Sermons on Matthew

Sermons on Matthew

What You Can Do With Crumbs

Today we wrestle with one of the most challenging passages in Christian scripture:  Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite woman who, on behalf of her daughter, begs for help and mercy. What might this passage teach us about God and ourselves?

Follow the Leader

This week, we welcome Rev. Dale Blackford as our guest preacher. Dale says, “To follow the leader, one must first have faith in the leader and second, be close enough to be led. Jesus did not ask us to worship him, but he did request that we follow him. What does that look like?”

Not for the Faint of Heart

This week’s gospel reading draws us into the account of Jesus walking on water to the disciples in a storm tossed boat. What was going on with Peter? Why did he challenge Jesus in the first place? And what did Jesus mean when, safely back in the boat, he spoke to Peter saying, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”

Old and New

We are deep into a section of Matthew’s gospel that offers us a party of parables! This Sunday we’ll look for God in common things like seeds, yeast, fields, pearls and more. How do these ordinary things reveal the extraordinary aspects of the Divine?

A Sower Went Out to Sow

This week our scripture passage is Jesus’ Parable of the Sower.  It’s one of Jesus’ many parables that challenges us to consider how God’s goodness and grace get planted in the world and when/how/why the things of God grow!  What seeds need to be sown?  What difference does the soil make?  And what qualities are called for in the Sower?  

Life Long Learning

“To what can I compare this generation?” the text begins. Through the lens of a first-person second career Religion Major, this text is opened up with the hopes of living more faithfully, seeing more clearly, loving God more deeply all while getting an “A” on Life’s Midterm Exam. In Matthew is Jesus really asking us this question now? Today? At the same time our country is celebrating her semi quincentennial? Our work, our Life Long work is answering this question.

Finding Jesus

This Sunday we experience Jesus through the lens of Matthew the tax collector.  Jesus found him sitting at his tax collector booth.  But what did Matthew discover about what it means to find Jesus as he witnessed Jesus’ interactions with those in need?  

Everywhere

This Sunday we celebrate Trinity Sunday, which is not simply an opportunity to learn about a doctrine of the church, but more importantly, it’s a chance to contemplate the invitation to be in relationship with the Divine who, with an abundance of love and grace, interacts with us in a whole myriad of different ways.