Episode 1

The Upside-down Blessings (North OC)

What comes to mind when you think of being blessed? What if what we consider to be blessings don't compare to what God considers to be true blessings. Our new series, "The Upside-down Blessings," will reveal that Jesus turns our views and values upside down with His Kingdom values and promises.

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OC Church of Christ

Transcript
Speaker:

All right.

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Well, good morning, brothers and sisters.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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My name is Marcel Hall.

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I want to definitely welcome

you again here to the O.

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C.

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Church.

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And I definitely want to

thank the worship team and A.

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V.

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Team and everybody helps

us have a worship service.

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It wasn't mentioned earlier, but a lot

of our college students are gone today.

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They're actually in Irvine.

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There's two U.

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C.

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I.

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Students who are getting

baptized right now.

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So we're excited about that.

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Uh, if it wasn't mentioned

earlier, we're part of a worldwide

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fellowship and we actually have

churches all across the globe.

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But here in Orange County,

we have about five ministries

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all throughout Orange County.

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Here in North Central OC, South OC, a

Spanish ministry that meets in Santa Ana,

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a Korean speaking ministry that meets

in Irvine, as well as a ministry that

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meets over in the Huntington Beach area.

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I'm excited.

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I don't know about you, but fall is

here and that means football is back.

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And you know, your boy's fired

up about the football season.

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I see I have a hater

over there, Steve York.

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He's a U.

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C.

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L.

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A.

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Bruin and I'm a proud Trojan.

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And we didn't play yesterday, but we won.

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And you know, I'm so excited because

my son is playing flag football

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again and his team are the U.

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S.

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E.

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Trojans.

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And so you know, your boy

was fired up about that.

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And if they were the Bruins, we would

have left the league right away.

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I'm just being vulnerable with you.

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But we had our first

game, and I'm excited.

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Actually, I'm the assistant coach.

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You know, I've shared with you guys,

I'm the assistant coach again this year.

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And so the head coach, the head

honcho is actually here today.

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I'm excited.

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Him and his wife here.

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The Robinsons are over here.

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There you go.

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Come on.

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There you go.

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So he's the the Andy Reid

of of, uh, flag football.

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for us there.

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Bill Belichick.

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Well, maybe not Bill Belichick now,

but anyhow, Andy Reed right there.

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So, you know, we need your prayers.

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We are coaching kindergartners.

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You already left because you already know.

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We tell them, hey, the play's going right.

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Which way is right?

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They go this.

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I go, no, which way is right?

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They go this.

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Your other right.

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Okay, you are gonna go that way.

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I got it.

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Ready, set, hike!

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I had to stop a kid one time.

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I stopped him, literally said,

No, you go that way, okay?

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You know what I'm saying?

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And so we need your prayers, and

thankfully, by the grace of God,

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I again, I did you all a service.

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I did not embarrass myself or the church.

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Amen.

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I didn't get into any fights.

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I didn't yell at any kids.

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You know what I'm saying?

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Now don't ask me what was going on inside.

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But the Lord is good to me and

allowed me to have some self control.

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Amen.

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And so let me ask you a question here.

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What does it mean to be blessed?

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What comes to mind, in general, in

the world, what comes to mind when

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we think of blessed or blessings?

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What are some things that come to mind?

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Material, is that what you said?

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Material possessions, right?

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We can think of maybe iPhones,

iPads, or cars or whatnot.

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Yes.

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Being able to experience peace.

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Come on.

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Dork is deep over here.

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All right.

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We went from iPhone to peace.

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All right.

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Yes Something good to happen.

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So a circumstance, right?

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Okay.

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Yes Grace.

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All right.

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Somebody's experiencing grace.

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They're blessed.

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Yes Being awake this morning you

are blessed that is for sure.

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Yes in the back of that gene.

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Yes Superpower.

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Amen.

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Well, Gene is the only one

that's blessed in here.

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He's got a superpower.

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There you go.

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Awesome.

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Awesome.

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All right.

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Well, I definitely am

not blessed with that.

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Yes.

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So we'll go one more.

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Favor.

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All right.

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We'll go one more.

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A job.

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Right.

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Okay.

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All right.

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One more Kevin.

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Go ahead.

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Family.

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Right.

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So we have the whole gamut there.

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Right.

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We can think.

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But when we think about

blessings, it's the most.

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Usually, the common thing in

our society, and for you and I,

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tends to be something tangible.

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Tends to be something like, uh,

maybe it's a job, or it's money.

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We tend to think, prosperity,

whoa, that person is...

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Blessed.

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Or if you're a big strapping young fella

like Thomas who got baptized, right?

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Tall and muscular and handsome.

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You're like, man, that brother's blessed

with some gifts right there, right?

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We can think talents too, right?

