Sermon on the Mount Part 09 Matthew 6:9-14-34

VIDEO:    • Sermon on the Mount Part 09 Matthew 6:9-14-34  

After 9 sessions, we are finished with chapters 5 and 6 of the Sermon on the Mount. We take so long because everything is about teaching the heart to live a spiritual way of life. The Sermon on the Mount is the most sublime teaching in the Scriptures, and is a perfect subject to teach catechumens, inquirers, and anybody who has been Orthodox for 1-99 years about the "one thing needful".

00:00 Opening prayer & introduction
00:13 Matt 6:14–15 – If you forgive men their trespasses…
00:33 Matt 6:16 – Whenever you fast, be not as the hypocrites…
01:09 Why we fast: teachability, strength, discipline, clarity
01:51 Fasting changes us; opens the heart to God
03:16 Fasting must be joined to prayer
04:16 Learning by experience; spiritual greater than carnal
05:14 Thanksgiving, fasting, and not judging others
08:36 Matt 6:17–18 – Anoint thy head; wash thy face…
09:27 Fasting in a non-Orthodox family: pastoral guidance
13:05 Joy, energy, obedience, and questions about oil
16:10 Matt 6:19–21 – Lay not up for yourselves treasures…
20:30 Treasure hidden in a field; desire and effort
22:27 Matt 6:22–23 – The lamp of the body is the eye…
26:48 St. Silouan: “Keep your mind in hell and despair not”
32:17 Darkness within; fear of sin; necessity of repentance
37:02 Matt 6:24 – No man can serve two masters…
44:04 Matt 6:25 – Take no thought for your life…
47:05 Causes of anxiety; healing through prayer and psalms
50:32 Matt 6:26 – Behold the birds of the heaven…
50:50 Matt 6:27 – Add one cubit to his stature…
51:16 Matt 6:28–29 – Consider the lilies of the field…
52:50 Matt 6:30 – If God so clothe the grass…
54:13 Matt 6:31–32 – What shall we eat? What shall we drink?…
55:16 Matt 6:33–34 – Seek ye first the kingdom…
55:30 Empty house & demons: why it must be filled with God
57:04 “Living in the heart” vs. Protestant total depravity
1:00:58 Desire in Orthodox anthropology
1:02:00 Helping others move from abstract God to living God
1:06:05 Bringing people into your heart; pastoral love
1:10:02 Asking God for things vs. prescriptive prayer
1:12:04 Wine, gladness, moderation
1:12:15 How to become Orthodox: catechumenate & baptism
1:17:08 Recommended catechism; dismissing catechumens
1:22:20 Why we venerate icons & light candles


Apologies about the difficulty in hearing questions and comments from the audience. We have new equipment (OSMO Pocket 3), and are working the kinks out to pick me up very well, AND the audience. I love the OSMO remote microphone, but I also need to have microphones in the audience. I have 2 RODE microphones. If anyone knows how to use all three microphones effectively, please give me a shout: Priest Seraphim Holland [email protected]