Life Is Worship

Trusting Him Who Judges Righteously -- 1 Peter 2.18-25

Matt Jury — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:58:25 GMT

Peter addressed the slaves. Slaves were at the whims of their masters. The master could command the slave to do jumping jacks, face the east, and spit three times. The master could demand anything regardless of how senseless his demands seemed to the slave. Peter understood this reality, and he wrote to encourage believers who were in situations that seemed to make little or no sense. Peter tells us that the grace of Christ is still available to help us in absurd and nonsensical situations. What does the grace of Christ do for us in such times? If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Place your trust in God during times of unjust suffering, following Christ's example.

Submission in Society -- 1 Peter 2.11-17

Matt Jury — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:56:55 GMT

Peter presents to us a very profound truth. Our dual citizenship is not contradictory. Although we worship and serve the King of kings, we still have responsibilities to our earthly kings, or presidents, or governors, or whatever our leaders may be called. Peter calls the believer to live in submission to every human institution and organization. The believer should not be characterized as a malcontent who constantly stirs up trouble. The believer should, as far as he may do so without violating his divine citizenship, submit himself to human organizations. If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Be a good citizen of both heaven and earth.

This Is Christ's Church -- 1 Peter 2.4-10

Matt Jury — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:43:14 GMT

When you placed your faith in Christ, you were given a position of tremendous blessing. Chapter one, verse two tells us that the fullest measure of Christ's grace was given to us. Verse three tells us that we were born again to a living hope. Verse five tells us that our salvation is protected by God's omnipotent power. Verse nineteen tells us the infinitely precious cost that was paid for our redemption. Chapter two, verse three tells us of the kindness and graciousness of our Saviour toward us. Believer, you have a wonderful position in Christ! Peter tells us in the next paragraph of the tremendous privilege that you have to be a part of Christ's church. Remember. This is Christ's church. You have a tremendous privilege to be a part of it. If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Live daily in the joy and privilege of union with Christ.

The Cure for Lack of Love Syndrome -- 1 Peter 1.22 - 2.3

Matt Jury — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:07:35 GMT

The way we learn to love is found in the Bible. We are taught in the pages of the Scriptures of the most intense persecution that ever occurred, and, at the same time we were shown the infinite grace of heaven both through Christ on the Cross. Through faith in Christ and the food of the Word of God, we are called to live holy lives. The clearest evidence of holiness is Christian love. It is a love that compels us to sacrifice ourselves and our desires and opinions for the benefit of others. It is much like a mother's love. No one needs to command a mother to love her child. She naturally loves the child. So also, when a Christian lives in holiness, he cannot help but love his brothers and sisters in Christ because he has seen what the love of Christ has done for him. If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Express your hope through your love for others.

Hope Through Holiness -- 1 Peter 1.17-21

Matt Jury — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:06:19 GMT

Some would say that being chosen means that a person may live as he wishes. Since he is chosen, and since he cannot be unchosen, then a person's lifestyle matters little. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is precisely because God is holy that He has called us to live in holiness as well. Our text presents to us the awesome privilege of our salvation. Because we hold a chosen position in God's grace, we have a responsibility to live in a way that reflects God's holiness. If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Allow God's holiness to be the source of your hope.

Fix Your Hope on Grace

Matt Jury — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:16:57 GMT

Peter points us to a reality that enables us to remain faithful to Christ no matter what our circumstance might be. In fact, Peter points us to the reality that affects absolutely every area of our lives, suffering or not. The Christian must live like Christ. This is the believer's hope.

Your Position in Grace -- 1 Peter 1.1-9

Matt Jury — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:41:09 GMT

Peter presents the purpose of trials. God allows problems to come into our lives to purify and strengthen our faith. Why? God views our faith to be of excellent value. Just as a miser hoards his money because he values it so much, God seeks to reap a harvest of faith because He values it so much. This means that God places great value upon you and your faith. Your value lies not in yourself but in the object of your faith -- Jesus Christ. This is why God values your faith so much; this is why God has graciously included you in His family; this is why you hold such a unique and wonderful position in Christ. If you take one application from this message, please take the following: Realize your position in grace.

Introduction to 1 Peter

Matt Jury — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:39:35 GMT

Peter was a man well acquainted with suffering. Consider this. John 13.36 reveals a brief part of a conversation between Jesus and Peter, “Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered, "Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later."” When Jesus said, 'I'm going where you can't follow,' He meant His crucifixion. When Jesus and Peter met after the resurrection, Peter was a broken man. With restoring words, Jesus said to Peter twice, “Follow me.” In the conversation in John 13, Jesus added, 'You will follow later.' Tradition tells us that Peter was crucified upside-down because he was a Christian. Peter knew that suffering is the watchword of Christian discipleship. Suffering is intricately connected with following Christ, with discipleship. This reality permeates Peter's first letter.

