Summit Church Sermon Podcast

Near the end of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives out warnings to His listeners (and to us). He warns against false teachers and those who claim the gospel of Jesus but yet bear no fruit.

Jesus spoke of two gates, one which is wide and leads to destruction, and one which is narrow and leads to life.

This week in our Upside Down series, Jesus invites us to ask, knock, and seek.

In chapter 7 of Matthew, Jesus' sermon continues with a warning against the hypocrisy and the spirit judgement that He saw among the people of His day. He may well have been speaking directly to us today.

This passage from Jesus' sermon might be one of the most familiar to us, however, that does not make it easy. How do we shift our focus off of our needs and worries in this world? We must seek first His Kingdom.

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus continually redirects the teachings of His day, that were focused on keeping the letter of the law. Instead of merely keeping a list of rules, Jesus emphasizes the heart.

In the beginning of chapter 6 of Matthew, Jesus continues His sermon on the mount, and continues to challenge the heart behind our religious duties. Even prayer and giving to the needy, when done with the wrong attitude can be displeasing to God. Jesus instructs us to do these things with humility, and not for the praise of men.

In chapter 6, Jesus He teaches his followers how to pray. The words of this simple prayer have been memorized and recited among Christians for generations. This prayer demands more than a strict recitation, and is a reminder to realign ourselves to the purposes God has for us as followers of Jesus.

At the end of chapter 5, Jesus lays out a completely counter-cultural command... "Love your enemies." And even more, "be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." These challenged the teachings of their day, and they challenge the way we still love in our day.

This week, we look at several places where Jesus challenged the current understanding of God's law. "You have heard that it was said," Jesus begins, "But I tell you the truth..." Jesus corrects these misunderstandings, all dealing with relationships. He proves them to be issues of the heart, rather than issues of strict obedience to a law.