The Moody Church Sunday Morning Podcast

In some ways, The Lord’s Prayer is a bit of an aside to the main point Jesus is making. If you will recall, Jesus has been calling out the Scribes and Pharisees for their religious hypocrisy. To drive the point home, Jesus gives three examples of spiritual practices: giving, praying, and fasting. These practices are supposed to be all about loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. But we can twist these practices into being about us. Then it’s not the love of God or neighbor that’s motivating us, but the love of ourselves. Jesus is saying: “Beware. Be wary. Be warned. Don’t fall into the trap of religious hypocrisy.” But notice He doesn’t say that those spiritual practices don’t matter. He says, “when you give, when you pray, when you fast.”  Just because these practices can be misused doesn’t mean they don’t have a proper use. He wants us to follow Him as He gives us a new heart towards these spiritual practices. So, in this passage about fasting, we’re going to see that fasting is a cultural blind spot, a biblical paradigm, and a helpful practice that we ought to embrace: Culture Blindspot: Fasting is historically practiced, and far more common around the world than in the US.

Biblical Paradigm: Fasting is biblically expected. Fasting honors our creative design as physical and spiritual beings. In the beginning of Genesis, the devil used food to tempt us, and from that point on our bodies have ruled us and our appetites. Jesus is showing us what it means to be live from spiritual sustenance that God provides. Saying “no” to pressing physical appetites enables us to say “yes” to deeper spiritual nourishment.

Helpful Practice: Fasting is spiritually beneficial for three reasons: it helps us attend to our soul; it helps us starve the flesh; and helps us feast on God. Fasting isn’t about saying “no” to the physical but saying “yes” to the spiritual. Far too often we live as if the physical is all there is. Fasting reminds us that we are more real than just our bodies. The Holy Spirit’s job is to develop new desires and teach you to walk in Him. Fasting teaches us to be led by the Spirit and not by the flesh. Fasting isn’t about appetite suppression, it is about cultivating our appetites for the things of God, where we feast on the things of the Lord. Takeaway: Fasting is feasting on God. Just do it! Matthew 6:16-18 Living The Message episode: https://youtu.be/c_yemjdnl6M

People feel a longing for Jesus to come again. But since we don’t know the time and date of that return, what should we do in the meantime? As we wait for the return of Christ, we are to be the people of God, empowered by the spirit of God, to testify to the son of God, carrying on the mission of God. Are you living that way? Acts 1:1-11

The final phrase, or benediction, of The Lord’s Prayer is a grand crescendo in what has been a rather sobering prayer for mercy amidst a dark and battered world. It feels like all of a sudden light pierces the darkness as the speaker proclaims the forever kingdom, power, and glory of God. It’s a phrase that reminds us of what is true, good, real, and beautiful; that no matter how dark things get down here, there is light a beauty forever beyond its reach. When The Lord’s Prayer was recited in the liturgy in church services, they ended with this final benediction, even though the phrase wasn’t included in the oldest original manuscripts recording Jesus’ words. It was added later by the early Church. Nevertheless, the phrase remains biblical, familiar, and ancient, so it’s important for us to study it, and it’s appropriate for us to pray with it. The benediction provides three things: Frame: Our stories are most meaningful when connected with God’s overarching story. Everything about us is framed by the grandeur of God.

Scope: Cosmic reconciliation of all things and all peoples for all eternity. When we pray the benediction, we are praying for all things to be made new.

