Sermon On The Beatitudes

In their book, The Great Commission to Worship, Vernon Whaley and David Wheeler takes an in depth look at commandment from Jesus for His followers to go out and spread the Good News of salvation. Today’s Christian seems to have a misconception about their role in evangelism. As the authors stated, “many times in Scripture it appears

We consider the Beatitudes counter-cultural because it is a different perspective of “blessedness” as of what we think in our society today. For example, we think that blessedness, or happiness comes from physical well-being. We say people are blessed when they have the most money, the best house, the best clothing, desirable appearance, etc. In our society, we view “blessedness” as happiness from materialistic prosperity. Another example of how we think “blessedness” is the happiness from non-physical well-being. We commonly say that someone is blessed when they possess talent (musical, art, etc.), are highly intellectual, or are simply experiencing from good luck. These examples of blessings are very contrasting to the blessings depicted in the Beatitudes. For example, the Beatitudes describe that blessed are those who are poor in spirit, those who are persecuted, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, etc. In our society, we do not consider someone who is poor, persecuted, or hunger and thirst as “blessed”. However, the Beatitudes depict the meaning of “blessed” as happiness that is awarded spiritually for our faith, instead of physical or mental well-being. The true blessings described in the Beatitudes are recognizing the need of God in our lives by meekness and grief from our sins, and God inheriting in our souls.

The beatitudes are eight statements taught by Jesus. Each Beatitude calls us towards holiness, commitment and promotes positive human values. They are concerned with virtue and how a believer in Jesus Christ can achieve that virtue. The Beatitudes are a map of life, a series of directives helping us on our journey to be with God. They are simply stated, but are profound in meaning. They guide, point and teach. In the Beatitudes, Jesus taught his followers how to let love reign the world, and when love overcomes all other things there will be a state of peace. They show Adherents the values that Christ cares about. These values if followed can not only bring a believer into a state of peace and happiness, but also right into the Kingdom of God after our journey on this earth is over. Teachings of the Beatitudes can apply to our lives today as they are timeless in teaching and ‘confronting us with

The gospel describes Jesus as a great teacher who astounded the crowds who gathered to hear him. Though he engaged in debates with Pharisees and Sadducees, he took great interest in ordinary people. He often taught them in parables, stories that used vivid images from everyday life to illustrate spiritual truths (Invitation to World Religions, pg.416). The central theme in Jesus’ teachings was the Kingdom of God. For Jesus, the kingdom of God was not an ordinary kingdom, but that exists when human beings recognize God’s sovereignty over the world and respond in love and in

The book also focuses on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus discusses those that are blessed and why they are blessed and also the kingdom of heaven. Jesus discusses faith-community and what is required of disciples including reconciliation with others. The book discusses Jesus and his righteousness. Jesus gives instructions in dealing with those who cause harm to is folowers and believers. The book addresses the question as to whether to literally or figuratively take the commands of Jesus.

There are three stories from Jesus' Galilean ministry that stick out to me. The stories that stick out to me are, The Sermon on the Mount, the story of the Pharisees trying to trick Christ, and the third is the story of when Jesus fed 5,000 people! All these stories show the power of God and the transparent teachings of Christ.

In a world that does not know the Gospel anymore, we must indulge in it, and love our fellow community though they may not share similar values, but find balancing in still remaining in our own values. Though many of times we find ourselves in opposition of the majority of the world, we must exude Christ love onto others as He does to us unconditionally. The author addresses ways in which we are able to live out our faith and still find a place within our community though they may not share similar values.

Jesus loves and cares for the poor and sick, he praises those who help the poor and condemns those who do not show compassion to those in need. Throughout the New Testament, there are many stories of Jesus showing empathy towards the poor. In the miracle story of the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples tell Jesus to send the multitudes away to go and buy food. Jesus replied: “They don’t need to go away.

The Sermon on the Mount is a sermon given by Jesus Christ found in the book of Matthew in the Holy Bible. The beginning of this sermon includes a list of blessings called the Beatitudes. Jesus uses these to explain God’s favor towards those who are striving for righteousness. For those who had come to believe and follow Jesus as the son of God, every word that he spoke in the Sermon on the Mount was intended as words of encouragement for Jesus’s disciples and were taken as such. For those who were skeptical, the crowd, that Jesus was truly the son of God, Jesus’s words took on a totally different meaning. The Beatitudes, simple words that promote the humility of man, were explicit words of encouragement for Jesus’s disciples. Yet at the same time, to the crowd listening, the Beatitudes were an implicit invitation to become men of God by believing that this man is God in the flesh, God in spirit, God almighty, God omniscient, God omnipresent, and God omnipotent.

In this teaching, Jesus was saying that we treat one another with love and compassion as he have loved us as much as laying his life for our sake, in order for us to join him in the kingdom of God. He said that we should speak well even to those who curse and despitefully use us and abuse us because, our reward for such time is in heaven and it is God who will revenge about these things for us. He said that we should love our enemy also not only our friends because God loves us the same way and God does not discriminate from anyone, despite their falls.

The sixth beatitude is found in the book of Matthew chapter five verses eight, it’s a beatitude between man and God and its futuristic in nature. It states blessed are the pure in heart for there will see God. A pure heart is a heart that has only one objective and that is pleasing God. Here Jesus tells the multitudes that those who please God will go to heaven.

As Christians we are trying to re-invent our beliefs, faith and righteous living to fit in the modern world. We are trying to move with the tide, follow trends and changes. We are incorporating what is in the world into Christianity. Christians are trying to hold on to what God expects us to do and living righteously but it is getting harder as the world is changing.

Believers have been unified in salvation by grace and are called to live like Christ.

The point of this assignment is to discuss the passage chosen, as well as information regarding the historical/cultural background of the passage and applying it to my life as a human being. It is also important that I apply this information on the passage to the Christian life or church ministry. The passage I have chosen for this assignment is from Matthew chapters 5-7 and is labeled “The Sermon on the Mount”. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest and most prominent of the five discourses of Jesus in Matthew. The whole point of the Sermon on the Mount was to show people who converted to Christianity how to live. It is to show how Christians should live in their actions, words, thoughts, and others ways of life. With that being said, this way of life was preached by Jesus Christ as he “went up on the mountain” to deliver his powerful message. The information for this passage is in, of course, the bible and our textbook “Encountering the New Testament”, as well as many other resources on the web that are related to the bible and passage.

The sermon on the mount shows us Jesus 's ethical teachings on how a person should live his or life, the distinction from the law, and this has a reaction from the society. Jesus ' Sermon on the mount has had a huge impact on the Christian religion and somewhat shaped the religion in a sense. It has been a reference point for Christian ideals on the right way to live your life. It was a well constructed, alluring sermon that must have captivated the minds of the people.