January 21, 2024 | Pastor Joel Christiansen
Passage: Matthew 5:33-37
MESSAGE NOTES: “Learning to Live without Lying” Matthew 5:33-37
“In a 10-minute conversation, we tell an average of 3.3 lies.” Robert Feldman.
“Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ’No.’” Matthew 5:37
God is the witness of every word we speak.
“And above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no, so that you may not fall into judgment.” James 5:12
“Speak the truth in love.” Ephesians 4:15
“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up.” Ephesians 4:29
Two reasons why we lie – fear and desire.
“I need to lie to get by.” James Bryan Smith
Your life is not dependent on your lies. Your life is dependent on God.
Lying is about more than words, lying reveals your heart
Lying reveals our incompleteness.
Mean what you say, so people take you at your word.
Series Information
Jesus had much to teach about wisdom and what it means to live in this world. In this world, we look around and see negative actions that can creep into our lives. Actions like anger, lying, cursing, arrogance, and worry. Jesus shares His wisdom about these in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. At the conclusion of this section of teaching, He said, “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does this will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24) We want to be like the wise man. Over the next five weeks, we will reflect on Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount and, we will take on some practical habits that can help us live in His wisdom today. We do not do these things to earn God’s love but instead because, as Jesus says of His own teaching, “those who hear My words and do them is like a wise person.” I pray that this season will be one where we reflect and learn from Jesus’ wisdom as we live our lives built on the rock of Jesus. ~ Pastor Dave
