Sermon on the Mount

Obedience

November 19, 2023 • Beau Eckert • Matthew 7:24–29

Jesus closes His sermon the way any good sermon should end—with application. Through a metaphor not easily forgotten, Jesus tells us that hearing is not enough. To live our lives as faithful followers of Jesus, we need to hear and do.

Commitments

November 12, 2023 • Scott Messner • Matthew 7:13–23

In the last several weeks of the series, Jesus has provided a blueprint for the life God desires for His followers. Today, as He nears the sermon's conclusion, Jesus challenges us to commit to the narrow path of life – through Him – and warns us to beware in discerning those who attempt to lead us astray.

Relationships

November 5, 2023 • Beau Eckert • Matthew 7:1–12

Jesus helps us understand how to help others when they have issues in their lives (specks) by first looking at the issues in our own lives (logs). Doing so requires wisdom from above, so Jesus invites us to persistently ask, seek, and knock, knowing our Heavenly Father will answer.

Priorities

October 29, 2023 • Beau Eckert • Matthew 6:19–34

Jesus continues to help citizens of His kingdom know how to fully follow Him. In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, He addresses our worry by helping us see it is directly connected to what we prioritize.

Habits

October 22, 2023 • Adam Derus • Matthew 6:1–18

Having already called us to examine our horizontal relationships with others, Jesus now calls us to reflect on our vertical relationship with God. Jesus commands us to examine the motivations behind our spiritual habits through a warning, an expectation, and a model.

Faithfulness

October 15, 2023 • Beau Eckert • Matthew 5:27–37

Jesus lists the characteristics of a disciple in the beatitudes. He then tells them they are a positive influence, salt and light, to this world who is set on persecuting them. In the rest of chapter 5, He encourages us to make sure our pure hearts are motivating our behavior.

Reconciliation

October 8, 2023 • Scott Messner • Matthew 5:17–48

In our series so far, Jesus has focused on the characteristics of a disciple, as outlined in the beatitudes, and emphasized the call to be influencers by living as salt and light. Today, we start exploring the defining standards of Jesus’ disciples, beginning with a life in pursuit of reconciliation.

Influence

October 1, 2023 • Beau Eckert • Matthew 5:13–16

Jesus lists the characteristics of a disciple in the beatitudes, and explains that they will be persecuted if they live that way. He then goes on to tell them that they are a positive influence – salt and light – to this world that is set on persecuting them.

Character

September 24, 2023 • Beau Eckert • Matthew 5:7–12

As Jesus continues through the beatitudes, He reveals the character He develops in His followers. These characteristics are a progression. They build upon one another in our hearts and lives as God conforms us into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dependence

September 17, 2023 • Beau Eckert • Matthew 5:1–6

As Jesus begins His teaching on what it means to be a citizen of His Kingdom, He starts with character, not conduct. Before unpacking how we should behave, He directs us toward our dependence upon God.

Introduction

September 10, 2023 • Beau Eckert • Matthew 5—7

The Sermon on the Mount may be the best known of Jesus’ teaching, but it’s also quite possibly the least understood. Straightforward, practical, and countercultural, this text records Jesus’ description of the ordering of relationships and the expected behavior of a disciple. As we prepare to jump in verse-by-verse next week, let’s better understand the characteristics of Jesus’ most beloved sermon today.

Calvary Church - Pennsylvania