What happens when someone claims to be a Christian but refuses to stop living in open sin? And what authority — if any — does the local church have to do something about it?
In this sermon, Pastor Josh walks through one of the most ignored and under-applied passages in the entire New Testament: Matthew 18:18–20. If you've ever heard someone quote "where two or three are gathered" as a blank check for prayer requests, this message will challenge everything you thought that verse meant.
Starting with a trip to Toys R Us with his daughters (involving taxes, candy bars, and some impressive negotiation tactics from a four-year-old), Pastor Josh draws an unexpected parallel to what it means to be a citizen — both in a society and in the Kingdom of Heaven. From there, he unpacks:
- Christ's teaching on binding and loosing — and why the Greek grammar is critical to understanding the text.
- The "keys of the kingdom" in Matthew 16 and how they connect to Matthew 18.
- What 1 Corinthians 5 reveals about why Paul commanded excommunication.
- What it actually means to "hand someone over to Satan."
This isn't an easy teaching. But it might be the most important one your church never talks about.
