In Matthew 5:37, Jesus says – “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (ESV) What does that look like in our daily lives? What value do our words have, and why it matters? Listen to the sermon to learn more on this.
What will you do when you are persecuted and your life is at stake especially because of your obedience to Jesus Christ? Most of us can try to be diplomatic and save our lives if we’re summoned by the government authorities. In this passage, God describes how a true disciple remains to faithful to Him in the midst of persecution.
God abundantly blesses those who seek to live obedient lives. Obedient living does not allow for “accidents” in God’s plan. He orchestrates events in our lives to bring us to Himself, even through our misery and hopelessness. In the book of Ruth, we see Him working out His perfect plan in Ruth’s life, just as He does with all His children.
Pleasing God is not an everyday word. It’s an idea that has little value in our self-focused, instant-gratification world. Regardless of trends, culture, or opinion, pleasing God through obedience—remains a vital part of our journey with Christ. In this passage, we learn what motivations we need to have in order to lead a life pleasing to Christ.
Nominal Christians are those people whose life is not characterized by repentance, obedience and faith in Christ, but they’re found in the church gatherings just to maintain their religious status. It is necessary to examine our lives and see if our professed love for God stretch into action and showcase Christlike character. In this passage, we learn how we can forsake nominal Christianity and continue to walk faithfully in the path that Christ has called us.
As Christians we often misunderstand mission as going only to foreign lands, but overlook the immediate context where the Lord has put us. We change careers, places and take major decisions either because of external pressure or because of our internal desires. We’re prone to make too many changes without really understanding God’s will for our lives. In this passage we learn how God calls us to be faithful in our calling wherever he has placed us.
In this passage we see a friend betraying Jesus with a kiss. We see a man betraying his own Creator for a few pieces of silver. That was a price Judas had, to betray the one who has been nothing but faithful to him and faithful to this world. We will see how the betrayal of Judas and even the disciples reveal the darkness in them, when their lives were more important than being faithful to their sacrificial Savior.