UDK | The Father's Posture Toward the People of God | Matthew 7:7-12

Summary: Jesus teaches that God is a generous Father who desires to give good gifts to His children, and this divine generosity should transform the way we treat others

Text: Matthew 7:7-12

Title: The Father’s Posture Toward the People of God

Speaking: Pastor Nick Pacurari

Date: October 13

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UDK | Life in the Upside-Down, Anti-Anxious Kingdom - Matthew 6:24-34

Summary: After revealing that the upside-down kingdom is anti-performative, and after redirecting and redeeming our ambition in the upside-down kingdom, Jesus addresses the presence of anxiety in our hearts. And we find that Jesus defangs and defeats anxiety in his anti-anxious upside-down Kingdom.

Text: Matthew 6:25-34

Title: Life in the Upside-down Anti-Anxious Kingdom

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: September 29

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UDK | Ambition in the Upside-Down Kingdom - Matthew 6:9-24

Summary Sentence: After addressing the performative spirituality of the religious, Jesus redirects and redeems ambition in his upside-down kingdom by making three contrasts: two ambitions, two visions, two masters.

Text: Matthew 6:1-18

Title: Ambition in the Upside-down Kingdom

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: September 22

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UDK |Life in the Upside-down Anti-Performative Kingdom - Matthew 6:1-18

Sermon Summary: Jesus warns us to avoid performative spirituality and invites us to a meaningful practice of spirituality. To motivate us, Jesus uses the new relationship we have with the Father, the responsibilities that relationship brings, and the reward the Father promises.

Text: Matthew 6:1-18

Title: Life in the Upside-down Anti-Performative Kingdom

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: September 15

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UDK |Enemy-Love - Matthew 5:38-47

Sermon Summary: How does Life in the Upside-Down Kingdom shape how we to interact with those we consider to be our adversaries, or those who set themselves up against us as enemies? Jesus invites us to follow him into counter-cultural adversary-love through refusing retaliation and embracing our enemies in love.

Text: Matthew 5:38-47

Title: Enemy-Love

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: May 5

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UDK | Vow-Keeping in the Kingdom (Divorce & Truth-Telling) - Matthew 5:31-37

Sermon Summary: Life in the Upside-Down Kingdom is radically counter-cultural when it comes to keeping our word. In a context in which confusion reigned on divorce, and vows were made with the intention to break them, Jesus invites us to the good life through celebrating vow-keeping. And in his upside-down kingdom, we celebrate vow-keeping by honoring the covenant of marriage and by telling the truth.

Text: Matthew 5:27-30

Title: Vow-Keeping in the Kingdom (Divorce & Truth-Telling)

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: April 28

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UDK | Lust: Adultery of the Heart - Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon Summary: Jesus offers us hard words and hope when it comes to our broken sexuality, because the good life in him is better than we could ever imagine. He states the status quo, points us to true north, and then invites us to correct our course.

Text: Matthew 5:27-30

Title: Lust: Adultery of the Heart

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: April 21

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UDK | Getting Away With Murder - Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon Summary: Anger is a complicated emotion. As the one who fulfills the Old Testament with its Law, Jesus demonstrates the status quo, points us to true north, and corrects our course when it comes to sinful anger.

Text: Matthew 5:21-26

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: April 14

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UDK | Jesus and the Older, Odd, Boring, Out-of-Date First-Half of Your Bible - Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon Summary: What was Jesus’ perspective on that larger first-half of our Bibles? Has he come to throw it all out? In our text, Jesus teaches us about the king’s and the Christian’s relationship to the OT.

Text: Matthew 5:17-20

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

  • Date: March 24

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The Mission of the Upside Down Kingdom | Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon Summary: Those who are poor, who mourn, who are meek and merciful, who are pure in heart and peace-making, who are persecuted: what could they possibly have to offer the world? According to Jesus, those who embrace the norms of the kingdom… are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Text: Matthew 5:13-16

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: March 10

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The Abnormal Norms of the UDK | Matthew 5:1-12, Part 4

Sermon Summary: Blessed are the… persecuted? There is a blessed-kind of persecution, which indicates that the one being persecuted is actually living the good life. This blessed-kind of persecution is a counter-cultural claim, with specific causes, worthy traveling companions, with a call to us, and consequences for us. Will you embrace this abnormal, counter-cultural norm as you follow Jesus?

Text: Matthew 5:1-12

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: March 3

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The Abnormal Norms of the UDK | Matthew 5:1-12, Part 3

Sermon Summary: Blessed are the… peacemakers? Peace-making is a divine gospel work, a difficult work, and a work of discipleship to Jesus. Will you embrace this abnormal, counter-cultural norm as you follow Jesus?

Text: Matthew 5:1-12

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: February 25

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The Abnormal Norms of the UDK | Matthew 5:1-12, Part 2

Sermon Summary: With many conflicting ideas in the hearts of his listeners about the nature of the kingdom of God and the “blessed life,” Jesus begins his sermon by setting out some norms--some very abnormal norms--and calling us to embrace them. We look at the middle three abnormal norms in this message.

Text: Matthew 5:1-12

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: February 18

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The Abnormal Norms of the UDK | Matthew 5:1-12, Part 1

Sermon Summary: With many conflicting ideas in the hearts of his listeners about the nature of the kingdom of God and the “blessed life,” Jesus begins his sermon by setting out some norms--some very abnormal norms--and calling us to embrace them.

Text: Matthew 5:1-12, Part 1

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: 02/11/2024

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Who’s in Charge Anyway? | Matthew 5-7

Sermon Summary: Who is in charge, anyway? Reactions to the teachings and claims of Jesus are revealing. How do Jesus’s listener’s react to the sermon on the mount? Astonishment. Why? Because of the authority he assumed and offers as an alternative to any other authority we submit to.

Text: Matthew 7:28-29

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: January 28

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LIfe in the Upside Down Kingdom: Overview | Matthew 5-7

Sermon Summary: The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most subversive pieces of literature in human history. In this overview and introduction sermon, we see that the Sermon on the Mount is a subversive sermon in which Jesus invites us to embrace an upside-down kingdom Life.

Text: Matthew 5-7

Speaking: Pastor Isaiah Lewis

Date: January 21

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