The Final Test of Discipleship -- John 13.31-38

Matt Jury — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:17:26 GMT

Christ has displayed His love for us in an unmistakeable way. He left the glories of heaven to live among us as one of us, identifying Himself in every way with the human condition. He then yielded His life to the Father's glory through the Cross. In other words, Christ's love was His humble self-sacrifice. Christ gives each one of us an unavoidable command to display the same kind of love to each other. Humble, self-sacrificing love is the mark or badge that distinguishes us as Christ's followers. If you take one application from this message, I want you to take the following: You must humble yourself to give yourself in love to others.

The Ten Words of Love: The New Commandment -- John 13.34-35

Matt Jury — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:22:19 GMT

It's easy to love when others are good to us. It's easy to love when things are going well. In another passage, Christ observed that even non-believers show that kind of care and concern for each other. There is nothing in that kind of love that distinguishes the believer from the non-believer. The love which you as a believer are called to give is something that is supernatural. If our love is only a superficial sentimentality, our love will not stand the strains of difficulty and disagreement with each other. How we handle those disagreements reveals the quality of our love.

A Passion for Thee (ministry of music)

Matt Jury — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:43:18 GMT

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 14:47:46 GMT

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 18:22:07 GMT

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 15:29:29 GMT

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 13:42:56 GMT

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 18:37:28 GMT

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 19:12:38 GMT

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.

We Would See Jesus -- John 12.20-26

Matt Jury — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:52:39 GMT

Greeks wanted to see Jesus, and Christ spoke cryptic words in response to the Gentile believers. The words Christ spoke were in essence Christ's self-portrait. How can we know what revival looks like? How can we know when revival occurs? We will know revival has occurred when we simply obey Jesus because we have seen Him exalted. Your measure of faith and obedience will only come to the measure that you see Christ. If you take one truth from this message, I want you to take the following: You must see Jesus.

Caleb: Fully Following the Lord (Joshua 14.6-15)

Matt Jury — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:29:36 GMT

Caleb fully followed the Lord. What does it mean that Caleb fully followed the Lord? We typically have a lofty view of the heroes of the Bible. We tend to think of them as giants of the faith, as men and women who were more godly than any other human being could ever hope to be. Actually, Caleb was a mere mortal. I dare say that if he were alive today and we had met him, we would probably think of him as an ordinary guy. Caleb was certainly a godly man, but he was far from perfect. He had the same weaknesses and faced the same temptations as we do. Caleb fully followed the Lord simply means that he had a close fellowship with God. One commentator explains the idea in more picturesque language: “In the Hebrew that is quite a striking word -- more striking than in the English. It is a pictorial word in the Hebrew, and describes a ship at full sail.” What does all of this mean? Caleb believed, as another commentator writes, “if the Lord deserved to be followed at all, he deserved to be followed in full.” We need to follow the Lord our God fully as well. As a matter of fact, to follow the Lord fully is simply another way to say that we love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, the first, the primary commandment. If you take only one sentence from this message, I want you to remember the following: You too must fully follow the Lord your God.

What Is Truth? (Part 3)

Matt Jury — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:28:07 GMT

What a person believes about the truth of God’s existence and character will be revealed by his lifestyle. Belief affects behavior. You will act in a way consistent with your beliefs; you will act consistently with what you believe to be true.

What Is Truth? (Part 2)

Matt Jury — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:01:33 GMT

The Word of God concretely reveals truth, teaching us in no uncertain terms that truth exists being found only in God. The truth is simple and absolute. We may choose to believe or reject truth, but truth still remains. Truth gives meaning to our lives; it gives us hope. Our hope is not based upon some whim or some imagination. Our hope is based upon the foundation of Christ.

What Is Truth? (Part 1)

Matt Jury — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:49:29 GMT

Let us say that you are playing a game of baseball. You must have an established set of rules so that the game may be played successfully. If the rules can be changed in the middle of the game, what is the point of playing it in the first place? If there are no foul lines, then why run around the bases? If the runner does not need to be tagged in order to be out, then why hit the ball in the first place? There must be an established set of standards; there must be absolute truth. When it comes to life, as opposed to a baseball game, the same is true. We need an absolute set of standards by which to live. We can make our own standards based upon our own opinions, but everyone else has his own set of conflicting standards, and no one is right. God has given us truth, the fact of His existence and character. If we can believe in absolutes in sports, can we not believe in absolutes in matters of utmost importance such as the issues of life?

What Is Postmodernism?

Matt Jury — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:32:06 GMT

Christ said in Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.” We as believers must be aware of what is happening in our world. We cannot hide our head in the sand as we wait for the Lord to return. We must engage our culture with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To that end, I want to explain to you the mindset of the society in which we live so that you may better understand how to minister effectively the Gospel of Christ to the people you meet every day. This message will introduce a series of three messages in which we will examine truth as an absolutely reality.

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

Matt Jury — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:59:27 GMT

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.