Sermon on the Mount Series | Matthew 5:17-37: Writing His Rule of Love on Our Hearts + Saturday, April 28, 2018

"In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus drills deeply into the total transformation God has in mind for those who have tasted His goodness." + Pastor Bryan Loritts

An essential part of the mission of God's people is nothing other than to be who we are – disciples who are distinctive like Jesus – by living out the holiness of God (shaken out and shining forth, not self-contained, witnessed in public) in practical everyday living ... through the grace of obedience, responding to the grace of salvation and living in the grace of mission." + C.H. Wright, The Mission of God's People

Old Testament Scriptures | Psalm 119:33-43

New Testament Scriptures | Matthew 5:17-37

Welcome! Bienvenido! Akwaaba! Mirë se vjen!
خوش آمدید Bem-vindos! 歡迎光臨! Céad míle fáilte!

We invite you to listen with us to the history-altering, world-restoring, personally-transforming Gospel: the Good News that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, come to save us and bring His Kingdom of justice, mercy, and peace to our world.

In response to this Good News, we follow Jesus together as City Groups in Worcester who seek to love our neighbors and serve our city in the joy and justice of God for the life of the world.

Spirituality Questions

Are you curious? Consider asking someone a question or two about Jesus and Christian spirituality even if you don't believe.

Are you open? Consider your emotional and spiritual needs, and step into asking if Jesus can meet them and help you.

Are you searching? Consider exploring more about Jesus even if you are not sure who He is; example: "If I could ask Jesus one honest question that would help me trust Him, what would I ask?"

Are you beginning to believe? Consider how your life would be transformed if you followed Jesus. Ask God to help you understand the Good News that through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, He is restoring everything sin has ruined in your life and in the world. 

Lord's Prayer | Praying for Jesus' Kingdom Impact in Us and in Worcester

Eucharist | Thanking God for Communion with Christ and His Church

Corporate Prayer of Confession and Assurance

Isaiah 6:5-8; Daniel 9:4-19; Nehemiah 1:5-10; Luke 23:34

Call: Jesus, we worship You, our God and King, who fulfills the Law of the LORD and does not let one iota of it pass until You accomplish all You set out to do for the glory of God and the salvation of Your people.

Response: Call us to bend a knee and bow our hearts to Your reign and rule of love. May we grow in loving You and obeying Your commands as we walk today in the resurrection victory over sin and death You have given us.

Silent Personal Reflection and Confession

Call: King Jesus, continue to powerfully ignite in us Your passion and Your sacrifice by Your Holy Spirit so that we become more like You by obeying Your Word. Empower us to do the work You've given us as we pray:

Response: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory now and forever. Amen.

We Have Come (Bless the Lord)
By Will Reagan and United Pursuit Band
2010 A.D.

We have come to give You glory!
We have come to give You praise!

You’re welcome in this place!
You’re welcome in this place!
You’re welcome in this place!

Have Your way, have Your way,
Have Your way!

Bless the Lord, oh my soul,
And let all that’s within me shout out!

It’s only You we want.

Establish the Work of Our Hands
By Aaron Keyes, Sandra McCracken,
and Urban Doxology
2017 A.D.

If You don't build it, we labor in vain.
Without Your Spirit, we stand with no strength.
I know my life is passing away,
But the works of Your hands will remain.

Let the favor of the LORD rest upon us.
Oh LORD, establish the work of our hands!
Oh LORD, establish the work of our hands!

Teach us to number the length of our days.
Pour out Your power, we'll pour out Your praise.
Teach us to run, to finish the race,
For only what's done in love will remain.
(Chorus)

Al-le-lu-ia! Al-le-lu-ia! Al-le-lu-ia!

This Glorious Grace
By Austin Stone Worship
2013 A.D.

God, I need You,
I need You, I need You,
With every breath,
every pulse of my heart.
Christ have mercy, have mercy,
Let mercy abound,
I need You, I need You now.

God, pour out Your grace,
Glorious grace
That we would be held by
Your perfect embrace!
We are undeserving,
You are high and worthy,
All of our praise
For this glorious grace!

God we're longing,
We're longing to see You,
In Your presence
All darkness will fade.
Shine Your glory, Your glory,
Let glory surround,
We're longing to see You now.
(Chorus)

God, Your grace
Like rising seas
Has swallowed death
And sin in me!

Glory to our God who saves,
Jesus Christ, our glorious grace!

(Chorus)

God we worship, we worship,
We worship You
For Your glory, our all in all.
You are worthy, You’re worthy,
You’re worthy,
We worship, we worship You.
God we need You,
We need You now.

Christ Is Risen

By Matt Maher
2009 A.D.

Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame,
But fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us.
Freely, You've bled for us.

Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling over death by death!
Come awake, come awake,
Come and rise up from the grave!
Christ is risen from the dead,
We are one with Him again!
Come awake, come awake,
Come and rise up from the grave!

