Messages from 2023

What standards and truths are we building our lives around? Are we pressuring our spiritual leaders to lower standards to suit us and our society around us? Who decides right and wrong? Us? Society? It's God, right? Based on Malachi 1:7-14. Given January 1, 2023…

We know we needed the Gospel in order to be saved from the penalty of sin, but was that all God intended when He sent His Son to die and rise again? Was there more to His purposes than just paying for our sins and…

Picking up from where Christmas and the Advent season left off, I'll be teaching through the rest of the Gospel of Matthew. After the Magi depart, Herod seeks to destroy Jesus by killing the infant boys in and around Bethlehem. Who's responsible for the decisions…

John the Baptist came on the scene with several very specific purposes. He was to prepare a people for the coming Messiah. How did he do that? From Matthew 3:1-17. Preached January 22, 2023 at Lafayette Salem Evangelical Church

Having been baptized, Jesus is sent into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Why? And what does that mean for us? From Matthew 4:1-11. Given January 29, 2023 at Lafayette Salem Evangelical Church

People were drawn to Jesus for a variety of reasons. Is He drawing you and me? Does it scare you to be drawn closer to Him? From Matthew 4:12-25. Given February 5, 2023 at Lafayette Salem Evangelical Church

Looking through these Beatitudes, they look more like Be-miserable-tudes! What's going on here? What was Jesus teaching His disciples? From Matthew 5:1-12. Preached February 12, 2023 at Lafayette Salem Evangelical Church

Jesus calls His disciples "salt" and "light." What does He mean and how do we carry out our "salt" duties and "light" duties? Do they have anything to do with the fact that Jesus didn't come to abolish the Law and Prophets, but to fulfill…

How do we handle anger? How do we handle it when others are angry with us? Being "salt" and "light" can get us into trouble, but are we too quick to let ourselves off the hook? Do the Beatitudes have anything to teach us about…

Adultery. Sexual immorality. Divorce. It's so common, is there really any point talking about God's perspective on it? Sure, it's great when we can use it to put others in their place, but what's in our own hearts? Can we find—and offer—mercy while still holding…

Finishing up Matthew chapter 5, we discover God has a pretty high standard for us. But He's in us to help us. It does, however, require a significant paradigm change. What do we value most? What does God? Are we willing for Him to change…

How tempting it is to seek the praise of men instead of God. Giving to the needy, praying, fasting and many other "acts of righteousness" are good and right, and we should be known for our good deeds. But Jesus knows how easily we are…

The Apostle John promises that if we pray according to God's will, we will receive what we ask for (1 John 5:14-15). How well do we know God's will? Do we know what is important to God, and so how to pray in accord with…

After years of resisting calls to become king of Israel, Jesus suddenly makes all the right moves to claim the throne of David. But do people really understand what God has in mind? And will they accept the king that Jesus intends to be? How…

Our God is a jealous God. He wants all our heart, soul, mind and attention. How are we doing? How serious and diligent are we in storing up treasure in Heaven? We may be satisfied with our effort, but is Jesus? What does He expect…

So many great instructions in these few verses. Hijacked...distorted...twisted by the world and given back to us...to silence us. We are supposed to be salt and light, to protect, preserve and save this corrupt generation; we need to recover Jesus' original intention for these verses.

Is salvation simply a matter of praying a prayer? Passing a confirmation class? Or is there more to it? Where do we find assurance of salvation? How do we know we are saved? What does it mean to really believe in Jesus? Jesus tells us.

After warning everyone that only those who hear and put into practice His teachings are truly saved, Jesus comes down the mountain with the crowd following. Are they eager to learn more about how they should live or just hoping for a show? Jesus does…

The crowds gathered as early as the end of chapter 4. They stuck with Jesus through the Sermon on the Mount. Doubtless they delighted in the healings that followed, as Jesus returned to Capernaum. Surely some in the crowd were eager to learn how to…

What happens when something you've always believed to be true is challenged by the Word of God? Do you hold fast to your belief or do you submit to God's Word? Jesus came into conflict with four different groups of people in this passage. Those…

What do you look to for your assurance of salvation? Depending on your faith? Depending on God's promises? What does saving faith in God's promises look like? Three miracles challenge us to test and see whether we're "dead" or "alive" in the eyes of God.

Jesus basically hangs out a "Help Wanted" sign, pray to the Lord for more workers. But why? He's going throughout their towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues--so obviously they have plenty of religious leaders and teachers, right? How could there be a problem? How…

Jesus asks His disciples to pray for laborers for the harvest field. In almost the next breath, He sends them out on their first preaching mission. Now they're apostles. His instructions for His disciples leave some significant challenges for us. From Matthew 10:1-15.

