Sermons

FILTER BY:

← back to list

Mar 24, 2019

The Heart of Murder

Passage: Matthew 5:21-26

Speaker: Brian Land

Series: Sermon on the Mount

Category: Grace Brevard

Keywords: anger, forgivness, hate, love, murder, slander

ORDER OF worship

PRELUDE: Montage - Anger

CALL TO WORSHIP: 1 John 4:7,10,19-21

LEADER: 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

ALL: 21 And he has given us this command: anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

MUSIC: 

READING: Proverbs 14:29 & Psalm 86:15

LEADER: Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,

but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

ALL: But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

PRAYER: The Lord’s Prayer ESV

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

For Thine is the Kingdom

and the power and the glory

forever and ever Amen.

GRATITUDE: Silent Reflection & Prayer

MISSIONAL LIVING: Charter Members & Congregational Meeting

MESSAGE:  The Heart of Murder

CENTRAL TEXT: Matthew 5:21-26

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

ILLUSTRATION: Halt & Catch Fire - Office Peace

BENEDICTION: Romans 15:13 ESV

LEADER: 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.   

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES:

  • 1 John 3
  • Ephesians 4
  • Psalm 4:4
  • Psalm 30:5

MEDIA:

3.24.19 Album

DISCUSSIONS QUESTIONS:

  1. What things usually make you angry?
    1. What does anger look like when it comes out of you?
  2. Give an example of something/someone who recently made you angry.
    1. How did you handle your anger?
    2. Upon reflection, was your anger justified?
  3. Give specific examples of “good” anger, and “bad” anger.
    1. Can you provide examples of each from Scripture? 
  4. What made Jesus angry?
  5. What did his anger look like?
  6. What does slander against others reveal about our hearts?
  7. Why is it so easy to destroy others with our words
    1. Why/How is this the “same” as murder
    2. (Remember how God brought forth life with his words in Creation)
  8. In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus makes a connection between anger and worship. Review these verses, and then explain why you think Jesus emphasizes reconciliation that precedes worship?
  9. Said differently, how does unjustified anger obstruct worship?
  10. At the cross, God’s righteous anger was poured out on Jesus. Why was/is God’s anger “righteous”?
    1. How does this change the way we believe God sees us?
    2. How can this change our anger toward others?

QUOTES:

  • “For there is nothing for which God takes so much pains as this: that we should be united and knit together one with another.” - John Chrysostom
  • “Anger in the heart towards any human being, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith, is, according to our Lord, something that is as reprehensible in the sight of God as murder.” - Martyn Lloyd-Jones
  • “Your anger and mine can be remade into God’s image. …  Jesus gathers up our angers, not to neuter our sensitivity to evil, but to redeem how we respond.” - David Powlison
  • “You humans only need two emotions. Anger and confusion.” - The Good Place (Season 2 Episode 9)
  • “If we find ourselves angry about getting snubbed in social media, or being cut off in traffic, or going unrecognized for work, or having an idea shut down, or feeling underappreciated by our spouse — the problem might be that we love ourselves too much.”  - Jonathan Parnell (Desiring God)
  • “So you say a man has murdered someone. Well, what was his motive? Either he desired the man’s wife or his property. Or maybe he was afraid of losing something to this man that he held dear. Or maybe he had lost something to him and now was burning to be revenged. So, let’s ask this question again. Why does any man commit murder? Answer. Every man who commits murder does so because he loves something...because he loves something too much. And that is the motive for his crime.” - St. Augustine (The Confessions)

BOOKS / DOCS

SERMONS / TALKS: