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This teaching marks the beginning of a new section in the Sermon on the Mount. The focus of this section is the call to pay attention to your inner motives for good works…
We continue this Sunday in our Matthew series, discussing “Jesus and Generosity.”
Why are we in Matthew? The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the earliest biographies of Jesus, presenting Jesus not as a mere historical figure, but as “good news” for the world that should reshape every part of life.
Additionally, this Sunday, September 27, we’re joining with thousands of churches across America in what’s being called “Repentance Sunday.” During each of our services we’ll take time to pause, repent, and pray for revival across our cities and world. More on that below!
Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday:
1. Read our text, Matthew 6:1–4.
See passage
“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. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
This teaching marks the beginning of a new section in the Sermon on the Mount. The focus of this section is the call to pay attention to your inner motives for good works. Jesus is teaching that His Kingdom people ought to be driven by a healthy desire to please their Heavenly Father rather than by cravings for public notoriety and human approval. To work out this teaching in real life, Jesus gives three examples of core spiritual practices that marked Jewish religious life: giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting.
Jesus assumes that giving to the needy is a part of the life of His listeners. He doesn’t expand on the practice here, but instead focuses on the heart motivation. He says that those who perform good works like giving to the needy in order to be seen by people are like performers who may receive applause from people, but they won’t receive anything from God. On the other hand, those who freely give out of love for people will be rewarded by their Heavenly Father.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
Don’t use Spotify? Click the song title below to see song on YouTube.
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 121:1–3:
See passage
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Fall Afresh (Jeremy Riddle)
PRAYER OF CONFESSION: Adapted from The Worship Sourcebook:
The phrases below in regular text will be read by the leader. The bolded text will be read all-together.
Lord, You said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Forgive us our lukewarm love and our disobedience.
Lord, You said, “You may ask for anything in my name.”
Forgive us when we think we need to solve our own problems.
Lord, You said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
We confess that our lives are often consumed by worry and anxiety.
Lord, You said, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”
Forgive us our barren lives, Lord.
Lord, You said, “You must testify, for you have been with me.”
We confess, Lord, that we have been too often silent.
Lord, You said, “Love each other as I have loved you.”
We confess that we are quick to anger, contempt, and division.
Lord, You said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.”
We confess that we often seek first our own little kingdoms of material comforts, human approval, and personal glory.
In these and in so many other ways, we confess our failures and shortcomings. Amen.
PRAYER FOR REVIVAL: Reflection on Ephesians 3:14–21 (NIV):
The phrases below in regular text will be read by the leader. The bolded text will be read all-together.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from Whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
Father, today we kneel with our brothers and sisters around the nation, and we confess that we need You. We need Your Spirit to revive our hearts, our churches, and our cities.
I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Father we pray that You would pour out Your Spirit of power on us so that we would truly and experientially know the immeasurable love that You have for us in Christ. And we pray that You would fill us up with Your fullness, that we would be a fresh and radiant reflection of Your glory to the world around us.
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Father, just like You brought revival to communities and cities and nations of old, we pray that You would do it again. We can’t do anything apart from You. Let us be a generation that seeks Your face! Give us a blazing passion for Christ and His Kingdom—and do in us and through us more than we could ever ask or imagine. For the sake of Your Kingdom and Your glory. Amen.
Give Us Clean Hands (Charlie Hall)
Rock Of Ages (Augustus Montague Toplady arr. Page CXVI)
PASSING THE PEACE
What is Passing the Peace?
(Click to Read)
(Click to Read)
When we’ve met as a large group on Sundays, we’ve always had a time of greeting one another after singing. Many churches call this time “passing the peace.” In some church traditions, one person will say to another, “The peace of Christ be with you” to which the other person responds, “And also with you.”
While potentially unfamiliar for some, we felt that “passing the peace” during greeting times at home could be a powerful act in this age marked by very little external peace. In Isaiah 9, Jesus is described as the Prince of Peace. He wants His kingdom to be marked by this very peace! We want to “pass” to one another this peace that only Jesus can give, especially at a time like this.
It might feel a bit cheesy, but we encourage you to actually pray the peace of God over each other during our times. We encourage you to look into each other’s eyes as you say, “The peace of Christ be with you!” and have others respond with, “And also with you.” Be open-hearted to Jesus, asking Him to fill you with His peace.
SERMON & COMMUNION
Take My Life And Let It Be (Frances Ridley Havergal, Henri Abraham Cesar Malan)
BENEDICTION
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What does it mean to love our neighbor through engagement in the political sphere? What does it look like to love people we disagree with?Last week in our ongoing Matthew series, we discussed “Jesus and Loving Your Enemy” as taught in Matthew 5:43–48. We’re camping out on this passage for another week but shifting our focus to politics (next week we’ll pick up where we left off at the end of the Sermon on the Mount).
Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday:
1. Read our text, Matthew 5:43–48.
See passage
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Last week, we discussed how the term Jesus uses for “love” in Matthew 5:43–48 is agape—a love of efficacy, comprised of attitudes, and actions. We also looked at the term “enemies,” seeing past our cultural, English reading of that word to recognize that Jesus includes people we disagree with and people outside our “camp”.
In an American election season, the volume level on the political discourse around us was already being turned up louder and louder day after day. Add to that a global pandemic, great unrest around racial injustice, and large-scale environmental crises like forest fires. You’re hearing a lot of voices right now, leading you to attitudes and actions.
