GFC Community,

Matthew 5-7 ought to come with a warning label. “Warning: Jesus is about to get in your business. Side effects include discomfort, conviction, and disruption to life as you know it.”

Yesterday, we talked about Jesus’ words on anger and broken relationships (if you missed it, watch here). Jesus is not interested in people playing nice and avoiding “big-ticket” sins like murder. Jesus wants us to deal with the internal relational brokenness that, left unchecked, grows inside all of us and for us to prioritize addressing what’s “beneath the iceberg” with urgency like our lives depend on it.

This coming Sunday, we’re exploring what Jesus says about sexual sin. His words in this part of the Sermon on the Mount are among the most difficult of all of Jesus’ teachings. However, what we find, if we lean into what Jesus is saying, is that His aim is not to leave us broken down by the side of the road or to set an unattainable standard that none of us can live by. Jesus is seeking to bring freedom to a part of life that keeps so many of us in bondage.

I hope you’ll join us at 9:15 or 11 am this Sunday. If you normally have children watch the service with you, this might be a good Sunday to think about other options for them. As always, we will have Grace Kids programming for birth through 5th grade available during both services and Grace Students programming for middle school during the 11 am service (click here to learn more about any of these environments).

Let’s keep seeking to follow Jesus, praying that He would show us what it looks like to follow Him. Looking forward to how He will do that this weekend.

Matt Murphy