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You can run real fast, or maybe

you're like Emily in the worship

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team, and you can sing, right?

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You're like, well, they're blessed.

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And all of that is true, but we tend to

think about tangible things, especially

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prosperity in some form or fashion.

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But as we will see over the next several

weeks, and maybe a lot of us already

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know, you know, God turns our views of

what it means to be blessed upside down.

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He completely flips the script on

us, and says, you know what, what

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you think and what society thinks

is blessed, let me re educate you.

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Let me put you up on real game.

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That's where my hood brother's

in the house, alright.

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But let me help you understand

what it means to truly be blessed.

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And so we're going to see here that Jesus

helps us with the upside down blessings.

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And that's our new series

that we're starting today.

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The upside down blessings.

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Let's go to God in prayer.

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Will you pray with me?

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Father, thank you so much for

this chance to worship you.

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God, we've been able

to raise a hallelujah.

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We've been able to think about your power.

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We've been able to

encourage and be encouraged.

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And God, right now we pray for your

spirit to move miraculously through

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the words you want me to speak.

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Move me to the side, dad.

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And allow your message to communicate

what's true, what's real, what is eternal.

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We pray this in the name of Jesus.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Alright, so, uh, maybe when you walked

in, you might have received a handout.

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Uh, we also have it on the church app.

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And, uh, on the church app there, it's

a little breakdown of the Beatitudes.

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And so, first off, if you didn't

know that the Beatitudes, uh, that

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phrase actually, uh, basically is the

Latin word for blessing or blessed.

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So, uh, basically when they started,

uh, from from when they, in, in

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Latin, when they translated the

Bible into, into Latin, this was

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the word that was used for blessed.

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And so as they went and through times

it, it basically transliterated the

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word and it became the be attitude.

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And so that's what we

have the be attitude.

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So it's not talking about the attitude

you should be or have, even though

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that doesn't imply, but it's that

that's what the be attitudes mean.

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And as you can see on the sheet there, the

Beatitudes actually is the beginning of

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what is called the Sermon on the Mount.

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And so it's the beginning, it kind of

sets up everything, and there's a whole

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lot of good stuff, we're not going

to go through everything on there.

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But Jesus said this probably about A.

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D.

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28, A.

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D.

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30, at the beginning of his ministry,

and it was probably his go to sermon.

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So when he would go to town, this

would be his go to sermon, if you will.

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And he would have variations of

it, depending on the audience,

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which I can understand.

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I've done, uh, messages where I've

spoken to adults, and then I've done

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a message for the junior high and

high schoolers, and I adjusted it.

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And so it wasn't like I

had two different messages.

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Wait a second.

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What's going on?

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No, it was the same message, but I

had to understand who my audience was

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and you see that in scriptures Which

helps us when we try to figure out

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why sometimes it's worded differently

is because sometimes Jesus did worded

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differently Depending on the audience.

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He was speaking to church.

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Are you with me?

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Okay, just to help us out a little bit.

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All right So before we get into the

Beatitudes we have to understand

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something Right now here in Matthew

chapter four, we're going to read here.

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We actually read it last

week, but let's read it again.

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Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching

in their synagogues, proclaiming the good

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news of the kingdom and healing every

disease and sickness among the people.

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News about him spread all over Syria

and the people brought to him all

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who were ill with various diseases,

those suffering severe pain, the demon

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possessed, those having seizures and

the paralyzed, and he healed them.

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Large crowds from Galilee, the

Acropolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the

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region across the Jordan followed him.

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And so what do we see here?

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This is helpful for us to

understand everything that's

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going to take place afterwards.

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Is this right here?

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He was proclaiming the

good news of the kingdom.

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That implies that the

kingdom news is what?

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Good!

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The gospel is good news!

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It's not 11 o'clock news on channel 4 or

channel 7, you guys get what I'm saying.

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You don't usually turn in the

first story, it's like, man,

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that was so uplifting, wow.

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No, you're like, I need to

turn this off, I'm discouraged.

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But this is good news that Jesus brings.

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And it's about this kingdom.

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And it had been prophesied, and so the

God's people knew about this idea that

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God's gonna establish a kingdom one day.

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They're thinking a physical kingdom,

like the, like the Roman Empire.

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We're gonna have something like that,

we're gonna take down those Romans,

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and yeah, it's gonna be awesome.

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But God turned it upside down.

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And said, no, I wanna

bring a spiritual kingdom.

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That's gonna manifest itself through

my church that I will establish.

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And so we see here, here's what happens.

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He's going around preaching, so by the

time we get to Matthew chapter 5, we get

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to the Sermon on the Mount, we get to

the Beatitudes, what's he talking about?

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He's talking about the

good news of the kingdom.

