-7, giving special focus on chapter 5, verses 6-8.

"A person's Identity is the set of purposes, priorities, perspectives, and principles that are held consciously or unconsciously, that guide their feelings, decisions, and behaviors." - Dr. Eric Moyer

This special session with Dr. Eric Moyer serves as a capstone to our identity series.

The gospel of Matthew presents Jesus to us as King and shows us the Kingdom of God, which as we learned in our Identity study, is our life’s priority. As believers in Christ, we are citizens of this Kingdom, with Jesus as our King, and His glory as our aim. While great speeches such as; “Four score and seven years ago….” or “I have a dream…” are inspirational and worthwhile reads, Jesus’ sermon on the mount are God’s words declaring what His kingdom is all about and deserve our attention and study. In essence this is our Kings’ Proclamation!

As you prepare for this week’s teaching, take some time to locate the context of Jesus’ sermon by reading an Introduction and background on the book of Matthew and skimming Matthew 1-5.

During this series, we encourage you to commit to reading (or listening) to Matthew chapters 5-7 daily (or at least weekly.) It will take you about 15 minutes and will greatly enhance your understanding and application of this important passage of scripture.