The King Has Come

"Doubt and Discipleship"

In this Sunday sermon, Pastor Russell Howard examines two contrasting responses to Jesus in Matthew 16. The Pharisees and Sadducees arrive demanding proof, but their problem is not a lack of evidence. It is a resolved commitment to protect the sin their doubt allows them to keep. Jesus gives them a single answer: the sign of Jonah, pointing to his death and resurrection as the only sign that will be given.

Then the scene shifts. The disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee and realize they forgot to bring bread. When Jesus warns them about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, they assume he is talking about lunch. He is not. He points them back to the two miraculous feedings they witnessed firsthand and calls them to interpret their own experiences through what he has actually said, not the other way around. Pastor Russell walks through what the leaven of the Pharisees (adding to God's Word) and the leaven of the Sadducees (cutting from it) look like in the life of a believer today, and why the only stable ground is this: God's Word is authoritative, and God's Word is enough.

Sermon Notes

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026