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So that is the context as we read it.

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He's explaining what is it like

to be a citizen in God's kingdom.

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He's explaining the

promises of God's kingdom.

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And he's explaining this is what it's

like if you want to be in God's kingdom.

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Kingdom, and he's going to

reveal God's kingdom values.

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You guys with me here?

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So let's continue moving.

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We get to Matthew chapter five, verse one.

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Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went

up on a mountainside and sat down.

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His disciples came to him

and he began to teach them.

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He said, blessed, or excuse

me, we'll stop right there.

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So So, what we're about to

see, Jesus has these statements

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here, these are the Beatitudes.

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Again, each one of them begins

with the word blessed, or the Greek

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Markaros, or something like that.

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And, uh, and so that word, it's

somewhat hard for us to fully capture

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when we translate it as blessed.

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Because it also means, or

can be translated as happy.

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But now, when we say happy, aren't

Understanding is a little different than

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what even that word is trying to convey.

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You guys with me here?

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If I said, I'm happy that USC

won, you would know, okay,

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he's happy for that moment.

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But you wouldn't say he's blessed.

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You get what I'm saying?

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And you know that that's short

term because eventually USC will

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lose, but hopefully not this year.

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But you would understand that.

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So, but there is this connotation

of happy, so we can get that.

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But also maybe a better way

to phrase it as fortunate.

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Or it is well with them,

or it will go well.

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You guys get what I'm saying?

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So I, I didn't do anything evil.

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But I inserted that here in the

scripture so that we can understand it.

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Okay, I know we have some people

like, Ooh, you added to the text.

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No, I didn't.

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Okay, I'm helping us

understand the message here.

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So that you can, I can extract

what God wants us to take.

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So let's get into it here.

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All right.

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So as you can see here,

so it says blessed, happy.

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Fortunate are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Blessed, happy, fortunate are those

who mourn, for they will be comforted.

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Blessed, happy, fortunate are the meek,

for they will inherit the whole earth.

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Blessed, happy, fortunate are

those who hunger and thirst for

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righteousness, for they will be filled.

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Blessed, happy, fortunate are the

merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

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Blessed, happy, fortunate are the

pure in heart, for they will see God.

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We'll make sure we're having

some, you know, we're still

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getting our kinks out over here.

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We'll make sure the screen

is alright, alright?

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But it goes on.

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Blessed, happy, fortunate are

the peacemakers, for they will

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be called children of God.

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Blessed, happy, fortunate are those

who are persecuted because of...

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Blessed, happy, fortunate are you

when people insult you, persecute

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you, and falsely say all kinds of

evil against you because of me.

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Rejoice and be glad, because

great is your reward in heaven.

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For in the same way they persecuted

the prophets who were before you.

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Now you think about that.

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Blessed, happy, fortunate.

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Are the poor in spirit, the meek, the ones

who mourn, the ones who are persecuted?

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Repita?

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Que?

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That's Spanish for all

my Spanish speakers, non

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Spanish speakers right there.

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That was what?

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And repeat, okay?

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Alright.

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You're like, what's he doing?

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He's speaking in Greek.

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No, I'm not.

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Alright.

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And so, what is he saying?

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You gotta be like, whoa, this

doesn't make any sense, right?

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You wouldn't know the map.

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I said, hey, bless are the downtrodden

and those who are discouraged.

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Uh, what church did I just walk into?

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Jesus is doing what he's Turning some

things upside down on us And one of the

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thing that Jesus reveals and this is

so powerful We've seen it throughout

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scripture is that our God is Well one

these are the first thing cuz of my these

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are obviously upside down blessings But

here's the thing our God is the God of

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paradoxes Our God is a God of paradoxes.

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Well, Marcel, what do you mean?

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Some of us might know what that

word means, but here's paradox.

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Oh, here we go.

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What happened to bless the okay.

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Well, there we go.

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All right.

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Well, I thought I had it on there.

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Here we go.

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Let me break it down for you.

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A seemingly absurd or self contradictory

statement or proposition that

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when investigated or explained may

prove to be well founded or true.

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So it's a statement.

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That on the surface sounds like,

well, that doesn't make any sense.

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But when you start to investigate

it, you go, oh, that's true.

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And we have paradoxes all the time.

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Some are good, some are

maybe terrible advice.

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For example, I said, hey,

let my girlfriend go out

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and she'll come back to me.

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If you really want to try that

one, but that's a paradox, right?

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I got to let her go so that

she'll come back to me.

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But Jesus says it several times

throughout the scriptures, right?

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What did he say?

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You have to lose your life

in order to save your life.

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I lose it to save it?

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He says you have to humble yourselves

and then you will be exalted.

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That's not natural for me.

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He all says what?

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If you want to be great,

you need to be the least.

