Church of The Word | Sunday Sermons

Church of The Word
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For over 10 years Church of the Word has preached, taught, witnessed to, served and loved others in the Saint Louis area. Our name “Church of the Word” right...

  1. 5d ago

    How to talk to Our Father | Matthew 6:5

    Jesus teaches His disciples to pray to God as Father. That is a stunning emphasis in the Sermon on the Mount. In the Old Testament, God is only occasionally spoken of as Father, often illustratively, such as being a father to the fatherless. But in the Sermon on the Mount alone, Jesus repeatedly speaks of “your Father” and “our Father,” bringing His disciples into a new and intimate understanding of their relationship with God. This does not make God less holy, sovereign, or majestic. He is still the Lord of hosts, the Creator of all things, the jealous God, and the Shepherd of His people. But Jesus teaches His disciples that this glorious God is also their Father. He is not distant, cold, or reluctant to hear them. He loves His children, welcomes their prayers, and delights in their coming to Him. For some, the word “father” carries pain because earthly fathers may have failed, neglected, wounded, or disappointed them. But Jesus does not define God by broken earthly fathers. He redefines fatherhood by revealing the perfect Father. God is the Father who provides, protects, listens, loves, and receives His children. So prayer is not merely a religious duty. It is communion with the Father. Jesus teaches a practical way to pray that keeps the priorities of God’s people aligned with His priorities. Prayer begins with knowing who God is and who believers are before Him: children coming to their Father, with reverence, trust, dependence, and love. Do you want to support Church of The Word? https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here! https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

  2. Oct 9

    True Charity | Matthew 6:1

    True charity is not merely giving money. It is love expressed through generosity before the eyes of God. Jesus assumes His disciples will give, but He warns them not to practice righteousness in order to be praised by men. If the goal is human recognition, then human applause is the full payment. But if giving is done before God, in faith and love, the Father who sees in secret will reward it. The sermon defines charity as more than financial help. The older use of the word points to love—agape love—for God and neighbor. Giving that is not motivated by love for God or love for the person receiving help is not true charity in the biblical sense. Much of what the world calls charity is driven by reputation, guilt, social favor, or public image. But Christian charity is different: it is not reputation-driven, guilt-manipulated, or self-exalting. It is done to the glory of God and for the good of others. But love must also be governed by wisdom. Compassion without discernment can harm the very person it is trying to help. Giving money to someone in destructive addiction may feel merciful, but it may actually strengthen their bondage. True charity must therefore be guided by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, not merely by emotion or impulse. God calls His people to be generous, but also wise. The promise attached to generosity is that God Himself sees and repays. Proverbs says that whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him. That reward may be financial, but it may also come through contentment, provision, health, blessing, opened doors, or joy. The great question is: whose reward is more valuable—man’s approval or God’s payment? Generosity is not optional decoration on the Christian life. Jesus says, “When you give,” not “if you give.” The assumption is that disciples of Christ will be a giving people. Psalm 112 describes the righteous man as one who deals generously, lends, distributes freely, and gives to the poor. Paul carries that same principle into the New Testament, reminding believers that Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” A church shaped by that truth becomes trustworthy, compassionate, honest, and strong. Entitlement breeds theft and suspicion; generosity builds community. Do you want to support Church of The Word? https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here! https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

  3. Sep 24

    Love Your Enemies And Keep A Pistol Handy | Matthew 5:17-18, 38-42

    Matthew 5 forces Christians to wrestle honestly with retaliation, pacifism, justice, and self-defense. The passage cannot be brushed aside, because Jesus really does command His people to turn the other cheek, bear wrongs patiently, and love their enemies. A faithful reading of Scripture must take those words seriously, even when they challenge natural instincts, family background, national history, or personal convictions. The opening story of family history illustrates the tension. One family line came from pacifist Anabaptists who refused to fight in the War for Independence and paid a real price for their convictions. Another came from a family involved in the cause of independence as scouts. Those two worlds—pacifism and armed resistance—ended up joined in one family. That tension mirrors the larger biblical question: when is it right to suffer wrong, and when is it right to resist evil? The answer requires all of Scripture, not one passage isolated from the rest. The Bible teaches that there is a time for war and a time for peace. The civil magistrate bears the sword for justice, punishment of evildoers, and protection of the innocent. The law of retaliation—eye for eye and tooth for tooth—belongs in the halls of justice, where punishment must fit the crime and vengeance must be restrained by lawful authority. But pacifism has a real place in personal relationships. When Jesus speaks of turning the other cheek, He is not abolishing justice, defense, or the sword of civil authority. He is confronting personal revenge. He is teaching His people to endure insults, bear wrongs, refuse petty retaliation, and overcome evil with good. Christians are not to live with a hair-trigger spirit, always ready to strike back over every offense. So the sermon holds together two truths: love your enemies, and do not confuse meekness with weakness. God’s people should be peace-loving, patient, and ready to suffer personal wrong for the sake of Christ. But they should also recognize that there is a lawful place for defense, justice, and protection. The Christian calling is not cowardice, vengeance, or passivity, but wisdom—knowing when to suffer wrong personally, when to seek justice lawfully, and when to protect what God has entrusted. Do you want to support Church of The Word? https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here! https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

