Salem Presbyterian Church

In this sermon Rev. Austin Pfeiffer walks through each of the eight Beatitudes as Jesus introduces his Kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount. Rather than presenting a list of spiritual ideals to achieve, the Beatitudes reveal the kinds of people Jesus meets with grace and blessing. As we move through them, we see how Jesus himself lives the Beatitudes fully—becoming poor, meek, merciful, and persecuted for us. Through the cross, he offers us not a burden to carry, but his own blessings to receive.

Rev. Austin Pfeiffer highlights how the beginning of Jesus' public ministry confronts our deep instinct toward self-reliance. In calling fishermen to leave their nets, teaching in synagogues, and healing the afflicted, Jesus exposes the ways we cling to work, religion, control, or productivity to sustain ourselves. Each of these three scenes asks whether we will admit our hunger, weakness, and need, or continue trusting what is familiar and manageable.

Rev. Austin Pfeiffer explores our fear that God's love must be earned and how Jesus's baptism answers that fear. Jesus' baptism reveals both his humility in identifying with sinners and his perfect righteousness given to us through his life, death, and resurrection. Not because of anything we've done, Jesus' answers the reality that we cannot earn God's love. Because we are united to Christ, the Father views us with the same approval and affection he declares over his Son.

In this Christmastide homily, Jackson Cole reflects on angels as created spiritual messengers who worship Jesus and proclaim His supremacy throughout all Creation. The messages they carry often begin with the same refrain, "Fear not," echoing a reality that is only true in union with Christ: "Perfect love casts out fear."

Rev. Austin Pfeiffer shows how the Christmas story reveals a deep human power struggle: from Rachel's tears to Herod's fear, Matthew is exposing our anxiety-driven desire to control what only God can rule. Herod becomes a mirror of our own hearts, where fear of losing our “little kingdoms” leads us to resist Christ the King. Advent invites us to lay down that anxious control and find true freedom by surrendering to the King who conquers not through violence, but through self-giving love.