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You see, our God is a God of paradoxes.

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And we see it throughout scripture.

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That when we actually maybe lower

ourselves, He actually lifts us up.

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When we deny ourselves, we actually gain.

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Our God is a God of paradoxes.

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He says in order to be truly blessed,

you need to be poor in spirits.

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Humble, mourning, and persecuted.

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You see, Jesus reveals that these

kingdom values are totally different

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than what society has always valued.

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What our society, especially here in

America, what we value is actually

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many times often in conflict with

the values of the kingdom of God.

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And so Jesus is helping them and he's

helping us today as we read his words

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to understand we now have to exit and

detach ourselves from what we commonly

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know and now enter a spiritual realm

in which God reigns and his values

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are different than what we came from.

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And then as we experience them, we see

that this is the true and fulfilling life.

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If this is the life that we were designed

to live, and this is the life that

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we actually truly crave, and the life

in which we will raise a hallelujah.

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And so Jesus shows us how to

find real happiness through the

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Beatitudes, through the fulfillment

of living these things out.

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He teaches us that the world's

philosophy is wrong, that actually

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the world has some stinking thinking.

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And that we need to adjust our

thinking and start to align

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it with what Jesus instills.

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Because let's think about this,

our idea of being blessed, again,

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usually is wealth or prosperity.

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Somebody has a lot of

money, what do you think?

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Man, that dude's blessed.

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They have a lot of possessions,

oh wow, they're blessed.

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You know what's interesting

here though, did you catch that?

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When Jesus talked about being

blessed, none of those things

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were tangible blessings.

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It wasn't health and wealth, and

that's why that prosperity gospel

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and health and wealth is actually

contradictory to what Jesus teaches.

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Now, is it a blessing to have prosperity?

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Yes, I think it is.

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But we have to make sure we align it with

God's will, and what are we using it for?

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But we see here that Jesus doesn't

tell us, Hey, you're blessed

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if you have the nicest whip or

you have the latest whatever.

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These blessings aren't tangible,

they're not prosperity.

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And as we can see here, the true

blessings, here's the overall thing.

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The true blessings are the things

that drive you and me to God.

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The true blessings are the things that

lead you and me to a closer, intimate

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relationship with our Father in Heaven.

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Yesterday I was walking around my, uh,

neighborhood in, uh, in, uh, my little

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complex area, and I do a prayer walk,

uh, just, just about every morning.

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And so I'm walking and, you know,

we're, we're still in this, uh, uh,

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uh, realm of art and neighboring,

so I'm trying to apply these things.

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And, and so I'm walking around my

neighborhood and I see this neighbor,

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and I usually don't see 'em.

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So I'm like, okay, great.

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Let me, let me get a chance

to connect with this neighbor.

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So I'm walking and he's wa he's

washing his car and it's a,

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it's like a 2019, uh, Corvette.

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It's red.

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It's nice.

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I'm like, whoa.

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So I'm like, hey man, you

know, what car is that?

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And we start talking.

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And I'm like, wow, man, man,

this dude, that was a nice car.

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And I thought, and I didn't say this,

but I thought, wow, what a blessing.

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Right?

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And then something hit me and

said, Marcel, remember you said

417

:

you wanted to start asking your

neighbors, what can you pray for?

418

:

So I made this decision.

419

:

I want to go up to my neighbors,

and I started this already, and

420

:

I want to say, hey, is there

one thing that I can pray for?

421

:

Anything in your life right

now that I can pray for?

422

:

And so I've already had a couple

of neighbors share with me.

423

:

So I go back to this neighbor.

424

:

I forgot his name already.

425

:

You know, you know that's me, right?

426

:

So I go back.

427

:

I'm like, Neighbor!

428

:

I said, Hey, is there, is there

something right now in your

429

:

life that I could pray for?

430

:

And he's kind of a little

startled by it, right?

431

:

And he says, Uh, no, no, no, no, no.

432

:

I don't need anything.

433

:

There's a lot more

people worse off than me.

434

:

And I thought, Huh, that's interesting.

435

:

I said, Okay.

436

:

I said, Well, I'll pray.

437

:

I'll pray that you'll

still have a good attitude.

438

:

And I walked off and I started

thinking, I thought, wow, you know what?

439

:

Honestly, he's not that blessed.

440

:

He's actually spiritually in a place

where he doesn't see his need for God.

441

:

And so he could have 20 nice Corvettes.

442

:

It doesn't really matter, but

he doesn't see his need for God.

443

:

And I thought, wow, that's so sad.

444

:

And I was convicted by this,

because a second ago I was

445

:

like, man, what a nice car.

446

:

I'd love to go out here and ride

with him, you know what I'm saying?