Beneath the weight of all our sin,
You bowed to none but heaven's will.
No scheme of hell, no scoffer's crown,
No burden great can hold You down.
In strength You reign,
Forever let Your Church proclaim!
(Chorus)

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O Church, come stand in the light,
The glory of God has defeated the night!
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O Church, come stand in the light,
Our God is not dead!
He's alive! He's alive!
(Chorus)

May Your Power Rest on Me
By Isaac Watts; Sojourn Music
Early 1700s A.D.; 2009 A.D.

Let me hear my Savior say
“Your strength shall return.”
Then I’ll rejoice in my weakness
As I lean on Your grace,
As I lean on Your grace.

May Your power rest on me.
You are strong when I am weak.
I can bear all things
When temptation springs
For You sustain me all my days.

Let me know my Savior’s face.
Let my hope be secure.
Then I’ll rejoice in my weakness
As I lean on Your grace,
As I lean on Your grace.
(Chorus)

Once from the Lord withdrawn
I thought that I could live my life alone.
Leaving the solid ground,
I sank beneath His wisdom.
The harder I tried to climb,
The closer I was to find
How great is my weakness.
(Chorus)

Though the trial still goes on,
Your grace will be my song!
For I can bear all things
When temptation springs
For You sustain me all my days.

Break Every Chain | Fill Me Up Medley
By Tasha Cobbs and Will Reagan
2013 A.D.; 2015 A.D.

There is power
In the name of Jesus (x3) ...

To break every chain (x3)!

All sufficient sacrifice,
So freely given,
Such a price
Bought My redemption,
Heaven's gates swing wide.

There's an army rising up (x3) ...
To break every chain (x3)!

You provide the fire,
I'll provide the sacrifice.
You provide the Spirit,
I will open up inside.

Fill me up, God (x3) ...
Fill me up!

Love of God, overflow.
Permeate all my soul.

Fill me up
Until I overflow!
I want to run over,
I want to run over!

Our World Belongs to God 5&6
2008 A.D.

Q. How has God blessed us and the world today?
A. God holds this world with fierce love.
Keeping His promise, He sends Jesus
into the world, pours out the Holy Spirit,
and announces the Good News of the Kingdom:
sinners who repent and believe in Jesus
live anew as members of the family of God—
the firstfruits of a new creation.
We rejoice in the goodness of God,
renounce the works of darkness,
and dedicate ourselves to holy living.
As covenant partners,
set free for joyful obedience,
we offer our hearts and lives
to do God’s work in the world.
With tempered impatience,
eager to see injustice ended,
we expect the Day of the Lord.
We are confident that the light
which shines in the present darkness
will fill the earth when Christ appears.
Come, Lord Jesus. Our world belongs to You.

Hosea 11:10-11; John 3:1-21;
Acts 2:36-39: Romans 10:7-11:
Ephesians 2:1-10; Leviticus 23:9-14:
James 1:18

Sermon on the Mount Benediction 

Based on Matthew 5-7

King Jesus, please bless us to embrace the joy
You give us in our brokenness and mourning,
eternal blessing that humbles the might,
intellect, and comforts of this current world.
Transform us into Your Kingdom community
through the crucible of Your way of the cross.
Write Your Kingdom rule and reign on our hearts
making us pure by Your perfect love, mercy, and justice.
May a watching world see Your light, taste Your salt,
and be welcomed into Your city on a hill through us.
Embolden us to be Your Kingdom ambassadors,
change agents who display the Good News You offer.
Make us decrease so that You might increase.
Stir in us Your grace, compassion, and sacrifice
for those who would seek to marginalize
and silence us because of You.
Everything we need is Yours to give us.
You are the treasure that we desperately seek.
You invite us home as prodigals
returning to our Father’s embrace;
Your prayer for the Kingdom coming
provides the answer to all our longings.
Free us of any fear, distraction, craving, or anxiety
that would keep us from fully following You
and building our lives on the Rock that is Your Word.

By Your Holy Spirit, keep us on
Your path of justice and righteousness.
It is with You, King Jesus, that hope is secure,
for us and all of creation, now and forever.

Now go in the blessing and name of King Jesus
by the power of His personally-transforming
grace and world-restoring peace. Amen.

Next sermon and liturgy post: Matthew 5:38-48: Bless, Love, and Flourish for Your Enemy

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us

The Story of God | The Law Is Fulfilled in Jesus

The Bible Project | The Law: Creating New Kinds of People Able to Fully Love God and Others

Recent posts on overviews of the Story of God found in the Bible: 

The Story of God, the World, and You | Our World Belongs to God | Creation, Crisis, Covenant, Christ, Church, (New) Creation | Jesus as the "True and Better" One | The Messiah | The Covenants | Heaven and Earth | God's Holiness | God's Multi-Ethnic Family | Hell | Sacrifice and Atonement 

For this post, I'm including a video and the manuscript for an Animated Explanation of The Law by Tim Mackie and Jon Collins via The Bible Project, a wonderful new and free video series on YouTube.