So what does it mean to love our neighbor through engagement in the political sphere? What does it look like to love people we disagree with? If we did love them, we need to believe Jesus that we would be a light in the darkness, reflecting God’s love to the world.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
Don’t use Spotify? Click the song title below to see song on YouTube.
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 99:1–3:
See passage
The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The LORD is great in Zion;
He is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise Your great and awesome name!
Holy is He!
Rejoice The Lord Is King (Joel Limpic, Charles Wesley)
CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:
Dear Jesus,
it is hard to forgive people
when they hurt us and our friends.
We want to hit back—
and sometimes we do.
But You teach us to love our enemies
no matter what they do.
Forgive us, Lord Jesus,
when we do not forgive others.
Help us to understand why people hurt others,
and let our hearts be filled with love for them. Amen.
King Of My Heart (John Mark McMillan, Sarah McMillan)
Crown Him With Many Crowns (Matthew Bridges, George Job Elvey, Godfrey Thring)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Micah 7:18–19
See passage
Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of His inheritance?
He does not retain His anger forever,
because He delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
PASSING THE PEACE
What is Passing the Peace?
(Click to Read)
(Click to Read)
When we’ve met as a large group on Sundays, we’ve always had a time of greeting one another after singing. Many churches call this time “passing the peace.” In some church traditions, one person will say to another, “The peace of Christ be with you” to which the other person responds, “And also with you.”
While potentially unfamiliar for some, we felt that “passing the peace” during greeting times at home could be a powerful act in this age marked by very little external peace. In Isaiah 9, Jesus is described as the Prince of Peace. He wants His kingdom to be marked by this very peace! We want to “pass” to one another this peace that only Jesus can give, especially at a time like this.
It might feel a bit cheesy, but we encourage you to actually pray the peace of God over each other during our times. We encourage you to look into each other’s eyes as you say, “The peace of Christ be with you!” and have others respond with, “And also with you.” Be open-hearted to Jesus, asking Him to fill you with His peace.
SERMON & COMMUNION
Cornerstone (Bradbury, Liljero, Morgan, Mote, Myrin)
BENEDICTION
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He came while we were sinners, indeed, while we were enemies. Christ died for us as a transformative demonstration of the love of our Father in Heaven. At its core, the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of love.
We continue in the book of Matthew this week, exploring Jesus’ commands about loving our enemies. This is week two of Part Two of this ongoing series.
But first, why Matthew? The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the earliest biographies of Jesus, presenting Jesus not as a mere historical figure, but as “good news” for the world that should reshape every part of life.
Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday:
1. Read our text, Matthew 5:43–48.
See passage
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
As we come to the end of this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus brings us into the heart of His Kingdom vision. The people of His Kingdom are to be marked by a radical love that extends even to their enemies. The Law of Moses had called the Israelites to love their neighbors, but there was a lot of debate swirling around about who actually counts as a “neighbor.” Most of the Jewish rabbis agreed that this was a call to love fellow Israelites, especially the vulnerable. But nobody was teaching that they should love people like the Romans soldiers who maintained an oppressive presence in their society. Nobody would have imagined that this call to love would have included people like the tax collectors who had sold out to the Roman empire. Nobody was teaching them to love the Samaritans who had fought against the Jews in recent wars. Yet, this is exactly what Jesus says. His Kingdom is to be marked by a deep and sacrificial love, not merely for those who are good to you, but even for those whom you would consider enemies. When you display this kind of love, you represent the love of your Father in heaven who blesses both the righteous and the unrighteous. And this is exactly what Jesus came to do. He came while we were sinners, indeed, while we were enemies. Christ died for us as a transformative demonstration of the love of our Father in Heaven. At its core, the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of love.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
Don’t use Spotify? Click the song title below to see song on YouTube.
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 145:8–10:
See passage
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and His mercy is over all that He has made.
All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
and all Your saints shall bless You!
Walk Among Us (Joel Limpic, David Wilson)
CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:
O God of shalom,
we have built up walls to protect ourselves from our enemies,
but those walls also shut us off from receiving Your love.
Break down those walls.
Help us to see that the way to Your heart is through the reconciliation of our own hearts with our enemies.
Bless them and us, that we may come to grow in love for each other and for You,
through Jesus Christ. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 John 4:9–12
See passage
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Man of Sorrows (Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood) / Break Every Chain (Will Reagan)
PASSING THE PEACE
What is Passing the Peace?
(Click to Read)
(Click to Read)
When we’ve met as a large group on Sundays, we’ve always had a time of greeting one another after singing. Many churches call this time “passing the peace.” In some church traditions, one person will say to another, “The peace of Christ be with you” to which the other person responds, “And also with you.”
While potentially unfamiliar for some, we felt that “passing the peace” during greeting times at home could be a powerful act in this age marked by very little external peace. In Isaiah 9, Jesus is described as the Prince of Peace. He wants His kingdom to be marked by this very peace! We want to “pass” to one another this peace that only Jesus can give, especially at a time like this.
It might feel a bit cheesy, but we encourage you to actually pray the peace of God over each other during our times. We encourage you to look into each other’s eyes as you say, “The peace of Christ be with you!” and have others respond with, “And also with you.” Be open-hearted to Jesus, asking Him to fill you with His peace.
SERMON & COMMUNION
Have Mercy On Me (David Gungor, Paul Zach) / Build My Life (Barrett, Kable, Martin, Redman, Younker)
BENEDICTION