447

:

But now I'm just like, wow,

I need to pray even more.

448

:

So I started praying more for him.

449

:

I was like, God, I help him

to see his need for you.

450

:

Help him to see what truly is valuable.

451

:

You see, the true blessings are the

things that drive us toward God.

452

:

And if we think about our idea of

blessed usually as being the man

453

:

or having influence or outward

appearances or, or circumstances, right?

454

:

That's what we tend to think of.

455

:

But again, Jesus turns this upside down.

456

:

The citizens of God are those who

are poor in spirit, those who are

457

:

sad or sorrow, those who are humble.

458

:

Righteous, Merciful, Pure,

Peacemakers, and the Persecuted.

459

:

If we were to get a description of

the people that we think are blessed,

460

:

would those be included in that list?

461

:

Probably not, or if so, it

would be later on in the list.

462

:

And so Jesus again flips it upside down.

463

:

The people that the world, and

even us, we can tend to look

464

:

down upon, despise, or ostracize.

465

:

Those are the ones who are blessed

when they have a deep, intimate,

466

:

personal relationship with God.

467

:

Turning upside down.

468

:

And you know, it's interesting,

these blessings, they're for

469

:

the present and the future.

470

:

There's things that we

experience in the now, but also

471

:

have not yet and are to come.

472

:

But we see that throughout

scripture with Jesus.

473

:

Hey, we're a part of God's kingdom

now, but it will be totally

474

:

fulfilled when Jesus returns.

475

:

We are saved now, but we know

our salvation and completion

476

:

is when Jesus returns.

477

:

You guys get what I'm saying?

478

:

And so we experience eternal life now

because we have a relationship with God.

479

:

But we know when Jesus returns, we'll see

paradise and eternity in a different way.

480

:

So it's the now, but not yet.

481

:

So all these blessings are for the now,

hallelujah, but also for what's to come.

482

:

So we can rejoice now, but we also can

rejoice of what God will do in the future.

483

:

Again, it's a mind shift here.

484

:

It's values that we

don't normally think of.

485

:

Usually our idea of happy, of being

happy, is, uh, based on, again, on

486

:

circumstances, but Jesus flips it.

487

:

In God's kingdom, joy is not dependent

on circumstances, but on God's work and

488

:

rule in our hearts and in our lives.

489

:

Because remember, the kingdom

of God is not just the church.

490

:

The kingdom of God is

wherever God reigns and rules.

491

:

That's why it says the

kingdom is within you.

492

:

And so that's not based on a

circumstance, not based on did

493

:

I get the promotion at my job?

494

:

Did I get into this

college that I wanted to?

495

:

Or is the weather the

way I like it or not?

496

:

Those are all circumstances

that dictate and determine

497

:

our joy or happiness at times.

498

:

But as we live in citizens in the

kingdom of God, no matter what the

499

:

circumstance is, I am blessed because his

rule and reign is in my heart and life.

500

:

I have peace.

501

:

I have something to look forward.

502

:

I have a hope.

503

:

I have his presence.

504

:

I have his protection.

505

:

I have his relationship in favor.

506

:

Church, are you with me here?

507

:

You see, the fortunate, the well off, the

happy, the blessed is when God's presence

508

:

is in our lives and we are aligned with

his values, his desires, and his will.

509

:

You see, Jesus revealed that God's

kingdom's citizens, at an initial

510

:

glance, might be the most pitied, but

because of their present and future

511

:

reality in God, they are the most envied.

512

:

See, the world thinks, oh wow, man, you

guys do what, you sacrifice all this,

513

:

but they don't understand because they're

still living in this world, but once

514

:

you enter the real spiritual world, you

go, wow, we're actually the most envied.

515

:

We're the ones that everybody

wishes they could be or have because

516

:

of what we have in Christ Jesus.

517

:

Upside down blessings.

518

:

And you can say, at least for me, I

thought, no wonder this was good news.

519

:

It says the good news of the kingdom.

520

:

When you hear this and you realize this,

you're like, whoa, this is phenomenal.

521

:

It doesn't matter my family tree,

it doesn't matter my circumstances.

522

:

I can enter this kingdom and have

this relationship with the king

523

:

of kings and the lord of lords.

524

:

And I have a future to look forward to and

he will also sustain me in the present.

525

:

Hallelujah.

526

:

This is awesome news.

527

:

Just imagine if you heard

this when you were there.

528

:

And you heard him, you're like, whoa, this

is, this is not what I, I, I imagined.

529

:

And he's offering.

530

:

This entrance, this entry into his

kingdom, and he's offering this grace.

531

:

You go, wow, this is good news.

532

:

I want to follow this

man, this carpenter's son.

533

:

I want to hear more of his teachings,

and I want to apply it to my life.

