After studying the Sermon on the Mount, these are the points that stuck with me from chapters 6–7.
Matthew
Pray Like This: The Lord’s Prayer
Pray like this.
Beatitudes: Well Off Are Those in the Kingdom
Jesus came to earth to usher in a new kingdom. And he announced the themes of this kingdom in his Sermon on the Mount. It begins with a list we call the Beatitudes because the Latin word for blessed is beatus.
Jesus Disciples Respond Immediately
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him.
But Jesus Says: This is the New Way
Jesus takes the truths of God’s word and demonstrates a new way to use them—in defense against temptation. Then he takes the commands of the law and morphs them into a new way to live—reflecting the love of God into the world.
Moses’s Five Reasons Why Not and God’s Five Assurances
As I prepare for yet another opportunity to deliver God’s message, I am tempted again to fixate on my inadequacies. How ironic that the first message I ever delivered in front of my fellow Christian Education classmates was on Moses's call (Exodus 3–4) and his focus on “I am not” rather than “you are God.”
Advent: Immanuel, King, Shepherd, Son, Savior
This Advent season, I focused on the descriptors of Jesus found in Matthew’s account of the Christmas events.
A Sacred Touch
I carry my tension in my neck. Computers and iPads make it worse yet. To help with this, I started going to a massage therapist. Her strong fingers find knots and kinks in my neck and shoulders I don't know I have. Her touch brings relief and my physical tension dissipates. But more than that, … Continue reading A Sacred Touch
Pondered Treasures 