tom hogsed

Matthew 5:1-12

Posted: July 24, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Uncategorized

Matthew brings Jesus’ ministry alive by documenting some of His sermons and in Matthew 5:1-7:29, Jesus’ sermon on the mount is detailed for the reader. This sermon is one of the most famous in all of Scripture. The words of Jesus in this passage are an effort to define true righteousness as opposed to the external, works-based righteousness of the Pharisees (so-called religious leaders); in fact, Jesus says in Matthew 5:20, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus taught His disciples that true righteousness begins in the heart and not with the external works of the flesh. Paul also wrote to the Romans, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5); therefore, righteousness stems from God and then flows to the heart of man. Righteousness cannot be earned or manufactured through good works, as the religious leaders taught, but it is only through faith in God that true righteousness and lasting life change is discovered.

When Jesus saw the multitudes which had gathered to see Him (4:23-25), He went up onto a mountain and called His disciples to Him (5:1). He first teaches them (5:2) regarding the character of those who have true faith and righteousness. These characteristics are often referred to as the beatitudes (5:3-12), meaning that they are the attitudes of true faith. The world finds satisfaction in pleasure and material things, while those with true faith exhibit satisfaction through their character, which is produced by the Holy Spirit. Here is a brief description of each of the beatitudes:

Poor in Spirit (5:3) – a recognition of my utter need of God
Mourn (5:4) – a deep sorrow over my sin
Meek (5:5) – self-control even in difficult circumstances
Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness (5:6) – seeking the righteousness of God instead of attempting to earn it
Merciful (5:7) – not seeking revenge or having compassion on the undeserving
Pure in Heart (5:8) – an internal cleansing of the heart
Peacemakers (5:9) – striving for togetherness instead of strife
Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake (5:10-12) – a willingness to suffer hardship for doing good

These attitudes can only be realized when a person has true faith and righteousness from God, apart from his own works.

Dear God, produce these attitudes in me so that I might reflect true faith and righteousness.

Matthew 4:12-25

Posted: July 22, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Uncategorized

Matthew has been following some major pints in the life of Jesus, whom He passionately believed was the long-awaited Messiah. He was primarily writing to a Jewish audience in order to prove that Jesus Christ was God’s Son and therefore worthy of their worship. In the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel, the writer extensively covered the genealogy of Jesus right back to David and ultimately, Abraham (1:1-17). Matthew also recounted the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ (1:18-25), including the visit of the wise men and His family’s escape from the hands of Herod, who was attempting to exterminate Jesus (2:1-23). Although Matthew skips most of the narrative of Jesus’ youth, He introduces his readers to John the Baptist who prepared the hearts of the people for the arrival of the Messiah (3:1-11). Matthew documents Jesus’ baptism (3:13-17) and His face to face encounter with Satan, who unsuccessfully tempted Him in the wilderness (4:1-11).

After His baptism and temptation, Jesus begins His public ministry in Galilee where he preaches, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (4:12-17). Jesus’ message was identical to the one John preached (3:1-2) and was a call for people to turn from their sin and embrace the forgiveness of God. When Jesus referred to the “kingdom of heaven,” he was pointing to a present rule of God in the heart of those who repent, but He also had a future kingdom in mind. In the midst of His public ministry, Jesus called out several disciples, Simon Peter and Andrew (later James and John), who left their jobs as fishermen in order to follow Jesus (4:18-22). Jesus promised them that if they followed, He would make them “fishers of men.” Making them fishers of men meant that He would equip them to “catch” men through the preaching of truth and persuading them to repent and have faith in Jesus. Ultimately, Jesus invested in these disciples because they would be the ones to carry on the message long after Jesus had died, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. These men would ensure that the message of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ would be passed to the next generation. Every generation has men and women who faithfully proclaim this same message to ensure that everyone has the privilege to experience the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.

Dear God, make me a fisher of men.

Mathew 4:1-11

Posted: July 21, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Bible Commentary, Matthew

Immediately following one of the highlights of Jesus’ life (His baptism), He experiences one of the lowest points in His life. Matthew writes that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (4:1). Adding to the severity of the temptation was the fact that Jesus fasted 40 days and nights before His encounter with Satan, which obviously brought Him to an extreme state of hunger (4:2). The tempter, Satan, brought three specific temptations against Jesus (4:3; 4:5-6; 4:8-9) and each one was designed to cause Jesus to ignore the plan of God the Father by using the divine power He had willingly set aside to become like man (Philippians 2:7). At the heart of every temptation is the desire to act independent of God, so in order to resist, Jesus had to be more desirous for God’s way than the ways of the devil. At the beginning of human history, Adam and Eve failed miserably at this and chose to live independently of God and their disobedience ultimately threw the entire human race into sin (Romans 5:12). Jesus also faced this same direct pressure from Satan, but He successfully resisted each time through remembrance of and perfect obedience to God’s words (4:4; 4:7; 4:10). At the core of resisting temptation is seeing God’s ways as good and worthy to be obeyed. If we cannot find worth or relevance in God’s way of living, we will never be able to resist temptation. Paul provides great comfort to the church at Corinth regarding temptation when he writes, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NLT). God’s presence accompanies those who are His and He has equipped them to handle any temptation which comes their way.

