Cross Church Winnipeg Sermon Podcast

In the beginning, God said, “let there be light.” In darkness there is death. In the light there is life. The Jewish people were supposed to be the light of the world. To the Jews, God said, “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations.” It was always God’s intention to bring light to the whole world through His people. God sent His son Jesus to carry out His will by calling people to follow Christ in bringing light to a dead world, lost in darkness. The mark of every true believer is that he or she reflects the light, who is Jesus Christ. Today we learn what it means to be salt and light.

Jesus says, “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” We crave the praises and the glory that humans give. It’s a sign of the sin that resides in every human. Since the fall of humanity, we have wanted to be like God. In fact that was the very temptation: “You shall be like God.” The follower of Jesus Christ understands that it is God’s praise and recognition and pleasure that we must seek. The praises of humans will always lead us away from God and the Truth, because, as Paul says, humans were born enemies of God. For this reason, Solomon says that the fear of humans, or the concern for what humans think, is a deadly trap. Paul tells the Galatians, “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” The ways of Christ are not the ways of this world. For this reason, things like social media and Youtube and all forms of media that Christians are engaged in, are very dange

Jesus says, “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.” Our Lord’s brother, James reminds us of this when he says, 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:9-10) The world loves comedy and loves to laugh. We all know that laughter is like a drug. It cheers us up and helps us to forget our troubles. Solomon said, “Laughter does good like a medicine.” But laughter alone is not the solution to our deep spiritual problems. The Holy Spirit is constantly at work drawing us to Christ, convicting us of our sin, reminding us of the teachings of Christ. But people would rather laugh and mock and be sarcastic and ironic than surrender to Jesus. Here is the Lord’s warning to us, What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.

Jesus says, “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.” In the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, Jesus is speaking about the judgment of God. Those who refuse to meet the needs of the hungry and the thirsty, the imprisoned and the sick and the naked will be rejected by God. Jesus says, “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” We all live within a tension, regardless of how much money you have. The tension we must all wrestle with is this: “am I giving enough to those who are hungry and in need. We must not compare ourselves to others, rather we must go before the Lord and ask what He would have us do. Some day we will stand before the throne of God and we will have to give an account for the way that we used the resources He entrusted to us. Remember we are stewards of what we have. It all belongs to the Lord. For this reason, Jesus tells us, “What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you.”

Jesus says, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” Jesus teaches the Beatitudes in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In Matthew it is part of the Sermon on the Mount. In Luke it is part of the Sermon on the Plains. But our Lord adds four woes, or words of sorrow, immediately following the beatitudes in Luke. The woes are a warning to all who reject or disregard Christ’s instructions concerning the beatitudes. Here Jesus says, “What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.” Imagine trading an eternity of spiritual happiness for a few measly years of happiness on earth! People do it all the time. People who call themselves Christians do it all the time! It is the saddest thing that happens on earth. Jesus warned us, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” Jesus calls that person a fool. It’s time to start laying up treasures in heaven!

heaven.” All the Beatitudes demonstrate God’s reversal of the world’s values, but perhaps none so markedly as this eighth one. How can being persecuted be “blessed”? Persecution is never pleasant but involves suffering and often severe pain. The key is Jesus’ qualification that the blessed persecution comes “for righteousness’ sake.” Jesus wasn’t offering a general blessing to all victims of persecution for any cause. No, He offered it only to those who were persecuted for actively pursuing the kingdom of righteousness and because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Peter put it this way: “If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20). Rather than feeling discouraged, dismayed, enraged, or depressed, believers who find themselves persecuted for openly living for Christ and His kingdom have good reason to rejoice and be glad—for their reward in heaven is great. Our Lord offered this potent dose of hope and encouragement to those whose stubborn pursuit of righteousne

