The Cross-Road to Perfection—Matthew 5:33-48
Schools and workplaces can be highly competitive environments. At a competitive school, everyone is trying to get the A or the A+, trying to stay on top of all the work, trying to play sports and do extra-curriculars and have friends and please teachers and stay healthy and sane and have fun at the same time. At a competitive workplace, everyone is trying to be an important contributor, a reliable employee and colleague, to stay on top of all the work and be well-liked by bosses, peers, and clients. To survive, it feels like you have to be perfect.
Because of this pressure, people often remind each other, "It's OK not to be perfect." "It's OK to make mistakes." "Just be yourself." Often, I think it's important and helpful to people to be told this.
And then Jesus comes along, and he is supposed to be this really understanding teacher and mentor, and he says, "You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Righteous from the Heart—Matthew 5.17-32
Every kingdom has laws. So it should not surprise us that, when Jesus came to earth and said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," he went on to say what sort of laws that kingdom has.
But, as we will see, the laws of the kingdom of heaven are very different from the laws of other lands. The laws of other lands deal with things that can be seen. They have to deal with specific and observable actions, or they can never be enforced.
But the laws of the kingdom of heaven deal with things that cannot be seen by man. They are laws of the heart. And rightly so, because God can see the heart.
Salt and Light—Matthew 5:11-16
If you don't remember what Jesus has been talking about, it's easy to miss what he really means by salt and light. In this passage, Jesus calls his disciples to be, like him, salt in a world that hates the flavor, and light in a world that loves the dark. If that sounds tough, it's because it is. But if it sounds hopeless, don't despair. Jesus says that his salt-and-light disciples not only offend the world, but also transform it. That's what he himself did. He was a light in a world that loved the darkness so much that it tried to put out the light by putting him to death. But now, risen from the dead, he is giving life to that same world.
The World's Losers—Matthew 5:1-12
Let me give you a list of the sort of people who have it good in life, according to popular opinion. These are the people that most people would say have it good. I'll call them "blessed."
Blessed are the rich. They can have whatever they want.
Blessed are the people who have something to celebrate. There's nothing like a good party.
Blessed are the people who are strong enough to throw their weight around a little.
The First Test—Matthew 4:1-11
After the prophet Samuel anointed David as the next King of Israel and the Holy Spirit filled him, David soon had to face a test. His test was the giant Goliath, the Philistine. The question was: will David be too afraid to fight Goliath? And if he has the courage to fight him, will he fight in his own strength? Or will he fight Goliath because he trusts in the Lord?
The King from Nowhere—Matthew 2
The English language is full of ways of saying that someone comes from an unimportant place. He's from the sticks. The boonies. Some podunk down. The hood. The ghetto. The middle of nowhere. In western North Carolina, where I grew up, there is a country town called Swannanoa. People sometimes called it Swannanowhere.
Jesus was from such a nowhere. But what I want to show you from Matthew 2 is that Jesus, the King from nowhere, brings joy to a weeping world.
For He Will Save His People—Matthew 1:18-25
Matthew 1:18-25 is a passage packed with core truths of Christianity. Jesus' divinity. His humanity. His incarnation and the virgin birth. Many of these truths are just introduced in this passage, not really fleshed out. If you were a 1st-century Jew reading about these things for the first time, you might not grasp the full implications of, for example, the statement that Mary was "with child from the Holy Spirit." This is a hint of a truth that will be more fully revealed as the book of Matthew goes on.
But one truth sings out loud and clear in this passage, like a hammer hitting a bell. "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." The angel's announcement is dramatic and clear. At last, the One has come who will save his people from their deepest trouble, their sin.
The Hope of the Ages—Matthew 1:1-17
Some biographies begin with the birth of their subject. Others begin with his parents, or even his grandparents. But Matthew begins his Gospel, his story of Jesus, with a list of more than forty generations. Many of these names have stories that go with them. Abraham leaving for a foreign land that God promised to give him. Abraham preparing to offer Isaac on an altar on Mount Moriah. Isaac's son Jacob tricking him into giving him his brother's blessing. Jacob wrestling at night with God. Judah's nasty sins. Judah offering himself as a slave so that his brother Benjamin could go free. David killing Goliath. David murdering Uriah. Solomon the wise. Solomon the power-hungry idolotrous polygamist. Manassah's sin, and Manassah's repentence.
All of these people had something they were hoping for, someone they were hoping for, and they died with their hopes not yet fulfilled. But Matthew's point is that all the hopes of God's people — Abraham's hopes, Isaac's hopes, Jacob's hopes, David's hopes, Solomon's hopes, Tamar's hopes, Rahab's hopes, Ruth's hopes, and the hopes of the lesser known men and women who came after the exile — all of the hopes of God's people have come true in Jesus, the Christ.
The Gospel of Matthew
A new sermon series from the Gospel of Matthew begins in January 2026.