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    Latest podcast episodes about Sermon

    Richard Ellis Talks

    God, who made all things and holds all things together, made a way for us to be in right standing and relationship with Him by sending His Son to die on our behalf. We must submit our lives to Him, bowing our knees and acknowledge Him as Almighty God and Father.

    MHT Seminary Sermons & Podcasts
    Sermon: St. Matthew - His Gospel, by Rev. Federico Palma

    MHT Seminary Sermons & Podcasts

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 14:14


    Given on the Feast of St. Matthew, occurring on the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, 2025.

    Redemption Church Gateway
    Gluttony (vs. Restraint) // Matthew 4:1-4

    Redemption Church Gateway

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 36:02


    Pastor Luke Simmons addresses the often-overlooked sin of gluttony in this sermon from the Seven Deadly Sins series.Through personal experiences and biblical insights, Pastor Luke explores the distorted relationship many have with food and the importance of aligning our eating habits with a Christian vision. Discover how to cultivate gratitude, moderation, and worshipful practices in our approach to food, and learn how Jesus provides the ultimate fulfillment that our hearts seek.Join us in understanding how freedom and joy in Christ can transform our everyday lives.00:00 - Introduction09:26 - Definition of Gluttony12:01 - A Theology of Food17:08 - A Christian Vision for Eating**MORE IN THIS SERIES***https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPYr0nMpCrXGRHmOyxdlZe2NG3YB5Dhiu**HOW TO FIND US*** SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YouTube CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/@IronwoodChurchAZFACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/ironwoodchurchaz/ INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/ironwood.church/WEBSITE https://www.ironwoodchurch.org/

    Redemption Church Peoria
    Luke 13:6-9 | Parables

    Redemption Church Peoria

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 37:45


    Sermon Series | ParablesTo give to our M25 Initiative, text m25 to 623.252.5085 or visit redaz.in/m25.To download our Mobile App, search Redemption Church Peoria where you download apps to your device(s).To connect with us, visit this link:  http://redaz.in/RPTo invest in our ministry financially, visit this link: https://bit.ly/3roZDAW

    City First Church Messages
    At the Movies | The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Jeremy DeWeerdt

    City First Church Messages

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 40:25


    Pastor Jeremy continues in our "At the Movies" by looking at “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” to illustrate one thing we all have in common: we all long for a life of meaning and fulfillment. But following Jesus in our current culture will require boldness and courage!

    Commons Church Podcast
    Jesus on the Emmaus Road - Jeremy Duncan

    Commons Church Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 28:30 Transcription Available


    In this sermon from our Grounded series, Pastor Jeremy Duncan explores the story of the Emmaus Road in Luke 24, where the risen Jesus walks with two disciples who don't recognize him at first.What if faith isn't just about ideas or passion, but about centering everything on Jesus?We'll discover how: • Doubt can be part of faith and lead us deeper. • Spiritual passion is a response to God's grace, not a way to earn it. • Jesus is at the centre of Scripture and the story of our lives.This message invites us to reframe our doubts, our passion, and our faith journey with Jesus as the heart of it all.

    Acts 2 UMC
    Stepping into Life Together, part 3: Willfulness vs Willingness

    Acts 2 UMC

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 30:33


    We heard a testimony about what it means to turn one's life over to God's care, alongside a reflection on Step 3: deciding to entrust our will and lives to Christ. The message reminds us that surrender is not weakness but a bold act of faith—choosing to believe God is able to carry what we cannot. It encourages us to release our fears, lean on God's strength, and take the next step of trust in our own journeys. Fill-In Sermon Notes (https://notes.subsplash.com/fill-in/view?page=SkavApacgg) Watch the Sermon (https://youtu.be/xUC-9GdeUIg) Watch the Full Worship Service (https://youtube.com/live/YD8sd-PVpUM?feature=share) Follow Acts 2: Website (https://acts2umc.org) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/acts2umc) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/acts2umc) Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTjMQ3C5r50E8PGLwMvwuGQ) Twitter (https://www.twitter.com/acts2umc)

    Southeast Christian Church
    Every Thought Captive: Think About These Things

    Southeast Christian Church

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 35:22


    We rarely take the time to think about what we think about. But we need to—and often. With a bit of discipline and a heavy dose of relying on the Holy Spirit, we can take control of our thoughts and, in doing so, reset the trajectory of our lives. Speaker: Brock O'Dell

