Heaven's Life Now, part 6: A Greater Righteousness (Matthew 5:17-20)

Everything Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount led to this little passage of Scripture that is one of the most misunderstood and misquoted in the Bible. It's also the basis for the rest of the Sermon. What do we need to know in order to understand this central teaching about Jesus' relationship with the Old Testament?

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Heaven's Life Now, part 5: Salt and Light

This week, we recognized our graduating seniors, and we spoke about a question that all of us face: what is my life going to be about? Jesus was speaking to that question as he moved from the Beatitudes into the next part of the Sermon on the Mount. "You are the salt of the earth," he said. "You are the light of the world." What does it mean for us to be salt? What does it mean to be light? What is our job as salt and light?

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Also, our Mothers Day sermon had some technical difficulties, but is available to listen to here. We finished up the Beatitudes with "Heaven's Life Now, part 4: For the Ones in the Middle":

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Heaven's Life Now, part 3: For the Frustrated and the Forgotten

All of us have had someone in authority over us who scarred us in some way: a distant parent, an unreasonable boss, a bullying commanding officer, a brutal coach. These people often get into our heads and change the way we see ourselves, evaluate ourselves, and live our life. Often we project these attributes onto our understanding of God, whether we realize it or not.

Jesus was dealing with that same problem when he spoke to the crowds. The religious leaders put a heavy burden on the people, but did not help them to carry it. Jesus told them that God was not like the priests, scribes, and Pharisees. He's not like your distant or perfectionist parent, either, or your unreasonable boss. God is not One who points down at all; He is a God who lifts us up.

Today, we look at the picture Jesus gave of God described in these three Beatitudes:

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

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Heaven's Life Now, part 2: Good News for the Needy

The person who seems to offer nothing to God can still inherit everything.

This week, we looked into the first two Beatitudes...

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