Kingdom Words: The Sermon on the Mount (Pt. 5)

This week, Julian Adams brings a Palm Sunday message from Acts 27 titled "Wrecked for a Purpose." Drawing from Paul's harrowing shipwreck on his way to Rome, he unpacks what it looks like to hold onto faith — and God's goodness — when every current in your life seems to be working against you.Walking through Paul's storm-tossed journey, the angel's promise in the middle of the chaos, and the unexpected arrival at the island of Malta, this message confronts the assumption that being in God's will means smooth sailing. Julian makes clear that prophetic promises are not a guarantee of comfort — they are an invitation into a deeper partnership with heaven that must be tested and walked out.The sermon anchors in a simple but profound truth: your storm is not a detour from your destiny — it is the route. Like Paul, who broke bread in the middle of the tempest as an act of defiant faith, we are invited to celebrate the goodness of God not after the storm passes, but in the middle of it. Gratitude becomes the posture that unlocks perspective. Eating becomes a prophetic declaration that the future goodness of God is available right now.Ultimately, this is an invitation to stop white-knuckling the ship that you think will get you where you need to go, and to trust that the God who wrecks your plans is the same God who has already prepared a certain island for you — a place of purpose, breakthrough, and living witness to His redemptive goodness.

This week, Griffin Towle continues our Sermon on the Mount series with a message from Luke.

This week, Ryan brings a message from Matthew 5 and Genesis 1–2 titled "The Kingdom of God Is Here — In Your Sexuality." As part of the ongoing Culture of the Kingdom series on the Sermon on the Mount, Ryan tackles the topic that was saved for last: what does it look like to follow Jesus in the area of sexuality?Drawing from Jesus' teachings in Matthew 5, the creation account in Genesis, and Paul's writings to the Corinthians, this message confronts two competing stories about sexuality — culture's and God's — and invites the church to choose. Ryan is honest about the complexity in the room: the wounds of purity culture, the noise of cultural messaging, the pain of violation, and the shame that so many have carried silently for far too long.The sermon anchors in a simple but liberating truth: sex was God's idea. It is not a right, a means of personal fulfillment, or the highest human experience — it is a good gift, given in the context of kingdom partnership, and charged with prophetic meaning. Marriage points to the love of Jesus for his bride. And singleness, Ryan argues, carries its own distinct prophetic witness — proclaiming to a sex-saturated culture that Jesus alone is enough.Ultimately, this message is an invitation to turn from the lies, shame, and fear that darkness uses to wage war against our bodies, our stories, and our sexuality — and to turn toward the One who wants to redeem all of it. Whether your story involves addiction, abuse, confusion, purity culture wounds, or simply silence, Jesus is not a place of judgment. He is the pathway to freedom, healing, and wholeness.

This week, Griffin Towle shares a message from Luke 9:57–10:20 titled "Follow, Send, Follow." Drawing from Jesus' sending of the 72, Griffin unpacks what it truly means to follow Jesus — and what happens when we do.Walking through Jesus' challenging exchanges with would-be followers, the commissioning of the 72, and their joyful return, this message confronts the assumptions many of us hold about who is qualified for mission. Griffin makes clear that evangelism is not reserved for the spiritually elite or those in vocational ministry — it is a command and a lifestyle for every follower of Jesus who has given him their wholehearted yes.Griffin anchors the sermon in a simple but powerful cycle: follow, send, follow. We follow Jesus by surrendering our will to His rule and reign. He then sends us — as lambs, not lions — into the harvest. And as we go in obedience, He follows us, working through us to demonstrate and declare that the Kingdom of God has come near.Ultimately, this sermon is an invitation to examine where we've been saying "Lord, let me first..." and to trade our conditions for a full yes. As we abide in Jesus and align our will with His, we become conduits of His Kingdom — sent into our neighborhoods, workplaces, and relationships to proclaim and demonstrate the life that is available to all who follow the King.

This week, Ryan Murphy continues our Sermon on the Mount series with a message from Matthew 6:1–34 titled “Kingdom Generosity.” Exploring Jesus’ teaching on giving, treasure, and trust, Ryan invites us to rethink our relationship with money in light of the Kingdom of God.Walking through Jesus’ words about secret generosity, storing up treasure in heaven, and God’s care for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, this message challenges the anxiety, scarcity, and cultural scripts that often shape how we think about finances. Instead of fear or self-reliance, Jesus calls us to radical trust in a Father who already knows what we need.Ryan highlights two core truths that anchor Kingdom finances: the Father knows our needs before we ask, and generosity is the pathway to blessing in the Kingdom of God. Through Scripture, personal stories, and historical examples of faith-filled provision, we’re reminded that following Jesus means surrendering even our finances to His leadership.Ultimately, this sermon is an invitation to renew our minds—leaving behind inherited fears, cultural pressures, and scarcity thinking, and stepping into a life of faith, generosity, and trust. As we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, we discover a Father who delights to provide, guide, and bless His people.

