The writer to the Hebrews tells us that the word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword, judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Heb. 4:12). Nowhere is that scalpel more searching or revealing than in the laser-focused words of Jesus known to us as the Beatitudes. They are – to an examination of the spiritual life – the equivalent of taking a house down to the studs. An opportunity to see what we’re really made of below the surface of our familiar practices and assumed beliefs. We turn now from the four characteristics concerning our relationship to God to the four concerning our relationship with others, beginning with the first and foundational characteristic, in Matthew 5:7, in a message entitled “The Blessing of True Spiritual Mercy”.
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The first three Beatitudes are primarily focused on an awareness or a recognition of what we are, our true spiritual nature and condition. They in turn lay the foundation for the fourth, that is the awareness or recognition of what we should be, our true spiritual need. That need, in one word, is righteousness. And that need is so significant and profound that we should hunger and thirst for it. A description of the two most significant and strongest of all human needs and desires. Given that, just what is righteousness? What is that condition or quality that is such a basic and common part of our Christian vocabulary? What exactly is it that we so desperately need? And what does it mean to hunger and thirst for it? We turn this morning to the very foundation of our spiritual life, in Matthew 5:6, in a message entitled, “The Blessing of True Spiritual Hunger”.
It’s hard to imagine a spiritual quality more out of step with our culture than the quality of spiritual meekness or gentleness. It is the complete antithesis of self-assertiveness, the secular virtue considered most important to any chance of success in our highly competitive world. And yet Jesus identified it as one of the foundational characteristics of kingdom living. How can we know, let alone live and demonstrate a quality so completely counterintuitive to the values and practices of everything and everyone around us? This morning we’ll turn to the scriptures for an answer to that important question, beginning with Matthew 5:5, in a message entitled, “The Blessing of True Spiritual Gentleness”.
We’ve tapped the brakes in our series on the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes have caught our attention and caused us to slow down enough to be able to take in the full panorama of their meaning and purpose. The foundational nature and spiritual significance of these eight qualities, describing what it actually means to enter and live in the kingdom of heaven, simply do not lend themselves to a brief drive-by. This morning we turn our attention to the second of those qualities from Matthew 5:4, in a message entitled, “The Blessing of True Spiritual Sorrow”. Again, we’ll consider what this particular quality actually describes and how it is made true and lived out in each one of our lives.
In our introduction to the Beatitudes, we learned that the characteristics Jesus describes don’t refer to eight distinct different groups of disciples, but are the eight characteristics that are true at one and the same time of all who are his disciples. And that this is not a description of a spiritually elite class of Christians, but rather a description of all who have truly entered the kingdom of heaven. This morning we’ll drill down on the first four of those Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-6 in a message entitled, “A New Set of Values: Part II”. We’ll consider what these qualities and characteristics actually mean. And how are they actually developed, made true and lived out in each one of our lives.
What does it mean to actually enter the kingdom of heaven? What does it mean to live our lives under the rule and reign of Christ, here and now? Given that his kingdom is here – and truly among us? As we’ll see this morning, the values, standards, beliefs, and behaviors that govern all who truly submit to his rule and reign, were like nothing that had ever been seen or heard before. They completely stood on end both the secular and traditional, liberal and conservative values of his day. Jesus begins with a set of eight foundational principles for kingdom living that have come to be known as the Beatitudes. In Matthew 5:3-6 we’ll take a close look at the first four of those principles in a message entitled, “A New Set of Values: Part I”.
During the first days of his public ministry, as large crowds were just beginning to follow him, Jesus slipped away to a remote and quiet place on a hillside. A small group of his earliest disciples came to him, and there seated before them, Jesus delivered one of the most foundational and consequential messages in all of scripture. Known to us as the Sermon on the Mount. As we’ll see, it is nothing less than a manifesto on the values and standards, beliefs, and behaviors that govern all who truly submit to his rule and reign. In Matthew 5:1, 2 we’ll be introduced to that timely and much-needed message, in a sermon entitled, “A Primer on Kingdom Living”.
Christians in North America have come to expect conditions conducive to the free exercise and propagation of our faith. Despite the undeniable fact that through most of history, most Christians in most places have lived out their faith in decidedly uncongenial circumstances and conditions. And despite the clear scriptural premise that it is “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). This past year came as an unexpected reminder of that clear historical and doctrinal truth. This morning we turn our attention to a defining moment, early on in the life of the infant church, when the heady days following Pentecost suddenly gave way to the threats of authorities seeking to shut them down. What was their response? And what can we learn from that response? We’ll take a close look at Acts 4:23-31, in a message entitled, “Voices Raised….In Prayer to God”.
The fourth and final scene of Advent seldom makes its way into our collective imagination. Either by way of our Christmas scenes, or Christmas cards, or Christmas pageants . It is nowhere to be found in our depictions, and yet it is an integral and central part of the story. Every bit as immediate and significant as the manger birth, or the angel announcement to the shepherds, or the journey of the Magi. In fact, it is indispensable to Matthew’s telling of that story, and the primary subject of his second half of that story. This morning we turn our attention to Matthew 2:13- 23 and that often neglected scene, in a message entitled, “For Still Our Ancient Foe”. A timely word to us as we close the books on 2020.
From his inconspicuous birth in a Bethlehem cattle stall, to the handful of obscure and remote shepherds to whom his birth was announced, we turn to the remarkable visit of a mysterious group of pagan astrologers, who came from the distant east, led only by a rare stellar phenomenon, that had somehow communicated to them the birth of the king of the Jews. To which, for some reason, they were deeply drawn. Just as significant as the shepherds being the first to hear, were the Magi being the first to respond. Who were they, why did they come and what was God revealing by their unexpected and unusual visit? Matthew 2:1-12 is memorable witness to the scope and extent of God’s saving work, as we’ll see in a message entitled, “The Far Away Have Been Brought Near”.
Glorifying God by Encouraging
All People to Pursue a Lifelong,
Joyous Relationship with Jesus Christ