The final verse of the Lord’s prayer, as recorded by Matthew, reads like this (Matthew 6:13): And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Whereas the previous verse was a plea for God to forgive us for the things we’ve done wrong, this one shifts focus to ask for God’s …
Continue reading “Matthew 6 – How to pray – The Lord’s Prayer part 5”
Let’s read Matthew 5:33-37’Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for …
Continue reading “Being counter-cultural in Matthew 5 – Oaths”
Last week I mentioned that a sin as serious as adultery rarely happens in a vacuum. It can lead to all sorts of other deceptions and, if discovered, can destroy a marriage entirely. What should you do in that kind of situation if you’re a Christian? It just so happens that the next concrete example …
Continue reading “Being counter-cultural in Matthew 5 – Divorce”
Let’s look at the second concrete example Jesus gave of what it means to be counter-cultural. Once again he taught that obeying God means understand his commandments much more deeply than just at the surface level and changing your life accordingly. Once again, it’s not easy for any of us! Let’s read Matthew 5:27-30You have …
Continue reading “Being counter-cultural in Matthew 5 – You shall not commit adultery.”
I said last week that in this post we’d consider Jesus’ words about salt and light. However, I wanted to take one more week to explain exactly what I mean by “counter-cultural” and why it’s an essential concept for you to understand if you’re a Christian. What does counter-cultural mean? If you live in the …
Continue reading “Being counter-cultural…what does that mean?”
(Unfortunately I can only do a short post today as I have two Bible classes to present at church this week….) The teachings Jesus gave in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7 are traditionally known as the Sermon on the Mount or sometimes the Sermon on the Plain. I have also seen them described as …
Last time we saw that to be “pure in heart” does not mean to be morally perfect or sinless. If it did, would you qualify? I certainly wouldn’t. Rather, Jesus was speaking about people who were willing to humble themselves and come to God in order to be purified. Does that describe you? Maybe you’re …
Continue reading “Blessed are the pure in heart – now it’s personal.”
The first question to ask is a simple one: do you feel a hunger and thirst for righteousness? Maybe you’re not sure. What would this look like or feel like in your life? Let’s consider it in three different ways. (1) In your own conduct Do you feel a strong desire to live righteously – …
Continue reading “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness – now it’s personal.”
Hi everyone. Let’s look at the third of Jesus’ “This is good news for…” statements in Matthew 5. Who are the meek and what does it mean that they will inherit the earth? Meekness The first point to make is that, for Jesus, meekness did not mean weakness. One commentary puts it as follows: Meekness …
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We’ve considered what Jesus was referring to when he said the “poor in spirit” were “blessed” and the “kingdom of heaven” was theirs. Now I want to think more specifically about what this means for you and me living in the 21st century. Are we poor in spirit? What would that even look like? Commonly …
Continue reading “Blessed are the poor in spirit – now it’s personal”
Nihilist to Christian