Elements City Church
Sermon on the Mount - Week 12 - Choose Jesus
The Sermon on the Mount is the most famous sermon Jesus ever preached. It derives its name from the place where Jesus preached it; a mountainside that acted as a natural amphitheater along the shores of Galilee. The Sermon on the Mount, preached to ordinary people, covers a wide range of topics like prayer, fasting, money, worry, forgiveness, anger, lust, judging others, and more. But the theme that unites it all is Jesus explaining the heart of God behind His given Law. It is one of the most challenging biblical texts to interpret properly because the Sermon goes far deeper than promoting external obedience to God’s moral imperatives or simple behavior modification. Every line of the Sermon goes to the heart of discipleship. The Sermon offers a clear understanding of what a blessed life that is pleasing to God looks like from the inside out. What Jesus taught often runs counter to mainstream thinking, but every lesson is brimming with heavenly wisdom and practical instruction that leads us into a flourishing life.
Locations & Times
Elements City Church
1825 N Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85712, USA
Sunday 5:00 PM
Thanks for joining us!
Whether you're on-site or online, we are praying that tonight will be an encouragement to your soul. May God whisper to you and help you in taking your next steps in a journey with Him. If you're new, we'd love to have you fill out our connection card.
https://connect-card.com/yr4Y0g8VLBSqzKXeubjbIt's here in the Sermon on the Mount -- found in Matthew 5-7 -- that King Jesus gives us a radical picture of what life in His Kingdom looks like. And it’s our hope that, as we meditate on Jesus’s words, we might become people who more closely follow His Way and experience a life that truly flourishes in the process.
“I think the Sermon is a piece of wisdom teaching from Jesus that invites people into true human flourishing through wholeness centered on God and his coming kingdom. Jesus’s Sermon invites us to see the world in a certain way and to be in the world in a certain way that accords with God’s nature, will, and coming reign upon the earth; in short, “righteousness” (cf. Matt 5:20). It is a call to faith‐based discipleship in Jesus, the Son of God.”
- Jonathan T. Pennington
- Jonathan T. Pennington
The Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12)
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus takes the negative teaching that was familiar to His audience and He turns it completely upside down by commanding us to follow a “Golden Rule” that is – a positive ethic compelled by love.
The way of Jesus is not passive - it’s ACTIVE!
It may be easy to refrain from harming others, but it is much more difficult to take the initiative in doing good to them.
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus takes the negative teaching that was familiar to His audience and He turns it completely upside down by commanding us to follow a “Golden Rule” that is – a positive ethic compelled by love.
The way of Jesus is not passive - it’s ACTIVE!
It may be easy to refrain from harming others, but it is much more difficult to take the initiative in doing good to them.
Jesus, like any good preacher, is nearing the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and he’s bringing home, he’s making personal. He’s saying here, 'My teaching is not to be praised but to be practiced. My teaching is not to be commended but to be carried out.'
Jesus says everybody has faith commitments no matter who you are.
Jesus says everybody has faith commitments no matter who you are.
Christianity is narrow in a vital way.
=It’s narrow in that it demands focus and authenticity and intensity and full commitment and discipline. Anybody who has accomplished anything in your life, you know that the narrow gate is the way into fullness.
=It’s narrow in that it demands focus and authenticity and intensity and full commitment and discipline. Anybody who has accomplished anything in your life, you know that the narrow gate is the way into fullness.
Jesus is as blunt as he can be.…
John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
In Acts 4:12, the Apostle Peter says, “… there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
You’re either choosing Jesus (the narrow road) or you’re choosing the other road…
You are either an admirer of Jesus or a follower of Jesus
— there’s no third way.
John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
In Acts 4:12, the Apostle Peter says, “… there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
You’re either choosing Jesus (the narrow road) or you’re choosing the other road…
You are either an admirer of Jesus or a follower of Jesus
— there’s no third way.
A disciple is someone who knows Jesus, is becoming like Jesus and seeking to live on mission with Jesus….
Jesus is constantly pushing people to decide if they will move from admirer to follower.
Jesus is constantly pushing people to decide if they will move from admirer to follower.
Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount, and everyone was amazed, but Jesus was not interested in amazing the crowd. Jesus never went up to people and said, "Admire me." He only said, "Follow me."
He said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me." -Luke 9:23
He said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me." -Luke 9:23
To follow Jesus means I will do what he says. Not just admire what he said.
Sure, I will mess up a lot. I'm going to need his power. I know that, but I form the intention. I say to him, "God, with your help, as best I can, I will do what you say.
I will give you my life, my time, my obedience, my heart, my love, my devotion.”
Sure, I will mess up a lot. I'm going to need his power. I know that, but I form the intention. I say to him, "God, with your help, as best I can, I will do what you say.
I will give you my life, my time, my obedience, my heart, my love, my devotion.”
Jesus was distinguishing between lip service and real discipleship. It is much easer to profess Christianity than to possess it.
Jesus chose you first and desires to walk with you - he awaits us to continually choose him in return, to follow him…
Jesus does not present himself as a good, spiritual teacher to be admired from a distance. He presents himself as a King, a Master, as Lord, as the one to be followed and served and obeyed and worshiped.
Choose Jesus!
Choose Jesus!
Thanks for partnering with us!
Thank you for enabling us to be the Church in our city! Your gifts help fuel the mission of Elements City Church, as well as our capacity to share His love with as many as we can. You help us bring the HOPE and LIGHT of Jesus to our city! You can give online at the link below or through the Elements app.
http://elementscitychurch.org/giveWhether you joined us on-site or online, thanks for being with us tonight!
May you have a blessed week ahead!
Join us next week as we conclude our series in the Sermon on the Mount.
We look forward to gathering again next weekend!
May you have a blessed week ahead!
Join us next week as we conclude our series in the Sermon on the Mount.
We look forward to gathering again next weekend!