Understanding the Jesus of the Gospels

Sermons from the Gospels

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Tag: bible

  • Lazarus and the Rich Man

    Luke 16: 19-31 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA Offered to the Wharton Hungarian Church of Wharton, NJ on September 25, 2022 I want to start my message today by commenting that Luke’s retelling of Jesus’ parables is unique in its richness. We have here today the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus. This parable…

  • What can we learn from the Unscrupulous Steward?

    Luke 16: 1-13 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA Offered to the First Presbyterian Church of Franklin, NJ on September 9, 2022 This is a difficult parable to understand. I think more than just a few of us scratch our heads and wonder, “What is Jesus telling us here? What does he mean by the “children…

  • How Should We Do This Welcoming Thing?

    Genesis 18: 1-8 / Luke 10: 38-42 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA Offered to the First Church of Hanover, NJ on July 17, 2022 The two passages from the Old and New Testaments this morning make a curious juxtaposition of ways of being “Welcoming”. We see Abraham in this story from Genesis observes three travelers…

  • Go and Do Likewise

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder PCUSA Offered to the Community Presbyterian Church of Chester, NJ on July 10, 2022 The last time I visited with you was back in February of this year and the lectionary that Sunday was from Luke 6 about the Golden Rule – “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate…

  • Being Tested, Matthew 4: 1-11

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder PCUSA prepared for the Mine Hill Presbyterian Church, February 22, 2026 OK. Jesus fasted. That is where we are in the lectionary in the Gospel of Matthew. And that fits since this is the first Sunday in our Lenten season. But before we get into Jesus fasting and what the purpose…

  • Salt & Light [Matthew 5:13-16]

    Offered to the United Presbyterian Church of Alpha NJ on February 8, 20236 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCISA Salt & Light [Matthew 5:13-16] These words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel today are not the most famous, most recognizable words that Jesus had spoken during his ministry; but these in Matthew’s Gospel today are perhaps the…

  • “Come Follow Me”                                      

    Prepared for the Rockport Presbyterian Church / January 25, 2026 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA Before we get into this story in Matthew’s Gospel, I want to first just get a picture of what Jesus was doing. The first thing that Matthew tells us is that John the Baptizer was arrested and put into prison…

  • Luke 15

    This is a two-part sermon series offered to the Wharton Hungarian Church of Wharton, NJ in June of 2022 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder PCUSA Part 1: Finding the Lost The Bible is referred to as the greatest story ever told. These three parables of Luke 15 can be called the greatest story within the greatest…

  • The Triune God – How can we Know it?

    John 16: 12-15 Offered to the congregation at The Presbyterian Churches of Long Hill, NJ Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder PCUSA So, today is Trinity Sunday. Usually, a Pastor will tackle the complexities of the Trinity in their message for their congregation on this Sunday. It is a difficult and complex subject that requires a rather…

  • And Jesus prayed…

    John 17: 20-26 Offered to the Beemerville Presbyterian Church, Wantage, NJ on May 29, 2022 Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder PCUSA I have a favorite way of referring to the Gospel of John apart from the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is that the Synoptic Gospels tell us what happened during Jesus’ ministry,…