The Jesus Manifesto Series

The Jesus Manifesto (Matthew 5:1-12)

6-24-18

Chenoa Baptist Church

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Your Wife Ain’t Your Momma!

Have you ever had a sermon dramatically change your life? Has a sermon ever rocked your soul to the point that you still remember it years later?

The year was 1995. I had been married three years to my little red headed girl and if you had asked me to rate myself as a husband I would have given myself an eight out of ten. But one sermon changed all of that.

My father-in-law and I were at Promise Keepers in Atlanta when an African American pastor named Wellington Boone rose to speak. I’ll never forget his first sentence – “Your Wife Ain’t Your Momma!” The Holy Spirit used that sermon to confront my pride, challenge my priorities, and change my heart. It was a gut punch and I walked out of the arena in tears. Eight out ten? More like a two out of ten!

Pastor Boone didn’t give us a “to-do” list to be a better husband. He spent his time from Scripture giving us a “to-be” list. What are the character traits of a husband that loves his wife as Christ loved the church? Even though it was hard to hear, I was also encouraged that God was interested in making me a much better husband. Maxine is still a fan of Dr. Boone!

Jesus’ To-Be List

This morning, we will begin a sermon series, a journey through Jesus’ “to-be list.” We will be looking at the greatest sermon ever preached. It was Augustine who gave it the name that we call it today, “The Sermon on the Mount.” We will be concentrating this summer on what are known as The Beatitudes. This section is only 107 words in the Greek. It’s short but incredibly powerful. In this section of Jesus’ first extended discourse, we will find what Tim Keller calls, an “upside down Kingdom.” Jesus gives us a picture of Kingdom life. He doesn’t give us a to-do list. It’s much deeper than that. These are the characteristics that a Christian exhibits in a lost and dying world.

Let me give you a couple of challenges before we begin.

First, I want to challenge you to memorize these twelve verses. Read them every day. It will only take a couple of minutes. Write them on an index card and carry it with you. If David can memorize the entire book of Jonah, you can do this!

Second, never miss a Sunday! I know it’s summer and you will be out of town on vacation at some point. But if you are in town, be here. You are not going to want to miss this!

Lastly, invite a friend. Invite two friends. Pray and asked the Holy Spirit to give you boldness to invite that neighbor, coworker, or family member. I came to Christ, because Aaron Teaford invited me and then befriended me.

I’m as excited as I’ve ever been about this sermon series. We are going to learn a lot, God is going to challenge us deeply, and we will grow as a result.

Prayer/Scripture Reading

The Text in Context

When studying a text, we must always keep in the text in its context. So let me set the stage for you. I’m not going to assume you now everything about the Bible.

Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples. He was originally known as Levi and he was a tax collector. This meant he was a traitor to his country, collected taxes for the Roman government, and pocketed a lot of extra cash for himself. Tax collectors were despised and marginalized. But Jesus called him and changed his name and destiny.

His book is what we call a “Gospel,” the story of Jesus for a Jewish audience. How do we know that? Matthew contains more Old Testament Scriptures than all the other Gospels (Mark, Luke, John). Matthew had a theme to his writing – the Kingdom of God.

In the first four chapters, Matthew introduces us to Jesus as the long awaited King. In chapters 4-16, Matthew paints a vivid picture of what this King’s mission was. We see Him preach his first sermon, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Jesus teaches with authority and heals and extends for forgiveness to those who have “ears to hear.”

In chapters 16-28, Matthew takes us through His last days, trial, crucifixion, resurrection, and His final charge to His disciples.

There are five long discourses, or sermons, in Matthew and this is the longest one.

The Sermon on the Mount is found in chapters 5-7. Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus and what we would call the “Christmas story.” Jesus is born in Bethlehem, but has to escape Herod’s murderous rampage by fleeing to Egypt. (By the way, Jesus was a refuge). They return to Israel where they settle down in a little backwoods town named Nazareth.