Trinity Baptist Church

Putting Faith Into Practice

Episode Summary

Senior Pastor David Rose considers Christ’s teaching in Matthew 6 on giving, praying, and fasting. He walks us through each discipline, explaining what it looked like for religious show-offs—”hypocrites”—to do them, versus having a heart focused solely on God. Bro. David challenges us to examine our motives: are we seeking God or man’s attention? It’s an examination of how to seek God’s glory instead of our own, and how to find our reward in knowing Christ more deeply.

Episode Notes

Senior Pastor David Rose considers Christ’s teaching in Matthew 6 on giving, praying, and fasting. He walks us through each discipline, explaining what it looked like for religious show-offs—”hypocrites”—to do them, versus having a heart focused solely on God. Bro. David challenges us to examine our motives: are we seeking God or man’s attention? It’s an examination of how to seek God’s glory instead of our own, and how to find our reward in knowing Christ more deeply.

Key Takeaways

• Jesus shows us how to give (v.1-4)
• Jesus shows us how to pray (v. 5-14)
• Jesus shows us how to live (v. 15-18)

Further Study

• When you give, is your motivation to please God or to receive praise from others? Spend a minute considering Christ’s example of perfect reliance on the Father in Matthew 4:1-11. How does the finished work of Christ free us to love and to know Him more deeply? (2 Corinthians 9:7-15)
• Spend some time meditating on Hebrews 4:16-5:10. As believers united to Christ through faith, we can boldly approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and help. How is it possible for weak and tempted sinners to approach God boldly? Matthew 4:14-15 is key here.
• Prayerfully read over Romans 6:1-14. Through union with Christ in death and resurrection, we are no longer enslaved to sin but made alive as slaves to righteousness. In what areas of your life are you mastered by your idols rather than Christ?
• In what way does the gospel compel you to reorder your motives like Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross? Consider Philippians 2:5-11 – it was Christ’s perfect obedience and sinless life that satisfied God’s wrath against us.
• How will dying to sin and self better enable you to live to righteousness for God’s glory alone? Meditate on Galatians 2:20 – it is Christ living in us by faith who empowers us to live not for self, but for the One who died and rose again.

The Gospel

If you have questions about what it means to be a Christian, we would love to talk with you about it.

Reach out

Jesus Christ came to rescue us from sin and darkness, transferring us into His kingdom of light through faith alone. We were dead in our sins, slaves to our own idols─money, pride, and various other appetites. But Jesus willingly went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He was buried and rose again, gaining for us a perfect righteousness not our own.

Like Bro. David said, Jesus “rescues you from the domain of darkness and transfers you into this new kingdom… He transforms you from the inside out.” This salvation is a gift we can never earn or deserve. Yet Christ calls us to respond with love and gratitude, no longer seeking praise but pleasing our Savior alone.

Through faith in His finished work, we’ve been forgiven and made righteous in God’s sight. We are freed to worship Him from hearts overflowing with love. As Bro. David said, our reward is Jesus─intimacy with Him now and glory forever as we become like Him through faith. This is the hope and freedom we have in Christ!