Understanding the Jesus of the Gospels

Sermons from the Gospels

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  • Commentary on Luke 15

    I invite you to order and read my new publication A Commentary on Luke 15 available on Amazon. Go to: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Mel+Prestamo&crid=2GCW6R06XHRCG&sprefix=mel+prestamo%2Caps%2C130&ref=nb_sb_noss

  • Exclusion & Inclusion

    Matthew 21: 33-46 Offered to the First Presbyterian Church of East Amwell NJ, October 4, 2026 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA Today we are celebrating World Communion Sunday. This is a great day of inclusiveness joining Christians from all over the world to share in this meal that the Lord has prepared for us. The…

  • I Will Ask You This Question

    Matthew 21: 23-32 Offered to the First Presbyterian Church of Franklin, NJ on September 27, 2026 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA OK. So right at the beginning of today’s gospel reading, the chief priests and elders of the people charge right up to Jesus and demand to know of him “By what authority are you…

  • WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?

    Matthew 16: 13-20, offered to the Mine Hill Presbyterian Church, Mine Hill, NJ, August 23, 2026 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA There are a couple of things going on in today’s Gospel story that I would like to get into with you today. First, Matthew tells us in verse 13 that Jesus had gone to…

  • Jesus and the Canaanite Woman

    Matthew 15: 21-28 Offered at the Long Valley Presbyterian Church, August 16, 2026 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA First off, let me confess to you, I have dreaded preaching on this story in Matthew’s Gospel – this meeting between Jesus and the Canaanite Woman. Because, it had long been my misunderstanding that Jesus was being…

  • A Farmer Went Out…

    Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23 Offered to the Community Presbyterian Church of Chester, NJ on July 12, 2026 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder PCUSA When I saw the lectionary for today, I thought to myself, “Oh, good! This is a Gospel passage that almost explains itself.” But as I sat down to read it, I found myself…

  • The Voices of Jesus

    Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30 – Offered to the Clinton Presbyterian Church of Clinton, NJ Sunday July 5, 2026, by Mel Prestamo, Ruling elder PCUSA The Voices of Jesus Today’s lectionary is one of several disjointed discourses recorded by Matthew. In 11 chapter, Jesus is teaching as he travels through villages in Galilee. Matthew gives us…

  • Pentecost – The Age of the Holy Spirit

    Act 2: 1-21, Offered to the Minehill Presbyterian Church of Minehill, NJ on May 24, 2026 Mel Prestamo, Elder PCUSA There is a lot happening in this second chapter of Acts – and I think it is important for us to look at it in a step-by-step fashion so that we can see how the…

  • “Thus Far and No Farther”

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA Offered to the First Presbyterian Church of Franklin, NJ on May 17, 2026 Before we get into today’s lectionary, I want to tell you about a small book that I read recently. The book entitled “Season’s Greetings: Christmas Letters From those Who Were There,” written by Ruth Boling. In it…

  • If It Were Not So…

    John 14: 1-14 Offered to the Community Presbyterian Church of Chester NJ, May 3, 2026 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA In these center chapters of John’s Gospel, John is recounting the discourses in which Jesus had spent much time trying to prepare his disciples for what was coming. And what was coming was going to…