Sermons on Matthew 5:25-37:

Getting To The Heart Of The Matter Series

Contributed by Charles Cunningham on Aug 2, 2019

Jesus taught His followers to prove their love by purity of living that flows from the heart.

“If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?” If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times growing up. The point is: Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t make it right. However, Christian perspective on the subject of Christian distinctiveness presents to some ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30

Make Or Break Situations Series

Contributed by Charles Cunningham on Aug 2, 2019

Make or break situations present a distinct challenge to the integrity of a Christian.

“Cross my heart and hope to die!” Did any of you ever use that phrase to swear to a friend that you would keep a promise? As kids, we engaged in such promise making, except that we might have done so with our fingers crossed behind our backs! Big difference between promise-making and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:33-42

Respect Versus Contempt

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

All that is hateful and unloving is to some degree evil. Jesus says we need to be aware of this, and deal with it in its early stages, and so prevent all the serious consequences of thinking that negative attitudes are alright as long as you don't murder anyone.

Alexander the Great conquered the world, but anger conquered him, and turned him into a murderer. Like so many of the murders of history, it was not intended or designed. It happened because men do not understand that anger is the beginning of murder. Clitus, his best friend, was teasing ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26

The Now Life

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

The Lord's Prayer in chapter 6 is a now prayer. Give us this day our daily bread. All of its petitions are for now. Hallowed be your name-now. Thy kingdom come now. Thy will be done on earth-now.

Marguerite Higgins, Pulitzer Prize winner for international reporting, stood by a marine during the Korean War. It was 42 below zero, and the soldier was weary and covered with frozen mud. She asked him, " If I were God and could grant you anything you wished, what would you most like?" ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26

The Lure And Cure Of Lust

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

It is no wonder the Pharisees wanted Him out of the picture. He just made the majority of the human race murderers by making anger equivalent to murder, and now He makes the majority adulterers by making lust equivalent to adultery.

Show me the man who has never looked at a woman with lust, and I'll show you a man with a white cane who was blind from birth. None but a blind man could get through life and not be captivated by God's crowning work of creation-woman. Anyone with an ounce of artistic appreciation knows ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30

The Cause And Cure Of Divorce

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

Where lust is in power divorce will rise. Where lust is controlled by love divorce will subside. There is a direct connection between lust control and divorce.

Jo Fleming in her book His Affair reveals that almost every sinful emotion and action known to man is kindled by lust that is not controlled. Her husband of 26 years went to the apartment of a woman he worked with to return some books. This was an action he could have avoided, but he chose not ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32

Simplicity Versus Complexity

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

We need to see that the primary problem of the Pharisees was that they were too religious. Some people go bad because of their vices, and others because of their virtues.

Human nature loves to magnify the minute and give significance to the insignificant by the simple method of stretching the truth. An army cook, for example, feed a mob of men with scrambled eggs, and then he sat down and wrote to his girl friend: "Dearest, for two hours shells have been ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37

Kingdom Relationships Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on Sep 20, 2019

In dealing with your anger, don’t commit murderous acts, don’t think murderous thoughts, and don’t speak murderous words. But if your anger has hurt someone, seek reconciliation and seek a resolution as soon as you can.

Several years ago, the Arizona Republic carried a story about Steve Tran of Westminster, California. He activated 25 bug bombs in his apartment to get rid of some unwanted guests, the cockroaches that shared the space with him. He closed the door thinking he had seen the last of them. But when the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26, Ephesians 4:26-27, Matthew 10:28, Mark 9:48, James 3:6  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Kingdom Sex Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on Sep 27, 2019

To overcome a porn addiction and lust, Jesus says: Don’t look with the deliberate intention of fantasizing sex. And if you can’t keep from looking, take drastic action to avoid the trap of lust. But above all, depend on Christ to purify your heart.

On a December Sunday afternoon in northeastern Pennsylvania several years ago (2005), Pedro Sainvil sent two of his two children, ages 8 and 9, outside to play in the snow. Several minutes later, they rushed back into the house screaming, “Dad! Dad! There's a bear under the house!” Sure ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Kingdom Marriage Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on Oct 3, 2019

If you want to make your marriage work, don’t look at other women (or men); don’t look for loopholes; instead, look to the Lord! Depend on Him to do what you can’t do on your own.

Terry Kenne from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, talked about her daughter planning a small family wedding at their church. When Terry and her husband arrived early on the day of the wedding to make sure everything was ready, they noticed a banner from the missions conference was still behind the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32

Denomination: Evangelical Free

The Sermon On The Mount (Part Eight) Series

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Oct 7, 2019

As we continue our series, we come to the place where Jesus stresses the importance of dealing with our anger and mending relationships.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (part eight) Matthew 5:21-26 As we continue our series, we come to the place where Jesus stresses the importance of dealing with our anger and mending relationships. We’ve all been angry at someone. The question is-what has that anger produced? If we don’t properly deal ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26, Ephesians 4:26-27, 1 John 3:15, Romans 12:18, 1 Peter 2:11-12  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Renew Sex Series

Contributed by Robert Butler on Oct 9, 2019

Jesus did not come to abolish the law but fulfill it. He calls on us to live understanding Heterosexual relations are for the purpose creating, understanding relational intimacy and continuing God’s will in the world

On July 20, 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. His first words after stepping on the moon, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” were televised to Earth and heard by millions. Urban legend has it ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:20-48, John 8:2-11

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Kingdom Integrity Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on Oct 11, 2019

How do you live in a culture that regards truth as relative? Jesus says, “Don’t swear. Just speak the truth.” But in order to do that, you must submit to Him!

On the first day of school in a Peanuts comic strip, the teacher asks her class to write an essay about returning to school after summer vacation. Linus writes, “No one can deny the joys of a summer vacation with its days of warmth and freedom. It must be admitted however that the true joy lies in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37, James 5:12, Galatians 2:20, Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 5:3  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical Free

I Was Walking The Plank Series

Contributed by Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid on Oct 20, 2019

My brothers and sisters, I was walking the plank —- it seemed in my own light of day. Sometimes when you are at the helm, whether starboard or port, you appear to be walking the plank. Your appearance makes folks see you as walking the plank. This is what happened to Peter when...

I Was Walking The Plank by Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid “And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-31, Matthew 5:36, Matthew 17:20, Isaiah 40:22

Denomination: Friends

The Sermon On The Mount (Part Nine) Series

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Oct 28, 2019

We continue our series with Matthew 5:27-30 where Jesus talks about lust and the need to cut sin out of our lives.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (part nine) Matthew 5:27-30 Back in the days before automobiles, two preachers met in a certain town. The first asked the second how he was doing. “Furious!” replied the second. “Someone stole my bike and I think it’s one of my church members! I don’t know what to do.” The ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30, Job 31:1, Mark 9:42-48, 2 Peter 2:14-22

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