The Journey

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
You are the salt of the earth.
You are the light of the world.
Turn the other cheek.
Our father who art in heaven.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God.
Judge not, lest you be judged.
Do unto others as you would have them do to you.

The Sermon on the Mount contains some of the most memorable and enduring teachings in all of the Bible - and I would say, in all of human history. 

What is unfortunate, however, is our response to these monumental words of Jesus.  Misunderstood and misinterpreted, The Sermon on the Mount often just frustrates people.  "I'll never be able to live up to that." 

Jesus' words are honored but not understood, engraved on plaques but not on our hearts; they mention blessings but leave us feeling cursed.  And so we find that we just ignore them and treat them as beautiful but antiquated - some trophy of a bygone age.

When we do that, we miss out on something surprising and transformational.  We are studying the Sermon on the Mount as a church this summer because we believe that here is a vivid (and sometimes startling) picture of life as it was always meant to be lived.  Here is a new world, the way the world was designed to operate...  something Jesus calls the Kingdom.

Seen in context, The Sermon on the Mount is actually the cry of a rising rebel King who is telling the rulers and value shapers of our world to bring it on.

“I’m coming for you,” he’s saying, “And I am taking everything you think is good and valuable and important and turning it on its head. A new King is in town.  A new Kingdom has arrived.”

This King is building his own tribe, his own city: a city set on a hill that will demonstrate to the world what life could and should really be like. He is asking you to be a part - to drop what you're doing & take your place in this new reality.

Will you join us?

Better yet, are you prepared to follow him into this new reality?