Category: Sermon on the Mount

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:13-14 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Matthew 7:13-14 in our Winter Re:Verse Series: “The Sermon on the Mount – Living Kingdom Values.”

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:7-11 (day seven)

Knock, and it will be opened to you.

God has not provided a salvation which can only be understood by learned men […] it is intended for the ignorant, the short-witted, and the dying, as well as for others, and hence it must be as plain as knocking at a door. – Spurgeon

Just Knock! Anyone can do it. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to be a minister or have a degree from a seminary. You don’t even have to know what you are going to say. God just wants you to come as you are and knock at His door. Your willingness to seek His company is enough for Him to bring you in and give you a seat at His table. At the table, you will find what you need was already plated in front of you before you sat down, for He knows what you need before you ask (Matt 6:8). No matter how beat up or how unworthy you feel, He will always come to let you in. So Just Knock!

 

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:7-11 (day six)

At the time, many likely viewed God as indifferent to their life and needs, or worse, that he was only interested in keeping track of their misdeeds. Jesus’ words were intended to be paradigm-shifting: much like a father, God cares and is fully invested in your life.

I imagine his listeners had far more questions about that than whether or not we will get everything we ask for.

Jesus was not introducing a formula for getting what we want out of God; he was describing the kind of relationship we can have with God.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:7-11 (day five)  

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” The Greek tense of the verbs in our ReVerse passage carry the meaning of a continual action. Ask, and then keep on asking (seek, knock).  The English language leaves that out. The original readers would have picked up on this verb tense. With it, comes the idea of urgency, intensity, and frequency. Jesus then illustrates His point by depicting a child engaging with his dad, asking for bread then fish. Jesus will later say “unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.“ (Matthew 18) Oh, that our relationship with God would be described like that. Am I determined and desperate (like a child) to understand, hear from, and trust my Heavenly Father? 

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:7-11 (day four)

There is much about Christianity that involves mystery. There are some things about God, the universe he created, and the spiritual reality we live in that are too great for us to understand. 

But at the same time, we also serve a God who knows us and wants to be known by us. He invites us to know him here. What grace, that the eternal God of the universe desires for us to know him like this! 

Having trouble loving your neighbor? Ask God what he loves about them. He loves to answer that question. Having a hard time knowing God’s plan for your life? Seek how God is already moving – we see it through Scripture, in history, and the movement of the Spirit around us. He doesn’t hide his will from us. Need somewhere to run with your anxieties and fears? Knock on God’s door – he has an open door policy and he’s ready to receive you.

Though there is mystery, our Lord wants to make himself known to you. Ask, seek, knock. He’s ready for you.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:7-11 (day three)

“Knock, and it will be opened to you.”

A slamming door, a closed sign, a missed deadline – what has it been like for you when you’ve experienced these things? Just thinking about those descriptions can evoke anxiety or dejection or panic. To miss out, to be left out, to be thrown out, to feel like you’re not cut out or that you don’t stand out – these are among life’s hardest circumstances because they can invite you to believe that you don’t amount to much. On the other hand, when someone recognizes you, opens up to you, desires your company, and confides in you, a sense of welcome, worth, encouragement, and hope begins to rise in you. God doesn’t slam doors, but opens them, Jesus reveals. To you. You’re so used to finding them closed that it might take you a while to notice.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:7-11 (day two) 

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! vs. 11

Jesus addresses an interesting dichotomy that exists in our very nature. The first is our sin nature. Make no mistake, we are sinners. Born under the curse of sin, none of us is born righteous. This flies in the face of any modern sensibility. You will hear people speak of human nature as basically good, and you know they are not speaking from a Christian worldview. Our bent is to sin and self-preservation.

In our sin nature, however, we are also wired with the capacity to love. We are especially wired to care for our children. We share this with virtually every species on the planet.

What separates us from the rest of creation is our capacity to recognize our sin nature. Jesus uses this ability to reason to help us look around. If we, even in our fallen state, will care for our children: If we, see God as not only creator, but sustainer: If we then, see God as providing for us as his children, we can rest in his care and provision.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:7-11 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Matthew 7:7-11 in our Winter Re:Verse Series: “The Sermon on the Mount – Living Kingdom Values.”

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:1-6, 12 (day seven) 

Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. vs 6

What an odd verse to follow an iconic illustration. So much so, that this verse gets lost. Who else felt like you had never really studied this part of the passage? Same here! So, who are the dogs? Who are the pigs, and what are the pearls?  Because this verse is not as cut and dry as the speck and log, there are lots of interpretations, but I would say we can make an educated guess here in light of some context.

Pearls are valuable. What is the most valuable thing we can give to others? The Gospel! Yes, we are not supposed to judge others (speck and log), but God has given us the Holy Spirit to know when it is time to move along. When our attempts to help change the lives of others are met with continual dismissal, sometimes the best thing to do is to move on to the next person. If your pearls are not appreciated, it is okay to find the place where God will put them on display for others to truly see!

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:1-6, 12(day six)

They will hammer their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks. Isaiah 2:4

Judgemental words are the weapons of war; they destroy. But we weren’t made to use them. We were created, in God’s image, to speak life and light, to advocate for each other’s flourishing.

By God’s grace and work of his Spirit, may he turn our weapons of war (judgment of others) into gardening tools.