Isaiah, almost 700 years before it happened, foretold of God’s plan of salvation of mankind. A virgin birth that gave us a savior, who would not only teach us about love but would demonstrate it by his death burial and resurrection, cleansing us from sin and gifting us eternal life.
Matthew 1:1-18
January 7th, 2024 – Imagine Herod enjoying his reign in relative power and being visited by a caravan of magi from the East. They were astronomers, philosophers… men of nature, men of science. But they knew of the prophecy and upon seeing this sign from God as a star, they followed it. Upon arriving, I’m sure Herod was impressed with his audience but that soon waned when he learned, these visitors from the East were not there for him but for the baby of who all the Old Testament books had foretold of many years before. The promise of a new Kingdom and a new King.
Matthew 2:1-6
February 12th, 2023 – The Kingdom of God is something that seems so far away to us here in the world. We often associate the Kingdom with Heaven, a place of rest and worship for our eternal life. But scripture tells us that while we are in the world, the Kingdom is ‘near’ to us. We are the Kingdom of God. He lives in each of us and draws each of us closer in fellowship.
Matthew 9:32-35
January 1st, 2023 – When Jesus was born, one would think that an infant child would not cause a stir. But because of the knowledge of what He represented, there were many that filled with jealousy and hatred at his birth. Instead of falling down an worshiping Him as the wise men did, Herod wanted Him dead. Jesus represented everything that Herod opposed and as such, could not be left to live. Meanwhile, the very people that He came to free, gave His birth little if any notice. Today we approach Jesus in one of three ways. We are either hostile to Him and everything he represents, or we are indifferent to Him. But we should approach Him as the wise men did. By offering ourselves to Him and worshiping Him as the Lord of our lives.
Matthew 2:1-8
December 18th, 2022 – In today’s Sermon, Pastor Jonathan points out the statistical improbability of a single man fulfilling just a handful of prophecies. In the book Science Speaks, written by Peter Stoner and Robert Newman, they put the improbability of one man, whether accidentally or deliberately, fulfilling just eight of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled is 1 in 1017 power. But if you study they prophecies, many would have been completely out of Jesus’ power. And one can clearly argue that Jesu fulfilled many more than eight. How about over 300. Where does that leave us believers. Needing the same thing that Mary demonstrated. Faith that God was at work then and is still at work in our lives today. We don’t need statistical or historical data to prove His existence. He exists because we have faith in Him and belief in who He was and what He came here to do.
Matthew 1:18-25
December 4th, 2022 – In today’s Sermon, Pastor Jonathan illustrates through scripture the preparation early Jews made in readying themselves for the Messiah’s return. John the Baptist made it clear that to ready yourself, you must repent. But how do we know we’re actually repentant? By our fruit. How we treat others and how we live a life in which God is first.
Matthew 3:1-12
November 27th, 2022 – Was Jesus limited as a man? While he was God, he was in fact human and often let this part of himself be shown so that God was glorified through Christ’s actions, not the other way around. To illustrate this, Jesus spoke of Noah and the coming flood and the end of days will occur on God’s timetable, none other, even Christ himself knows the day and time.
Matthew 24:36-44
November 14th, 2021 – Jesus often spoke in parables when discussing the kingdom of God with His early followers. There was an expectation of what the Kingdom of God was like and Jesus clearly defined this in the parable of the wheat and the weeds. We will always live in a world that is attempting to choke out our spiritual growth through daily challenges that have us make choices. Will we be the wheat or will we be the weed?
Matthew 13:24-30
Nov. 7th, 2021 – The word of God is something we should receive each and every day. We have the necessary tools to do so but the distractions of our lives drown out message or rather we attempt to receive the message but leave little time to let it take root in our lives and often move on to other pressing matters. This back and forth with God is detrimental to our Christian growth and prevents us from having a true relationship with Him who provides us what we need to stay out of the traps laid by the evil one.
Matthew 13:3-8
Oct. 31, 2021 – Tricks. That is what the non-believers wanted from Jesus to define his authority. But the truth was, Jesus had been performing miracles and even so it was claimed that his miracles were from a place of evil and that he must be a demon. They missed the point. And Jesus went on to explain what was to come. In the same way, can listen to His teachings and improve our lives through good works, but without the Holy Spirit living inside us, we leave room for the evil one to re-enter and make us worse than we were before.
Matthew 12:38-42