Matthew 6:9-13 is the text for this sermon entitled, "The Lord's Prayer (Pt. 2)."We all long for a better world. God’s kingdom breaks into the kingdoms of the world in a transformative way. The kingdom is not the same thing as the churc...

Matthew 6:9-13 is the text for this sermon entitled, "The Lord's Prayer (Part 1)."Jesus had just condemned the hypocritical way of praying. He had also talked about the concerns about prayer and how to pray. In today’s passage, Jesus no...

Matthew 6:16-18 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Jesus' Teaching on Fasting."To understand Fasting, we start with a definition: fasting is to deny physical eating or pleasure to draw closer to God. Three Biblical examples are Davi...

Matthew 6:5-8 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Jesus' Teaching on Praying."We are not to pray like the hypocrites, a word for actor that comes from ancient Greek theater. Jesus listed two places where those seeking attention would...

Matthew 6:1-4 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Jesus' Teaching on Giving."A. Jesus addresses 3 acts of piety/righteousness that can be exaggerated for show. These are giving alms, praying, and fasting (or other acts of devotion).&...

Matthew 5:43-48 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Be Perfect As God Is Perfect."Continuing his sermon on the mount, Jesus turns the audience toward a hard truth. God expects them to be better than the examples they had at that time...

Matthew 5:21-26 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Jesus' Teaching about Anger."Anger is mentioned 14 times in the New Testament.  Here are a few for us to look at:•Galatians 5: 19-21 – Works of the flesh (include wrath, ha...

Matthew 5:17-20 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Fulfillment of the Law & Prophets."A. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus underscores why he came.B. Jesus indicates his relationship to the Law and the ProphetsC. His comi...

Matthew 1:18-2:12 is the text for this sermon entitled, "The Birth of Christ."As Christmas approaches, Curtis brings us the old story of Joseph, Mary, and the birth of the Son of God into our world. When we began the study of Matthew, w...

Matthew 5:13-16 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Salt and Light."This portion of Jesus' sermon on the mount introduces the metaphors of salt and light. This passage follows just after the Beatitudes, a crucial placement to turn th...

Matthew 5:10-12 is the text for this sermon entitled, "The Eighth Beatitude: The Persecuted."This blessing is a reminder that the Christian life is not an easy one. Primary reference to the context of this persecution is within God’s co...

Matthew 5:9 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Seventh Beatitude: The Peacemakers."This beatitude connects with our self-identity as sons of God! The term "peacemakers" is only used here in the entire Bible. Peace-making is intentio...

Matthew 5:7 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Fifth Beatitude: The Merciful."The Christian principle of mercy brings blessings. Mercy could be called a “boomerang” moral principle since the exercise of mercy tends to elicit mercy f...

Matthew 5:6 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Fourth Beatitude: Spiritual Hunger and Thirst."What did Jesus mean when He proclaimed a blessing for those who "hunger and thirst after righteous"? In this Beatitude, Jesus provides the...

Matthew 5:8 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Sixth Beatitude: Pure in Heart."This 6th beatitude emphasizes the importance of purity of heart as a core value for Christians, contrasting it with the first century Pharisees' focus on...

Matthew 5:5 is the text for this sermon entitled, "The Third Beatitude: The Meek."The Bible provides rich examples of the virtue known as  "meekness". Curtis explores several examples in Matthew, in the rest of the New Testament, a...

Matthew 5:4 is the text for this sermon entitled, "The Second Beatitude: Those Who Mourn."What does the New Testament mean by the verb "to mourn"? We review the basic meaning of the Greek word and look at a number of verses that provide...

Matthew 5:1-3 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount & First Beatitude: The Poor in Spirit.The purpose of the lesson is to help us embrace the “kingdom mindset” that sees the world differently...

Matthew 4:23-28 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Jesus and the Crowds."Jesus' ministry was in a very limited geographical area (Galilee, Decapolis, Judea, Jerusalem, trans-Jordan). His ministry was also teaching in their synagogue...

Matthew 4:18-22 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Jesus Calls Four Fishermen."Discipleship begins with answering the call. What does “Come, follow me” mean?a.     They had to leave the old life.    ...

Matthew 4:2-17 is the text for this sermon entitled, "Jesus, the Light-Bearer, Begins His Ministry."The purpose of this lesson it to remind us to live out the ministry of being a “light-bearer” as we follow in the steps of Jesus.  ...

Matthew 4:1-11 is the text for this sermon entitled, "The Temptation of Jesus."We can successfully overcome temptation by following the pattern and example Jesus provided for us. This testing came right after He was baptized. This confr...

Matthew 3:1-12 is the text for this sermon entitled, "John the Baptizer."Note - Curtis skips chapter 2 to save it for the December sermons on Jesus' birth.  John who is called 'the baptizer' could be referred to as the Harbinger of...

Matthew 1:1-17 is the text for this sermon entitled, "The Genealogy of Jesus."Matthew turns a dull genealogy to a reasoned defense for the universal nature of evangelism and the good news! He lays out the case to demonstrate that the Ch...

This sermon is an introduction to the Gospel of Matthew. We will work through a verse-by-verse study of the gospel, holding the second chapter in reserve for our services in December.The word "Gospel" is in the title of the first four b...