FBC Beaumont

Jesus heals two blind men and a mute, demon-possessed man as His finale in this section of Scripture that displays so perfectly His power over distance, disaster, discouragement, disease, death, and darkness.

Jesus heals two daughters through a word and a touch. Both met at the feet of Jesus, one public and one anonymous, one through the faith of a father and the other through her own faith, one healthy for 12 years and the other unhealthy for 12 years. Jesus touches both and meets their needs. 

In calling the tax collector Matthew as one of His first followers, Jesus takes a moment to discuss the advantages of the pushback He and His followers will receive. One of the main applications of this discourse on the cost of following Christ is the profitability of such pushback. Jesus’s disciples actually grow through such adversity and persecution.

For miracle number six out of ten, Jesus shows His authority over the disease of paralysis in order to teach on the nature of sin and the greater glory of His free offer of forgiveness.

For miracle number five out of ten, Jesus takes His disciples on their first mission trip to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, where the help rescue a man from Gadara who is possessed by demon(s). Ministry to the Gentiles comes with the adversity of spiritual warfare, and His disciples need to know that the thickness of the battle from the other side is part of the plan. We fight from victory...

In this story about Jesus calming a storm at sea we see encouragement to trust God’s will and seek Christ’s help in prayer. Jesus uses this storm as an opportunity to both test His disciples’ “little faith” and display His own “resting faith.” Jesus rebukes His disciples before rebuking the storm. We are meant to compare ourselves to the disciples. Never see a storm as just a storm: it's a test.  

Jesus' call is an invitation to follow Him into His work to seek and save the lost. Jesus' call is not an invitation to an all-inclusive luxury lifestyle. This does not imply that a disciple of Christ is required to live in poverty or despair, only that they are required to follow where Jesus leads.

Jesus challenged the physical taboos of the day by healing the leper and the ethnic taboos of the Jews by healing the Centurion’s servant. In this third miracle (out of ten), Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law to challenge the gender taboos of the day and demonstrate several ministry axioms. For example, miraculous intervention should always be followed by ministry investment. Peter’s newly healed...

After healing the Jewish leper with a touch (up close)—someone excluded from the congregation by his physical condition—Jesus heals the Gentile centurion’s servant with a word (from a distance)—someone excluded by his race. With this second example of His power, Jesus teaches about genuine authority and about genuine faith.  

Jesus displays His power as the long-awaited king by first healing a leper, the first of 10 miracles. This visible sermon displays both the nature of sin (Lev. 13) and the power of the Savior to heal the foulest of sinners (Lev. 14). 

Jesus begins to wrap up His Sermon on the Mount by giving some quick axioms of ministry within His kingdom. Principally, people of the kingdom will be known by their fruit. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus next addresses the necessity of judging with the right manner and the right heart. He tells us to avoid the critical judgementalism found flowing from a hasty, harsh, hypocritical spirit while embracing the careful judgment found in honest, humble, and honoring people of God. 

Jesus answers the next questions in the mind of the audience of His Sermon on the Mount, who have just been challenged to prioritize the Kingdom of God above their own lives. If a person has their heart, mind, and will set on obeying the true Master, how will this same person be able to care for the ordinary needs in life, such as food, clothing, and shelter? Jesus addressed the life of daily fait...

The Sermon on the Mount continues as Jesus, once again, addresses the hearts and motivations of His people. Jesus here warns against the sin of living for the things of this life. The most important things in life are not things. Jesus makes very clear the sad consequences of materialism and covetousness. Hearts, minds, and will focused, first and foremost, on God’s kingdom characterizes God’s peo...

The rest of the Sermon on the Mount focuses on true righteousness practiced in the believer’s life. The surpassing righteousness of Jesus’ followers MUST be applied in the everyday activities of life. Our relationship to God—seen in such basic spiritual activities as giving, praying, and fasting—MUST be secret, for God to see and not for people to applaud. This gets to the heart of one’s motives.

The surpassing righteousness of Jesus’ followers impacts the world because it surpasses mere “religiosity.” In this last part of chapter 5, their righteousness surpasses the basic religious expectations of what mercy looks like. By addressing the Old Testament law of retaliation, Jesus once again establishes Himself as the interpreter of the Law. The inner, ‘spirit of the law,’ righteousness of Je...

God’s only Son was not spared death like Isaac. Jesus freely gave Himself up to death so we could be forgiven. Jesus was a willing sacrifice and will return as a conquering sovereign. He was forsaken so we could be forgiven.

In this passage, God sent Elijah to school. God prepared Elijah and the widow for ministry by bringing them to the end of themselves. It is only when we come to the end of ourselves and our supplies that we begin to appreciate our great need for God and His help. God has to bring us to this point of desperation because it is often the only way He can get our attention and show us what only He can...

Abraham is the patriarch who was known by his altars. Altars are places where you celebrate that your life has been altered. Abraham’s faith could be trusted because his faith had been tested. He stepped out with God (Gen. 12:1-3) and believed God could bring life from death (Gen. 15:10). Abraham was prepared to do anything for God. He was even willing to offer up his only son, Isaac.  

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount stands as radical and counter-cultural as when He first preached it. In a culture that sets its moral baseline on a sliding scale, followers of Jesus must remember that our standard is based on the Word of God. Studying the transformation of lust into adultery reveals a great deal about our modern culture and personal spiritual maturity.

Through thousands of years and across countless cultures, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount stands as radical and counter-cultural as the day He first preached it. Most cultures define their morality and values on a sliding baseline of social ethics, but Jesus focuses on the heart. Studying the transformation of anger into murder reveals that sin is birthed in the heart. Focusing on the actions apart fro...

In the third section of Jesus’s radical, counter-culture manifesto about the inner life in His Kingdom, Jesus gets to the heart of His message by focusing on inner righteousness and the Law of God. The two integral connections He proclaims are His fulfillment of the entire Law and a believer’s passion to obey all its commandments. This passionate pursuit of holiness for the believer is driven by g...