This week, we jump back into the middle of Matthew and find Jesus sending his disciples out to depend upon the hospitality of a people he expects to be inhospitable. We find our mission in this same calling at Living Water.
A new work of God in San Diego's East Village
A new work of God in San Diego's East Village
Sermons on Matthew
We jump back into Matthew this week, looking at the very last passage in the book. The disciples encounter the risen Christ, responding with both worship and doubt, and Jesus leaves them (and us) with what is often called “the great commission.”
When Mary and Mary find the tomb empty, they hear and spread the good news that Jesus is risen and everything has changed! Warning – we had this year’s Easter service at Fault Line Park, and it was quite windy, which you can hear in our low-budget recording. Apologies! But wind doesn’t change the good news…
We look at Jesus’ fasting and temptations out in the wilderness, and the significance of him resisting these particular temptations. Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor” chapter of The Brothers Karamazov helps us out a bit.
On this Transfiguration Sunday, the last Sunday of Epiphany, we see Jesus glorified and come to see that it is only in recognizing and trusting in the identity of Jesus that we are enabled to live out our calling as his disciples.
We continue in the Sermon on the Mount, where we find that to be salt and light in this world means to turn the other cheek and love even our enemies.
We enter into the heart of the sermon on the mount, hearing Jesus’ instruction on anger, lust, and truth-telling. We look at how these instructions, which seem too difficult to live out, are actually realistic for communities of faith to pursue together.
We continue in the sermon on the mount, receiving the good news that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world!
The Beatitudes – Jesus proclaims blessings on those who may not seem blessed.
Jesus calls his first disciples to “jump in the fire”