They knew His name.

They called Him a prophet.

They were not wrong.

But they were not right enough.

In Matthew 21, Jesus enters Jerusalem as King.

The crowd sees Him, speaks about Him, even honours Him.

But they do not recognise Him for who He is.

It is possible to be close to Jesus and still miss Him.

Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard, tenants, and a son who is rejected.

The problem is not lack of activity, but rejection of the Son.

This sermon works through Matthew 21:33–46 and asks a simple question: what will we do with him?

In Matthew 21:17–32 Jesus confronts a dangerous illusion: things that look alive, righteous, and obedient… but aren’t.

A leafy fig tree with no fruit.

Religious leaders with authority but no repentance.

A polite son who says the right words but never does the Father’s will.

Through three scenes, Jesus exposes the difference between signals and reality. God is not looking for impressive leaves. He is looking for fruit.

This sermon asks a simple but searching question:

When the King comes close, will He find leaves… or fruit?

Matthew 21:17–32

The 9012 Project

When Jesus enters the Temple in Matthew 21:12–16, everything changes.

Tables are overturned.

The blind and the lame are healed.

Children recognise the King while the religious leaders miss Him entirely.

This sermon follows that moment closely: not as a moral lesson about anger, but as the arrival of the true King in His house. The Temple is judged, mercy breaks out, and the voices that matter most are the smallest ones.

Tables turned. Bodies healed. Voices raised.

The first will be last. The last will be first.

In Matthew 20, Jesus tells a story about wages and envy. Then he speaks about his cross. Then he stops for two blind men on the side of the road.

The kingdom does not run on comparison. It runs on mercy.

The workers calculate.

The disciples negotiate.

The blind men cry out.

And the King stops.

You do not need to fight for first place in a kingdom built on mercy.

Jesus refuses to be managed.

In Matthew 19, the Pharisees test him, the rich man seeks leverage, and even the disciples misunderstand greatness. The chapter tightens toward a single conclusion: with man this is impossible — but with God all things are possible.

This sermon traces the collapse of self-made righteousness and the quiet power of receiving the kingdom like a child. Not difficulty. Impossibility. Not management. Mercy.

Malachi ends not with sentiment, but with a day.

A day that burns arrogance to ash

and rises as healing light for those who feared the Lord.

In this final sermon, we see how waiting saints were not naïve, not mistaken, not forgotten — only early.

The same day that consumes evil restores the faithful.

The same God who judges brings healing.

This is not about earning reward.

It is about God acting — finally, decisively, and faithfully.

Malachi’s people ask a dangerous question: “Where is the God of justice?”

God answers — not with an argument, but with an arrival.

If the holy God really comes near, who can endure it? Who can stand?

In Malachi 3, judgment is not withdrawn, but neither are God’s people consumed. Mercy comes first. Refinement follows. And hope takes a surprising shape — not optimism, not escape, but faithfulness in the face of mercy.

This sermon explores what real hope looks like when God does not go away.

Malachi 2 — Covenant Faithfulness

Malachi 2 confronts covenant faithlessness at its roots: hollowed-out worship, broken promises at home, and distorted thinking about God’s justice. At the heart of the chapter is a single question God Himself asks: What was the one God seeking?

This sermon traces the flow of the chapter, shows how faithlessness spreads, and locates the hope of covenant faithfulness not in moral resolve but in God’s own redemptive purpose.

A hard passage, handled carefully.

A sobering word, preached pastorally.

A call to live lucidly under the covenant-keeping God.

Speaker: Glenn Farrell

Series: Malachi

Project: The 9012 Project

Church: Valley Ministries

Malachi 1 opens with a shock: God accuses his people of despising him, not through open rebellion but through careless, compromised worship. This sermon traces how spiritual indifference grows when grace is forgotten, how religion continues while reverence drains away, and why God refuses to accept worship offered on our terms.

Rather than calling for better performance, Malachi exposes the deeper problem beneath shabby sacrifices: a people who no longer grasp who God is, or why their relationship with him exists at all. The passage presses us to reckon with contempt disguised as routine, and to hear again the seriousness of a holy God who will not be managed.

This sermon invites listeners to stop redefining faithfulness and to let God himself set the terms of worship, repentance, and honour.