Dear God, I look to Jesus as my example of resisting temptation and I pray for the strength to also resist when I am confronted with evil.

An Old Song

Posted: July 20, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Uncategorized

The main campus of our church, Canton Baptist Temple, is having a special few days at our church’s camp. Last night we sang an older song, that I have not heard in many years, called Because He Lives. I have always loved these lyrics so I thought I’d display a few lines here for you to read:

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

My Life is Half Over

Posted: July 19, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Determination, Personal Stuff, Real Life Stories, Transformation

I turned 36 today.

If statistics concerning life expectancy are true, my life is about half over.

There is so much more I want to accomplish in my lifetime.

Some of the things will require change…

Some of the things will require action…

But all of these things will need God’s help.

Are there things in your life that you still desire to accomplish? If so, what changes need to be made and what actions need to be taken?

Matthew 3:1-17

Posted: July 15, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Bible Commentary, Matthew

Matthew’s gospel account begins with the early years of Jesus (Matthew 1-2) and quickly fast forwards to the beginning of His earthly ministry. The writer has already established that Jesus Christ was the divinely promised Messiah for the Jews and, ultimately, for the world; He was sent to the world by God the Father to forgive and save mankind from sin (1:21). In Matthew 3, the readers are introduced to John the Baptist, who is known as the “forerunner” of Jesus Christ. In a secular sense, a forerunner was an individual who would travel ahead of the king to remove any obstacles which would delay the king’s journey. In a spiritual sense, John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, meaning that he was preparing the hearts of the people before the arrival of the King; in this case, John the Baptist challenged people to turn from sin (repent) so that their hearts would be ready when Jesus arrived (3:1-5). In order to outwardly demonstrate the cleansing of the heart from sin, John baptized people in water (3:6). His practice of water baptism is the basis of the name, John the Baptist.

The preaching of John the Baptist conflicted with the teaching of religious leaders, who taught a system of works righteousness and believed that they were automatically part of God’s family because they were descendants of Abraham and therefore worthy of God’s acceptance (3:7-10). John’s message was that all are sinners in need of forgiveness and without repentance, God’s judgment awaited them (3:11-12). After Matthew reveals the conflict between the religious leaders and John the Baptist, the reader is introduced the Jesus the Messiah who comes to the Jordan River to be baptized of John (3:13). John resisted the thought of baptizing Jesus because He was without sin and baptism symbolized a cleansing from sin (3:14); however, Jesus chose to be baptized so that He could identify Himself with those for whom He had come to save. Jesus’ baptism was a necessary part of fulfilling righteousness for sinners (3:15). After He was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and God the Father spoke from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (3:16-17). The triune God is beautifully pictured at this event. It is through this event that we also see Jesus, the sinless Son of God, identifying with sinners and entering into public ministry so that He might “save His people from their sin” (Matthew 1:21).

Dear God, it is comforting to know that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to identify with sinners so that he might forgive sin and bring hope.

Matthew 2:1-23

Posted: July 14, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Bible Commentary, Matthew

Matthew has already provided details concerning Jesus’ ancestry (1:1-17) and the events surrounding His birth (1:18-25) in an effort to uphold Him as the promised Messiah of history and the One sent to deliver people from sin (1:21). In the second chapter, Matthew continues tracing the early years of Jesus by recounting the visit of the wise men (2:1-12), Jesus’ family fleeing to Egypt (2:13-15), Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus (2:16-18), and Jesus’ family returning to Nazareth after the death of Herod (2:19-23).

Following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and during the rule of Herod, wise men (known also as Magi, who were possibly magicians or astrologers) from the East visited Jerusalem inquiring about the birthplace of the king of the Jews (2:1-2). These men had seen the star in the East and were coming to worship this newborn king; however, when Herod found out about the so-called birth of the Messiah, he attempted to find out where He was so that He could eliminate this threat to his kingship (2:3-6). In an effort to destroy Jesus, Herod secretly asked the wise men to reveal the Child’s location so that he could “worship Him also” (3:7-8). The wise men departed and found the place of the young child and worshiped Him as the long-awaited Messiah (2:9-11). They presented Him with gifts fit for a king – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Before they departed, they were warned in a dream not to reveal to Herod the location of the Child, which was God’s divine intervention in protecting His only Son who would save people from their sin (2:12). Joseph, Jesus’ legal father, also received a dream which informed him to take his family and flee to Egypt because Herod was seeking to destroy Him (2:13). Joseph obeyed and they escaped to Egypt (2:14). The wise men never returned to Herod to reveal the Child’s location, so he decided to take matters into his own hands by demanding that all male children two and under be put to death (2:16-18). Ultimately, Herod’s plan did not work because Jesus experienced divine protection and eventually, Herod died (2:19). Following Herod’s death, Joseph received another dream informing him to return with his family to Israel and they settled down in a place called Nazareth (2:20-23).

