Service Folder Our Only Hope Is in Christ’s Righteousness “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:20). God demands nothing less than perfection and holiness from you in regard to His commandments (Ex. 20:1–17). Your only hope, then, is not in your own goodness but in the goodness of Christ,…
503 665 7283 2010 NE Division St. Gresham, Oregon 97030
Evangelical Lutheran Church
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God”— Ephesians 2:8, 9
Sermons on Matthew (Page 4)
Service Folder Tonight is Maundy Thursday, the night Jesus was betrayed. That night Jesus ate his final Passover meal with his disciples. All the Passover lambs sacrificed for those meals over the centuries pointed to the Lamb of God, Jesus. On Maundy Thursday, then, Jesus replaced the Passover meal with the Lord’s Supper. In his Supper, Jesus gives us his body to…
Service Folder Holding God to His Word Jacob wrestled with God; he would not let Him go until he received a blessing from Him (Gen. 32:22–32). So it was with the Canaanite woman. Though Jesus seemed to ignore and reject her, she continued to call upon His name and look to Him for help (Mt. 15:21–28). Even when the Lord called her…
Service Folder In the Garden, man exalts himself to be a god in place of God (Gen. 3:1–21). He succumbs to the temptation of the devil, and eating of the forbidden fruit, he receives death. But in the sin-cursed wilderness, God humbles Himself to become man in place of man (Mt. 4:1–11). He does not eat but fasts and bears the onslaughts…
Service Folder Our Lenten theme is “Eyes on Jesus.” “When people in the Passion narrative looked at Jesus, what did they see? Who misunderstood him? Who acknowledged him as the Son of God? This Lenten season we will “fix our eyes on … Jesus” [(Hebrews 12:2) what he has] done to save us from our sins by holy precious blood, innocent suffering…
Service Folder In His Baptism, Jesus Takes His Place with Sinners Our Lord Jesus is baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:13–17). He partakes of a baptism for sinners in order that He might be our substitute and bear the judgment we deserve. In the water, Jesus trades places with us. Our sin becomes His sin. His righteousness becomes our righteousness. Our…
Service Folder Theme: Grace Alone Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard owner who goes out to hire laborers throughout the day. At the end of the day the first laborers in the vineyard complained against the landowner for the wage he provided them (Matt. 20:1–16). They charged him with being unfair, but in reality he was being generous. For the Lord…