    The Sermon Podcast with Allen Nolan
    The Misunderstood Gift of Healings: Spiritual Gifts 8 | Pastor Allen Nolan Sermon

    The Sermon Podcast with Allen Nolan

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 81:13


    What is the true nature of the biblical “gifts of healings”—and why is it often misunderstood? In Part 8 of the Spiritual Gifts series, Pastor Allen Nolan takes a deep dive into this unique manifestation of the Holy Spirit, clarifying what the Bible actually teaches about divine healing. Learn how this gift differs from natural recovery, how it operates through individuals, and how it reveals God's compassion and power. This sermon brings clarity, encouragement, and a greater expectation for God to move in miraculous ways.

    Let the Bird Fly!
    Bird's Eye View 341.1: RLCMKE Pentecost 15C Sermon, Luke 16:1-13 (The Shrewd Manager)

    Let the Bird Fly!

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 9:43


    This is Wade's sermon at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI for Pentecost 15C. The lessons are: Ecclesiastes 5:10-20; 1 Timothy 6:6-10,17-19; Luke 16:1-13. We'd love to have you join us at Resurrection for a Sunday service sometime at 9am.  Ss always, if you are enjoying the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.  And, of course, share us with a friend or two! If you'd like to contact us we can be reached at podcast@LetTheBirdFly.com, or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com. Thanks for listening!

    Abundant Life Sermons
    What Is Jesus Looking for in You? | Bearing Fruit That Lasts – Steve Kern

    Abundant Life Sermons

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 47:18


    What is Jesus looking for when He examines your life? In Mark 11:11-26, we see Jesus confront a fig tree that had leaves but no fruit, a powerful illustration of how God views our spiritual fruitfulness. Just like physical fruit satisfies and nourishes people, spiritual fruit glorifies and satisfies God (John 15:8).In this sermon, “What Is Jesus Looking for in You?” missionary Steve Kern explores what the Bible says about bearing spiritual fruit. Using the parable of the fig tree, he challenges us to live a life of genuine faith, bearing lasting spiritual fruit that glorifies God. Connect with us on Social Media ↴Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/abundantlifels/Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/abundantlifels Connect with Pastor Phil ↴Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PhilHopperKCInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/philhopper_kc/Web: https://livingproof.co/resources/books/ Learn more about the A-Life Discipleship Journey: https://alife.livingproof.co/ More information on our sermons: https://livingproof.co/sermons/Do you want to see your life changed by Jesus? Visit our website: https://livingproof.co/

    Our Daily Rhythm
    September 20 | Sermon Snapshot

    Our Daily Rhythm

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 14:09


    September 20 | Sermon Snapshot by Christ Covenant

    Healing Place Church
    When Compassion Breaks the Rules

    Healing Place Church

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 29:51


    Pastor Mike Haman continues in the “Jesus the Servant” series by reminding us of the compassion that Jesus has for us and how we can extend that to others in order to be a healing place for a hurting world.

    MHT Seminary Sermons & Podcasts
    Sermon: Saint Matthew, by Most Rev. Germán Fliess

    MHT Seminary Sermons & Podcasts

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 9:45


    Support our apostolate: https://mostholytrinityseminary.org/donate/

    Sanctuary LA
    We Need Jesus - Part 2 | Shawn Mandoli

    Sanctuary LA

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 35:16


    This message unpacks what it truly means to be a Christian—more than a title, it is a supernatural encounter with God that brings new birth, repentance, and transformation from within. Through Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, we see that to follow Christ is to be born of the Spirit, given a new heart, and made alive to God's kingdom. Christians belong to Christ, living as people of His kingdom, which is not political or geographical but spiritual and present wherever Jesus reigns in hearts. The name “Christian” should reflect holiness, devotion, and Christlikeness, as our lives bear witness to the reality of God's rule within us. ______________________________________________________________________________________ NEW HERE? We'd love to connect with you. Text "NEW" to 323-405-3232 SERMON NOTES: www.bible.com/organizations/f223…-a8fc-3297da42c26a - Or Text: "SERMON" To: 323-405-3232 CONNECT WITH US: Hopeland Website: www.hopelandla.com Hopeland Podcast: @steinbot-519314947 Hopeland YouTube: www.youtube.com/@hopelandchurch Hopeland Facebook: @hopelandla Hopeland Instagram: @hopeland.church To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people with the gospel click here: hopelandla.com/give Or, choose a giving option here: - Venmo: @Hopeland-Church - CashApp: $HopelandChurch - Zelle: shawn@hopelandla.com - Text "Hopeland" to 833-767-5698

