Our message follows on from last week’s intro to the Sermon on the Mount. We get into the Beatitudes for the next eight weeks, a series of blessings pronounced by Jesus, and will begin with the first one here. Our sermon, then, is aptly entitled, Blessed are the Poor in Spirit. What does it mean, how does it apply, how does it launch into the idea that Christianity is the ultimate in counter-culture? We will explore themes of total depravity and free grace as opposed to bringing our own righteousness to God. We will cover [esvignore]Matthew 4:23-5:3[/esvignore], with an emphasis on[esvignore]Matthew 5:3[/esvignore]. Our sermon outline asks four important questions:
- Who is Jesus speaking to?
- What is blessedness?
- Is this Law or Gospel?
- What Does It Mean to be Poor in Spirit?
Our public reading:[esvignore]Luke 18:9-14[/esvignore]; Benediction:[esvignore]Ephesians 6:24[/esvignore]
*Audio for this sermon was lost, this is a re-recording of the message and perhaps more clearly presented because of the hindsight.