  4. Sep 15

    Defining Yes and No | Matt 5:17-20, 31-37

    Jesus is concerned that the words of His people be pure. A simple “yes” should mean yes, and a simple “no” should mean no. Just as gold can be strengthened by adding other metals but is also devalued by impurity, words can be devalued when they need constant additives—promises, oaths, and extra assurances—to make them believable. The problem is not that promises are always evil, but that people often use them because their ordinary words no longer carry weight. When someone says, “I promise,” they may be admitting that a plain “yes” or “no” is not enough to be trusted. But God’s people should not need verbal decorations to make truth sound reliable. They should say what they mean and do what they say. This matters especially in the home. If a parent tells a child something will happen, and the child asks, “Do you promise?” the better answer is not to build life around constant promises, but to teach that a parent’s word should already be trustworthy. If something was said, it should be done. If follow-through is missing, the word becomes devalued, and children learn that speech is flexible, negotiable, and unreliable. The deeper issue is that God created the world by His Word, and He calls His people to reflect His truthfulness in their own speech. In a society where words have been greatly cheapened, Christians should recover the weight of honest speech. Swearing and promising can devalue the power of a simple yes or no, but the people of God should be known for words that are plain, truthful, and dependable. Do you want to support Church of The Word? https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here! https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

  5. Sep 10

    Loose Lips Sink Ships | James 3:1-18

    The tongue is too powerful to treat casually. James 3 is like a needed warning shot for the church—a reminder that words can either build up or tear down, heal or destroy, bless or corrupt. “Loose lips sink ships” is not just an old wartime slogan; it is a spiritual reality. Careless words can sink friendships, marriages, families, churches, and entire communities. The wartime picture makes the point clear. A sailor did not have to reveal everything to endanger lives. A small detail, a loose comment, a careless hint in the wrong place could give the enemy what he needed. In the same way, Christians often underestimate the damage of “little” words—subtle complaints, gossip, sarcasm, slander, discouragement, harsh counsel, or careless speech. The tongue may be small, but James says it has enormous power. But the tongue is not only dangerous; it is also a gift for great good. The gospel must be spoken with words. People cannot hear of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection merely by watching someone be nice. Words are necessary to preach Christ, communicate truth, give wise counsel, encourage the weak, strengthen the family, and build up the church. The same tongue that can wound can also become an instrument of grace. That is why the issue goes deeper than speech itself. Words come from the heart and the thought life. The mouth reveals what is being stored within. Earthly, sensual, devilish wisdom produces division, harm, bitterness, and discouragement. But wisdom from above produces speech that is pure, peaceable, gentle, truthful, and life-giving. So the call is not merely to talk less, but to have the heart governed by God so the tongue can be used for His glory. The church needs this warning again and again because words are never neutral. A wise person uses speech to build the house; a foolish person tears it down. The tongue can sink ships, but under the rule of Christ, it can also strengthen souls, preserve fellowship, and proclaim the gospel that saves. Do you want to support Church of The Word? https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here! https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

