When we think church, we probably picture worship music, inspiring Bible teaching, and being with other Christians. For most of us, mourning wouldn't be on the top of our list.
Aside from funerals, we don’t typically experience mourning in church. In fact, just the opposite. Celebration is at the core of our biggest days of the year. At Christmas, we celebrate Jesus’ birth, and at Easter, we celebrate his victory over death.
So when Jesus says, “blessed are those who mourn,” we don’t always know how to take that. We experience all sorts of loss and grief in life, but what Jesus is talking about here goes beyond natural grief.
Learning how to mourn and lament probably isn’t a topic that most of us would be excited to learn about, but Jesus includes it in his sermon about kingdom values for a reason. As we’ll explore in this message, there’s something about mourning that is unavoidable in a life that is honest and humble before God.
You can read the Beatitudes Matthew 5:1-12, and this message, we’ll focus on verse 4.
Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
January 19, 2020 • Pastor Ben Cross
Perseverance
March 1, 2020 • Pastor Ben Cross
This message we're on the final beatitude from our sermon series, where Jesus makes a surprising statement. He says blessed are those who face persecution and opposition for their faith! We wouldn’t normally think persecution as a blessing, but when Jesus said those words to his followers, that was their reality. Even today, there are places in the world where persecution for following Jesus is the norm. Although we live in a time and place where opposition for faith in Christ rarely if ever, comes to the level of physical persecution, there are more subtle ways we can suffer for our faith in America today. As we unpack this beatitude, we’ll learn about why Jesus said persecution truly can be seen as a blessing, and we’ll also get to see how our church can be a blessing to people in areas of the world who risk immensely and suffer personally for their decision to follow Jesus. You can read all eight beatitudes here in Matthew 5:1-12
Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
February 16, 2020 • Pastor Ben Cross
This sermon, we’ll focus on what it means to be pure in heart before God. Being pure in heart means that we are honest with ourselves about who we really are before God. Often Christians feel a need to project an image that everything is polished and put together, even when that is far from reality. This message, we’ll learn about how to live honestly, so that the way we see ourselves, and how we present ourselves to others is in line with the reality of how God sees us. In these last few weeks of our beatitudes series, we’ll see how each of the beatitudes come together to build upon one another. In order to see ourselves accurately before God, we need humility and meekness. As we pursue righteousness, we also recognize the mercy that we have already received. This message, we’ll learn how to live as people with pure hearts before God. You can read all eight beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12
Blessed Are The Peacemakers
February 23, 2020 • Pastor Ben Cross
This message, we’re on beatitude number seven: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” In a world of a conflict and division, learning to live as peacemakers is so unique and valuable. Jesus even said those who are peacemakers will be called “sons of God.” As we'll see this sermon, becoming a peacemaker not only requires courage but also teaches us something about the heart of God. Throughout this series, we’ve learned about what it means to be poor in spirit, to mourn, and see ourselves humbly before God. To live as a peacemakers requires all the skills of the beatitudes put into practice. In these last two weeks on the beatitudes, we’ll look at how to be peacemakers and then the following message we’ll close our series with learning how to live in the face of persecution. Read all eight Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12