Sunday Sermons

As we begin studying the life of Jacob, we read about his birth and how he came to originally be granted the promised birthright of his father.  

In the text for this week, Jesus responds to a question from Peter about forgiveness. But instead of giving only a quick response, the Lord shares a parable to highlight the place of forgiveness in the life of his people and the seriousness with which God takes it.

In this week’s passage, Jesus gives some very specific instructions about how to confront sin in a fellow believer. This ends up being part of a wider discussion of the function of the church in this world as an outpost of heaven. It is a call to the local church to understand the authority that it has been given and the responsibility that comes with it.

Chapter 18 of Matthew begins with the disciples' curiosity concerning who is the greatest in the kingdom. These fourteen verses give us a picture of what being a member of the kingdom looks like and how deeply God cares for his children.

This week’s text gives us a short but interesting story on Jesus being called to pay a tax. While the means by which he provides the payment for himself and Peter is unusual, the purpose of this story is to further bring to light who Jesus really is.

After the disciples come down from the Mount of Transfiguration, they are met with a father whose son is in desperate need of healing. They come to find out that they are unable to help the man, much to the dismay of Jesus. This opens up an opportunity for the Lord to teach them about the nature of faith and what it means to walk by it. 

After last week’s text full of Christ’s revelation of who he is and what he came to do, we turn the page to the transfiguration of Jesus. This passage also presents the richness of revealing who Jesus is. It’s a passage full of Old Testament pictures that takes us (and the three disciples involved) to the next step of showing us Jesus’ true identity, as well as the significance of what he came to do.

We have reached a crucial part of the Gospel of Matthew where Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, and the Lord is overjoyed with it. Jesus' identity is not only made plain, but we also gain a greater understanding of what life as his followers actually entails.

After a wonderful Holy Week, we return back to our series in the gospel of Matthew where we are immediately met with another confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders. They, again, demand a sign from the Lord and Jesus refuses to acquiesce. Jesus uses this as an opportunity to warn his disciples and show them that his ministry goes far deeper than meeting physical needs.

This last week, we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord together as his people. In chapter 6 of his epistle to the Romans, the apostle Paul spells out why Jesus rising from the dead is worth celebrating. The resurrection changes everything and provides for us an unshakable hope in which we can live.