  6. Sep 1

    Adopting the Rebel | Romans 8:1-17

    Adoption is not just a sentimental issue; it is a gospel issue. The sermon begins with the reality of earthly adoption and the fatherless, but it moves quickly to something even deeper: God Himself is a Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, and a God who hears the cries of the vulnerable. His people cannot be indifferent to what He loves. A church shaped by the heart of God should not develop a disdain for the difficult, but should welcome, celebrate, and support a spirit of adoption, foster care, respite care, mentoring, and care for those coming from broken homes. The personal adoption story displays this truth in real life. What began as hesitation, selfishness, and fear became a testimony of God’s providence. A child’s picture stirred the heart, the financial need seemed impossible, and yet the Lord provided exactly what was needed—down to the penny. Adoption was not pursued because it was easy or affordable, but because God made His will clear and supplied the grace to obey. The difficult did not disappear, but God revealed His heart through it. Yet the sermon does not reduce adoption to a moral cause or emotional appeal. The deeper foundation is the gospel. Christians rejoice in forgiveness and justification, and rightly so, because the guilty sinner stands before the Judge and hears no condemnation in Christ. But the gospel goes further: the Judge does not merely declare the sinner righteous and send him away free. He brings the rebel into His own house and makes him a son or daughter. That is the wonder of adoption. God becomes Father. Rebels become children. Those who were spiritually orphaned are brought into the family of God by the Spirit of adoption, crying, “Abba, Father.” This changes identity, and a changed identity should produce changed compassion. Those adopted by God should increasingly reflect the Father’s heart toward the fatherless. Not every Christian is necessarily called to adopt in the same way, but no Christian is free to ignore God’s concern for orphans, widows, and the vulnerable. Scripture plainly reveals the Father’s care for them, and the specific obedience may look different depending on providence, gifts, resources, and calling. But the heart of the matter is clear: those who have been adopted by grace should live as children of the Father, loving what He loves and caring for those He calls precious. Do you want to support Church of The Word? https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here! https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

  7. Aug 25

    An Indivisible Union | Matthew 5:17-20, 27-37

    Marriage is not designed to come apart. Some unions are made to separate, like a P-trap under a sink, but other unions are meant to hold permanently. Marriage belongs in that second category. It is a covenant bond God designed to be indivisible, and when it breaks, it makes a mess—sometimes through the guilt of one party, sometimes through the sin and failure of both, but always with real wounds and consequences. That does not mean divorce is the unforgivable sin. Christ washes sinners. He makes His people new. Those who trust in Him do not stand before God clothed in their broken past, their failed marriages, or their sin, but in the perfect righteousness of Christ. There is real mercy for the divorced, the remarried, the guilty, the wounded, and the sinned against. The gospel is big enough for all of it. But grace does not make divorce small. Jesus speaks about divorce in a way that shocked His original hearers, and His words are still hard in a generation where marriage is often treated casually. The world says the goal is personal happiness, but Jesus calls His people to take up their cross. The devil loves to destroy marriages, and Christians need to understand that divorce is serious in the sight of God. Like murder and adultery, divorce often begins in the heart. It begins with bitterness, resentment, selfishness, contempt, and words that cannot easily be taken back. A sentence can be planted like a seed and grow into destruction. So married people need to hear the Lord clearly: marriage is holy, words matter, hearts matter, and covenant faithfulness matters. The preacher must speak carefully, because wounded people do not need false guilt laid on them where Christ has forgiven. But he must also speak truthfully, because teachers are accountable before God. The commands of Christ are not always easy to hear, but they are good. The church must receive them with reverence, humility, and obedience, trusting that the Lord’s design for marriage is wiser than the world’s promise of self-centered happiness. Do you want to support Church of The Word? https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here! https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

  8. Aug 18

    The Heart of Adultery | Matthew 5:27-30

    The Sermon on the Mount keeps pressing beneath the surface. Last week, Jesus exposed the heart of murder—showing that murder does not begin with the physical act, but with anger, contempt, envy, and hatred in the heart. Cain’s murder of Abel did not appear out of nowhere; it grew from a corrupt heart. God is not only concerned with what the hands do. He sees the intentions, desires, and motives underneath. Now Jesus moves to the heart of adultery. Just as murder begins before blood is shed, adultery begins before the outward act is committed. The sin starts in the thought life, in the look, in the desire, in the imagination, in the hidden places no one else sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. This means freedom from sexual sin requires more than external restraint. A person may avoid the outward act and still be guilty before God because the heart is feeding what the body has not yet carried out. Jesus is calling His people to wage war where the battle actually begins: in the thoughts, desires, and affections. To be free, sin must be fought at the root, not merely trimmed at the surface. The point is clear: adultery begins in the heart, and to walk rightly before God, Christians must wage war with sin in the thought life. God’s people are not called merely to appear clean, but to pursue purity before the God who sees everything. Do you want to support Church of The Word? https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here! https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith

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For over 10 years Church of the Word has preached, taught, witnessed to, served and loved others in the Saint Louis area. Our name “Church of the Word” right...

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