534

:

Because boy oh boy, it sounds good,

but I want to experience it even more.

535

:

You know, we're going to break down

two of the beatitudes right now.

536

:

Real quickly here, it's interesting

because each beatitude has a

537

:

statement of who is blessed and then

a statement of why they're blessed.

538

:

So it starts off with the character

of the blessed person being

539

:

highlighted in the promise of God.

540

:

That, that the person, uh, that

the promise is then explained.

541

:

And so, let, let's look at

this here again here, alright?

542

:

It says, blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

543

:

Now, he's not talking

about physical poverty.

544

:

And a lot of us are like,

hallelujah, thank you for that.

545

:

I don't want to be broke.

546

:

Okay, you know, I, I get that.

547

:

He's not talking about physical poverty.

548

:

He's talking about spiritual poverty.

549

:

What he's talking about is

being humble and broken.

550

:

He's talking about being

poor in spirit and humility.

551

:

Let's look at this verse

right here, Isaiah 66.

552

:

This helps us out a little bit.

553

:

It says, Has not my hand

made all these things?

554

:

And so they came into

being, declares the Lord.

555

:

Here's the thing.

556

:

These are the ones I look on with favor.

557

:

Those who are humble and contrite

in spirit who tremble at my word.

558

:

It's recognizing.

559

:

That we need God.

560

:

If any one of us became a Christian,

the only way you became a Christian

561

:

is you had at some point, and this

was the turning point for you,

562

:

you had to see your need for God.

563

:

There's not a soul in here

who entered God's kingdom who

564

:

didn't see their need for God.

565

:

Because you couldn't enter God's kingdom.

566

:

That's why it's the

first of the Beatitudes.

567

:

Blessed are those who are poor in spirit.

568

:

You know what?

569

:

Spiritually, I am bankrupt.

570

:

I need God in my life.

571

:

And that requires what?

572

:

Humility.

573

:

I don't have it all.

574

:

I'm not the man or the woman.

575

:

I need God.

576

:

And so this is the first quality.

577

:

And step to experiencing God's

blessing and true fulfillment.

578

:

And this is the cool thing.

579

:

God embraces humility.

580

:

It's attractive to him.

581

:

When my wife said, you

know what, I love barbecue.

582

:

And this is when we were dating.

583

:

Like, like our first or second date.

584

:

She's like, barbecue is

one of my favorite foods.

585

:

I was like, oh my goodness.

586

:

I said, man, I'm already attracted to her.

587

:

But man, oh man.

588

:

Well, this is going to be fun.

589

:

You know what I'm saying?

590

:

That was attractive to me.

591

:

When God sees us humble, He's

like, I'm attracted to that.

592

:

That looks good.

593

:

That's better than our money.

594

:

Suit on that brother right there.

595

:

Not saying this is our money

because I can't afford that.

596

:

But you get what I'm saying.

597

:

He's saying, man, I'm attracted to this.

598

:

And what does he do?

599

:

He pulls it in closer to him.

600

:

Again, the paradox, the

upside down blessing.

601

:

Because to the world,

this is the opposite.

602

:

But those who realize they have

nothing spiritually are the

603

:

ones who really have everything.

604

:

You see, God can't use or bless

us when we're filled with pride.

605

:

I was going to bring in a, I

somehow forgot, but we can, we

606

:

can still walk with this analogy.

607

:

And so if we have a jar that has some

liquid in there, let's say this liquid has

608

:

been muddied up with some dirt and some

mud, would anybody want to taste that?

609

:

No.

610

:

Okay.

611

:

All right.

612

:

That's right.

613

:

All the teenagers left.

614

:

We'd have some boys be

like, yeah, I'll do it.

615

:

You know what I'm saying?

616

:

But we wouldn't want to, and when

it's filled up and God has this

617

:

pure water, he wants to purify us.

618

:

And so God wants to actually pour into us.

619

:

But when our jars, our souls, are

filled up with pride, which is muddy,

620

:

dirty, there's nothing that God can

do because it's not going to work.

621

:

Because why?

622

:

It's filled up already.

623

:

And it's filled up with what's not good.

624

:

So in order for God to pour into us,

we have to pour out what's not good.

625

:

You guys get what I'm saying?

626

:

That's our pride, our ego.

627

:

And so in order for God to work in

our lives, in order for God to work

628

:

through our lives, we got to make

sure we empty ourselves of our pride.

629

:

And once we do, then God can

fill us up with what's good,

630

:

what's pure and what's holy.

631

:

And now he can not only work on

us, but he can work through us.

632

:

Blessed, blessed,

blessed, happy, fortunate.

633

:

Are the ones who are poor in spirit

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

634

:

You know, I don't know about you, but for

me, this is, this is something I can get.

