IBCD Sermon Weekly

Conflict between Christians happen. In spite of having one spirit, one faith, one hope, one baptism and one Lord over all – there is still enough of “us” that gets into the equation and messes it up. Because the church is so relational, as it is designed to be, these conflicts can become very painful and very hurtful. 

Matthew 18:15 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 

Jesus doesn’t say that much about children, but when he does it is deep and always intensely caring. This section of Matthew is unique in how Jesus ties together the concepts of trust, accountability, and holding precious that which God holds precious.

Matthew 18:3-4And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus was asked about taxes more than once. We will look at the passage where he famously states, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” in upcoming weeks. This passage today is not about paying taxes. Instead, this is a question about relationship. As Messiah, Jesus is Lord of the temple.

Matthew 17:25- 26When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes– from their own sons or from others?”  “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him.

The Disciples were deeply grieved when Jesus told them he would die. They can’t see past the storm. All they can see when Jesus talks about his death is the abyss and fearful ultimate end that death is for so many people.. The disciples can’t see past the storm and so they despair. But Jesus can see past the storm.

Matthew 17:22-23 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

The passage today is a surprisingly difficult one for me. It is a clear story, but how it applies to us is a mystery. Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”Have you experienced that nothing is impossible for you? I haven’t. What do we do about this?

Matthew 17:20 “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

As we continue through the Gospel of Matthew we come to a section today which has been the cause of a lot of confusion over the years. Like many passages in the Bible, it has often been broken up into pieces and we are more familiar with understanding the pieces than we are with the whole. There are very deep and good lessons in the pieces, but the problem is when we look only at the pieces or teach only on the pieces it obscures the whole. The pieces, each essential, make up a larger whole. That whole today we are looking at is the coming Kingdom of God.

Matthew 16:28 

I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

As we continue through the Gospel of Matthew we come to a section today which has been the cause of a lot of confusion over the years. Like many passages in the Bible, it has often been broken up into pieces and we are more familiar with understanding the pieces than we are with the whole. There are very deep and good lessons in the pieces, but the problem is when we look only at the pieces or teach only on the pieces it obscures the whole. The pieces, each essential, make up a larger whole. That whole today we are looking at is the coming Kingdom of God.

Matthew 16:28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Today’s scripture concerns the Apostle Peter. In the Gospel of Matthew we have a statement which has been the source of confusion and divisions within the church for centuries. In my humble opinion it has been consistently mistaught from both the Catholic point of view and from the various non-Catholic points view, so let’s dig into this today

Matthew 16:18-19And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 

Imagine walking down that road to Emmaus. You are sad and confused at the loss of your expected Messiah. All hope is lost, but then a man begins questioning you about your unbelief. Then he opens the Bible for the greatest Bible study ever done. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).

Sometimes we learn thing without realizing we have learned them. Traditions, values, even what we think is in the Bible is often unconsciously learned. At times, these things learned/not learned are good, sometimes they are bad. Regardless, they are deep within our DNA, like yeast baked into bread. We cannot see the yeast specifically, but we see the effect.

Matthew 16:6“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”