Matthew 5:1-12

I recently came across an article online that asked a blunt question: ‘How do you measure up as a man?’ It listed five specific standards the world uses to decide if you’re ‘winning’ at life. While it was written for men, I think we can all feel the pressure of these today:

1.How much money you make—and how much you can keep.

2.What you drive: the price, the style, and how new your car is.

3.Your job title and how far you’ve climbed the corporate ladder.

4. Your retirement package.

5. This is my Favorite.  Your hair. How much of it is still on your head.

We look at this list and realize: the world has a very specific ‘app’ for measuring our worth.

I know it doesn’t seem to make much sense to us and it might vary across cultures, but it is still how many people in the secular world generally measure a person, both men and women.

Ask any first-century Jewish people who the blessed people were in their community and they would have shared with you the conventional wisdom of the day.

His answer would be like these: “Blessed are the wealthy, for they have lots of stuff.”  “Blessed are the Romans, for they have power.” “Blessed are the powerful, for they get what they want.” Or “Cursed are the gentiles, for we’re not like them.”

But in today’s Gospel story, Jesus stands on a mountainside and offers a completely different yardstick. He lays out a set of principles that redefine the meaning of success and happiness in the eyes of God.  And his standards stand in stark contrast to the standard of the world.

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Matthew 4:12-23

When we use the word ‘hub’ today, we think of a place of art, business, finance, and entertainment. It is a multicultural epicentre—a place of diversity and change, filled with multiple voices, traditions, and a window to the wider world.

In Jesus’ day, Capernaum was exactly that: a bustling hub of activity. Located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum acted as a bridge connecting Egypt to the nations of the north and east. This meant a constant stream of merchants and travellers passed straight through the town.

All four Gospels mention Capernaum, not just as a location on a map, but as the centre of Jesus’ mission:

Mark chapter 1: “They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.”  

Luke chapter 4: “Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people.”

John 2:12:  “He went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.”

Capernaum is described as the place where Jesus begins his public teaching and performs his first miracles. In John, it is shown that for Jesus and his team, Capernaum wasn’t just a stopover. It was their mission base. 

And finally, Matthew’s gospel this morning: “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he went to Galilee. He did not stay in Nazareth, but went to live in Capernaum, a town by Lake Galilee in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.”

To give you some background, Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the original twelve tribes of Israel. Originally, the people there were of pure Israelite descent. However, these areas were conquered by Assyria in the 8th century BC and repopulated by foreigners. As a result, the distinct Jewish tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali eventually disappeared.

That was Capernaum. At one time, it was a traditional Jewish town, but over the years, it became a mix of foreign languages, cultures, and religions. Because of this, many Jews in Jesus’ time looked down on the residents of Capernaum, regarding the town as an ‘ugly duckling.’

Yet, there is a strange paradox here: the Bible tells us that Jesus didn’t choose to stay in his hometown of Nazareth. Instead, he chose to live in Capernaum. While his family’s home base was in Nazareth, Jesus moved to Capernaum the moment he began his ministry. It is a critically important fact: Jesus grew up in Nazareth with his parents, but he lived his adult life in Capernaum.

Then, why Capernaum?  I mean, what made Capernaum matter to Jesus, this is an important question because that will help us understand why Gungahlin matters to us today.

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John 1: 29-42

One of the great hymns that came out of African-American culture in the US is the powerful gospel song called “Ain’t Got Time to Die.” It was written by Hall Johnson and began with words like this: Lord, I keep so busy praising my Jesus, and I haven’t got time to die. Because when I’m healing the sick, when I’m feeding the poor, I’m working. I haven’t got time to die.

It is one of the main themes I keep sharing almost every Sunday. When we’re caring for the poor, the sick, the needy or the lonely, we’re not simply doing kindness or charity to those who need it. We’re actually working for God. Our faith journey, our spiritual life on earth, has almost everything to do with what we do in our daily life.

The point is, when we are real believers, when we really commit our lives to Christ, we can’t sit still.

We can’t just sit still… because we become so excited, so grateful for our life in Christ that we can’t help but love and serve God… by loving and serving those around us, especially the struggling.

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Matthew 3:13-17

Today is the Sunday of the Lord’s Baptism. Based on Matthew 3:13-17, we are celebrating the moment when God was baptized by a human.

Many people see Jesus’ baptism as just the ‘kick-off’ to his public ministry. However, if we look closely at the specific details of the story, we find something much deeper.

When Jesus arrives at the Jordan river, John tries to stop him, saying, “Master, the roles are reversed here. I should be the one in the water, not you. Jesus then rejects the celebrity status that John tries to give him.

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Matthew 2:1-12

What is your New Year’s resolution looking like for 2026? Before we get too serious, here are a few jokes about the resolutions we might struggle to keep often.

‘Consider taking up a new hobby such as procrastination. Or maybe later.’

‘Read the Bible regularly and realize it is full of wine.’

‘Stop worrying when I’m asleep.’

‘A lot of people are exercising for their New Year’s resolution. But right now, I’m watching a show I don’t like. Why? Because the remote fell on the floor.’

Statistics tell us that while millions make New Year’s resolutions, only 7 percent actually cross the finish line. Even more shocking, medical studies have shown that even those with terminal cancer are not good at keeping their new year resolutions. Only 1 in 9 of them finds the will to change their life habits.

Have you ever been driving somewhere familiar, following your GPS, when suddenly the screen flashes: ‘New Route Suggested’? Usually, we ignore it. We like the way we know.

Humans are a species of the ‘old way.’ Knowing the right way isn’t enough. Even fearing death isn’t always enough. We need something more powerful than a resolution; we need a transformation from inside —the kind of change that only happens when we encounter the divinity. That’s exactly what happened to the Magi, the wise men from the east in today’s gospel reading.

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