In part 2 of Matthew 22:37-40, Pastor Eugene goes deeper on the "Jesus Shema" - the important prayer and practice of Loving God and Loving People. We're able to engage in this prayer and practice by God's grace because God first loved us. As we soak in God's love, we grow deeper in loving God and loving our neighbors - as ourselves.
Quest welcomes back Pastor Eugene Cho from his summer sabbatical. During this sermon, Pastor Eugene preaches from Matthew 22:37-40 to introduce the first part of this sermon series about the heart and vision of Quest Church. Following the law was critical and complex but Jesus reminds the religious leaders, his followers, and us that the most important things are about Loving God and Loving People.
This sermon seeks to explore Jesus' words about persecution and the call to rejoice. A discovery is made that Jesus changes his language and the focus of the beatitude in this 9th exhortation indicating to the reader that this is a call to discipleship. What does it mean to be persecuted? How does one rejoice in the midst of suffering?
Randall takes us through Matthew 5:10 and tries to make the case that the kind of righteousness we need today is a righteousness based on relationship and reconciliation.
Pastor Ray helps us to reflect on three important questions related to the seventh beatitude: "Blessed are the peacemakers..." What kind of peace is Jesus talking about? Who are the peacemakers and why are they called "sons (children) of God"? And how do we go about making that kind of peace?
Pastor Gail preaches on Matthew 5:6 in our continuing series on the Beatitudes. What does it mean to be so desperate for God’s presence –to hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness? For we know that our hope lies in the promise of being filled, which is ultimately a Eucharistic promise.
No one talks about meekness these days, so how are we to read Matthew 5:5? Our Youth & College Ministries Director, Morgan, offers a contextual look at who Jesus is speaking to in the Beatitudes, and offers a sparkling (literally) explanation for why inheriting the earth is really, really good news.
We mourn all kinds of conditions in our lives, and the second beatitude certainly promises the comforting presence and peace of the Holy Spirit to God's children in the depth of our sorrows. But Jesus is particularly calling us to mourn our sins--to express a "godly sorrow" that leads to repentance. And he is calling us to mourn over the things that are terribly wrong in our world. Those who mourn are promised the comfort of God's unfailing love, forgiveness and restoration; the comfort that comes from comforting others; the comfort of knowing that we are agents of God's hope; and the comfort that comes from God's promise of a future when all creation will be made new and there will be no more mourning.
