Thesis
In Matthew 6, Jesus performs 'motive surgery' on His followers by exposing how religious acts done for public approval — or even to earn God's favor — produce no lasting transformation. True, He-centered faith requires honestly examining why we do what we do, getting alone with God to be real with Him, and replacing spiritual performance with genuine two-way prayer. When our faith is truly centered on God rather than ourselves, we stop swinging between arrogance and shame and instead discover the continual, life-giving reward of knowing and being known by a good Father.
Key points
- 1
A me-centered faith — doing religious acts to perform for others or to earn God's approval — produces no real transformation, only anxiety.
- 2
Check your why: God sees motives, not just moments, and our reasons for serving or worshiping are often lies that take us down the wrong road.
- 3
Get alone and get real with God — public worship is directly shaped by private practice, and real change works from the inside out.
- 4
A me-centered faith swings between spiritual arrogance and self-loathing; embracing God's love breaks that cycle and produces genuine righteousness.
- 5
Stop performing and start praying — real prayer is a two-way conversation, not repetitive babbling or a transaction where we just list what we want.
- 6
God, like a good father, knows what we truly need better than we do; trusting that love moves us from a me-centered demand to a He-centered surrender.
Outline
Series Introduction and Big Idea
Pastor Bill introduces the 'I, Me, Mine' series from Matthew 6, framing Jesus's Sermon on the Mount as 'motive surgery' and stating the core big idea: our faith must be He-centered, not me-centered.
Reading Matthew 6:1-8
Pastor Bill reads the eight-verse text covering giving, prayer, and empty repetition, setting up the three movements that follow.
Point 1 — Check Your Why
Jesus warns against performing righteousness for an audience — even an audience of God. Pastor Bill unpacks how wrong motives (lies) empty spiritual acts of any value and turn them into burdens rather than blessings.
Point 2 — Get Alone and Get Real
Private practice fuels public worship. Using the contrast between the two Greek words for 'reward' and the story of Peter's restoration, Pastor Bill shows that a me-centered faith yields only momentary payoff, while a He-centered faith yields the continual, life-giving reward of God Himself.
Point 3 — Stop Performing and Start Praying
Jesus calls out both the street-corner pray-ers and the Gentile babblers. Real prayer is a two-way conversation that includes listening; the Lord's Prayer is an outline for approaching God with humility, not a magic chant, and 'no' and 'wait' are legitimate answers from a Father who knows best.
Personal Illustration and Call to Surrender
Pastor Bill shares how performance anxiety at a pastors' conference forced him to check his own why, get alone with God, and pray honestly — modeling the very sermon he preached and closing with a call for every listener to ask what in their life makes faith about 'I, me, mine' rather than Him.
Memorable moments
God looks at the motives, not just the moments
a lot of our whys on why we we're serving God. Why we walk with God. Why we worship God. Why why we work for God. A lot of our whys are lies
your public worship is directly impacted by your private practices
When we live our faith me centered, the only reward we get is anxiety that comes from either being going back and forth from feeling superior to everyone when you do get a win, when you get the applause and you feel like you're doing it right, and the self loathing of the shame of every time you get it wrong
This brings anxiety. I'm bringing you identity
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you
Application
Pastor Bill closes by turning the sermon back on himself — and on every listener. The question is not whether we are doing religious things, but why. If prayer feels like a one-way demand, if worship feels like an obligation, if serving feels like a performance, those are indicator lights pointing to a misunderstanding of God's love. The practical next step is simple but countercultural: slow down, get alone, and get real with God. Sit in His Word and actually listen. Let Him examine your motives. When you do, you will find that He already loves you — not because of what you have performed, but because of who He is. From that place of known and accepted love, 'I have to' becomes 'I get to,' and real, inside-out transformation finally has room to grow.
