Resources by Jeremy Bacon:
Jeremy Bacon
Jeremy is a divorced single dad who lives in Illinois with his three amazing children. He has a bachelors and masters in theology, which is not always super-useful at the retail job he's worked since 2006.
Sermon on the Mount: Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged?
Judge not lest ye be judged. In the larger flow of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ command to “Judge not” (Matt. 7:1-6) seems to come out of nowhere. Here are my best guesses for why it’s included at this point in the sermon. First, in the same way that Deuteronomy seems loosely structured around...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Don’t Worry
Storing up treasures in heaven makes sense. Serving God and not Mammon is obviously the right choice. But if you follow this train of thought all the way, it brings up a problem. You still need to eat. In fact, you have all kinds of practical, material needs. What about those? “So,” you could ask...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Mammon
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matt. 6:24) I like Dave Ramsey’s program. I also get that the title “Financial Peace” is a lot catchier than...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: The Eye Is the Lamp of the Body
Where is your focus? I think that’s the question Jesus poses in Matt. 6:22-23: “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you...
Jeremy Bacon
The Beatitudes: What We Missed in Our Pursuit of Happiness
You may know the Beatitudes…but what do they actually mean? The Sermon on the Mount—been there, done that, right? It’s the “Casablanca” of the New Testament. We quote it without even realizing it. And the Beatitudes? We literally have those…
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Treasure in Heaven
In English, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21), almost sounds redundant. We use the word “treasure” to mean something we care about (e.g., “Those kids are my treasure”). But talking about our “heart” also points to things we care about. So Jesus would be saying, “The things you care...
Jeremy Bacon
Lord’s Prayer: Deliver Us From Evil
Seriously? The last word in the Lord’s Prayer is “evil”? That’s a terrible ending (Matt. 6:13). An early Christian community couldn’t handle it, so they decided to come up with some nice little flourish they could say that would end the prayer on a positive note. “Maybe something about God’s kingdom and glory or something.”...
Jeremy Bacon
Lord’s Prayer: As We Forgive Our Debtors
We live in between the old and the new. The Kingdom is “now,” but it is also “not yet.” So if forgiveness is the bridge between the two, and we live in between the two, that means we need to live in forgiveness. As someone once put it, forgiveness is the very atmosphere of the...
Jeremy Bacon
Lord’s Prayer: Forgive Us Our Debts
The Lord’s Prayer is short. That’s kind of the point (Matt. 6:7-8). If you’re going to whittle things down and say no more than what absolutely needs to be said, this is what needs to be said. The prayer only has four movements, and one of them is about forgiveness. “And forgive us our debts...
Jeremy Bacon
Lord’s Prayer: How Can We Pray for Our Daily Bread?
If you’re looking for general advice on prayer, the first thing the Lord’s Prayer says is to center yourself on eternity. Paradoxically, the second thing it says is that the small stuff matters. I guess that’s one advantage of being an infinite being—nothing is too big for God, but nothing is too small for him,...
Jeremy Bacon
Lord’s Prayer: Your Kingdom Come
What did Jesus mean we told us to pray, “Your kingdom come”? It’s worthwhile to pause and ask how this core concern ought to shape our prayers. Jesus’ discussion of the “hypocrites” (Matt. 6:1-6, 16-18) has an obviously tight structure. Right in the middle, he breaks that structure for a rather important tangent on prayer...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Why Philanthropy & Prayer in Secret?
Why would Jesus tell us to practice our righteous acts such as giving and prayer in secret? It’s a crucial test of the heart. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:1...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: What Is Love in Christianity?
What is love in Christianity? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us the love God has for us and we are called to have for each other. If you made a list of “The Top 10 Greek Words Normal Churchgoers Know,” agape would be on that list. It’s the word Jesus uses for...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: Love Your Enemy and Pray for Those Who Persecute You
Jesus said to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. As sentimental as it sounds, this isn’t commonsense advice, and most people consider it bad advice. Yet, what happens to us when we don’t take this command seriously? In the last paragraph of Matthew 5, Jesus says to “pray for those persecuting...
Jeremy Bacon
Sermon on the Mount: An Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth
What are we to make of Jesus’ take on “An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”? Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount explains that there’s a better way forward than seeking retaliation in our relationships. It’s a familiar script. Let’s say I wrong you somehow. You can respond in one of two...
Jeremy Bacon