Matthew

The Programmatic Early Church

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Ministry often happens by unexpected opportunities, but they are often crafted and even encouraged by intentional gatherings. Programs aren’t evil. They are even somewhat necessary.

Reclaiming Your Contentment

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We all know the dangers of using social media too much, but a subtle yet significant threat is how the usage attacks our contentment as we are barraged with seeing the glamorous looks and expensive items of our friends and advertisements. It’s time to go the second mile in reclaiming your contentment.

Hopeful Help

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Churches should be reliable centers for dispensing hope. In a world full of complex challenges, we must continue to help people with optimistic demeanors.

How Should We Interpret the Gospels?

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The four Gospels all tell the story of Jesus but are delivered to different audiences from different perspectives. To understand the truth contained fully within them, we must understand the context in which they were written.

Setting Your Table

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I want to reintroduce a revolutionary idea that could change your most important relationships. I want to encourage you to set the table. Gather the people closest in your life, sit down, eat a great meal, turn off the tech, and engage one another. It’s time to go the second mile in setting your table. 

Approachable Attitudes

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Those who lead in the church should always strive to portray approachable attitudes as they serve the people walking through the door. People need help, and it would help if they believed you actually want to help them.

How to Survive Life’s Storms

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All of us go through storms, but only some of us make it out of them. As Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount, he taught his listeners how to build the types of lives that can withstand life’s storms.

The Make-Believer

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Plenty of people know religious lingo and practice helpful service, but not all have an actual relationship with Jesus. Make sure that your faith isn’t make-believe.

Why Should Someone Get Baptized?

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When we decide to follow Jesus, we venture down the narrow path, but we are not alone. Baptism is a public declaration that you belong to Christ and a community.

The Broken Rule

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Instead of treating others the way we wish to be treated, we often repay others for what they have done. The remarkable standard of the kingdom is simple, yet few will accept it.

How to Confront Compassionately

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Jesus calls us not to be harshly judgmental but to be intentionally confrontational. We must be concerned enough about the Body of Christ to address sin when it is present among us.

The Just Way to Be Judgmental

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One of Jesus’ most misinterpreted phrases was his teaching on judging one another. Jesus didn’t expect us to refrain from accountability but abstain from hypocrisy.

The Weariness of Worry

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You would have plenty of valid reasons to worry if God was not your intentionally provisional Father. Rid yourself of the weariness of worry and trust God for your daily needs.

The Danger of Decadence

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When we believe our status to be contingent upon what we own in this life, it robs us of obtaining true treasure. Decide if you will either serve God or money.

Fast Approvals

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Like many other spiritual disciplines, fasting can, unfortunately, be a means to gain the approval of others. Jesus taught that fasting should only be something directed to and noticed by God.

When They’ve Hurt You So Deeply

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When others cause emotional pain in your life, forgiveness is the only restorative option. Jesus explained that our forgiveness of others is tied to God’s forgiveness towards us.

Learning How to Talk to God

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Jesus taught us how to pray but not what to pray. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gave a template by which we can learn how to talk with God.

Don’t Give Them What They Deserve

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Our tendency is to repay people for any negative words or harmful actions, but Jesus taught quite the opposite. The way of the kingdom is counter-cultural and yet life-giving.

The Reason for Lingering Spiritual Immaturity

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Are you exasperated by the lack of growth in your life? In the lives of others? Maybe it’s not a content issue. Maybe it’s that they need a shepherd. We all need someone watching out for our soul conditions.

Enduring Persecution

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For most of my life, I have resisted using the term persecution to describe what any Christian had to endure in the United States of America. Compared to what brothers and sisters experience around the world, we have it easy, but it is changing. It will get worse.

Pursuing Peace

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Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. These words of Jesus still ring like counter-cultural absurdities in chaotic times just as they did when he first said them. But in a time of unrest, where else will this peace come from?

Avoiding Divorce

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While divorce is permitted in the Bible, it is never promoted in the Bible. Learn what Jesus had to say about those considering dissolving a marriage union.

Prioritizing Purity

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We live in a culture that has forgotten how to blush. The prophet Jeremiah said that about his people during his time, but I am pretty confident we can say the same thing now. As our standards slip, we find ourselves in a world cherishing sin like a virtue.

Lured by Lust

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Adultery always begins far before the act. We must be careful what we look at and what we think about if we are to remain faithful to our commitments.

Offering Mercy

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We have almost arrived at a new year. It’s a chance for new beginnings, but if we aren’t careful, we will carry 2020’s issues into 2021’s days. It’s been quite the year for us all. In the midst of all the stress, you’ve probably been hurt as well. How can you find relational peace? It’s time to go the 2nd mile in offering mercy.

If Thoughts Could Kill

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Jesus taught that just because your anger may not lead to murder does not mean that your thoughts are unclassified as sin. Unaddressed anger must be confronted in our lives.

Helpful Hungers

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Our cravings often direct our lives. Whatever we want most of all, whatever we think about most often, and whatever creates in us the deepest hunger will be the central directive in our lives. Have you ever considered how deep your hunger is for spiritual matters?

The Fulfillment We Need

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The coming of Christ was the fulfillment of the Old Testament expectations and the requirement for our own righteousness. Jesus came from heaven so we could go to heaven.

Strong Meekness

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I grew up in a culture that teaches young men that nice guys finish last. If you want to find your way in this world, you have to trail blaze yourself to that reality. What we now see is a society plagued by millions of people trying to get ahead of each other. It’s time to go the second mile in developing strong meekness.

Meaningful Mourning

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What causes you to be emotional? Is it sappy music or heart-stirring films? Do you get weepy at moving stories or happy reunions? Maybe you rarely feel emotions at all. What if I were to tell you that following Jesus should incorporate emotions?

How to Be Truly Happy

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As Jesus began the most quoted sermon in history, he explained what the blessed or happy life looks like. Living according to the principles of the kingdom is a pivotal yet promising paradigm shift.

Spiritual Bankruptcy

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We are taught to be strong. We are taught to have it all together. And if we are deficient, act like you are not. It’s the way we’ve always been taught, and it’s killing us. The strength we need is often in admitting our weakness. It’s time to go the second mile in acknowledging your spiritual bankruptcy.

Sermon on the Mount [Series Overview]

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Jesus’ sermon on the mount recorded in Matthew 5-7 provided the standard for countercultural living for Kingdom citizens. Here is the overview of the sermon series as we study Jesus’ life changing words.

Intro to the Sermon on the Mount

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The Sermon on the Mount is the greatest sermon in the history of the world. It has been translated and quoted and treasured more than any other. Before starting a thorough study, here is some information that will help you grasp the truth contained within the sermon.

Protecting Commissioned Objectives

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Every day we draw nearer to the most contentious election of our lifetimes, and every moment we come closer to living in the aftermath of half of a country who is infuriated by the results. How do we, as Christians, keep the main thing the main thing? It’s time to go the second mile in protecting commissioned objectives.

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