The Well: Sermon Audio

After Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount, we begin to see some of the people’s responses to what they heard. The leper knelt before Christ and asked to be healed, fully believing Jesus had the ability to do it if He were willing. And Jesus healed him. We also see the centurion, who approached Jesus on behalf of his paralyzed and suffering servant. The centurion not only believed Jesus could heal, but also believed Jesus was powerful enough to do it without being in the servant’s vicinity. Both of these men had huge faith in Christ, believing He was who He said He was. We have the entire Bible pointing to Jesus being the Messiah, the Savior of the world. Do we demonstrate the kind of faith of the leper and the centurion?

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has continually admonished us to examine our hearts. In this passage, He shows us the heart of our heavenly Father and how much He cares for each of us. We are invited to have a relationship with the God of the universe, and Jesus models that relationship for us, encouraging us to pray persistently and expectantly to a loving Father who knows what is best for us and wants to give us good things.

Many have taken this passage to mean people should never judge others, and while non-believers are not held to the same standards, believers are called to speak truth in love and judge each other when necessary. What Jesus is speaking against is the hypocrisy of using different standards of judging someone else than we use on ourselves. May we learn to be people who care enough for other believers to point things out in their lives that need to be corrected, according to the Word of God, as well as people with teachable hearts who are willing to receive reproof from others.

When our eyes move to the things of this world, our hearts follow. When our hearts begin to drift away from God to the things of this world, anxiety comes because life is unpredictable. In this passage, Jesus is inviting us back into an anchoring with Him at an affection level. When we tether out hearts to the Lord, He provides a security that this world never can, even in the midst of poverty or tragedy.

If you’ve ever felt like a stranger in a roomful of people, our desire is that you would not feel that here. We would love to help you get connected and be part of community, as God designed. Personal relationships, though they may not always be comfortable, are valuable. May we be a church that welcomes both guests and family into our beautiful mess.