This week, Bekah Sankey brings us back to the Sermon on the Mount, teaching from Matthew 5:17–37; 7:15–23, with reflections from Romans 7–8, Galatians 5, Hebrews 10, and Jeremiah 31. Centered on what she calls Kingdom Words, this message explores how the way we speak reveals who we belong to—and whether we truly know the One we name.Beginning with Jesus’ bold declaration, “You have heard it said… but I say to you,” Bekah unpacks how Christ establishes Himself as the fulfillment of the Law—not abolishing it, but completing it. From that foundation, she traces what this means for our speech. If Jesus is the living Word and the Law fulfilled, then kingdom people must speak in ways that reflect His authority, integrity, and Spirit.Walking through Jesus’ teaching on oaths (Matthew 5:33–37), she calls us back to simple, honest speech: let your “yes” be yes. In a culture saturated with exaggeration, spin, and self-protection, clarity and truthfulness become radical acts of discipleship. Moving into Matthew 7, she challenges us to “check the fruit”—not measuring spiritual vitality by visible gifts or dramatic moments, but by the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5).Finally, in one of Jesus’ sobering warnings—“I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23)—we are reminded that powerful words and spiritual works mean nothing apart from intimacy with Him. Prophecy, miracles, and ministry cannot replace knowing Jesus. Kingdom speech flows from relationship, not performance.This message is both invitation and warning: tell the truth, check the fruit, and know Him. As we yield to the Holy Spirit—the One who writes the law on our hearts—we become people whose words create life, whose speech multiplies the kingdom, and whose lives bear lasting fruit.

This week, we welcome Bishop Drew Williams from All Saints Church Amesbury, preaching from Isaiah 45:1–5, alongside reflections from Hosea 11, Luke 1:78–79, Romans 7, Isaiah 54:2–4, and the wider story of redemption .Centering on God’s promise to give “treasures of darkness” (Isaiah 45), Bishop Drew unpacks the historical moment of Israel’s exile and Cyrus’ unlikely role in their restoration—revealing how God brings hidden treasure out of places of defeat. But this isn’t just ancient history. It’s a deeply personal promise. The same God who broke open Babylon’s vaults now enters the hidden, shame-filled vaults of our own hearts.With pastoral warmth and theological depth, Bishop Drew explores how trauma, sin, and shame drive us into secrecy—and how Jesus meets us there, not with wrath, but with compassion. Drawing from Hosea’s declaration that God’s “compassion grows warm and tender,” and Luke’s image of the “Dayspring from on high,” we are reminded that grace is not a substance to be rationed—it is a Person who abounds toward us.This message is a call to step out of hiding. The darkness we fear may actually be the place where Jesus reveals His mercy most clearly. What feels like failure can become treasure. What feels like shame can become testimony. And what feels like the end may, in Christ, be the ignition of calling and destiny.In the power of the cross, Bishop Drew invites us to trust the slow, gentle work of healing—piece by piece—and to move forward with courage. Because in Jesus, we are not disgraced, not abandoned, and not disqualified. We are called by name.

This week, Katia Adams joins us with a message from Matthew 9, inviting us into a fresh, elastic faith  . Preaching from Jesus’ teaching on new wine and new wineskins (Matthew 9:14–17), Katia unpacks the broader movement of the chapter—miracles, mercy, controversy, and compassion—to reveal a central question: What kind of wineskin are we becoming?Through personal reflection and pastoral challenge, she explores how disappointment, fear, comparison, and cynicism can slowly harden our hearts—shrinking our expectations of what God can do, who He will work with, and how abundantly He intends to move. Contrasting the audacious faith of the woman with the issue of blood, the blind men, and the desperate father with the rigid unbelief of the Pharisees, this message calls us to examine the boundaries of our belief.Katia challenges us in four key areas: the limits we place on God’s power, the mercy we withhold from others, the comparison-driven ways we approach spiritual disciplines, and the small expectations we carry about the harvest in our cities. With Jesus’ declaration ringing in our ears—“The harvest is plentiful” (Matthew 9:37)—we are invited to let the Holy Spirit re-oil our wineskins so that fresh faith can expand us again.This message is a call to elasticity: to allow the new wine of the Spirit to determine our shape and size, not our past disappointments. As we yield to Him, we become communities able to steward fresh moves of God—full of mercy, bold in faith, and confident that the harvest before us is far greater than we imagined.

This week, Jeshua Glanzmann continues our journey through the Sermon on the Mount, teaching from Matthew 5:21–26, 38–48; Matthew 7:1–6, 12; Matthew 6:14–15; and Matthew 18:21–35  . Walking through some of Jesus’ most challenging words, this message confronts the quiet corrosion of offense and invites us into a radically different way of relating.Beginning with Jesus’ teaching on anger and reconciliation (Matthew 5:21–26), Jeshua explores how the Kingdom addresses the heart before the behavior. From there, Jesus’ commands to turn the other cheek and love our enemies (Matthew 5:38–48) reshape how we approach conflict—not with retaliation, but with restraint and compassion. Moving into Matthew 7, we’re challenged to examine our own hearts before judging others, and to live out the Golden Rule as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.Drawing from Jesus’ words on forgiveness (Matthew 6:14–15) and the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21–35), this sermon ultimately points us to the heart of the gospel: none of us meets the standard—yet Jesus does. Because we’ve received immeasurable mercy, we are empowered to extend forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn’t excuse harm or erase boundaries, but it frees us from living in the realm of accusation and punishment.This message is an invitation to step fully into the grace we’ve been given—becoming people who love deeply, seek peace boldly, and trust God to work miracles in even the most broken relationships.

This week, Ryan Murphy continues our Sermon on the Mount series by teaching from Matthew 5:6 and Matthew 6:5–13. Centered on Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” this message explores prayer as an invitation into deeper intimacy with God—not a religious obligation, but a response to holy hunger. Drawing from the Beatitudes and Jesus’ teaching on prayer (including the Lord’s Prayer), we’re reminded that life in the Kingdom is rooted in continual communion with a Father who is near, attentive, and eager to fill those who seek Him.