Goal: The cosmos set to rights with the King in His rightful place. And the amazing thing is that God invites us to join with Him in the work of answering this prayer. This is our greatest calling, as emissaries of God’s kingdom, power, and glory which even now are spreading throughout the world as people come to trust in Jesus. Takeaway: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) There is light and high beauty that no darkness can touch. This is the end of our prayers, our hopes, our commissions: “For yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen” Matthew 6:13 Living The Message episodes: https://youtu.be/gELbmjNKXPo

All of us prefer to avoid tests in life, because these are moments of accountability when we’re exposed for who we really are. The danger of tests is that we’ll come to realize we’re not all that we ought to be, that we’re frail and faltering beings. In this sermon, we explore the phrase in the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” and learn how Jesus shows us teaching us to prepare for life’s tests. When it comes to the tests of life, this prayer helps us in four ways: Calibrate Reality: Jesus is giving this prayer to his disciples as a kind of template to teach them how to pray. This pray for protection from and preservation through life’s tests is the grace we all need on a daily basis. Life is full of tests that we cannot avoid, so we must expect them. By giving us this prayer, Jesus is preparing us to face life’s test as an ordinary part of what it means to follow Him. This prayer helps us calibrate reality so that the tests of life don’t catch us off guard.

Define the Enemy: Our greatest enemy is not pain, it’s evil. Notice in the prayer that Jesus says deliver us from evil, not from pain. And so, this prayer helps us define the enemy, which is evil within us and all around us. To face such evil within and without, we need God’s preserving grace.

Run to our Father: When the tests of life come, and evil rears its head, we should run to the Father. If we are children of God, these tests of life are not punitive, they’re purifying. This distinction is vital for us to understand. God is 100% for us, not against us. His goal is to conform us to the image of Christ, making us grow in resemblance of our Father. And so, this prayer helps us to depend on His grace, to yield to His delivering power and presence as we follow Him.

Look unto Jesus: Not only is Jesus giving us an example in this prayer, but He’s also giving us an example with His own life. If our Heavenly Father brought Jesus through the ultimate test, delivering Him from evil through the cross into resurrection glory, then He can bring us, His adopted sons and daughters, through our tests into glory as well. Because Jesus is victorious, we can follow Him with confidence. Jesus says, “come follow me.” He invites us to walk with Him through the fire, through the cross, through the tests of life, because there’s glory on the other side. There is no greater source of courage during the tests of life than to look unto Jesus. If He walked through the fire for us, then we can walk into the fire for Him. Jesus took up the cross for us, so we can take up our cross for Him. Matthew 6:13 Living the Message episode: https://youtu.be/qg-IvwxUeL4

Have you ever questioned God’s intentions for your life? Do you wish that God was doing something different through the course of events that you experience? God can seem to answer our prayers in ways that are unexpected and complex. In this sermon, we’ll be reminded of three important truths that we can hold on to when we question God’s intentions for our lives:God’s Wisdom is Unfathomable and Glorious: You don’t have to understand God’s wisdom to praise Him for it.

God’s Wisdom is Perplexing and Precious: We are most confused about God’s wisdom when His will for our lives is different than our will for our lives. “When you can’t trust His hand, trust His heart.” God’s purpose is to make us more like Jesus; that’s a purpose we can trust.

God’s Wisdom is Worthy of Trust and Imitation: “The fear (respect) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” God is inviting each of us to a deeper relationship with him. The question is: are you wise enough to pursue Him? Romans 11:33-36

“Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive.”  – C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity It’s not hard to see that our world needs to be a more forgiving place. Our families need to be more forgiving places. Our churches need to be more forgiving places. And, of course, it’s easy to spot unforgiveness in others. It’s much harder when it’s our turn to forgive. The reality is that we need to be more forgiving people. We have too much anger in our hearts. We have too many wounds we’re nursing. We have too many grudges we’re holding inside. Unforgiveness always rises from a place of hurt. Because hurt people hurt people. And those hurt people then hurt more people, who in turn hurt still more people. On and on it goes until the world looks like our front-page news. But what if forgiveness can turn the world upside-down? What if forgiveness is at the very heart of the life of the Kingdom of Heaven? What if forgiveness is a defining mark of those who follow the Way of Jesus? In this sermon, we look at three upside-down characteristics about forgiveness: The Gravity of Forgiveness: There is a vital connection between the forgiveness we receive and the forgiveness we extend. To put it succinctly, unforgiving people are unforgiven people.