Animated Explanation of The Law by The Bible Project

Produced by Tim Mackie and Jon Collins

You're most likely familiar with the Ten Commandments in the Bible, stuff we generally take as good advice: don't murder, don't steal, honor your parents, the list goes on. And those are just the first ten. There are actual a total of 613 commands all given to ancient Israel found in the first five books of the Bible, which in Hebrew are called the Torah.

Now the word, "Torah," is usually translated in English as "The Law" because it has all of these laws in it. And as you read them you wonder, "Am I supposed to obey some of these, all of these? I mean, what's the purpose of "The Law"?

Well that translation is kind of confusing. Because while the Torah  has laws in it, the book itself is fundamentally a story about how God is creating new kinds of people who are fully able to love God and love others. And when Jesus taught about the Torah, He said that He was bringing that story to its fulfillment. 

So let's walk through the story and how it's fulfilled. The story begins with God creating humanity who rebelled. And God chooses Abraham to bless all of the nations through his family who end up in slavery down in Egypt. So then God rescues them. 

Then at Mount Sinai God makes a covenant with Israel, like an agreement. And all of the laws that God gives Moses to give to Israel are the terms of that agreement, like a constitution. So some of the laws are about rituals and customs that set Israel apart from the nations. Other laws are about social justice or morality. And by following these, Israel would show the other nations what God is like.

The rest of the Torah is just the complete list of laws that Moses gives Israel? No, the rest of the Torah just continues the story. And the 613 commands are only a selection from that original constitution, and even these have been broken up and placed at strategic points within the story. You see a really clear pattern. Moses gives the first laws to Israel: Don't worship other gods, don't make idols. And then right after that there's a story of Israel breaking those very laws. They worshiped the golden calf. And so Moses gives some more laws and you get some more stories of rebellion. So more laws, rebellion again, some more laws, rebellion. And you start to see the point. No matter how many more laws, they are just going to rebel. 

So in the conclusion of the Torah's story, Moses gives this final speech to Israel as the prepare to go into their new home and he tells them, "You guys, I know you're not going to follow all of God's laws. You've proven to me that you're incapable. And Moses says that the problem is their hearts are hard and that they're going to need new transformed hearts if they're ever going to truly follow God's law. 

He was right. The story goes on to recount Israel's total failure. They go into the land. They break all the laws. Now the next section of books in the Jewish tradition are the 15 books of the Prophets and they reflect back on the story. For example, Ezekiel said that if Israel was ever going to obey the law, God's Spirit would have to transform their hard hearts into soft hearts. And Jeremiah said that's when obedience to God's commands wouldn't feel like a duty, but they would be written deep within their hearts.  And Isaiah promised a future leader, Israel's Messiah, who would lead all the people in obedience to the Law.

Now in Jewish tradition, all of these books together are called the Prophets, even the historical books, because they're continuing the story told from the perspective of the prophets. We have the Law and the Prophets and they're telling one connected story about God's desire to bless the whole world through a people, Israel, who it turns out needs a new heart. 

And Jesus saw Himself as continuing that story. So He agreed with the Law and the Prophets when He taught that it's out of the human heart that come the most ugly parts of human nature. It's like the default setting of our hearts is opposed to God's Law. But Jesus also said that He came to solve that problem, in His words, to fulfill the Law. So what does He mean, "To fulfill the Law"? 

Well, first He said that all of the demands of the Law in the Torah would be fulfilled by the great command that we are to love God and to love others. So that seems pretty easy. We all want to love. Well, we think we want to love. But Jesus showed that love is far more demanding than we realize. 

So He quotes the Law, "Do not murder." And He says that, yes, not killing someone is a very loving thing to do. But then He also says that when you treat someone with disrespect, when you nurse resentment against them, you're also violating God's moral ideal because you're not treating that person with love. So Jesus said that true love ought to extend even to our own enemies. So even though this command seems very simple, Jesus shows our hearts are not currently equipped to even fulfill this basic command of God to love others. And that's kind of a downer. 

But where Israel failed, Jesus brought the story to its fulfillment. As Israel's Messiah, He fully loved God and others, and He showed all the nations what God is truly like. He did this through His acts of compassion and mercy, and ultimately by loving His enemies even unto death. 

And after His resurrection, He told His followers that He would send God's Spirit to transform their hearts so that they could follow Him and fulfill the purpose of the Law to love God and to love their neighbor.

So this fulfills the story of the Law and the Prophets, or in the words of the Apostle Paul, "The one who loves fulfills the Law" (Romans 13:8).

  

Next post: The Story of God | The Gospel According to Mark

– Sully

Email Pastor Mike | Facebook Us | Join Us | Support Us