In our ongoing study of Matthew 6, we’ve looked in verses 19-21 at Jesus’ teaching on the absolute necessity for a Christian’s ultimate priority to be ‘in heaven’, in other words God, not here on earth. We’ve also considered in verses 22-23 his warning that a Christian who values their earthly possessions too much – …
Tag Archives: Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 6 – the Lamp of the Body
Let’s read Matthew 6:22-23: The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! What was Jesus …
Matthew 6 – Where your treasure is…
We’ve now reached the second half of Matthew 6, in which Jesus’ attention turns from non-hypocritical religious observance to how we ought to set our priorities in life. Let’s begin by reading Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. …
Matthew 6 – Don’t be a Hypocrite – Fasting
Let’s read Matthew 6:16-18When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be …
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Matthew 6 – How to pray – The Lord’s Prayer part 5
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 …
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Matthew 6 – How to pray – The Lord’s Prayer part 4
Matthew 6:12-13 reads: And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. It’s no surprise that Jesus included a plea for forgiveness in his model prayer. If you are a Christian, your repentance of your sins and God’s willingness to forgive you are the bedrock of the entire gospel. Why so important? …
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Matthew 6 – How to pray – The Lord’s Prayer part 3
This week we’ll look at verse 11, the third line of the Lord’s prayer as described by Matthew. Matthew 6:11 reads: Give us today our daily bread. At first glance this might seem to be a very simple request – namely for God to provide you with enough food to get you through the day …
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Matthew 6 – How to pray – The Lord’s Prayer part 2
This week we’ll look at the second verse of the Lord’s prayer. Matthew 6:10 reads: Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. As we can see, the first request within Jesus’ model prayer is for God’s kingdom to come. What does this mean and why was it the …
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Matthew 6 – How to pray – The Lord’s Prayer
My apologies that there was no blog post last week – I was away at a church conference with very limited access to the Internet. We’ll continue our study of Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 6. Last time we looked at his instructions on how not to pray. To be a Christian, however, you need to …
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Matthew 6 – Don’t be a hypocrite – How not to pray
We move now to look at Jesus’ teaching on prayer. I’ve decided to break this up into more than one post, since I think there is a lot of useful teaching for us here. This week’s post will look at the first section of Jesus’ teaching: how NOT to pray. Let’s read Matthew 6:5-8And when …
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Nihilist to Christian 