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Embracing Integrity in our Speech

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    Sermon on the Mount- 13   TITLE: Embracing Integrity in our Speech TEXT: Matthew 5:33-37 TONE: Exhortation TARGET: Those prone to exaggeration in speech. TASK: To exhort my hearers toward integrity in all manner of speech and conduct. TEACH: Let’s take a poll. How many of you know where the phrase “say what you mean and mean what you say” come from? It is commonly attributed to Lewis Carroll’s book “Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland,” where the Mad Hatter and March Hare discuss the importance of clear communication and aligning one’s words with their true intentions; essentially, saying exactly what you mean and meaning exactly what you say. A clear call for integrity in speech. Well, long before these words were written by Lewis Carroll they were spoken by Jesus.   The opposite of that is identified in the child’s phrase, “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye”; this is a phrase we all have likely heard and one used by childr
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Sacred Bond

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  Sermon On The Mount- 12   TITLE: Sacred Bond TEXT: Matthew 5:31-32 TONE: Warning TARGET: Both TASK: To help my hearers understand the sacred bond of marriage and to warn them against divorce. TEACH: It is not true that 50 percent of marriages end in divorce today. After extensive statistical research and analysis, social researcher Shaunti Feldhahn reported, “According to one of the most recent census bureau surveys, 72 percent of people   who have ever been married are still married to their first spouse -and the remaining 28 percent are not all divorced persons, because the total includes those who have been widowed through the death of a spouse, a category that accounts for perhaps as many as 8 percent. That suggests that somewhere around 20 to 25 percent of first marriages end in divorce. So, the truth is, most marriages last a lifetime, rather than that half of marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate is even lower for those that attend chur
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Location: Edmond, OK, USA
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The Heart of the Issue

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  TITLE: The Heart of the Issue TEXT: Matthew 5:27-30 TONE: Warning TARGET: All listeners TASK: Warn my hearers of sin’s origination and the urgency to mortify it by relying upon Jesus alone to do so. TEACH: God rebuking the nation of Israel for their hypocritical heart and actions. 1. Isaiah 29:13 God rebukes Israel for worshiping Him with outward actions but having hearts far from Him: ●        Isaiah 29:13 : "The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'" 2. Amos 5:21-24 In Amos, God expresses disdain for Israel's empty rituals and sacrifices, calling for justice and righteousness instead: ●        Amos 5:21-24 : "I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I wil
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Location: Edmond, OK, USA
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