Dear God, it is amazing to read about Your protection over the One who would eventually pay for the sins of the world. May I worship Him as the chosen One of God!

Matthew 1:1-25

Posted: July 13, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Bible Commentary, Matthew

Matthew welcomes his Jewish readers with the genealogy of Jesus Christ and provides a fairly detailed ancestry, which connects Him to the two great covenants in the Old Testament: the Davidic (2 Samuel 7) and the Abrahamic (Genesis 12; 15). The Davidic covenant promised that a king from the line of David would rule forever (see also 1 Chronicles 17:1-15) and the Abrahamic covenant promises God’s people a seed (Messiah, deliverer), a land, a nation, and divine blessing/protection. Matthew desired to prove that Jesus was the fulfillment of these covenants, so he began his gospel by tracing Jesus’ lineage. By providing this genealogy, Matthew addressed an important issue for the Jews and anyone who claimed to be their king.

Not only did Matthew provide details concerning Jesus’ ancestry, but also details surrounding His birth. It seems that Joseph, Jesus’ legal father, discovered that his soon-to-be wife, Mary, was with child (1:18). Although Matthew mentions that this child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Joseph was not aware of this fact and determined to privately separate himself from Mary (1:19); however, an angel intervened and through a dream revealed to Joseph that this child being carried by Mary was conceived of the Holy Ghost (1:20). Furthermore, the angel informed Joseph that this child would be named Jesus, meaning Savior, and was being sent to “save His people from their sins” (1:21). The angel told Joseph that the birth of this child would be the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s words, “…the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us” (1:22-23; see also Isaiah 7:14). The words of the angel brought comfort to Joseph so he listened to and obeyed his words (1:24-25). Jesus the Messiah had finally come to earth and would eventually provide the necessary sacrifice to bring forgiveness of sin!

Dear God, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to save us from sin.

Introduction to Matthew

Posted: July 12, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Bible Commentary, Matthew

Matthew, also known as Levi, was a former tax collector who had abandoned everything to follow Jesus Christ (Luke 5:27-32). It is clear that Matthew, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, wrote this gospel prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and most conservative scholars would place the date of its’ writing somewhere between AD 50-60. His writing leans heavily toward a Jewish readership and Matthew seeks to show them throughout that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah and that they could experience a relationship with God through Him. Matthew also knew that the Jews who desired a relationship with God would experience much guilt at the realization that they had crucified the Messiah, so he spent time writing to encourage them. With some 50 direct quotations from the Old Testament and nearly 75 references to Old Testament events, Matthew was passionate about proving to the Jewish nation that Jesus Christ was their awaited Messiah and was worthy of their faith. His carefully chosen words (inspired by the Holy Spirit) rightfully connected the Messiah of promise with the earthly Christ.

Also significant in Matthew’s gospel are Jesus’ teaching ministry (Matthew 5-7, Matthew 10, Matthew 13, Matthew 23, Matthew 24-25), His conflict with so-called religious leaders, and the Jews’ rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.

It’s Official!

Posted: June 14, 2010 by Tom Hogsed in Real Life Stories, The Summit in Green

For the last twelve years, I have been serving as the high school pastor at Canton Baptist Temple and I must say that I enjoyed every minute of it. From a very young age, I knew I wanted to work with youth and I didn’t want to be one of those guys who was using youth ministry as a stepping stone to eventually become a pastor…I wanted to pastor the youth of this generation. When I was nearing a decade of working with high school students, I began to feel an unexplainable restlessness in my heart and, for some reason, God was not allowing me to be satisfied in youth ministry. I was very confused. For the next several months, I was in a season of waiting until God began to unveil His plan for my future. Everything unfolded quickly as our church staff was in serious talks about opening a second campus of our church, something we had actually been discussing for years. I sensed God’s Spirit prompting me to pursue this opportunity as the pastor of our Green campus, The Summit. To make a very long story short, our senior pastor discussed the possibility of me heading up The Summit and I jumped at the chance; however, it would be a challenge since I would remain the high school pastor until The Summit became a stable campus.

It has been 21 months since The Summit launched in September 2008, but yesterday (June 13, 2010) I became the full-time campus pastor at The Summit. I have learned so much about myself and ministry over the last 21 months. Some days and months were really hard and I thought about giving up, but I believe God equips those He has called, even when things get hard. We have seen some tremendous things happen at The Summit during its’ brief history, but I’m convinced that the best is still ahead!

A special note to all those who attend the Summit – you guys (or y’all, if you migrated from the south) have really become our friends and we have grown to love you very much. I look forward to what is ahead for us! Now, let’s continue inviting our friends and family so that they can hear about the hope and forgiveness offered through the death of Jesus Christ for our sins and His resurrection which guarantees eternal life!