    Harvest Church & Bishop Foreman
    Change - Change What You Sow, Change What You See - Bishop Kevin Foreman

    Harvest Church & Bishop Foreman

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 23:42


    Change - Change What You Sow, Change What You See - Bishop Kevin Foreman

    University Lutheran Chapel
    9.21 What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

    University Lutheran Chapel

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 30:56


    As Jesus is passing through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem, a blind man cries out for mercy. Jesus asks him, what do you want me to do for you? The blind man asks to see again. Jesus immediately restores his sight. In this simple account, we are invited to see Jesus clearly, answer his question honestly, and receive the healing we need as well.

    Park Street Church Podcast
    The God Who Provides

    Park Street Church Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025


    Mark Booker | Exodus 4:1-18 | This sermon continues to explore Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush. As Moses interacts and wrestles further, God reveals more about his provision for Moses and calls him to trust him and to go on the mission. We, too, are invited to trust the God who has revealed his provision to us in Jesus.

    National Presbyterian Church Sermons
    Sermon: Unanswered Prayer, Unshaken Faith

    National Presbyterian Church Sermons

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 38:42


    Traditional service featuring our NPC Chancel Choir and one-of-a-kind authentic organ.

    Grace Community Church - GraceB3
    The Progression of Happiness

    Grace Community Church - GraceB3

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025


    by Brooks Simpson | From the Series: Walking with Jesus | Scripture: Matthew 5:3-6 | Download Audio

    NorthStar Church Sermon Podcast
    Stretched: Finances (Mike Linch)

    NorthStar Church Sermon Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 26:01


    As we continue our Stretched series, Mike gives us some Godly wisdom to help us navigate through times when our finances are stretched.

    NLCC Chantilly Campus
    4 Vital Signs of the Body of Christ (Chantilly Sermon)

    NLCC Chantilly Campus

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 34:39


    Today, we are looking at Acts 2:42-47 and what a healthy Church looks like. Find out what that looks like as Preston Conder shares. Welcome to New Life Online! We are so glad you are here! Learn more about New Life at http://newlife.church. Fill out a Digital Connection Card to ask specific questions at http://newlife.church/connect.

    Full Gospel Center Sermons
    Gospel of John - Part 31

    Full Gospel Center Sermons

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 35:58


    Full Gospel Center's Pastor Rick Leonardi preaching the message "Gospel of John - Part 31" on 09/21/2025 referencing John 8:48-59.

    Castle Rock Baptist Church
    Sermon - What Paul Knows

    Castle Rock Baptist Church

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 31:19


    Overflow Indy
    A Birdseye View of Spiritual Warfare (9/21/25)

    Overflow Indy

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025


    Grace Bible Church, Canal Winchester OH
    Mark 5:21-43 - Desperation, Delays, and the Deliverer

    Grace Bible Church, Canal Winchester OH

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 40:30


    Our Bulletin and Sermon notes are available at https://gracebiblecw.com/grace-e-bulletinWe would love to hear from you!And if you would like to learn more about our churchPlease visit: https://gracebiblecw.com/beliefs-amp-values

    Rev. Dr. Charles Osei
    Labor to Be Blessed

    Rev. Dr. Charles Osei

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 44:05


    This Sermon was Preached by Rev. Dr. Charles Osei at the Laikos Church International Newark Branch New Jersey.

    Rev. Dr. Charles Osei
    The Laws of Sowing and Reaping

    Rev. Dr. Charles Osei

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 71:58


    This Sermon was Preached by Rev. Dr. Charles Osei at the Laikos Church International Newark Branch New Jersey.

    Grace Community Church - GraceB3DT
    The Progression of Happiness

    Grace Community Church - GraceB3DT

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025


    by Brooks Simpson | From the Series: Walking with Jesus | Scripture: Matthew 5:3-6 | Download Audio

    St. John's Sermons Online
    SHOW ME THE WAY - the way of depth

    St. John's Sermons Online

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 12:26


    Pastor Elliott delivers the message in the Auditorium.

    St. John's Sermons Online
    SHOW ME THE WAY - the way of depth

    St. John's Sermons Online

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 23:45


    Pastor Van Blarcom delivers the message in the Sanctuary.

