Crosstown OKC Sermons

In order to enter the kingdom of God, one must possess a greater righteousness than the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus gives six examples of what this greater righteousness should look like, showing that what God requires of his people is not just conformity to an external morality, but a wholeness of life that reflects the wholeness of God himself.

In claiming to be the fulfillment of Israel’s great story, Jesus alters the way his people must now live. But this alteration does not abolish the way his people were always meant to live. Rather, it shines the light on what those expectations are truly all about, and how living in this way is in line with God’s kingdom.

Jesus came to redeem the world. That means he also came to change the world. Disciples of Jesus are to be his agents of this redemptive transformation. But the only way they can succeed in this calling is by maintaining their distinctive quality and by remembering their primary objective.

The nine Beatitudes that open the Sermon on the Mount are endearing but also perplexing. How can Jesus say that those who are poor or persecuted are blessed? How can such persons be assured of the promises that Jesus says are theirs? Understanding the meaning of the Beatitudes is central to understanding the entire Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus claimed that he had come to inaugurate the kingdom of God on earth. He called his disciples to follow him so that the kingdom of God would extend through them throughout the world. The sermon on the mount gives guidance to disciples of Jesus seeking to live faithfully as citizens of the kingdom of God.

Some think of Christianity as nothing more than moral guidelines to follow while others think the faith has little to do with such matters. The Bible has plenty to say about how Christians are supposed to live, but the distinctiveness of Christian living is regularly ignored or misunderstood. The Christian is called to learn Christ and, by doing so, Christian conduct begins to take a shape that ca...

Mission does not happen in a vacuum. Gospel and community are prerequisites that lead the believer to live in the new freedom we have in Christ, in pursuit of holiness, rejoicing in hope, being firm in the faith, and seeking to disciple others by gospel proclamation.

Soon after Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit filled every one of his disciples, and the Christian church was born. By its very existence, the church testified that Jesus really was now reigning as Lord of all. In the church's ordinary practices, the gracious reality of Jesus's reign was also demonstrated. Even the troubles that tested the church gave witness to the fact that God had come t...

The gospel is the good news about Jesus. The first Christians were overwhelmed by his life, death, resurrection, and ascenscion, seeing that God had made Jesus the world's true Lord. Confident that, with Jesus as Lord, the world could no longer remain the same, they began to proclaim salvation in no one else, boldly inviting everyone to join them as citizens of God's kingdom.

The gospel of Jesus changes lives. No one who has received the love of God in Jesus can ever be the same. Of course, a Christian may still act contrary to the gospel he has believed; it can even be challenging to know how a Christian ought to act. But the foundation for Christian living is always the good news that Jesus loved us and gave himself for us.