Persecution and the Pursuit of God | Matthew 5:11-12, Luke 13:31-35, Romans 8:37, Psalm 23 God’s purposes will continue regardless of who makes threats and regardless of who is in office. This morning, as we are all trying to make sense of an unusual political season in [...]
A Pure Heart has a Single Desire The Greek word katharos is translated “pure” has two basic meanings: “clean” and “unmixed.” Our English word cathartic come from this Greek word. In the medical field, a cathartic agent is something a doctor uses to clean out the physical system. In other words, it’s a powerful laxative, something that cleans out [...]
Senior Pastor Mark Stafford Redeeming the Heart “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” The first thing we learn in this beatitude is that Jesus is concerned with the heart. It’s not enough to polish the outside of our lives. Listen to what He says about the Pharisees in Matthew [...]
When the Bible talks about Mercy, it is not making a promise of fair treatment by other people The expectation of fair and equal treatment was wishful thinking in the days the Bible and it is wishful thinking today. We live in a self-focused, power-grabbing, competitive society. In the modern age, people who show mercy [...]
God acted sacrificially to meet our needs at the very moment we deserved His help the least. He deals mercifully with our sin out of His great and perfect love for His people. Romans 5:8 says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It would be [...]
The Greek word translated as “meek” in Matthew 5:5 was a word that commonly described these three things in Jesus’ day: a soothing medicine, a gentle breeze, and a broken colt. Doctors might give a meek medicine to a patient with a high fever in order to help them sleep. The medicine relieved the situation and drove people [...]
God comforts those He cleanses. When David was confronted about his sin with Bathsheba, he was not crying out against the punishment of sin, he was sick over the sin itself (Psalm 51). He was mourning over sin. He hated that sin had found a home in his heart and he grieved about what [...]
Matthew 5:4 says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” The question that is immediately raised in our minds and hearts is, “How can a person be blessed if they are mourning?” Only the people of God understand the answer to the paradox in question here. No one ever spoke like Jesus. Blessedness coming [...]
Senior Pastor Mark Stafford The Controlled Power of Meekness Matthew 5:5, Psalm 37 We live in a world that is run by powerful people. Secular society tends to trample people who do not appear strong. Perhaps a misunderstanding of meekness is one reason why so many powerful people have little to do [...]
The Beatitudes describe the attitude of a person who has totally and completely surrendered to the authority of Jesus as Lord. This person is quite different from the norm in that they are humble, merciful, pure, and peacemaking. This person openly confesses their allegiance to Jesus in a hostile world. Sometimes people misspeak about [...]
