WMBC - Sermons

What do eyes and lamps have to do with money? What in the world is “mammon?” This week, we unpack some of Jesus most difficult to understand teachings on wealth. I’m not going to sugarcoat it; these will be hard for us to accept.

 “It is arguable that materialism is the single biggest competitor with authentic Christianity for the hearts and souls of millions in our world today” (Craig Blomberg). Jesus not only says that our heart will direct our actions, but also the reverse: our habits will shape our hearts. Where we direct our attention will, over time, shape who we become. It is perhaps for this reason, Jesus taught more about wealth than about any other social issue – more than marriage, politics, work, power. There are few topics that demand more commitment as Christ-followers to live counter-culturally than our relationship with money and the attention our western society has given to materialism. 

As Dallas Willard once said, “The gospel is less about how to get into the kingdom of heaven after you die, and more about how to live in the kingdom of heaven before you die.” In a world that feels increasingly tense, divided and overwhelming, what does it look like to be People of the Kingdom, Krista Heide will be joining us to explore the theme of evangelism in both theological and practical ways.

The life of Jesus, the writings of Scripture, the voice of the global church, and the teaching of the saints down through church history, all say in unison: fasting is essential and powerful. At the same time, fasting could be seen as the single most neglected spiritual practice in the modern, Western church. Let’s talk about it; see ya Sunday!

 Don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. These words of Jesus in Matthew 6:13 have built up and sustained the church for 2,000 years. With a cry that speaks to the human heart and a desire for God to step into our messes and trials to bring, Christians in 2026 join with the early church to simply ask God to rescue us. Join us this week as we dive into the final verse of the Lord's Prayer and learn what it means for God to rescue us from temptation. 

We arrive at the only idea expressed in the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus thinks important enough to elaborate on after the prayer, forgiveness; perhaps hinting that the entire reason for praying this prayer in the first place is a daily cleansing away of all built-up resentments, failures, and accompanying shame. Join us this Sunday as we explore the power of forgiveness. 

In the third line of the Lord’s prayer, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray that God would provide “daily bread.” What does this mean? This week, we look at Bible translation mysteries, take a trip into the wilderness, and consider a surprising mindset that Jesus calls His disciples to adopt.

Who is your father is a question that many of us get asked on a regular basis. As followers of Jesus, its also a very important question for us to ask ourselves. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to call God “Father.” Our understanding of what it means for God to be our father directly impacts the way that we’ll pray to him. Join us on Sunday as we begin a series on prayer and learn about the character of the one who we call Father.

We now begin a new section of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, where Jesus focuses on our relationship to our Father in Heaven. This Sunday we are going to look at the first of three examples he will be teaching his disciples: giving, prayer, fasting. In each case, Jesus is going to stress the importance of a secret spiritual life that no one else knows about but our Father in Heaven. Join us as we discover the benefits of living in secret! 

Everyone worships. All of us devote ourselves to something or someone, someone will get best of us, become the object of our time, money, and devotion. This Sunday we reflect on the incredible influence worship has on our lives, as we reflect on the story of the wise men’s encounter with King Herod.  

Growing up, my mom always told me to never ask someone if they’re pregnant, so hopefully I’m not coming off as rude by asking if your church is pregnant. This week we’ll be looking at the parents of Jesus; a man named Joseph who is asked to raise a child that is not his, and Mary, a teenager who is asked to be the vessel that brings God’s Kingdom into the world. Both Joseph and Mary provide an example of what it looks like to prepare the way for the Kingdom of God to come here on earth as it is in heaven. Joseph surrenders control in order to be obedient, and Mary literally grows God within her and gives birth to the God-life. We too as a church are invited to allow the God-life to grow within us by surrendering control and simply saying “your will be done.”

Through the testimony of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Zechariah, and John the Baptist himself, God makes it clear that this rugged wilderness preacher is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. But how did John prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight? His nickname, “John the Baptist” gives us a clue! Join us this Sunday as we continue in our advent series and hear a powerful testimony of life transformation.

When you look your family tree and read through the names, it might be a little boring if it just remains a name on the page; but dig a little deeper and you discover that every name has a unique story, a story that eventually leads to and connects with your own story. This Sunday we explore the genealogy of Jesus, and God’s relentless quest to prepare the way for your salvation story!

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” - this is Jesus’ word to the average person, facing everyday circumstances and relationship hardships. You’ve got to be kidding right?It takes a God sized imagination to say this, and it takes Jesus sized boldness to live like this, and it takes Holy Spirit sized courage to follow this command of Jesus. Are you up for it?

Growing up, I often heard adults say “The time should fit the crime.” Our idea of a just world is one in which those who hurt or wrong us get what they deserve. Jesus however tells us do not resist an evil person and do not seek revenge. Join us this Sunday as we unpack Matthew 5:38-42, and learn what it means to nonresistantly love those who hurt us, and in turn invite others to be transformed by the power of Jesus.

Simply let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no” – Jesus. That all sounds quite simple, doesn’t it? But don’t confuse simple with easy; studies reveal that the average person speaks 1-2 lies a day, with 60% of us unable to get through a 10 minute conversation without lying. In the age of fake news, false promises, and there absolutely being no absolutes – how does the Good News of the Kingdom shape our promises? Let’s talk about it, see you Sunday.  

Heads up parents! This week’s message will be focusing on sexual desire – good and bad. If your kids or pre-teens are in the service for the message, they will hear Jesus’s teaching on serious sexual topics. Our society is obsessed with sexuality and lust. How often is sexual conquest the driving force behind the advertisements we see? How many of the songs you’ll listen this week are simply odes to lust covered in the veneer of love? How many sex scenes will we see this week in our TV shows? Have we become desensitized to the sexually explicit in our culture? YES. Jesus knew how important sexuality is, how it can destroy life or enhance life. Join us as we learn how to live without lust.

The things that we often assume Jesus to be saying are, sometimes, not at all what He is actually saying. The meaning can be quite different than what we assume it to be – quite different than what we’ve often been taught that it means. And a big reason for this is the culture and context into which it was originally spoken. The original hearers would have understood what Jesus was saying by do not resist, turn the other cheek, give your coat, go two miles. The reality is, none of these statements are passive, none of them say, “give up” none of them are a charge to let yourself be walked over.Every single one of them is a non-violent way of confronting and dealing with the abuse that was rampant in that society. And everyone hearing Jesus say these things would have understood because they were a part of the culture and the context into which these things were spoken.