    Pure Apostolic Works' Podcast
    Episode 508: Meeting God In The Promise Land

    Pure Apostolic Works' Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 49:53


    Sermon by Pastor Marquies WhisentonExodus 3:5

    Evergreen Church - Bloomington Messages

    Sermon in a sentence: "Faith that lasts is faith that multiplies."Action step: Be intentional

    Applewood Community Church Podcast
    Love Above All // 1 John 4:7-12

    Applewood Community Church Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025


    Part of the Bearing Fruit series. Sermon by Pastor Nathan Alley The post Love Above All // 1 John 4:7-12 first appeared on Applewood Community Church.

    Sojourn New Albany Podcast
    September 21, 2025 - Jonah Sage - Leviticus 19:1-18

    Sojourn New Albany Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 35:39


    Pastor Jonah Sage preached from Leviticus 19:1-18 in our series, “God of Time.” He said that Holiness means being humanLector: Lisa Tant.

    Sermons from Zion Lutheran Church
    AUDIO: Announcements, Readings, Sermon & Men's Choir for Sunday, September 21, 2025

    Sermons from Zion Lutheran Church

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 20:08


    This audio-only file includes all the readings from scripture, along with the sermon — and when available, the announcements, adult choir, men's choir, and/or bell choir. Also posted along with the audio file is the text for all the scripture readings, and a link to the current bulletin, and our YouTube channel if you prefer to watch the LIVE Stream.

