May
07
Matthew 6:1 prayer
1“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. Interactive Prayer: Going straight to prayer this morning. Father, I’m burdened this morning by the amount of pain in our people’s lives. I’m burdened by the spiritual warfare and attacks that occur against our leadership and our church as a whole. Father, I ask that You will bind the enemy from our people. Protect us from his lies and attacks. Father, I pray that You will continue to raise up prayer warriors for our church. I’m thankful for Matthew Bryan and his faithfulness in prayer. Anoint him and give him favor to build a prayer team that fights the battles for us in prayer. Please cause the seeds of his prayers and of the prayer team to fall on good soil. Father, increase our numbers on the prayer team and truly make us a people of prayer privately and publicly. Give us the faith and...
Read More >>May
06
Matthew 5:43–48
43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47“If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Focused Thinking: Here is the last contrast of “You have heard that it was said,” with “But I say to you.” This has been an amazing series of statements. We forget how completely radical this was for Jesus to make this authoritative statements. “You have heard…But I say to you…” 1. Matthew 5:21–22 Murder—Don’t...
Read More >>May
05
Matthew 5:38–42
38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40“If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41“Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42“Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. Focused Thinking: We are still in the pattern of “You have heard that it was said,” and “But I say to you.” How is Jesus going to raise the standard this time? You have heard that it was said: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ Ex. 21:23–25; Lev 24:19–20; Deut 19:21 The principle of retribution gave judges a formula for crime. It was the idea of “make the punishment fit the crime.” “But I say to you,” “Do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you...
Read More >>May
04
Matthew 5:33–37
33“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34“But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36“Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ’No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil. Focused Thinking: Let’s look at the contrast again between what was said versus what Jesus says. Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.” Everything...
Read More >>May
03
Matt 5:33–37 prayer
33“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34“But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36“Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil. I will pick study this passage tomorrow; I want to focus on prayer today. Interactive Prayer: Father, give me the ability to love You and love others more each and every day. Make me a person who is known by love. Make us a church that is known by love. Father, give me the ability to discipline myself for the purpose of godliness. Give me the desire, determination and discipline to be a man of God. Give me the ability...
Read More >>May
02
Matthew 5:31–32
(Matt 19:3–9; Mk 10:11–12; Lk 16:18) 31“It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Intro: The issue of divorce and remarriage is a very important issue that deserves a positional paper for an explanation, not a priority time. I will attempt to address this issue from the context of my priority time and put it on my “to do” list to write a positional paper. Focused Thinking: What is the biblical and historical context of this statement: “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” Deut 24:1–4 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes BECAUSE he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce...
Read More >>May
01
Matthew 5:27–30
27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29“If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30“If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. Focused Thinking: Does Jesus lower or elevate the command? “You shall not commit adultery.” “Everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” He elevates the command. Lust is always the seed of adultery. If we eliminate lusts then we eliminate adultery. James 1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth...
Read More >>
