Oftentimes, we reject God’s purpose for our lives when it doesn’t meet our expectations. The same was true in Jesus’ day. But God rarely acts in ways that we might prefer him to. And the truth Jesus shares with his followers in our text this morning is that the kingdom of God must be received on God’s terms, not ours.

Our world tells us position and power determines our worth, that our status–social, economic, political, occupational, religious–makes us more deserving of God’s blessing. But Jesus doesn’t play these games. In these stories of healing, we see that the kingdom of God comes through faith and compassion, not position or power.

Christians are some of the biggest hypocrites you’ll ever meet. Often judgmental or condemning, blind to our own problems, yet think we can see others’ problems so clearly. Our actions often don’t line up with our words. As Jesus closes out his “Sermon on the Plain,” he sums up his teaching by saying that following him means doing what He says. It means we don’t wear the mask. We are not judgmental of others. We are not worried about other people’s stuff. It means we are witnesses, not prosecutors.

If life were fair, we’d all be in hell. If we all got what we deserve, God would have to separate us from himself forever because of our sin. But, God shows mercy. God is kind to evil people, and we should be too. With God, Mercy is greater than Fairness.

We all fear death. Whether it’s fear of non-existence, fear of what our loved ones will do when we’re gone, fear that our lives won’t have meant something, or fear of loss of control, we all fear death to one degree or another. But the promise of Easter is that union with Christ in his death ensures our union with Christ in his resurrection. In Christ, crucifixion leads to resurrection. With God, the end is only the beginning!

We all fear death. Whether it’s fear of non-existence, fear of what our loved ones will do when we’re gone, fear that our lives won’t have meant something, or fear of loss of control, we all fear death to one degree or another. But the promise of Easter is that union with Christ in his death ensures our union with Christ in his resurrection. In Christ, crucifixion leads to resurrection. With God, the end is only the beginning!

Our hope and our heart are not naturally tied to humility. We exalt ourselves, and what we don’t realize is that it kills our peace. But by hoping in God, the humble can regain that peace.

Where do you take your shame, guilt, and fears for the things you’ve done? When you’re in “the depths,” where do you turn? When you sin, where do you go? Do you try to make up for it by doing more good than bad? Do you try to forget about it, drowning out the nagging imposter syndrome? We underestimate the severity of our sin, we underestimate what is necessary to forgive it.

The good news this morning is that God meets our pleas with plentiful redemption. God always hears, forgives, loves, and redeems. God is the only One who is completely honest about who you are, but completely loving at the same time.

Oftentimes persecution feels more present than God’s promises. All you can see is trouble. And it seems like it will never end, like the season will not pass. But there is good news this morning: trouble don’t last always! God will deliver the persecuted and shame the oppressor. This is the hope the writer of Psalm 129 gives us this morning.

If we’re not careful, we become idle or make work an idol. God gave us both work and rest as gifts. But, it’s just like our sinful flesh and the devil to take a good thing and twist it to evil purposes. Rest, that deep assurance that God is in control and not us–twisted to laziness; and meaningful work, what every one of us must do to feel fully alive–twisted to an idol.

What God shows us this morning is that when we receive God’s best, we can work from our rest. When work is a gift from God, and He is at the center of our lives, ordering all the pieces, then our souls are at rest. And we won’t make an idol of work. But we won’t remain idle either.

“I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know the One who holds tomorrow.”

Where does your hope of security lie? In whom do you trust? In a world so full of chaos, it’s hard to know where to turn. But when you don’t know what tomorrow holds, you can trust the one who holds tomorrow. Security in God is based on the character and nature of God in full view of the past, his activity in the present, and hope in the promise of the future.

Every one of us has struggled with going through the motions on Sunday mornings. We are so easily robbed of the the joy of worshiping together. But the truth we need to hear is that worshiping together creates supernatural joy, unity, and peace.

Martin Luther famously said, “All of life is repentance.” What does that mean, and is it as devastating as it sounds?

We often forget the needs of the person in front of us as we are consumed with today’s priorities. We forget that each person around us has questions and needs, many are hurting, and most of all that God has created us to meet them in these needs and be His hands and feet. We, like Jesus, have one commission: to seek and save the lost.

What if, when we imagined a future with more, we imagined more for others instead of ourselves? What if our first thought when we got more was not to say “What can I get with this,” but instead, “Who can I bless with this.” That is what a heart transformed by the grace of Jesus looks like. God’s generosity to us drives our generosity to others.

Our culture makes an idol of individual freedom. It says that true freedom is deciding what is true and right for yourself, and anyone who tries to limit that is stifling your freedom. But is that really freedom? Paul doesn’t think so. And in Galatians 5, he explains what true freedom in Christ looks like and what it ought to be used for.

We have a nearsighted view of the word “family.” We limit it to our biological relatives without giving much thought to what Jesus means when he calls his followers family. But Jesus’ words challenge our understanding of family, giving us a much more expansive view of what family truly is and what the church ought to look like.

It’s easier to retreat to the comforts of our past than it is to embrace the uncertainty of the future. But with great risk comes great reward. How do we follow Jesus and leave it all behind? The truth we’ll see is when Jesus is your greatest possession, you can joyfully leave everything else behind.

We all want to feel like we’re making progress. Whether it’s our health, finances, at our job, or in our spiritual lives, no one wants to be ineffective and unfruitful. The problem is, we want immediate success, a defining moment that gives us the breakthrough we’re looking for. But no lasting, meaningful change happens that way. Instead of single defining moments, it is day-in day-out faithfulness in the small things that leads to true change and lasting success.

To be human is to suffer. But why do we suffer? Is it our own fault? Is the Devil behind the bad circumstances in our lives? Is God punishing us?