Sermon on the Mount 10

Announcements

3 Service Challenge - accepted 3SC, there’s Next Steps! Party with the Pastors is your Next Steps

TODAY: RYTHM at 5 - Lock-in…more information from Bro Steve

Tomorrow - Fellowship Night - “Church Family Christmas Movie Night” at 5PM

CHRISTMAS DAY at 6PM - Christmas Day Dinner

Next Sunday is 5th Sunday - Bro Steve’s first Sunday morning Sermon, Communion

31 December - Watch night prayer service at 10pm, praying in the New Year

12 January - 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting

Intro

Things change when God speaks.

Here’s the reality:

God wants to speak into your life.

He wants to tell you His love for you.

He wants to tell you His love for this world.

He wants to tell you what He wants you to do - for you to know your purpose in this world.

He wants to reveal Himself to you - for you to know Holy, Almighty God personally.

He wants to reveal His glory to you - and for you to know how He calls you friend.

How does God speak into your life???

You must recognize that God is already speaking - His Word is eternal, and it continues since the dawn of the spoken existence of Creation, to now, and off through all eternity, His Word has spoken and is constantly changing the World around us.

You must be listening for His voice.

You must be near the source. His Word - it is alive. It is living. It is LIFE. If you’re not hearing Him speak to you, you’re not in His Word.

There’s also a place of proximity - a place where you meet Him, and He meets you. This is where you hear His Voice…

James 4:8 says this…”Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

Resist Him, push away from Him, and He’ll give you your space. But you won’t hear His Words of life.

But if you draw near to Him. His promise to you today, from the One called Emmanuel - His name which translates to “God with Us” - He will draw near to you.

How to Pray

Matthew 6:5–8 CSB

5 “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.

We again see Jesus’s preaching here and referencing the hypocrites - the big actors, the two-faced people - who love being seen in the Church houses and Street corners for their overly grand prayers with their high-vocabulary words in order to bring attention upon themselves.

There are those who contend to be heard as more righteous before men and women - and will even position themselves to be seen…desiring to even be celebrated for their prayer.

But Jesus says when YOU pray…

We need to understand that Jesus is saying here that you need to pray.

Your prayer life is your life line.

It is AS important to reading and studying scripture.

Your prayer life is where your spiritual strength comes from - that daily communion with God Himself. (look to your neighbor and tell them “You are a prayer warrior”)

You may not be living it yet, but you are.

You may not be experiencing the victory that comes through praying with the Lord yet, but you can.

You may not feel like you are spiritually righteous enough

Follower of Christ, you are a child of the living God - you are God’s son or daughter. You are a co-heir with Christ to the Throne of God and all within His Kingdom.

You have the holy and righteous and divine privilege to come before the Throne of God will boldness - even in your bedroom, living room, or whatever space you make for your daily prayer time. You GET TO come before God and speak with the Holy Creator of the entire Universe, the All-Consuming Fire, and feel the love of a Holy Father surround you with all His might, strength, holiness and power.

You get to experience a daily friendship and camaraderie with Holy God that NO OTHER creation gets to experience.

Jesus said, “When you pray”…This means it is a command to pray.

If you’re not used to praying first thing in the morning - it may be a little awkward. That’s okay, Jesus gives a model prayer here that most of us may already know.

If you’re not used to praying first thing, it can take some time to adjust. But here’s the deal:

Jesus said your Father - the God you’re praying to - already knows what you need. You don’t have to be shy about what you need when you bring it to God.

He wants to hear the voices of His sons and daughters.

You don’t have to earn God’s attention with your high and lofty vocabulary.

The Gentiles would pray like that to their gods.

They would pray overly long prayers, repeating a lot of nonsense, being overly redundant in HOPES that somehow their time and consistency would get their gods’ attention, and then hope their prayer would be heard, and then hope their prayer would be answered.

Isa 65:24: “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”

God wants to hear your voice - because there’s dedicated time spent in relationship with the King of the Universe.

3. Jesus wants you to be successful in your prayer life. So He gave us a model. Most people know the NKJV of the prayer - let’s say it together:

The New King James Version Chapter 6

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

10 Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Jesus gives the model prayer here with 6 supplications (supplication is the action of asking for something earnestly and humbly):

The first three are directed towards God and His Kingship, the second three are directed towards self our needs.

