Life Is Worship

The Shepherd Who Follows the Chief Shepherd -- 1 Peter 5.1-4

Matt Jury — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:00:14 +0000

Having described the paradox of the difficult privilege of the pastoral office, let me encourage you to support those who are pastors. We will talk about the specific applications of that support as we move through the text. Quite simply put, the pastor is to be an example to the flock, which means that the flock should follow the pastor as he follows Christ. In other words, the pastor is not an ideal Christian to which the average church member can never reach. The pastor simply serves as a tangible role model for how every Christian should be living. We will see that the pastor should follow Christ with joy, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness about his testimony. If you take one application, please take the following: Let us all serve Christ with joy, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness.

Problems Prove Your Faith -- 1 Peter 4.12-19

Matt Jury — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:12:18 +0000

If you are a Christian who passionately follows Christ, you have already experienced persecution. Your persecution may not have been as dramatic as what we read in Hebrews 11 where believers were stoned or sawn in two, but you have still faced some sort of persecution. As long as you profess Christ openly with your mouth, you will face persecution. Peter provides encouragement for us as we face the reality of persecution. In fact, Peter's instruction about persecution applies to any kind of problem we may face. If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Remain faithful to Christ in your problems because He is testing the depth of your faith.

Stewarding the Manifold Grace of God -- 1 Peter 4.7-11

Matt Jury — Thu, 31 May 2012 09:29:46 +0000

Peter presents to us another vital truth concerning suffering. Our relationships hold immense value for us. In the previous paragraph, Peter gave his readers divine instruction concerning the preparation for suffering and persecution. We are commanded to arm ourselves with the mind of Christ in preparation for suffering. Christ's mind was to do the will of God. How did Christ do the will of God? Christ said it best when He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” We must prepare ourselves for suffering with the mind of Christ, and we must also prepare ourselves for suffering through ministry to others. If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Build relationships with other Christians through ministry to them.

Bringing the Gospel To Bear upon Our Sufferings -- 1 Peter 4.1-6

Matt Jury — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:44:40 +0000

When we endure suffering for the sake of Christ, He will reward us. Like King William III, we will receive glory in place of suffering. What is our reward? When we have been judged according to the Gospel, we will stand before Christ as worthy to receive glory because we were faithful to Christ. As Peter wrote, he wrote with a now but not yet mindset. He addressed matters happening right now, but he always had an eye toward the future when God will finally set everything to right. Our text tells us that what we sacrifice in this life is nothing in comparison to the reward of glory. If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Expect and prepare for suffering, for it is the prelude to glory.

Exalting Christ in Your Suffering -- 1 Peter 3.13-22

Matt Jury — Tue, 29 May 2012 15:29:05 +0000

Peter presents to us the standard by which we should assess everything in this life, including suffering. Christ is the standard. Now, Christ is God; He is infinite. What about Christ should we use as our standard? Peter tells us to exalt Christ as Lord in our hearts. Christ's Lordship means His absolute sovereignty over all that exists. In other words, Christ has the authority and the ability to do all that He pleases and plans to do. He will accomplish every tiny detail of His plan, and He will do so perfectly. A God who can do such a thing is worthy to be worshiped, is worthy to be valued above all by us. We must assess our lives, our sufferings, our problems and persecutions by Christ's sovereignty. If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Exalt Christ in your heart so that you will endure your problems faithfully.

A Passion for Thee (ministry of music)

Matt Jury — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:44:34 +0000

This is a live recording of a ministry of music at my church. Accompanist is Di Cashman.

Life Is Worship -- Psalm 29.2

Matt Jury — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:55:58 +0000

Life is worship. Everything you do is an act of worship. You see, we often think of worship as what we are gathered here to do this morning. If you think this church service is worship, you are only partially correct about the essence of worship. While our singing, praying, and reading of God’s Word are the elements of public worship, they are not what worship is; they are simply what worship does.

Worthy of Praise (ministry of music)

Matt Jury — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:23:03 +0000

This is a live recording of a ministry of music at my church. Accompanist is Di Cashman.

Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendor (ministry of music)

Matt Jury — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:31:10 +0000

This is a live recording of a ministry of music at my church. Accompanist is Di Cashman.

Complete in Thee (ministry of music)

Matt Jury — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:45:07 +0000

This is a live recording of a recent ministry of music at my church. Accompanist is Di Cashman.

Preaching IS Worship -- 1 Corinthians 1.17-31

Matt Jury — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:41:01 +0000

Is preaching really worship? You hear me say often that life is worship. Every aspect of life reveals what Christ is worth to you. The principle may be applied to preaching. The goal of preaching is to exalt Christ so as the make the hearer a worshiper or to refine the hearer's worship. The aim of true preaching is to encourage and instruct the hearer to make Christ of supreme value in every area of life. The Biblical principle behind this is the law of the seed and the fruit: you reap what you sow. If the result of true preaching is worship, then preaching itself must be worship.

Things Can Only Get Better: The Bible's Story

Matt Jury — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:17:25 +0000

Since the Bible records God's dealings with humanity, the Bible tells us how God's glory intersects human existence. Revelation 4:11 says, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” You and I and everything that we can see were created to exist exclusively to glorify God. The Bible also tells us how mankind rebelled against his purpose, plunging himself into judgment. The story does not end there. God saw mankind in his need and offered Himself to bring man back into a position where he can willingly glorify God. We call this offering of God redemption. The majority of the Bible tells us this story of redemption. Redemption is not the end of the story though. The end of the story is the restoration of all that exists to a place where God is once again the center of all worship. While all things will ultimately focus upon the all-glorious God, there is one truth that impacts the way you live today. If you take one truth from this message, I want you to take the following: You must do all to the glory of God.

Philippian 3.3-14 -- Pursuing Christ to Make Him Your Own

Matt Jury — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:06:44 +0000

We think of Paul as a high and lofty idyllic example of a Christian to which no believer since could ever dare hope to aspire. The reality is that each of us can achieve the same kind of love and passion for Christ that Paul had. Paul said that he pressed toward the prize. What was the prize? It was Jesus Christ. Christianity has nothing to do with how much we sacrifice or what losses we suffer for Christ; Christianity is the pursuit of Christ simply because He is worthy of pursuit. Thus, you must pursue Christ to make Him your own.