    Living Words
    A Sermon for the Feast of St. Matthew

    Living Words

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025


    A Sermon for the Feast of St. Matthew St. Matthew 9:9-13 and 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 by William Klock “As Jesus was leaving that place, he saw a man called Matthew sitting in the toll booth.” I expect that Matthew was just itching to get to this part of the story as he wrote his gospel account.  It's nine chapters in, roughly a third of the way.  But he knew that the Gospel is about Jesus, not Matthew.  Still, he was excited to tell people how he had met Jesus.  Up to this point, Matthew's been telling us about walking around Galilee preaching good news and doing all the Messiah things that made the good news real and tangible to people.  He's been across the Sea of Galilee where he cast a multitude of demons out of a man and now he's back and on his way home to Capernaum.  And that's how he meets Matthew.  Matthew's a tax- or a toll-collector and here he is, sitting in his tollbooth next to the road.  I suppose there must have been some kind of gate.  Matthew would get up from his stool, go out to the road, and collect the toll from everyone going from Point A to Point B and from Point B to Point A.  And everyone who went by grudgingly handed over their money.  And they grumbled.  And probably not a few people had some choice words for Matthew.  Because everybody hated tax collectors. I was racking my brain this week trying to think of an example from our world that would explain just how much people hated tax-collectors and why and it's hard to think of a modern equivalent.  That was a different world.  No one likes a tax-collector, because no one likes paying taxes.  But in First Century Judaea there was way more to it than just people not liking paying taxes.  The local Roman government decided how much they would need to run things and then they'd farm the collection of taxes out to the highest bidder.  And, of course, the tax collectors had to make a living themselves, so they'd pad their collection.  But they weren't just getting by.  Tax collectors were notorious for using their position to enrich themselves.  And the local council or governor didn't care just so long as they got their cut of the revenue.  It was bad enough and common enough that when the rabbis wrote about tax collectors, they typically lumped them together with thieves.  And it only made it worse when the tax collectors were working for the Romans.  We don't know if Matthew was working directly for the Romans or for some local Galilean authority, but at the end of the day it didn't really matter.  At some level the Romans were in charge of it all and tax collectors were thieves doing their dirty work. But there's more to it than that.  We think of Matthew, padding his toll collecting and getting rich by stealing from people whom he's got over a barrel and we think he's a pretty rotten guy.  That's an awful thing to do.  That's a scummy way to make your money.  But for the Jews there was another layer, something deeper to what made it so horrible, what made them hate someone like Matthew so much. Let me try to explain.  So, if you or I hear about a thief—or maybe a crooked tax collector skimming off the top—we just think, “That's a bad person”.  If we found out that this thief had been baptised and grew up going to church and Sunday school, we'd think something like, “I guess he forgot everything he was taught as a kid.”  Maybe if it came out he was an active warden or elder or deacon in his church, then we might start to think about what he'd done as a betrayal not just of his faith, but of us all.  Here's a guy who professed faith in Jesus, but betrayed that faith by doing something really sinful.  And maybe that gets us closer to how Matthew's fellow Jews would have thought about him.  Because Matthew was circumcised.  Matthew was part of the covenant community.  Matthew was marked out as one of the Lord's people.  And Matthew knew their story.  Matthew knew all about the Lord and how he had delivered his ancestors from Egypt.  Matthew knew all the great things the Lord had done in the centuries that followed.  We can kind of excuse some people today.  We all know people who were baptised, but they were never really taught the faith, their parents never really took them to church, now they're grown up and say they're an atheist, and the sinful lifestyle they live kind of makes sense in light of all that.  But that wasn't Matthew.  That wasn't anyone in Israel.  Everyone knew what it meant to be God's people.  There were no atheists.  They all knew that God hates sin.  They knew what it meant to be the people who lived with God in their midst.  They knew that you had not only to be holy to enter God's temple, but that you also had to be pure.  That's what set them apart from the pagans.  Matthew knew all of this.  Even if he he'd had rotten parenting, everything and everyone around him would have reinforced all of this. And he rejected it.  Maybe he chose this life on his own.  Maybe he inherited the job from his father who inherited it from his father.  That probably would have made it easier.  But whatever the case Matthew chose to live a life in apposition to everything his family, his people, and his nation stood for and he chose to do it right in the midst of them.  Imagine an Amish boy who decides he doesn't want to be Amish anymore.  Usually they leave and go to live in the outside world, but imagine this Amish kid decided to stay in his close-knit Amish town, but he struts around in fancy clothes, whips around town in his Porsche, and throws wild parties with loud music at his house on the weekends.  And everyone would be horrified at him.  That's Matthew, a tax-collector in Israel. But it gets worse.  Or at least I think it does.  Not everyone would agree with me on this part.  Mark and Luke, in their Gospels, refer to Matthew by the name of “Levi”.  Christian tradition has mostly understood Matthew and Levi to be the same person, but to make this connection is not without its difficulties.  One of those difficulties is that it was pretty rare for a Jewish person to have two Aramaic names.  A Jewish name and Greek name?  Like Saul of Tarsus who is also known as Paul: that's common.  But usually if someone with an Aramaic name has a second Aramaic name, it's because their given name is common, like John or Judas or Joshua, and the second name—maybe the name of his father—distinguishes him from other guys with the same name.  But neither Matthew nor Levi were common names.  No one was likely to confuse this Matthew with another Matthew.  But the one instance in which we see men with two Aramaic names is when they come from prominent families.  It wasn't uncommon for these men to be known by their family names.  And I think that's what has happened with Matthew.  Mark and Luke remember him as “Levi”—his family name—but Matthew went by his given name.  Because the family name Levi mean that they were a Levitical family.  And this made things all the worse for Matthew.  The tribe of Levi were the priestly family.  They were the ones who served in the temple.  They were the ones who acted as mediators between the Lord and his people.  Israel was a holy people, but the Levites were a holy tribe within that holy people.  Consider that one of the duties of the Levites was the collection of taxes.  They collected the tithes of Israel.  Those tithes were their livelihood.  And they collected the temple tax, to pay for the upkeep of the Lord's house.  But Matthew had become a tax collector of another kind, not one dependent on the Lord and the faithfulness of his people, but a man who fleeced God's people in collusion with the pagans. Brothers and Sisters, that was Matthew sitting in his toll-booth.  A wealthy traitor not only to the Lord, but to his people and to his family and to his calling and despised by everyone.  I fully expect there were days when Matthew longed to get out of the mess he was in.  In theory he could have made everything right and returned to the Lord, but to do that he'd have had to make restitution.  I don't think Matthew would have even known where to begin.  And so he stayed in his toll-booth, he kept his riches, and he threw parties for other tax collectors and sinners—because they were the only people who would associate with him.  And every day he became a little bit more dead inside. And then, this day, along came Jesus.  Matthew knew perfectly well who Jesus was.  Everyone in Galilee was talking about Jesus.  If nothing else, Matthew would have heard about his miracles, but I expect he'd heard about his preaching, too.  Maybe Matthew had even stood at a distance a time or two in Capernaum to hear Jesus preach.  Matthew knew that in Jesus the God of Israel was doing something.  But Matthew stayed at a distance.  