FirstPresabq Blog

Rev. Matthew Miller FROM THE GOSPELS Matthew 7:21-27 click here to watch the Sermon“Build" It’s been fifteen years, but I’m not sure that I’ll ever forget the summer of 2011 in northwest Iowa. Sometime around Memorial Day weekend people noticed the Missouri River had risen. That itself wasn’t too surprising. Rivers rise in the late spring into early summer. Around here it happens when the snowpack melts and makes its way into the Rio Grande. In our corner of the Midwest, it w

Rev. Matthew Miller FROM THE GOSPELS Matthew 7:1-6 SERMON “Specks and Logs” We have moved into the final act of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew’s gospel. This summer we have listened as Jesus describes for us life in the kingdom, or kinship of Heaven that has come near; what Jesus would have us turn toward and hear as good news. It’s good news that can get lost when we reduce faith and this project we call church to little more than one of sin management. Wh

FROM THE GOSPELS Matthew 6:25-34

Rev. Matthew Miller FROM THE GOSPELS Matthew 6:19-24 SERMON “Serve Somebody” Over the past few weeks, as we’ve been making our way through this collection of Jesus’ teachings known as the Sermon on the Mount, we’ve seen a couple of recurrent themes. Jesus began his ministry by repeating the message first announced by John the Baptist, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Most people don’t receive those words as good news. For starters we’ve either heard tell, o

Rev. Matthew Miller FROM THE GOSPELS Matthew 6:1-18 SERMON “Reward” One of the benefits of preaching a sermon series like this is that it allows us to tie together pieces of scripture that don’t always get tied together for us. Today’s reading offers a couple of examples. The first has to do with what our translation calls the practice of piety, but what the updated translation more accurately names as the practice of righteousness. This particular passage from the Sermon on

Rev. Matthew Miller FROM THE GOSPELS Matthew 5:13-16 click here to watch the sermon "Salt and Light" This particular passage from Jesus’ teaching to his disciples on a mountain in Galilee calls to mind all the ways in which salt gets used on a regular basis. There is the obvious salt shaker that graces tables of every kind, from the kitchen table at home to the fancy dining tables of Michelin starred restaurants; always there to provide a little extra flavor. Further north, s