Ever feel like you said something in all innocence, and someone else blew it up, all out of proportion? You throw your hands up and ask, "What did I say?" Feels like Jesus' disciples would be having that kind of moment, as Jesus describes some…

Jesus sends His twelve disciples out on their first preaching and healing mission, but He gives instructions that surely go far beyond this one little exercise. Those instructions make it sound like preaching the Gospel and healing people is going to generate serious opposition, even…

Everyone has expectations. Some are fine, some cause a great deal of relational trouble. We even have expectations of God. What do we do when our expectations aren't met? How do we handle it when God doesn't give us what we pray for? When God…

It turns out, Jesus has some significant expectations for anyone who hears and sees who He is: He expects repentance! He denounces the cities where most of His miracles were done because they didn't repent. Those that heard about and saw His works but didn't…

Jesus calls us to repent and believe and obey His Word. But in our zeal to honor and obey God, we often come up with our own set of rules to guide us. Then these rules take on a life of their own, becoming burdensome…

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven. But where does it come from? How does it happen? It may surprise you who is in danger of committing such a sin: Not the spiritually simple or humble, but the spiritually "wise and learned." It's a…

There are many "seekers" out there, but not all are genuine. There are the scoffers, who tend to be pretty obvious. But there are also the "clean houses" who benefit from the power and coming of Christ, but have no real interest in knowing or…

Does Jesus want us to know and understand Him? His disciples were confused about that, because even they couldn't figure out His parables. Why didn't He just come straight out and say what He meant? Jesus expects any and everyone to understand His meaning, but…

In this section of Matthew 13, Jesus gives us three parables that prophesy about the future of the Kingdom of Heaven. Two are fairly obvious and it would be fair to consider them fulfilled. The third is intriguing for the details it contains, and the…

How precious is the Kingdom of Heaven to you? What do our lives show? What do our priorities reveal about our valuation of the Kingdom? Jesus shares a couple of parables about how much we should value His Kingdom, and really, about how greatly we…

False prophets tell us what we want to hear: that everything's just fine, no need to worry, everything will work out for the best. True prophets tell us what we need to hear in order to get right and stay right with God. God has…

Feeding of the Five Thousand. Walking on Water. Two of Jesus' most famous miracles. But was there more to the story? How do you respond when God makes promises to you but doesn't fulfill them in the time frame you expected? Would you, like Sarah,…

The Jews aren't the only people with religious traditions and doctrines that undermine clear, simple commands of Scripture. We're all looking for ways to get around the "unpleasant" commands and expectations of God. In this passage, Jesus deals with a challenge to His ministry, which…

A woman desperate for the healing of her daughter. Jesus calls her a dog in refusal! How would you respond if you were the mother? Would you be offended? Wouldn't we all? We labor so hard and so long to build up our self-esteem, but…

It's easy to think the Bible is hard to understand, especially when you hear all the debates about things that look pretty clear and pretty simple in the text. So what's the problem? Is it the Bible, or something else? Two groups of people show…

At the beginning of this chapter, the Pharisees and Sadducees couldn't (wouldn't) recognize Jesus. A short time later, Jesus asks His disciples who they think He is. Peter nails it! And with that, he's honored with position, authority and responsibility like no other. No one…

We live like this life is all there is. We have so many wants and wishes, dreams and desires. But God sent His One and Only Son, Jesus, to come to earth and die for us. To live His entire life to carry out the…

The Mount of Transfiguration. Moses and Elijah have a chat with Jesus. But it is so much more than a few (very) old friends dropping by for a visit. They have a serious topic to discuss, for sure. But these few moments on a mountain…

A desperate father reveals that both faith and unbelief can live in our hearts. How we listen to Jesus, how well we listen, not just hearing but doing, reveals our faith and our unbelief. How diligently we seek to know what God says and how…

Jesus' disciples want to know who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Two things they don't get: a rebuke and a name. Instead, Jesus warns them that unless they become like little children, they will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! What? These…

Jesus introduced us to a small child last week, in the first few verses of this chapter. It turns out that such small children, because of their absolute trust and teachableness, are incredibly precious to God. And to us parents as well, right? Right? I…

The first week of Advent focuses on the Hope that Christ brings. But hope for what? Why do we need hope? What are we hoping for? Interestingly enough, the first 6 chapters of the Bible reveal four of our chief enemies we face in this…

Over the centuries from the beginning of time, the Lord has sent promise after promise, prophecy after prophecy, of the Seed of the Woman who would deliver us from Satan, Death, Sin and Our Own Heart. In the fullness of time, a baby is born…

There are many joys of Christmas: gatherings of family and friends, festivities, music and lights, food and fellowship, giving and receiving gifts. As wonderful as these are, the real joy of Christmas isn't any of these things. The real joy of Christmas is that babe…

Earlier in Matthew 18, Jesus shares the parable of the lost sheep. In it He says, "If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away...." What would make a sheep wander away? What would make a believer leave the church? Jesus…