Because Matthew knew he was a traitor to his God and to his people and to his covenant.  As attractive as Jesus and his message were, it was not for someone like Matthew. Brothers and Sisters, how many people around us feel just like that?  They're sinners.  They feel the weight of it and would love for it to be gone.  They've got some vague knowledge of Jesus.  But they'd never come to church.  A coworker once said to me, “Church is for holy people, not for people like me.”  They see no way out. And now Matthew sees Jesus approaching his gate.  Maybe he thought, “This might be the Messiah.  I should really cut him a break instead of ripping him off like I do everyone else.”  And that's when, he writes in verse 9, Jesus “said to him, ‘Follow me.'”  And he just says, “And he rose up and follow him.” I have to think there was at least a little bit more to it than that.  But those words, “Follow me” were ultimately what did it for Matthew.  No Pharisee, no scribe, no lawyer had ever come to Matthew and said, “Follow me, Brother.  Let me help you get out of your sins.”  They paid his extortionate toll, dropping their coin in the toll-box and being extra careful not to touch it or anything else that Matthew had touched.  They sneered at him—if they looked at him at all—called him “traitor”, and went on their way.  But this Jesus, this man in whom the God his fathers was so clearly at work doing something new, Jesus smiled and invited him to join in what he was doing. Brothers and Sisters, sometimes that's all it takes.  Matthew had seen God's glory on display in Jesus, but he didn't think it was for him.  He just needed to hear that, yes, in fact it was for him—for everyone, but especially for people like him.  That was actually part of the new thing Jesus was doing.  Without Jesus, reconciliation with is people was hopeless.  He was a toll-collector.  How could he ever make things right with everyone he'd ever stolen from?  How could he even make a good faith effort?  But in those words, “Follow me,” Jesus offered Matthew forgiveness.  Jesus bypassed the temple, because he is the new temple himself; he bypassed the priests, because he is our new priest; and he bypassed the sacrifices and the law of restitution, because he is the full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of Israel and the whole world.  Jesus simply held out forgiveness and reconciliation to Matthew.  All Matthew had to do was leave his tollbooth behind—that's repentance—and follow Jesus.  And, Matthew says, that's just what he did.  “He rose up and followed him.” He “rose up”.  I think Matthew chose that language deliberately.  It's resurrection language.  When he decided to trust Jesus—and that's just what it was: trust and loyalty and allegiance—he was raised up out of his sin, he was raised up out of his alienation from God and from his people, and he was given his life back.  And not just given back his old life, Jesus gave him something even better.  He lifted Matthew up out of the life this evil age of sin and death and gave him a taste and a promise of the age to come, of new creation, of the Holy Spirit, and of the fellowship with God that his people had been so longing for. And, too, Jesus restores to Matthew his birthright as a Levite.  As the Levites mediated the Lord to his people, so Matthew now brings the good news about Jesus to his people.  In verse 10 he immediately takes us to his house.  “When he was at home,” he writes, “sitting down to a meal, there were lots of tax-collectors and sinners there who had come to have dinner with Jesus and his disciples.”  Other tax collectors and sinners were the only people who hang around with Matthew.  Matthew knew that some of them felt the same way he did.  They were traitors to the Lord and traitors to his people.  They were hopelessly lost sheep.  There was no way out.  But Matthew had found it—or, rather, the way out had found him.  And so he invites his friends to meet Jesus.  They'd heard and seen him doing amazing things.  Like Matthew, they'd been on the fringe.  If the priest and Levites—not to mention everyone else in Israel—condemned them and kept apart from them, the Messiah certainly wasn't for them.  But here he was and Jesus was saying the same thing to them that he'd said to Matthew: “Follow me.”  And, I expect, at least some of them did.  And Jesus and the disciples rejoiced with those people because they knew that heaven itself was rejoicing too. But there were always the Pharisees.  Matthew writes that when they “saw it, they said to Jesus' disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?'  But Jesus heard them.  ‘It isn't the healthy who need a doctor,' he said, ‘it's the sick.  Go and learn what this saying means: “It's mercy I want, not sacrifice.” I haven't come to call upright people, but sinners.'” Like Paul says in our Epistle today, there was a veil over their eyes.  The Pharisees were sick in their own ways, and Jesus exposed their sickness by going to the tax-collectors and sinners.  When they complain about it, he quotes the words the Lord had spoken to Isaiah.  We heard those words last week when our Gospel was the parable of the good Samaritan—Hosea 6 turned into a story.  The problem was that the people lacked the heart of God.  The sinners devoted to their sinning, the greedy tax-collectors ripping everyone off, and the Pharisees too—almost everyone in Israel—was far from God.  His absence from the temple all those years was a metaphor for Israel's problem.  Even those who were devoted to the law and who were “religious” about their tithing and their sabbaths and their diet and their sacrifices, were no closer to God than the prostitute or the tax-collector.  And so Jesus came to the sinners with God's mercy—because they so desperately needed it—and he gave it to them in front of the watching scribes and Pharisees and all the “upright” people in Israel so that they could see that they needed to learn that same mercy and know it themselves. It was that mercy that reached Matthew.  It was that mercy that reached Paul and lifted the veil from his eyes.  And it was that mercy, made manifest in Jesus, that both Paul and Matthew proclaimed.  It was this mercy that's at the centre of the Gospel that Matthew wrote to his people.  And it's this same mercy that Paul preached.  In today's Epistle from 2 Corinthians 4, he writes that it's this mercy that drives him forward despite all the obstacles.  “The ‘god' of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they won't see the light of the gospel of the glory of the Messiah, who is God's image.”  So what's the solution?  Paul writes, “We don't proclaim ourselves, you see, but Jesus the Messiah as Lord…because the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts, to produce the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus the Messiah.” Brothers and Sisters, Paul—and Matthew, for that matter—knew that it wouldn't be gimmicks or tricks or fancy speaking or trying to make God's word palatable to sinners that would lift the veil from the eyes of unbelievers.  It would be the proclamation of the good news about Jesus.  That light—the glory of God in the face of the Messiah as Paul describes it—that light met Matthew in the darkness of his tollbooth.  That light met Paul on the road to Damascus.  And it lifted the veil.  It dispelled the darkness.  It cast out the ‘god' of this world who enslaves us to sin and death and makes us to think there's no hope of escape.  The light of the glory of God revealed in the good news of Jesus the Messiah is the answer and the only answer.  It's our hope and our only hope.  We too often try those other things.  We water down God's word to try to make it less offensives.  We try gimmicks or we try programmes.  But Brothers and Sisters, we should know better.  The Lord has promised that one day the knowledge of his glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea and that will happen because and only because his people have been faithful to proclaim his glory revealed in Jesus the Messiah who died and rose again. Brothers and Sisters, don't be afraid.  Don't question whether it'll work or not.  If the light of the gospel could tear down the veil that once had you blinded, if it could break the chains of sin that once bound you, it will tear down the veils that blind and it will break the chains that bind the rest of the world.  Just proclaim it.  Jesus has died and Jesus has risen, not just for you or for me or for holy people, but for sinners—for everyone.  He holds out his hand to us wherever we are and invites us to leave it all behind, to follow him, and to rise to new life. Let's pray: O almighty God, whose beloved Son called Matthew from his tollbooth to be an apostle and evangelist: Set us free from the chains of our sins to follow and to proclaim your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

