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Don't Let Your Promises Become Traps | Cornerstone Church | Brent Hatchett · Rewind

Cornerstone Church

Brent Hatchett · May 18, 2026

Brent Hatchett · May 18, 2026 · 41 min watch · 2 min read

Don't Let Your Promises Become Traps | Cornerstone Church | Brent Hatchett

Devotional days

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

Scripture in this message

Matthew 5
Matthew 5:33-37
Matthew 5:27-28
James 1:13-15
Matthew 5:34-36
Matthew 5:37

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Don't let your promises become traps — Quoting the message: because God takes your word seriously, be careful what you promise, end quote..

God's people are called to keep clean hands and a pure heart, and that includes the words they speak and the promises they make. Careless, insecure, or attention-seeking vows end up hurting the people who make them and the people around them — so instead of making rash promises, we can simply bring our honest requests to a God who is already with us and already for us.

Key points

1
1Jesus moves past the letter of the law to the heart behind it
Pastor Brent explains that Israel understood God's will but not always God's heart. Using Jesus's teaching on adultery beginning in the heart before it becomes an act, he shows that sin and broken vows both start inward, which is why James says a person is enticed by their own desires before it leads to sin and death.
2
2The Mishnah gave people loopholes to break vows, and Jesus shuts that door
He gives a short history lesson on the oral Torah (Mishnah), written around AD 200, which was meant to help people apply the written law but ended up providing outs for breaking vows. Jesus responds by telling people not to swear by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or their own head, because all of it ties back to God's name — so his solution is simplicity: let your yes be yes and your no be no.
3
3Never make a promise when you don't know the cost
Working through Jephthah's story in Judges 11, Pastor Brent shows a judge with a painful backstory — son of a prostitute, rejected by his half-brothers, exiled — who is called back to lead Israel's army. Pastor Brent argues Jephthah's rash vow to sacrifice whatever comes out of his house came from insecurity and a need to prove himself, not from trust that the Spirit of the Lord was already with him.
4
4Never make a promise at someone else's expense
Continuing in Judges 11, Jephthah's daughter comes out to meet him first, and he must keep his vow at her expense — win or lose theologically on whether it was literal sacrifice, Pastor Brent stresses the point stands: promises made from insecurity end up hurting other people, and sometimes hurting ourselves when we overcommit trying to be seen.
5
5Insecurity drives people to over-promise and under-deliver
He contrasts Jephthah's if-then bargaining prayer with the freedom of simply making requests known to a God who calls us friend, not servant. He points to Joshua 1, where God tells Joshua who to be (strong and courageous) before what to do, urging listeners to ask God who He wants them to be rather than constantly striving to do more.
6
6Never make a promise for applause
He walks through Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, contrasting the early church's generous 'because I have, you have' generosity with the couple's entitled, image-driven pledge that they broke by lying about the sale price — a promise made to be seen rather than to be generous, which cost them their lives.
7
7Insecurity is broken by confession, not concealment
Pastor Brent shares his own story of feeling insecure and jealous when a colleague was given the honor of preaching on Easter Sunday instead of him, admitting he lied about being fine, then confessing the truth to his friend and choosing to attend that colleague's service to defeat the stronghold rather than hide it.

Application

Pastor Brent's charge centers on his closing line: because God takes your word seriously, be careful what you promise.

Kill your insecurity instead of hiding it
If you wrestle with insecurity, confess it out loud to God and to a friend rather than concealing it, following Pastor Brent's own example of admitting his jealousy and calling his friend back to tell the truth.
Ask God who He wants you to be, not just what to do
This week, take the Joshua 1 question to the Lord — 'who are you asking me to be?' — instead of piling on more promises and commitments to prove your worth.
Replace vows with simple, honest requests
Stop making if-then bargains with God; instead bring your requests plainly before Him as a friend, trusting His plan even when He doesn't answer the way you hoped.
Repent of broken vows and entitlement
During the closing time of repentance, stand or kneel and ask the Lord to break whatever chain you're carrying — insecurity, entitlement, anger, or broken promises made to Him.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“turn with me to the gospel of Matthew, chapter number five. As Matt said, we're kicking off a brand new series”
From the transcript
“Matthew five verse number 33, here's what it says. You have also heard that our ancestors were told, you must not break your vows”
From the transcript
“Within Matthew chapter five, here's what Jesus says, hey, you have heard the commandment that says, do not commit adultery. But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his heart is already guilty of committing adultery”
From the transcript
“This is why James says, let no man say that when he is tempted that God is tempting him. He is actually enticed by his own evil desires and from those evil desires it leads into an action that action leads to sin and that sin leads to what”
From the transcript
“So with that being said, now he goes on and he talks to them in verses 33 through 37 essentially about keeping your word”
From the transcript
“Jesus goes on to say this, he says, do not say by heaven because heaven is God's throne and do not say by the earth because the earth is his footstool and do not say by Jerusalem for Jerusalem is the city of the great king”
From the transcript
“Then he goes on to say this, he keeps it simple verse number 37, just say a simple yes I will or no I won't”
From the transcript
“The first narrative we're gonna look at is a narrative found in Judges chapter number 11. So turn with me to Judges chapter 11”
From the transcript
“So Judges chapter 11 beginning at verse number 29, here's what it says. At that time, the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah”
From the transcript
“If you go back to Judges chapter 11 beginning at the first verse, you'll discover Jephthah's history, which is a really interesting history”
From the transcript
“when clearly scripture teaches I no longer call you servant but I call you friend. So because I'm one of God's friends, guess what I can simply do”
From the transcript
“one of my favorite chapters in scripture is Joshua chapter number one”
From the transcript
“the reason why I love Joshua chapter one verses one through nine is because the text says, God talks to Joshua and says Joshua, my servant Moses is dead”
From the transcript
“Turn with me to Acts chapter five and then we get to my favorite part of the message, which is our time alone with the Lord”
Paraphrase of the transcript
But there was a certain man named Ananias who was who with his wife Sapphira sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles claiming it was the full amount.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