The Symmetry of Forgiveness: There’s a connection between the forgiveness we receive from God and the forgiveness we extend to others. This connection isn’t one of causation, but of coordination. Causation is a relationship of cause and effect. But of course, you cannot earn forgiveness by what you do. The connection between the forgiveness we receive from God and the forgiveness we extend to others cannot be one of causation, because that would be a denial of the gospel and a contradiction of the overwhelming teaching of Scripture. Instead, the relationship is one of coordination, where receiving and extending forgiveness go together. There’s a symmetry to forgiveness; those who receive forgiveness naturally tend to extend forgiveness to others. In other words, forgiven people forgive people.

The Trajectory of Forgiveness: We are forgiven so that we might become forgiving. God is making us likely Himself; gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, rich in mercy. To become like Him, the first thing we need to receive is God’s forgiveness. What does that mean? Forgiveness is not a feeling; forgiveness is not forgetting; forgiveness is not excusing; forgiveness is not reckless trust; and forgiveness is not anti-justice. At its core, forgiveness is the decision to pay the debt yourself and be done with it. And the most amazing thing is that that’s what Jesus did for us; He paid the price of our forgiveness. Takeaway: Forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. When we forgive others, there’s three important things to stay away from: don’t dwell on it, don’t weaponize it, and don’t gossip about it. Where do you need to receive your father’s forgiveness? Where do you need to extend your Father’s forgiveness? Matthew 6:12 Living the Message episode available here: https://youtu.be/FlumV8X6qqY

Far too often we treat prayer like a cosmic 911 service. Some emergency happens, and suddenly, we become praying people. On a daily basis, we try not to bother God with the little stuff, thinking that we can handle most circumstances on our own. Most of the time, life feels manageable. We rationalize that we are smart, industrious, hard-working; and with time and money, we can make most of our problems go away. We feel self-reliant, independent, and free. That sounds a lot like America – “Freedom is independence!” But it doesn’t sound much like Jesus. In this passage, Jesus is going to open our eyes to what real freedom looks like. And he’s going to do it with a simple prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” There are five characteristics of this prayer that recalibrates our soul orientation to God: Surrendered Prayer: Everything up unto the midpoint of this prayer has been God entranced, and it is only after these Godward prayers have been offered that Jesus then adds a prayer for daily bread. Jesus trains our focus on God first and then teaches us to bring prayers for our own needs second. Do you see what’s happening here? Jesus is recalibrating our souls. We instinctively see our needs first. and when we’re in pain or distress, we naturally become a bit self-absorbed. Jesus is teaching us to lift our eyes, to see our needs in light of the bigger picture, to understand the plot line of our stories within the arc of a grander narrative, and then to bring our daily needs before our Father. This all reframes our perspective and helps us to remember the glorious purposes of God. There is immense freedom when we begin to see our needs in light of eternity. We should come to our Father with open hands, surrendered to His glorious purposes in our lives.

Communal Prayer: Notice that this prayer is in the plural: “our daily bread.” Jesus is teaching us to pray, not only for our own needs, but also for the needs of our neighbors. There is immense freedom when we begin to see our needs alongside the needs of others. And so, we come to our Father with loving hearts, lifting up each other’s needs in prayer.

Earnest Prayer: At the heart of this request is the most basic of human needs, a daily ration of food. Jesus is teaching us to bring our daily needs before our Father; and at the same time to remember to rest in God’s provision and promise. Jesus is inviting us to rest, to cease striving, to cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us.

Holistic Prayer: God’s Old Testament provision of bread (mana) for the Israelites in the wilderness wasn’t ultimately about bread. The bread was an illustration of a deeper reality. Just as they were utterly dependent on God for their physical sustenance, they were likewise utterly dependent on God for their spiritual sustenance as well. Jesus is teaching us to bring our daily needs before the Father, and at the same time to remember that man shall not live by bread alone. There is immense freedom when we embrace our created design and entrust our needs, physical and spiritual, into our Father’s care. This orientation doesn’t negate or diminish what we’re going through, but it does put our life circumstances into an eternal perspective.

