Franklin Vineyard Church

Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.  G...

No one knows the date or time when Jesus will be returning, but scripture makes one thing clear. We're instructed to stand ready and not fall asleep while we wait for his return. In todays message, listen as we discuss how to stand ready as we wait for the return of Jesus.

Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. When we were children, some of us would get instructions from one parent that felt like it was different than the other, and we would only listen to one. But we were supposed to listen to both because one clarified the other. The same is true with Jesus. He did not co...

Matthew 5:13-16 You are the salt of the earth...you are the light of the world...  We are back in Matthew! We are now working through another famous portion of Scripture where Jesus talks on a hill...most of us know it as the Sermon on the Mount. Each part of this sermon deals with how we ought to live our lives and how our lives function as a witness to who God is and who we are, and Jesus sets u...

As a believer, you will eventually find yourself in seasons of discontentment. Times where your life doesn't look the way you imagined it would. The key to successfully navigating these seasons is living according to God's way rather than searching for shortcuts. In today's sermon, Ken Fish highlights the importance and benefits of a continued walk in righteousness instead of striving...

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah flees after his life is threatened. Not only does God supernaturally provide for him, but also meets him in a cave and restores his purpose. Be encouraged! No past mistakes or failures can stop God's love from meeting you where you are today. He can and will restore you.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  We are taking a break from the Beatitudes by looking at what it means to Minister unto the Lord! The Lord is worthy of our praises and adoration, and we can't just simply think these things about...

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. We are nearing the end of end of our mini-series, Blessed, by looking at the end of the Beatitudes. Peace-making is much more active than simply being a peaceful person. Peace-making means entering into places and spaces of conflict and bringing the shalom of God, and this shalom is much more than the absence of stri...

Matthew 5:8-9 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. The heart is the seat of personality, and the personality is the sum total of mind, emotions, and will. The mind is our intellect and thought processes. Emotions are how we feel. And our will is how we make decisions. All together, this is our heart. Purity, obv...

Matthew 5:6-7 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  A.W. Tozer once said that you could have as much of God as you want. This desire, this need, to be filled by God is created by God so that God alone can meet the need! What Jesus is talking about in this beatitude is that you are blessed if you...

Matthew 5:4-5 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  We are moving into our next set of blessings, and John Stott, a British pastor, once said that this verse can be almost translated, "Happy are the unhappy." You'll remember from last week where we talked about the upside-down values of the Kingdom, and this i...

Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  The way up is down is a great summation of so much of what Jesus taught, and as He begins His teaching on the mount, He starts by highlighting the "poor in spirit." In one sweeping statement, Jesus invites all who feel helpless, hopeless, full of despair, unworthy, and totally empty to taste and see that He...

Matthew 5:1-2 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them...  We are continuing in our Matthew study and looking at a new portion in Matthew 5, The Beatitudes. It's called the Beatitudes because of the Latin rendering of "blessed." This portion of the Sermon on the Mount talks about the blessings of b...

Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts....

Ephesians 4:16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Last week, we talked about how God has prepared good works for each of us to do, and this week, we are looking at our role in the whole body! When a person comes alive in the Body of Christ, the whole flourishes. And that's how God desig...

Romans 8:19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  We are taking a break from Matthew to take a look at an important concept: Listening to the Lord! In Romans, Paul speaks about all of creation longing for the children of God to rise up, and many of us are unwilling to take that next step into our purposes and callings because of fear, disappointment,...

Matthew 3:16-17 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  At the Jordan River, the Father spoke a word over Jesus: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." And...

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  Happy Independence Day weekend! This is a momentous year for Americans celebrating 250 years of independence, but for the Christ follower, we have always been free! We've been set free from the bondage of sin, from darkness, from captivity, and God has placed us into His marvelous Kingdom! As...

Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”   As news of John the Baptist’s imprisonment spread, Jesus stepped into the spotlight, beginning His public ministry in Galilee. His message was urgent and transformative: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus encountered ordina...

Matthew 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Continuing in our study of Jesus' baptism, we're looking at the Identity of the Son of God. The baptism story is told four different ways all declaring the same thing: Jesus is the Christ the Son of God! And this identity comes from the heart of the Father. God's words to Jesus and to...

Matthew 3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.  We are revisiting the Baptism story in Matthew! The Holy Spirit had been all over the place from the very beginning of Matthew, introduced in 1:20 talking about how what was conceived in Mary was from the Holy Spirit, a...

Matthew 2:14-15 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew is the very first book of the New Testament, which obviously follows the Old Testament, and Matthew meticulously makes theological claims about the personho...

Matthew 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said... In the first few chapters of Matthew, there's something that happens that can easily be glossed over without careful investigation. God revealed His plans for Jesus' birth all in dreams! God speaks to Joseph multiple times in dreams: that Jesus was a gift of the Holy Spirit, to go to...

Matthew 1:1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah... We're finishing up our study in Jesus' family history by looking at Rahab! Rahab is such an interesting character study because she was an outsider (as a Gentile) but helped to bring the Hebrews into the Promised Land. For those familiar with the story, it's an incredible account of how God uses unexpected people to bring about...

Matthew 1:1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham... We are returning back to Matthew chapter one for just another deep dive into the lineage of Jesus. Matthew is the very first New Testament book after the whole Old Testament, and it was intentionally placed because of Matthew's emphasis on Old Testament promises. For those familiar with the story, an...