Sermons

FILTER BY:

← back to list

Apr 07, 2019

The Heart of Truth

Passage: Matthew 5:33-37

Speaker: Brian Land

Series: Sermon on the Mount

Category: Grace Brevard

Keywords: honest, lies, spirit, truth

Order of worship

PRELUDE: Liar Liar 

CALL TO WORSHIP: Revelation 5:11-13 ESV

READING: John 8:28,31-32

LEADER: 28 So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

ALL: 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

MUSIC: 

  • Prelude - Joyful Joyful 
  • Fairest Lord Jesus
  • Crown Him
  • O Great God
  • Overwhelmed
  • Band: Randy Johnson, Hannah Spears, Owen Grooms, Josh Carter, 

PRAYER: Congregational Prayer: from The Worship Sourcebook

Heavenly Father,

We gather in this place not because we are deserving of your love

And not because we have lived faithfully before you.

We gather here because you have called us.

You loved us before we could love you.

You have given your only Son, Jesus Christ, for our salvation.

For this we join all creation

In blessing you, praising you, thanking you.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!

You are great, and greatly to be praised.

And as we offer our praise,

We long for you to mold us into the image of your Son,

Whose death and resurrection give us hope.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

MESSAGE: The Heart of Truth

CENTRAL TEXT: Matthew 5:33-37

33 ‘Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the oaths you have made.” 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply “Yes,” or “No”; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Illustration: Just Say It 

BENEDICTION: Jude 1:24-25 ESV

LEADER: 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES:

  • Leviticus 19:12
  • John 8:43-47
  • John 14:6
  • Matthew 23:16-22
  • John 5:30-32

MEDIA:

4.07.19 Album 

DISCUSSIONS QUESTIONS:

  1. What are “little lies” you hear and tell?
  2. Why do we have phrases like “It was only a white lie”
  3. When we say things like “I swear on my mamma’s grave”, what are we trying to say?
  4. Ever had to give testimony “under oath?” What did it feel like to make that oath?
  5. What does it say about how trustworthy our word is at other times?
  6. Why do we “bend the truth” (which is a sweet way of saying “lie”)?
  7. What are we trying to get out of it?
  8. What are several reasons we stretch the truth or tell an outright lie? Or feel inclined to tell people what they want to hear?
  9. How do we use lying to try and retain or create hope and value?
  10. Why does it even matter if we are honest?
  11. “Speak the Truth in Love”
    1. Finish these lines (there’s no “right” answer)
    2. Truth without Love is.....
    3. Love without Truth is.....
  12. How did Jesus always speak TRUTH WITH LOVE? (give examples)
  13. How do we in the church tend toward one or the other?
  14. How is Jesus (in his very identity) TRUTH WITH LOVE?
    1. What if he was only one of these?
    2. Or more one than the other?
  15. Because Jesus is both, we are set free to embrace the truth that we are in utter need of him AND we He is in utter love with us. We can be truthful in our brokenness and desperation...and truthful in how accepted we are when we don’t feel lovable.
  16. What can/does this look like in my real life when I want to “stretch the truth” or make myself look better...to create personal value or get out of trouble?
  17. What do we receive from Jesus in His work on our behalf that would diminish our desire to embellish the truth or refrain from speaking it when we need to?
  18. What are some real life examples of how believing deeply what Christ has done for you would free you to speak only what you mean, and only what is true?

QUOTES:

  • “I have a lying problem. Mine aren’t big lies. They aren’t lies like ‘I cannot recall that crucial meeting from two months ago, Senator.’ Mine are little lies. White lies. Half-truths. The kind we all tell. But I tell dozens of them every day. ‘Yes, let’s definitely get together soon.’ ‘I’d love to, but I have a touch of the stomach flu.’ ‘No, we can’t buy a toy today — the toy store is closed.’ It’s bad. Maybe a couple of weeks of truth-immersion therapy would do me good.” - A.J. Jacobs (Radical Honesty)
  • “If the Word was indeed made flesh, then it is demanded of men that their words and their lives be in concord. Only he who is true can speak the truth.” - W.H. Auden

BOOKS / DOCS

SERMONS / TALKS

Promises, Promises by Brian Land (Sermon)

Genesis 12:1-3

The Way of Jesus: Oaths by Jeff Vanderstelt (Sermon)

Matthew 5:33-37

Two Families: Two Humanities by Tim Keller (Sermon)

John 8:42-59