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Traditionally, "peacemakers" has been interpreted to mean not only those who live in peace with others, but also those who do their best work to promote friendship among humans and between God and humanity. In the fourth century, St. Gregory of Nyssa, interpreted it as "Godly work", which is an imitation of God’s love of humans. John Wesley said the peacemakers’ endeavour is to calm the stormy spirits of humans, to quiet their turbulent passions, to soften the minds of opposing parties, and, if possible, reconcile them to each other. Peacemakers use all of their godly ability and employ all their strength—all the talents which God has given them—to preserve peace where it is, and to restore it where it is not. And of course, Jesus Christ was the supreme peacemaker. Jesus taught us how to live at peace with one another, but more importantly, He reconciled humans to God.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”  The Greek word for “pure” is katharos. It means to be “clean, blameless, unstained from guilt.” Interestingly, the word can refer specifically to that which is purified by fire or by pruning. John the Baptist told people that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Malachi speaks of the Messiah as being like a “refiner’s fire.” The Greek word for “heart” is kardeeah. This can be applied to the physical heart. But it also refers to the spiritual center of life. It is where thoughts, desires, sense of purpose, will, understanding, and character reside. So, to be pure in heart means to be blameless in who we actually are. Being pure in heart involves having a singleness of heart toward God. A pure heart has no hypocrisy, no guile, no hidden motives. The pure heart is marked by transparency and an uncompromising desire to please God in all things. It is more than an external purity of behavior; it is an internal purity of soul. The

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. To be merciful is to show forgiveness and compassion to those in need. Jesus frequently spoke of this trait. In the Lord’s Prayer, He says, “Forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven those who sin against us.” Jesus instructs the Pharisees, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” We are blessed if we are merciful because mercy is something God Himself displays. God’s children are to reflect God’s mercy and are therefore merciful themselves. The merciful in this world are blessed in the sense that they know God’s joy. The person who is merciful will be eternally happy because not only will God show Him mercy, others will too! This really is a blessed way to live. Again, only the mind that has been brought to life by the Holy Spirit can understand this truth.

King Jesus always begins with the heart, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. When He pronounced a blessing on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, He touched on the inner condition of our hearts. Those listening were living under the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. They were experiencing excessive taxation, denied freedoms, and persecution. The servants of God’s kingdom desperately needed the heavenly perspective, and hope, of an eternal inheritance that Christ presented in the Beatitudes. Those who thirst for righteousness receive the water Jesus offered to the woman at the well: “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:14) This beatitude could be paraphrased as follows: “Deeply joyful and spiritually whole are those who actively seek right relationship with God and, in so doing, discover that He alone can completely save and satisfy

Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Meekness is submissiveness and humility. It’s easy to see how people would naturally reject this as a way of life. Although this Beatitude concerning being meek has been much praised, even by many non-Christians, such as Mahatma Gandhi, some view the admonition to meekness with great skepticism. Friedrich Nietzsche in his book called, On the Genealogy of Morals, considered Jesus’ call to meekness as the embodiment of what he perceived as a slave morality. Nietzsche, like every unconverted person, cannot understand the wisdom of Christ. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Jesus personified meekness. And don’t be fooled. Meekness is not weakness. Only the one empowered by the Holy Spirit can fully embrace this truth and live it out.

Jesus said, "Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted." It is important to remember that this portion of Jesus’ teaching was directed toward His closest friends, not the general population. The beatitudes are the opening words of Jesus’ sermon on the Mount and is a collection of truths designed to prepare His followers for His kingdom, which involved a lifestyle radically different from the world’s. The beatitudes are meaningless without faith in Christ. The term mourn means “to experience deep grief.” In keeping with His theme of spiritual blessedness, Jesus seems to indicate that this mourning is due to grief over sin. The people who agree with God about the evil of their own hearts can attain an "enviable state of blessedness," due to the comfort they receive from communion with the Holy Spirit. Christians do not seek happiness as the world does.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Poor in spirit" does not mean lacking the Holy Spirit or religious awareness. Jesus is talking about poverty as not only a physical condition, but also a spiritual one. In fact, the more self-aware a person is of his or her own spiritual poverty, caused by the inborn human condition of the sinful nature, the more one is humbly aware that they are "poor in spirit." The poor in spirit understand they are in a state of poverty without Jesus Christ as Savior. Without Jesus the Christ alive and active in one's soul, we remain in a completely impoverished spiritual state; once a person declares Jesus as Lord and Savior of his or her life, Jesus sustains them through a daily renewing of their poor spirit: "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'" (John 6:35).

