The Book of Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven

8 Weeks

Big Idea of the Series

This eight-week Gospel of Matthew sermon series examines the broader themes of God’s character, Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises for a Messiah, and the importance of internal integrity over external behavior.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day misinterpreted the Old Testament prophecies and therefore didn’t understand that Jesus came to deliver them from their own sin. Using the Gospel of Matthew as an essential link between the Old and New Testaments, we know that we can never achieve right relationship with God apart from Jesus dwelling inside us through the Holy Spirit.

This sermon series on the Gospel of Matthew includes eight specific messages on the need for salvation, baptism and repentance, and provides the groundwork for a clear explanation of the Gospel.

See our guide to the second half of Matthew here.

What is the Series Guide?

Included in each guide is:

A sermon series outline that breaks up the teaching set into a specific number of weeks.
A "big idea" of the series.
A passage, "big idea" of the sermon, topic list, and a number of illustrations and talking point ideas are included in each weekly section. The "Sermon Ideas and Talking Points" area is filled with observations about the text, relevant applications, creative ideas, and illustrations.
A small group discussion (located in a separate document in this bundle).

What is the Series Guide Not?

This guide isn't a set of sermon manuscripts. While sermon manuscripts can be both useful and a powerful training tool, our sermon series guides are different. Rather than tell you what to say, our aim is for this material to spark your imagination, assist you in planning your sermon, and offer a boost to your study time.
This guide isn't ironclad. While we hope you use our material, the pieces of this document are designed to be moved, tweaked, and altered. As you study the suggested passages, and pray through your message, this guide will hopefully be a launching pad, rather than a landing net.

How Do I Use this Series Guide?

Plan ahead. Our guides are best utilized in advance versus the day or night before. Read over the ideas and illustrations provided, thinking through how you can possibly utilize them in your message. We've purposely kept our guides simple so as to give you the best opportunity to create your own, unique message.
While we give you a passage and "big idea" of the message, take time to study the text.
Utilize the media contained in this bundle to promote and communicate your series message.