Three worship supplications - directing blessing and worship towards the Name of the Lord, His Kingdom, and His will

The second three are request supplications - projecting our needs to the Father - needing our daily rations of needs, forgiveness of sins, and deliverance from our spiritual enemy.

Jesus shows an equilibrium here in prayer life - a life of blessing and worshiping God that equals the amount of requests presented before God.

Having a consistent prayer life reflecting the mold or model of what Jesus preaches here, will lead to a life continually positioned to hear God speaking into your life.

Having that daily ration of time with the Lord - to commune with God - to have the conversation where God speaks to you and you speak with God; you will find yourself hearing confidently from the Lord.

You’ll have a deeper understanding of the heart of God.

You’ll have a more certain understanding of God’s will in your life.

And you’ll have way more confidence in your relationship with God.

The LORD Is My Portion

To daily have this confidence is to partake in the daily bread.

You and I are created for worship - we worship, it’s what we do.

And in Jesus’s model prayer here, the opening is for worship before we ever get to the place of need.

What do we need? Daily bread.

The Bread here contextually means two things:

God understands we have daily needs - basic needs to live life.

The word “daily” in the Greek refers to rations - a daily ration of personal need.

We need daily food and shelter to live life - these are basic necessities.

But bread is a central part of life for almost every culture in the world - it universally recognized as a basic need to survive. Everyone understands bread.

We can even reference the bread of heaven that sustained the Israelites after leaving Egypt, where God provided daily manna - bread from heaven that was only good for that day.

What Jesus is referencing here is the simplicity of need, the basics for life, and putting our soul source of sustenance on God’s provision.

Jesus prayed, “give us our daily bread.”

But wouldn’t you know that Jesus preaching here is giving more than just a physical reference to need?

Wouldn’t it be incredible if Jesus was implying more than a daily measure of physical bread? Because He is…

Matthew 1:18–25 CSB

18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.

Luke 2:1–16 CSB

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors! 15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.

John 6:32–38 CSB

32 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again. 36 But as I told you, you’ve seen me, and yet you do not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

Our daily bread must first be this:

Understanding that Jesus, born in Bethlehem - which translates as the “house of bread” - was born to us, the name given, Immanuel - which translates as “God with Us” - understanding that Jesus is God with Us, and is the Bread of Life…

The Lord is our daily need for life - physically and spiritually.

King David and the prophet Jeremiah both described the Lord as their daily portion.

Closing

The Lord presents Himself to you today as the way to have communion with God.

God desires to speak into your life - and for you to know Him personally.

How do you know the Lord? By faith, receiving Him as your daily portion.

God’s desire is to speak into your life first in a way that you receive His gift of Salvation that can only come through accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

He is the only way, truth and life.

As God speaks, God declares victory over your every aspect of your life - to include your eternal rest.

But God doesn’t speak only to that end - but to every day you live here on this earth, breathing His breath of life.

God wants to see you, as His son and daughter, live victoriously.

But this will only happen as you have daily communion with Him.

God of the universe wants to have daily relationship with you.

He has called you by name for His glorious kingdom purpose.

And whatever He calls you to, He also equips you to. BLESSED BE those who have devoted themselves in making the Lord their portion.

James 4:8 says this…”Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

Resist Him, push away from Him, and He’ll give you your space. But you won’t hear His Words of life.

But if you draw near to Him. His promise to you today, from the One called Emmanuel - His name which translates to “God with Us” - He will draw near to you.

Going into 2025, God’s desire is for you to know His peace, and to carry His peace.

So starting out 2025, as a family of faith here at Refuge Aviano - and as part of Freedom Outreach as a whole - we are leading the year off with dedicating and devoting the first portion of the year to Him.

Starting January 12th, we will begin 21 days of prayer and fasting.

Daily, we will devote time and will in way that’s surrendered to the Lord.

You may have questions about what that looks like, and if you do its okay - write them down and be prepared to ask the questions during Wednesday night Bible Study.

In January, Sunday mornings will be focusing on the 2025 focus in prayer, and Wednesdays will be teaching on fasting and prayer.