Fathers are so important in our society today and they often get a bad rap. Dads, you are so vital to the development of your children. Do not take your task lightly!

David committed adultery with Bathsheba at the height of his kingship. The luxury, freedom and powers he enjoyed had blinded him to his sin. This is a common danger to us all. His sin had blinded him to what matters most, which is a close relationship with God. And David knew this! He wrote many Psalms about being close to the heart of God. David followed the seductions of sin and it took hold of his life. He began going through the religious rituals, offering an abundance of animal sacrifices, but in his heart, he was far from God. It was in the depths of his sin that God confronted him and David knew that he had walked away from the One who loved Him, His God. David wrote Psalm 51 to commemorate his repentance and to remind all God’s people of every generation about what God really wants. Its not burnt offerings God wants, it’s a sacrifice of a broken spirit. Why? Because by nature we desire what is sinful and we want to do as we please. There is a real sacrifice involved.

Sharing is something that we have to be taught. Most of us learned a little about sharing when we were just children in nursery school. In the sandbox, we were taught to share. In the playground, we were taught to share. Amazingly, however, most of us never really got good at it. If the truth be known, must of us prefer not to share. Why is this? Because we are selfish by nature. If this were not so, the Lord would no need to tell us to share. These Old and New Testament scriptures are full of commands about sharing with the poor, the foreigner, the widow, the orphan, the priests, and with God Himself. The last book of the Old Testament is a rebuke to Israel for their unwillingness to share a small portion of their income and harvest with God. The glory of the Church is Christ and in Christ is the example of generosity that all of us are called to imitate. Christ calls us to give of our time, treasure, and talent. Sharing like this is not just profitable on this earth, it echoes in eternity, where Jesus says

No one is saved or goes to heaven just for doing good works. There is no good-works-sacrifice that is big enough for that! Faith in the sacrifice of Christ is still the only way to heaven. Everyone on earth, Christian or otherwise, understands that altruism—doing good—is what makes humans noble. But the good works that Christians are called to are not occasional and not for human glory. NO! Christians are called to do good works for the glory of God. Paul says, "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31). We could easily say that doing good is not what we do, its who we are. To the Ephesian Christians, Paul says, For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10) At Cross Church, we work hard at providing opportunity for Christians to do good here and around the earth, but we also teach the importance of doing good in order to cause all people to praise ou

We cannot make sacrifices for our sins. We cannot do penance for our sin.  We cannot pay for our sin or do anything in payment for our sin. Jesus Christ alone was and is the sacrifice for our sins. But……we are called to offer spiritual sacrifices to God. Hebrews tells us to offer a sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to Christ. Today we discover how to live this out from day to day.  We are not just talking about singing songs of praise. We are talking about living a life of gratitude to God, praising God daily for Jesus’ death, and the removal of our sins. But there’s more, we praise God by telling everyone we know about our wonderful Saviour. A sacrifice of praise is a celebration of the forgiveness of our sins through Christ!

Some Christian traditions teach that we can reduce our time in purgatory if we do certain acts of personal sacrifice and contrition. The problem is, this is not biblical. The sacrifice of Jesus’ life for our sins was sufficient to bring about reconciliation between God and humanity. We don’t have to flog ourselves or walk on our knees or doing anything to atone for our sin. We have a restored relationship with God because of Jesus work on the cross and it was sufficient. But there are spiritual sacrifices that we are taught to offer to God that are expressions of love for God and not our own efforts of payment for our sin. The apostle Peter tells us that Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, we offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. (1 Peter 2:5) The first spiritual sacrifice we make is giving our lives to Christ.

Happy Mother's Day!