    Asbury First UMC
    Sermon — Rev. Dr. Michelle Bogue-Trost, Senior Minister — September 21, 2025

    Asbury First UMC

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 18:30


    Greenwood Pres. Sermons
    GPC Sermon 09-21-2025

    Greenwood Pres. Sermons

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 39:50


    Building a Faithful Church: Confrontation and Correction The Need to Protect Sound Doctrine

    Washington Christian Church
    Here I Am - Obeying - (Sermon Only)

    Washington Christian Church

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 31:18


    ElmCreek Community Church Podcast
    Seeking and Finding Restoration from Destruction

    ElmCreek Community Church Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025


    Sermon given by Pastor Mark Donaldson on September 21, 2025 at ElmCreek Community Church in Maple Grove, MN. Scripture: Mark 5:21-43

    Linton Hall Campus
    4 Vital Signs of the Body of Christ (Chantilly Sermon)

    Linton Hall Campus

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 34:39


    Today, we are looking at Acts 2:42-47 and what a healthy Church looks like. Find out what that looks like as Preston Conder shares. Welcome to New Life Online! We are so glad you are here! Learn more about New Life at http://newlife.church. Fill out a Digital Connection Card to ask specific questions at http://newlife.church/connect.

    San Ramon Valley Bible Church Audio Sermons

    Sermon by David Huete from John 14:6

    Shelter Rock Church Sermons
    Syosset: The King Among His People | Sermon by Henry Fuhrman

    Shelter Rock Church Sermons

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 33:25


    SEPT 21 | V The Mission of the King | Mark 6:53-56"When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus.They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed."