10/21/20 Matthew 6:1-24 Matthew 6:1 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. What comprises of your most utilized motive for doing things: finances? self-preservation? acknowledgement from others? stay busy? gain? right thing to… Continue Reading
October 18, 2020 Matthew 5:38 You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for a tooth.’ What do you think — are we more wired for retaliation or for denying self? Here are a few of Jesus’ hand-picked scenarios to help determine our leaning: being slapped on the cheek (humiliated and… Continue Reading
Sunday, October 11 Matt 5:37 – Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. Here are some examples of when I have spoken ‘yes’ and it was more of a ‘maybe’: Yes, I will be home at 6 pm. Yes, we can go hiking on Saturday. Here are some times… Continue Reading
October 4, 2020 About a third of the way into his sermon, Jesus begins to thread together a handful of topics with a repetitive launch phrase: You have heard that it was said…. but I say to you…. So, Jesus is linking together a group of topics that perhaps had become stale, ignored, limited or even… Continue Reading
Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020 Twenty verses into the sermon (Matt 5:20), Jesus makes this comment about our righteousness: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Five times in some 20 verses Jesus repeats these words: “You… Continue Reading
9-20-20 My grandpa would put salt on his watermelon. I like to put salt on anything potato (baked, mashed, frenched…). I’ve heard of people putting salt on avocados, tomatoes, salads and bacon! Why do we like salt so much? One article I read this week (from the British Heart Foundation) says, ‘part of the problem… Continue Reading
9-13-20 If you have been attending church for any length of time, you have probably heard a plethora of sermons – some you may still be able to recall, most probably not. I wonder if a sermon spoken by Jesus would be one we would remember? I’m pretty certain the teaching Jesus shared on a… Continue Reading
We are excited this Sunday to look into some advice from the wisest of the kings, Solomon. His advice concerning humility is a bit of a hard lesson, but it applies to us today just as much as it did thousands of years ago. Now, I can’t tell anybody how to be humble before the… Continue Reading
July 26, 2020 This will be my last week here in Clay Center. It sure has been an interesting year…an interestingly good year. Thank you all for your generosity and flexibility to work with me through these changing and challenging times. I’m glad that it is time for me to go. Not because we haven’t gotten along,… Continue Reading
7-5-20 By now you know that a regular, recurring theme of mine is that we were created by God to be in relationship with Him. He is the Living God and desires a living relationship with us. The church is the Body of Christ. We are not just another social organization. For a healthy relationship… Continue Reading