Throughout Jesus’ life He modelled in His teaching and practice the Old Testament truth, “Man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b) This truth is the core theme of His message dubbed the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever preached.
The Jewish people, like many Christians today, were obsessed with keeping the rules of Scripture and even extra rules piled on them by the religious elite. Jesus turned those rules inside out by preaching that what a person does on the outside matters far less to God than the motives behind his behavior. Example after example He teaches a better way to live and a better way to engage with God—not through rules, but relationship.
In Matthew 6, Jesus introduces a model for prayer by reminding His listeners that prayer is not meant to be a show to impress others, but a personal connection to God our Father. He teaches us to approach God in prayer as a child approaches their dad in love, respect, and childlike trust.
In this message, Pastor Ken shares Six Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer that will lead you into a vibrant practice of regular communication with the One who loves you more than life itself.
1) Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Prayer always begins with the Father, reminding us of His holiness and our part in His family.
2) Your Kingdom come. Seeking His Kingdom reminds us that we have a Father ready to receive us.
3) Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Seeking His will to be accomplished on earth aligns us with His heart.
4) Give us this day our daily bread. Our conversation with God is to be an ongoing declaration of our daily dependence on Him for our well-being.
5) Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors. A confession of our need for a Savior, the sin that separates us from God, and thanksgiving for all He has forgiven us of.
6) Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. A reminder that we as sheep are prone to wander from our Shepherd. Yet we desire to follow Him into His green pastures and not go our own way.
As we seek to draw closer to God, we can follow the guide of the Lord’s Prayer to grow in our relationship with Him. Not only will it change the way we prayer, but it will change us.
Our Father
Part 7
October 25, 2020 • Pastor Ken Cline
Do Unto Others
November 15, 2020 • Pastor Ken Cline
Pastor Ken's sermon last Sunday, "Do Unto Others", struck a chord with me. The first half of Matthew chapter 7, which continues the Sermon on the Mount, focuses on our relationships with each other and the world. And in this chapter is one of the most misused verses in the Bible: "Judge not, that you be not judged..." God is not calling us to not judge and discern—we do need to be able to discern what is good and holy—but to be careful as the rest of the verse cautions, because we will be judged with the judgement that we pronounce. It has been aptly observed that by this point in the Sermon on the Mount, no one listening to Jesus's words seriously would feel like judging anyone else, anyway. With so much chaos, sin, and vitriol in the country today in the wake of the election and divisive rhetoric surrounding other crucial issues, it's easy to get sucked into going beyond judging what is good and holy and starting to judge people, to the neglect of observing my own interior life. There is enough work for me to remove the planks in my eye, that I am at no risk of becoming bored enough to need to find specks in my brothers' and sisters' eyes. So let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
Giving Builds Faith
November 8, 2020 • Pastor Ken Cline
Pastor Ken’s sermon this week was on the spiritual tool of giving, given to us for the purpose of maturing us into spiritual adults. That’s right, the invitation to give is itself a gift. It keeps us grateful, keeps us humble, stretches our faith, and keeps our focus on what counts: God’s great generosity towards us in Jesus and beyond. Scripture says “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I think you can turn that around and say “Where you want your heart to be, there place your treasure.” Have you ever noticed how the things you value are the things which cost you, not those that are free? Can you agree the you’re more likely to finish an online course you paid for over one that was free? Or that you’re more likely to take away value from the retreat you paid for over the one that cost you nothing? Your heart follows your treasure. Generosity is not only an overflow of a grateful heart, but is itself a tool to keep us treasuring what is truly valuable. Where you want your heart to be, there place your treasure.