635

:

But what's happened over time is I can

now start to think I don't need God

636

:

maybe as much because I know as much.

637

:

I don't say that mentally, you know what

I'm saying, consciously, but my behavior,

638

:

my lifestyle shows that sometimes.

639

:

And so I'm not as dependent.

640

:

I'm not like, man, I'm

just spiritually broke.

641

:

God, I need you.

642

:

I'm like, God, I think I got enough of

you and I think I can do this on my own.

643

:

And so I'm not poor in

spirit the way I once was.

644

:

And so now I'm frustrated.

645

:

God, why aren't you working in my life?

646

:

Why am I not growing and changing and why?

647

:

Can anybody relate?

648

:

It's because maybe I once had it, and

this is the thing about these blessings.

649

:

It's not just, oh, I do it once,

then God blesses, and cool,

650

:

that's a great math equation.

651

:

No, this is something that we

need to continually go after.

652

:

Adopt, maintain, and live out.

653

:

Let's quickly go over

Matthew chapter 4 here.

654

:

Church, are you still with me here?

655

:

Alright, it says, Blessed are those

who mourn, for they will be comforted.

656

:

Now, some say this mourning means

you mourn over your own sin or you're

657

:

mourning over the sin in society.

658

:

I think that that's definitely applicable.

659

:

However, my conviction is, I believe it

is, it is mourning in life because you

660

:

and I will go through mourning in life.

661

:

There are things in our

lives that we can't prevent.

662

:

There are sadness, there's sickness,

there's health challenges, death, there's

663

:

whatever the case is, we can mourn.

664

:

But here's the thing.

665

:

We are blessed when we

mourn as a citizen of God.

666

:

In his kingdom then when we

mourn outside of his kingdom.

667

:

Well why?

668

:

Well, because God provides his comfort.

669

:

Yeah.

670

:

God provides hope and God provides

his presence in profound ways.

671

:

Yeah.

672

:

You see, sorrow can show us.

673

:

I want, I wanna read this quote here.

674

:

It says, soul can show

us as nothing else can.

675

:

The comfort and compassion of God.

676

:

Many and many a man in the hour of

his sorrow has discovered fellow men

677

:

and his God as he never did before.

678

:

When things go well, it is possible to

live for years on the surface of things.

679

:

But when sorrow comes, a man is

driven to the deep things of life,

680

:

and if he accepts it aright, a new

strength and beauty enter his soul.

681

:

He's saying, when we go through hard

times, when we have this mindset, this

682

:

kingdom value, We can experience God

in profound ways that we never could

683

:

have if everything was fine and dandy.

684

:

Personal example, not personal,

but example, this is Brian

685

:

Craig with his wife Tessa.

686

:

Brian's famous in our church.

687

:

He's, uh, he's, you know, created

many songs, you know, Be with me

688

:

Lord, all that good stuff, right?

689

:

All the old school jams there, right?

690

:

Uh, and so Brian recently here was,

uh, diagnosed with brain cancer.

691

:

And so it's been this year.

692

:

Maybe some of you guys know

it's been online or whatnot.

693

:

And so Brian, and he actually has, I

don't really know how it all works.

694

:

He's explaining like two or three times,

but he's doing this like experiment

695

:

where he wears this thing on his head.

696

:

And somehow the electro something

is basically trying to prevent the,

697

:

the, the cancer from spreading.

698

:

So he's connected to this pack.

699

:

I mean, it's, it's,

it's pretty wild stuff.

700

:

And so we're in on a meeting

on Tuesday with all the, uh, L.

701

:

A.

702

:

leadership.

703

:

And, uh, and so Brian shares.

704

:

And so he says, look, I,

I want to live longer.

705

:

I, you know, I had, he has three kids.

706

:

They're all out of high school now.

707

:

He says, I want to live longer.

708

:

Uh, I, I don't want cancer.

709

:

I want this cancer to go away.

710

:

He said, but one of the things

that's happened, he said, I was at

711

:

one of the lowest spots physically.

712

:

And he says, I actually felt the

presence of God in a profound way

713

:

that I've never experienced before.

714

:

And he said, you know, God doesn't

promise that I'm going to be healed,

715

:

but he promises me his presence.

716

:

And here he is sharing with us, and he

goes, man, there's nothing I can do that,

717

:

that could have got me to that point

where I experienced God in this way.

718

:

And I'm just floored.

719

:

Wow.

720

:

I remember, uh, uh, Raquel Franklin and

one time she shared on a video talking

721

:

about she had, she had this, you know,

I think it was cancer as well, right?

722

:

And she had this, uh,

uh, this condition there.

723

:

She couldn't physically

come to church anymore.

724

:

And so she shared in a video

and she's like, you know what?

