Before we talk about the first of three different areas that Christ talks about in these verses, let's bring to mind the warning that accompanies all of them. This is something that we do together every Sunday, yes, but this morning the reason why we do so will (hopefully!) become more apparent as our sermon unfolds. In all three areas of Christian living that He teaches on; charity, prayer, and fasting; He prefaces each one with a warning about hypocrisy. ‘Do not act like

Lead In: Moving on to our second sermon on hypocrisy, let’s not forget the groundwork we went through last week. In all three sections of Matthew 6:1-18; Charity, Prayer, and Fasting; Jesus gives us a number of repeated phrases, beginning with a warning. He gives us this repeated warning, because hypocrisy is effective. If you go through life wanting people to notice and glorify you, ensuring the people around you notice your righteous acts, you’ll get what you want…because

Lead In: Last week we introduced the next chapter in The Sermon on The Mount by remembering that the righteousness required of us, exceeding that of the Pharisees, is an internal righteousness. It is the righteousness of Christ Himself. And because what is internal will always show up externally, we should expect to see the very same actions that Christ carried out, performed by us. It is His righteousness afterall. If we don’t, we need to be asking some big questions. If