Pastor Brent opened by walking through Jesus's words about oaths — don't swear by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or your own head, because all of it traces back to God. His solution wasn't a better formula for making vows; it was simplicity. "Just say a simple yes I will or no I won't. Anything beyond this is from the evil one" (NLT, paraphrased in the sermon). Notice how freeing that is. We often stack up words to make ourselves believable, as if a plain answer isn't enough to be trusted. But Jesus invites us to become people whose ordinary yes already means yes. That kind of honesty grows slowly, in the small promises we keep or break through a normal week — the reply we send, the commitment we casually make, the thing we said we'd do. This week isn't about mastering everything Pastor Brent said; it's about starting here, with the words already in your mouth. Before we get to rash vows or insecurity or applause, there's this quiet groundwork: God takes your word seriously, so let it be simple and true. That's not a burden. It's an invitation to stop performing and start being trustworthy in small, real ways.

For reflection

Where in the past week did I add extra words to make myself sound more believable — and what was I afraid a simple yes or no wouldn't carry?

Pray

Ask God to make your ordinary yes and no honest and enough, and to show you where you over-explain to be believed.

Day 2

Pastor Brent made a point that's easy to skip past: Israel understood God's will, but not always God's heart. Using Jesus's teaching that adultery begins in the heart before it becomes an act, he showed that sin and broken vows both start inward. James describes the same movement — a person "is dragged away by his own evil desire and enticed" (James 1:14, paraphrased in the sermon) before anything ever surfaces. That's a sobering and strangely hopeful truth. Sobering, because it means keeping clean hands isn't mainly about managing behavior; it's about what's happening underneath, where no one sees. But hopeful, too, because it means God cares about the you that exists before the outward act — the desires, the restlessness, the quiet bargains you're already forming. He isn't waiting to catch the finished sin. He's already near the first stirring of it, and He's for you there. So today, rather than only asking whether you've done wrong, you can bring Him the inward stuff honestly: the thing your heart keeps reaching for, the pull you feel before you'd ever call it temptation. That's not shameful territory. It's exactly where God meets people who want a pure heart.

For reflection

What desire or pull is quietly forming in my heart right now, before it has become anything I've done?

Pray

Pray for honesty about the inward stirrings you'd normally hide, and for God's nearness at the very start of temptation.

Day 3

Pastor Brent gave Jephthah a fair hearing before he critiqued him. Here's a man with a painful backstory — son of a prostitute, rejected by his half-brothers, driven out, then suddenly called back to lead Israel's army. And right as the Spirit of the Lord comes on him, he makes a staggering vow: whatever comes out of his house first, he'll offer it up. Pastor Brent's read was that this vow came not from trust but from insecurity — a need to prove himself, to guarantee an outcome, to earn what he'd already been given. The tragedy is that the Spirit was already with him. He didn't need to buy God's favor; he had it. It's worth sitting with how familiar that is. When we feel unproven or overlooked, we start bargaining — adding promises, raising the stakes, trying to lock down a result we can't control. Pastor Brent's charge was blunt: never make a promise when you don't know the cost. But underneath the caution is something gentler. You don't have to secure your worth with a dramatic vow. If God has already called you, the striving is unnecessary. The Spirit was with Jephthah. He is with you.

For reflection

Where am I tempted to raise the stakes with God or others to prove myself, when what I actually need is to believe I'm already accepted?

Pray

Pray for freedom from the need to prove yourself, and for trust that God's presence isn't something you have to earn.

Day 4

This is the part of Jephthah's story that's hard to read. His daughter — his only child — comes out to meet him first, with tambourines and dancing, and the vow he made falls on her. Pastor Brent didn't force a verdict on the debated question of whether this was a literal sacrifice; faithful readers have long disagreed, and he set that argument aside. His point stood either way: a promise made from insecurity ends up costing someone else. The person who over-commits to be seen rarely pays the whole bill alone. That's the sober weight here. Our rash words don't stay contained to us. The commitment we make to look capable lands on a spouse, a friend, a child, a coworker who never agreed to it. Pastor Brent's charge — never make a promise at someone else's expense — asks us to count who else is standing in the doorway before we speak. This isn't meant to make you scan your life for guilt. It's an invitation to a kind of love that thinks past the moment of wanting to be admired, and asks quietly: who will actually carry this if I say it? Honest words protect the people we'd otherwise unknowingly burden.