725

:

This has been a tough time.

726

:

She says, but I wouldn't trade it in

for what it's done for me spiritually.

727

:

Wow.

728

:

But then you think of this,

blessed are those who mourn,

729

:

for they will be comforted.

730

:

Upside down, isn't it?

731

:

This paradox and I'm like,

look, God, I don't want to have

732

:

to go through that experience.

733

:

Can I, can I experience

you at the mountaintops?

734

:

But sometimes it's got to be the valleys

in which we see God in a profound

735

:

way, which we never would have before.

736

:

And so we might not ask for

that, but what's the blessing?

737

:

It's God's presence.

738

:

And being able to draw closer to him.

739

:

The problem is when we get sad

or sorrowful, what do we do?

740

:

We usually try to find

comfort in the wrong things.

741

:

We turn to eating, we turn to, uh, maybe

it's drugs, alcohol, sex, whatever the

742

:

case may be, we turn to the wrong things.

743

:

One of my things is I like to

turn, I don't like to, but I

744

:

turn to anger, I just get angry.

745

:

Or I just want to watch TV, I'm

like, let me watch the Law and Order

746

:

episodes from season 1 to season 25.

747

:

I don't want to deal with

it, instead of going to God.

748

:

So that He can comfort me, because Law

and Order can't comfort me, they can

749

:

entertain me, but they can't comfort me.

750

:

Blessed are those who mourn.

751

:

For they will be comforted.

752

:

You see, if we adopt, maintain,

and live out these kingdom values,

753

:

then we can respond better and

see the blessings in our lives.

754

:

Here, I gotta hurry up and close out here.

755

:

Here's what I believe the response

to all of this is right now.

756

:

To adopt, maintain, and live.

757

:

We have to first adopt these

values, these kingdom values.

758

:

We have to subscribe to them ourselves.

759

:

We not only have to like them,

but we need to subscribe to them.

760

:

And then we need to maintain them.

761

:

They're not something that you have

once, and then you have it for good.

762

:

It's something that you have to

continually feed and go after.

763

:

And then most of all, to live out.

764

:

I don't believe one bit that the

Beatitudes were said by Jesus in person

765

:

so that you and I could just Memorize

them we can like them we can get nice

766

:

little plaques posters Whatever you want

and put them on different parts of your

767

:

house and go blessed are this and it

can be nice sweet poetry I don't believe

768

:

one bit that that's what God intended

when Jesus spoke those words I believe

769

:

he said it so that we can experience it

We can experience his blessings And the

770

:

only way that you and I can do that is

when we first adopt these kingdom values.

771

:

We maintain these kingdom values

and we live these values out.

772

:

They become our worldview, our

character, and our lifestyle.

773

:

And then we will experience true

fulfillment and true blessings.

774

:

So here's a little quick thing

here, action step for the week here,

775

:

alright, like to get real practical.

776

:

Pray through the B attitudes

every day this week here.

777

:

Just guide, let them guide you in prayer.

778

:

I was doing that this morning.

779

:

Let them guide you in prayer.

780

:

And go ahead and just pray through them.

781

:

As you read it, you can pray.

782

:

This could be a part of your quiet

time, whatever you want to do.

783

:

But pray that they may be your values.

784

:

That you may have those

characteristics for the day.

785

:

And that you may put them into practice

whether you're at school, work, or home.

786

:

Right now we're going to take communion.

787

:

This is the time in which we reflect

upon and meditate upon Jesus's

788

:

life, death, and resurrection.

789

:

And his sacrifice that was enabled for

us to actually enter God's kingdom.

790

:

And so we take the emblems that

represent his body and his, and his

791

:

blood that, that was sacrificed for us.

792

:

And as we know, Jesus modeled every

single one of these beatitudes.

793

:

He had these traits.

794

:

And because of the cross, because

of the cross, you and I, Can now not

795

:

only adopt these, maintain these,

but we can live these out as well.

796

:

And so we close out again

with Matthew chapter 3.

797

:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

798

:

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

799

:

May Jesus sacrifice remind us that because

of it, we now can enter his kingdom.

800

:

And be comforted by God.

801

:

Let's pray.

802

:

Father, thank you so much for this,

uh, time to reflect upon Jesus, this

803

:

time to, uh, remember that we are so

blessed because of the cross, that

804

:

we have the opportunity of salvation.

805

:

And not only salvation, but God,

we have the opportunity of true and

806

:

fulfillment life, not depending on

circumstances, but depending upon who

807

:

you are and our relationship to you.

808

:

God, we pray that we can praise you,

that we can soberly evaluate our

809

:

lives, and we can make choices and

decisions today to be more aligned

810

:

with you and your values and your ways.

811

:

We pray all this in the

name of Jesus, Amen.

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