Tag: Gospel of Matthew
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…