Salt & Light in the 21st Century

This week’s passage: Matthew 7:1-6 Doesn’t the Bible Say We Should Not Judge Others? Just like the generations before us, we can see things happening which were once seen as immoral in our society that are quickly becoming acceptable. Parents are losing the right to choose how their children are raised, sexual promiscuity, including child pornography, are being extoled as “rights” and there is a push for laws to be removed or softened. Christians and other religious groups are beginning to speak up (as they should), spurring those pushing the agenda to proclaim that there is supposed to be a “separation of church and state” or accusing Christians of going against the Bible by “judging” them or their behavior as wrong. Without going too far down that rabbit hole (separation of church and state was intended to keep the government out of the churches, not the churches out of the government) let’s focus on what Jesus really meant when He said, “Jud...

This week’s passage: Matthew 6:5-15 Why Pray? The world believes that Christians use prayer to get what they want in life. This viewpoint is spread by many “preachers” who profess to be teaching God’s Word, telling their congregations that all they must do is give to the church and ask God to return the favor. These evil deceivers will belittle congregants who are not healed from their cancer, or can’t afford food for their families, telling them they just are not faithful enough to earn God’s grace. This method coined the “Prosperity Gospel” does NOT follow God’s Word and prays on people’s vulnerabilities, often bringing riches to the ones running the so-called church and perpetuating the secular view that the church is self-centered and greedy. But the world is missing the point, prayer is not a way for us to get what we want, but a way to seek God’s will for us. As with children learning to talk – the prayer of new believers (or those who don’t pra...

This week’s passage: Matthew 6:1-8, 16-34 What is Your Motivation? Matthew Chapter 6 provides clear guidance about our motives when we give, pray, and fast, our words when we pray, what we consider treasure, and why we need not worry about how we will make it through life on earth. Let’s take a look at the chapter, setting aside verses 9-15 for next week. In verses 6:1-18 Matthew records the words of Jesus as He addressed our motives for giving, prayer and fasting. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” (Matthew 6:1-2 ESV) Are you volunteering at the soup kitchen so that others might see and think t...

This week’s passage: Matthew 5 Now that we have read through and discussed Matthew chapter 5, I want to look at how we might apply this in our lives today. In verses 1-12 we learned that being grieved by the fact that in our own power we are sinners who should thirst for righteousness, and having an attitude of meekness, mercy, pureness of heart, and peace will bring us blessings from God. We also saw that believing in God’s righteousness would cause us to be persecuted by those who don’t, which should be a reason for us to rejoice because our reward in heaven will be great and our time on earth will be short. In verses 13-16 we learned our purpose here on earth (to preserve goodness through the work of the Holy Spirit and to glorify God), and in verses 17-48 we find out that contrary to the prosperity gospel movement, Jesus did not come to the earth as a man to tell us we were free to do whatever we please and that He was here to make us all rich and happy. ...

This week’s passage: Matthew 5:21-48 Our Wonderful Counselor The emotional state of our collective beings appears to be weaker than at any point in my lifetime, and the demand for motivational speakers and counselors is skyrocketing. The thing is, while turning to others is at times helpful, the only way to pursue true emotional fitness with any success is to follow the Word of God and to lean on His understanding instead of our own. As we dig into the Sermon on the Mount it may seem like bad news because it is clear that God wants us to perfectly follow His law, yet as we continue to read what Christ told the disciples about the entire counsel of God we see that He certainly knows we are not perfect. Nearly 800 years before the birth of Christ the prophet Isaiah told Israel of their coming Messiah. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mig...