Trustful Prayer: This is a simple prayer of child-like faith. Jesus is teaching us that this universe is a perfectly safe place to be when God is your Father. There’s no scarcity in His Kingdom; He knows what you need before you ask; and He loves to give good gifts to his children. So, when we ask Him for daily bread, we can remember that we are the beloved child of a good Father. There is immense freedom when we pray as beloved children of God secure in the provision and promise of our good Father. Don’t you see how this prayer turns the world upside down? We think life and freedom is found in being, self-reliant, self-sufficient, and self-secured. We believe freedom is independence. But this perspective leaves us lonely, anxious, and scared. Jesus is giving us a better way. Takeaway: Freedom is in dependence. Jesus is teaching us how to live in real freedom as beloved children of God, learning to pray to Him. Matthew 6:11 Living the Message episode available here: https://youtu.be/hkBzsrL9uM8

Jesus knows what it’s like to live within this broken world, and He knows how to pray His way through it. In this passage from the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is going to teach us how to pray our way through the brokenness of this life. This sermon focuses on Matthew 6:10: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We explore four key questions: What is the Kingdom? The Kingdom of God is the “reign of God.” Wherever God reigns as King, there His Kingdom is. Or another way to think about it: God’s Kingdom is the realm over which He has say, and the sphere in which His will is carried out. Wherever the will of God is done, there his Kingdom is. So, when we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we’re asking that the reign of God would be established right here and right now, that the range of His effective will would extend and envelope this world, and that God would bring the rule of Heaven to earth and make everything right again. So, if we are being taught to pray “your kingdom come,” in a sense, the kingdom must be missing.

Where has it gone? The Kingdom has been hijacked by rebels. This world, designed for beauty under the Kingdom Rule of God, was hijacked by Satan and has fallen under his dominion. And we’re part of the rebellion. Every time we disregard what God says and choose to do what we want instead, and we ratify the rebellion. We desperately need God’s Kingdom, but when will it come?

When will it come? In one sense, it never really left, because the Kingdom is forever. What this means is that the Kingdom has come, the Kingdom is coming now, and the Kingdom is yet to come, all at the same time. In other words, the Kingdom of God has always been here, has come already in Jesus, is coming even now, and it yet to come. And all of it is on God’s timetable.

Why pray for it? If God’s going to do what God’s going to do, and the Kingdom won’t come until Jesus returns, and we can’t hurry him along, then why should we pray for God’s Kingdom to come? When we do this, we’re praying on 3 levels: your kingdom come in me, your kingdom come through me, and your kingdom come take over. Takeaway: “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”Wherever You are revered as Holy, the world becomes whole.

Whenever you are acknowledged as King, everything finds its rightful place.

Whoever surrenders to your will finds abundant life and freedom. Matthew 6:10 Living the Message episode available here: https://youtu.be/hceIr7c3BqY Questions about the sermon can be emailed to [email protected].

For many of us, prayer raises more questions than answers. Does it even work? Am I doing it right? Am I using the right words? How can I know God is even listening? Jesus’ early followers had similar questions about prayer, but they saw something different in Jesus. Jesus prayed with a confidence, closeness, and comfort that His disciples found mesmerizing. So, they asked Jesus to teach them to pray like He prayed. They wanted to know what He knew. And so in Luke 11 and here in Matthew 6, Jesus gave his disciples what we now call The Lord’s Prayer. It is a prayer that turns the world upside down, and it might turn our lives upside down too…if only we will let it. In this sermon, we’re focusing on the first sentence which contains three key phrases: Our Father… in heaven… hallowed be your name. Our Father: In this phrase, Jesus is saying that you can come to God in the same way that He does, as a beloved son or daughter. You can come to God like a little child, running into her daddy’s arm. Because in Jesus, orphans become children of God.

