THINK TOGETHER.
Have you ever heard a sermon? Do you like listening to sermons? Why or why not?
READ TOGETHER.
Matthew 5:1;13-16. 1Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2And he opened his mouth and taught them.
I’m guessing you’ve probably heard a sermon preached, probably in church. Jesus preached many sermons. Jesus was a construction worker who became a teacher or preacher. After being baptized by John and tempted in the wilderness by Satan, Jesus began his ministry. What was his ministry? It was to first proclaim or preach about the coming Kingdom of God. Then, the second part of his ministry was to die for our sins on the cross.
Matthew 5 records for us the longest and most famous sermon of Jesus. We call it the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount was an important part of Jesus ministry. Why? Because it pointed to the Kingdom of God, describing what it should look like to live for God in his kingdom. But the sermon also pointed to Jesus’ second ministry – dying on the cross. In what way? When Jesus’ sermon tells us what to do we can quickly see that we can never do what he’s telling us. It’s too hard. To obey Jesus, you would have to be perfect. Here are some things Jesus says to do in his sermon:
Matthew 5:44. I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Matthew 5:48. You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 6:15. if you do not forgive others their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:44. do not be anxious about tomorrow.
Matthew 7:12. So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.
If everyone did all these things the world would be so much better, wouldn’t it? That’s the Kingdom of God! But can we actually do all these things? Can we be perfect? Can we love our enemies? Can we forgive completely? Can we stop worrying? Can we always do to others what we want others to do for us? No, we can’t. And that’s why we need Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. We all fall short of what Jesus tells us to do in his sermon.
But the good news is that when we know that Jesus died for us, that he forgives us, he loves us no matter what, he is perfect for us, then we can trust him enough to do these things with him. Even if we might fail, to obey Jesus’ sermon, that’s OK. He will never fail us.
Because of Jesus we know how God wants us to live.
With Jesus we can obey his sermon as we trust in him more and more.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Look up the sermons from your church on the internet (if possible). Talk about why we go to church and hear sermons. Sermons tell us how to live in God’s kingdom, but also how to trust Jesus as our substitute when we fail to live as we should.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, when I know that you love me no matter what then I can obey you and your sermon. Help me to always trust your love for me. Amen.
TLICfamily 