For reflection

Is there a commitment I've made — or am about to make — whose real cost would fall on someone other than me?

Pray

Ask God to help you count the cost to others before you speak, and to protect the people your words touch.

Day 5

Here Pastor Brent turned the whole week on its hinge. He contrasted Jephthah's if-then bargaining with the freedom of simply making our requests known to a God who calls us friend, not servant — "I no longer call you servants... I have called you friends" (John 15:15, paraphrased in the sermon). Then he pointed to Joshua. Before God tells Joshua what to do, He tells him who to be: "Be strong and courageous" (NLT). Identity comes first; assignment follows. That order matters more than we realize. When we're anxious about our worth, we reach for the to-do list — more promises, more commitments, more proof. But God isn't primarily asking Joshua to accomplish; He's telling him who he already is in God's eyes, and letting the doing flow from there. Pastor Brent's charge this week was to take that question to the Lord: not just "what do You want me to do," but "who are You asking me to be?" That's a quieter, slower prayer. It resists the frantic piling-on. And it treats God as a friend you can simply ask, rather than a transaction you have to win. Try trading one anxious commitment this week for that single honest question, and see what settles.

For reflection

If I asked God 'who are You asking me to be?' instead of 'what more should I do?', what might change in how I'm living?

Pray

Pray to hear who God is calling you to be before you rush to figure out what to do.

Day 6

Pastor Brent set Ananias and Sapphira against the backdrop of an early church marked by open-handed generosity — a "because I have, you have" kind of sharing. Into that beauty came a pledge made to be seen. The couple sold property, kept back part of the price, and lied about it — not because giving was required, but because they wanted the applause of appearing fully generous. Pastor Brent's charge was pointed: never make a promise for applause. What makes this story land isn't the amount; it's the motive. The problem was never how much they gave — that was theirs to decide freely. The problem was a promise engineered to be admired, a public image the heart couldn't back up. That temptation is quiet and common. We can say the spiritual thing, volunteer the visible thing, or announce the generous thing mostly because of how it will look, and something in us knows the gap between the image and the reality. God isn't impressed by the performance, and He isn't fooled by it either. But He also isn't standing over you with a scorecard. He's inviting you out of the exhausting work of being seen as good, into the freedom of simply being honest. Applause was never the point. He was.

For reflection

Have I made any promise — spiritual, generous, or otherwise — more for how it looks than for who it helps?

Pray

Ask God to free you from needing to be seen, and to make your commitments honest rather than impressive.

Day 7

Related passageMatthew 5:33-37; James 1:14-15

Pastor Brent ended with something personal, and it points us straight into tomorrow. He admitted his own jealousy when a colleague was given Easter Sunday to preach instead of him. He lied about being fine — then called his friend back to tell the truth, and chose to show up at that colleague's service rather than hide. His conclusion: insecurity is broken by confession, not concealment. So as this ordinary week begins, that's the invitation. Not a grand vow to be better, but small honesty in real moments. When the jealous thought comes at work, name it to God instead of burying it. When you're tempted to over-promise to look capable, let your yes be a simple yes. When you feel the pull to be seen, tell one trusted friend the truth instead. If you're carrying insecurity, entitlement, anger, or a promise you broke, you don't have to hide it to stay acceptable — the hiding is the very thing that keeps the chain tight. Pastor Brent's closing line was that because God takes your word seriously, be careful what you promise. The forward step is smaller and kinder than a new vow: this week, when it would be easier to conceal, choose to confess. God is already with you, and already for you.

For reflection

What is one specific moment this coming week where I could choose confession over concealment — and who could I tell?

Pray

Pray for courage to confess one hidden thing out loud this week to God and to a trusted friend, rather than concealing it.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Think of a time someone made you a big promise off the cuff — nothing heavy, just something like "I'll definitely be there." What happened?

Discussion questions

1
Read Matthew 5:34-37 aloud together. What is Jesus getting at when He tells people not to swear by heaven, earth, or Jerusalem, and instead to let their yes be yes and their no be no?
2
Pastor Brent walked through Jephthah's rash vow in Judges 11. What do we learn about where that vow came from, and why it ended up costing so much?
3
The message drew a line from Jephthah's if-then bargaining prayer to the freedom of simply bringing honest requests to a God who calls us friend. How might that change the way people talk to God when they want something badly?
4
In Joshua 1, God tells Joshua who to be — strong and courageous — before He tells him what to do. What difference might it make for us to ask God who He's calling us to be rather than piling on more things to do?
5
Pastor Brent shared his own story of admitting jealousy to a friend rather than hiding it, and described insecurity as something broken by confession instead of concealment. What makes bringing a hidden struggle into the light so hard for people, and what might make it feel safer?
6
Looking at Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 alongside the early church's generosity, what does this passage show about promises made to be seen versus promises made to genuinely give?

Pray together

Ask God for honest words and clean hearts — and for the courage to bring Him plain, trusting requests instead of anxious bargains.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Topics

Confession Identity in Christ Insecurity Integrity

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