This evening begins our new Bible study group. We’ll be using Kay Arthur’s study on character: Lord, Only You Can Change Me. Since this study is based on Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”, I wanted to revisit my notes from a sermon our pastor preached via video from the Sea of Galilee earlier this summer.
The Sermon on the Mount is found in the book of Matthew, chapters 5 - 7. It’s full of great teaching, but here are a few key points:
The Sermon on the Mount is found in the book of Matthew, chapters 5 - 7. It’s full of great teaching, but here are a few key points:
- Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matt 5:3) ~ Being poor in spirit means recognizing our great need for God, being truly humble.
- Blessed are those who mourn (Matt 5:4) ~ We must mourn our own sinfulness. We must comprehend the depth of our own sin so that we recognize what a gift salvation truly is.
- Blessed are the pure in heart (Matt 5:8) ~ Our heart must be totally devoted to God, with no divisions of loyalty.
- salt and light (Matt 5:13-16) ~ Salt adds flavor when it it sprinkled around; if we clump together with only Christians, we are of no use. We must be a witness for Christ by letting his light shine through us.
- extra mile living (Matt 5:41) ~ Help others, do more than is expected, even for the most difficult people.
- love our enemies (Matt 5:43-48) ~ This is something that should make Christians stand apart from the rest of the world.
- do not worry (Matt 6:25-34) ~ The birds are expected to work hard, but they never worry if their needs will be met. God knows what we need; when we seek him, we will have all we need.
- a plank in your eye (Matt 7:1-5) ~ Before we judge others, we must examine our own heart.
- a tree and its fruit (Matt 7:16-20) ~ We are known by the fruit we produce; you can not fake the fruit.
Christ is dealing with our hearts in all of this:
what we do doesn’t matter as much as why we do it.
If you want to follow along with our study, I’ll be posting about it each week.