In the Heavens: This phrase It speaks to both God’s transcendence (high and exalted) and immanence (pervasive and close). The Heavens are where God resides, where Angels serve, and where Saints adore. But earthly, unclean, sinners – we belong here, and dare not venture into the heavenlies. And yet Jesus is saying we have access to “Our Father in the Heavens,” because in Jesus, sinners become saints. Here’s the Gospel reality: if Jesus is your Savior and Lord, your great high priest who has passed through the heavens, then you are raised up with him and are seated with Him in the heavenly places, and you now have the same access Jesus has to the throne room of heaven! Jesus is teaching us: “In me… in my Kingdom… you are Saints seated in the heavenlies.”

Hallowed be Your Name: To hallow, means to sanctify, to treat as holy, sacred, and set apart. To hallow a name is to esteem a person’s honor, upholding the credit that is due their name. So, when we pray “Hallowed be Your Name” we are praying that God would be believed, obeyed, feared, and glorified by everyone everywhere as He rightfully deserves. In Jewish tradition, the priests were the ones responsible for ensuring that God’s name was hallowed; they were the stewards of the holiness of God. But in Jesus, commoners like us become priests. Here’s the Gospel reality: If Jesus is your Lamb that was slain, you are priest in the Kingdom of God. You are sanctified, holy, and set apart for the purpose to hallow the name of God. Takeaways: Your Father delights in hearing your voice. Has it ever occurred to you that God actually wants to hear from you? Matthew 6:9-13 Watch the Living the Message episode about this sermon: https://youtu.be/cQtxKBwjBEA Questions about the sermon can be emailed to [email protected].

He is Risen! He is Risen! He is Risen! Easter Sunday marks the turning of the tide. The power of sin is shattered; the chains of Satan are broken; the dominion of death is conquered, for the Son of God has risen with power and is alive forevermore! In this sermon, we go back to that very resurrection morning and discover how Jesus’ resurrection changes everything. A Historical Seismic Shift: All the gospel accounts portray Jesus’ disciples on resurrection morning as being in utter shock. They were NOT expecting this. And it utterly changed the course of their lives and the course of human history. The resurrection of Jesus sent a seismic shock wave across human history, shifting the world.

A Philosophical Seismic Shift: The resurrection of Jesus broke the philosophical mold of both Greco-Roman and Jewish thought. But today, we don’t live in Greco-Roman or Jewish philosophical categories; we live in a secular philosophical framework. The secular philosophical story goes something like this: We exist because of random chance and the survival of the fittest. And because life has no inherent meaning, it’s up to you to devise your own happiness, because you only live once. But in the end, death conquers us all, and in time, we will all be forgotten. But if the resurrection is true, everything changes. If the resurrection is true, death isn’t the end at all, because There’s life and love and high beauty beyond. If the resurrection is true, we’re not just flesh and bone. We are souls destined to live forever. If the resurrection is true, we exist, not by chance, but because the eternally loving God created us in His image to be enfolded in his love forever. If the resurrection is true… then life is full of rich meaning and purpose, and we can ultimately be made new.

A Spiritual Seismic Shift: The resurrection of Jesus sends seismic shock waves across our spiritual reality. If the resurrection is true, there’s nothing more important in life than what we do with Jesus. If Jesus’ resurrection is real, nothing else matters. And if it is not real, then nothing else matters. Takeaways: Has Jesus shifted your world? One of the ways you know you’ve encountered the living Jesus is the landscape of your life looks very different as a result. You find your affections changing, your desires altering, and your priorities shifting. Instead of looking to Jesus as an advisor, you start following him as Lord. It’s a whole new kind of life with Jesus at the center. And it turns out to be life as it was always meant to be. Matthew 28:1-10