The Character of the Kingdom of Heaven

We're going to have the Bible reading now, so please open your Bibles.

Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 to 10.

Matthew 5:1–10

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Well, yeah, today we return to the life of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.

And we're going through chapters 5 to 7 and into 8, and it's commonly known, Sermon on the Mount.

You might know it well.

And as Simon said, I'm kicking off this series, but there's a bunch of guys,

so Matt, Sam, Simon and Wilker, who's going to be taking one of these sermons and helping us go through it.

I reckon the Sermon on the Mount used to be quite well known in society.

If you said the Sermon on the Mount, most people down the street would know what you're talking about.

I'm not so sure that the current generation that that's true.

But it's still got the most quoted verse in the Bible in it from unbelievers and believers alike.

Any guesses at what that is?

Judge not, yeah.

Chapter 7, verse 1.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

We might think it's John 3, 16, but it's do not judge.

As if somehow Jesus is saying, yeah, be tolerant.

Even though a few verses later he's saying, my words will determine,

how you respond to them will determine your eternal destiny.

That's not very tolerant.

So it's still very misunderstood, even though it's got the most quoted verse in it.

But what about in the church?

You might be familiar with the Sermon on the Mount.

I wonder if there's something even more dangerous than ignorance.

What if we're coming today and we think we already understand it?

Maybe this term we need to actually unlearn some things.

So before we get into this series, I want to just ask a few questions about

how are you coming to the Sermon on the Mount?

So the first thing I want to ask is, are you treating the Sermon on the Mount as a unified sermon?

So you're hoping today to hear a unified talk from me.

You can be the judge of whether I succeed at that or not.

With an introduction and body and conclusion that all ties together.

Are we expecting that when we come to the Sermon on the Mount?

I think in the past I've treated it like this encyclopedia of topics on how to be a good Christian.

So it's got stuff about lust and anger and divorce and not retaliating, not judging, loving your enemies,

praying, giving to the needy, not worrying about your material needs.

Are we treating it like are we dissecting it and just focus in on a little part?

I think the danger in doing that is it lends itself to becoming moralism,

where we just need to try better to be good Christians.

So in this term, we're not going to focus in on those subtopics.

We're going to do larger chunks of the Sermon on the Mount.

Hopefully that will help us see that this is a unified sermon.

Jesus has a unified message he wants us to hear.

In the sermon, we've got an introduction which we're going to look at today

and then Matt Hand is going to take us through the next bit.

So we've got the character of being in the kingdom

and then Matt Hand will show us how that will make us salt and light in the world.

So that's the introduction to his sermon.

Have a look at chapter 5 verse 17.

Here's the start of the body of the sermon.

Do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I've not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.

So there's the theme of this sermon.

And then you can see that he finishes the body.

If you flip over to chapter 7 verse 12.

Where are we?

Verse 12.

Chapter 7 verse 12.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you

for this sums up the law and the prophets.

Somehow Jesus is going to fulfil the law to bring in the kingdom of God.

And then you'll see after that, you've got the subheadings there,

the narrow and wide gates.

Suddenly we've got two choices.

You can go down a narrow path or a wide path,

a narrow gate or a wide gate.

One leads to life or death.

There's true and false teachers.

There's true and false disciples.

There's the wise and the foolish builders who build their house.

One house stands, the other falls.

It's that conclusion.

We need to respond.

There's two ways to live.

So are you coming ready to hear a unified sermon?

The second thing.

Are you coming to the sermon with the rest of the gospel in mind?

Matthew's placed this at the beginning of Jesus' life.

Now maybe the sermon was the very first thing,

one of the very first things Jesus did.

Maybe it was later on.

I'm not really sure.

But Matthew places it at the beginning.

I think that tells us we need to understand the life of Jesus.

First we need to understand this sermon.

We need to listen to this sermon.

And then we can see Jesus' life more clearly.

I think the sermon actually wants us to become poor in spirit,

so that then when we look to Jesus' life,

we can then see what it looks like to be full.

Or do we remember what the summary of Jesus' ministry is about?

Chapter 4, verse 17.

So chapter 4, verse 17.

From that time on, Jesus began to preach.

Here's his first words.

Here's a summary of his entire ministry.

Repent.

Repent.

Turn around.

Change your life completely.

Repent.

For the kingdom of heaven has come near.

The kingdom of heaven has arrived.

It is here.

And so we need to repent.

That should make us ask, why do we need to change?

Entrance into the kingdom is not automatic.

What is it about this kingdom that our normal way of life means we're not in it?

Our normal way of life from birth, we are not in the kingdom.

We need to repent.

Are we coming to the sermon ready to learn that?

Why do we need to repent?

What is this kingdom?

A total change has to occur.

And why should we listen to Jesus?

That's a big call that you need to repent.

You need to change and listen to me.

Why listen to this guy?

Why?

Well, we've seen, last time we went through Matthew, we've seen his birth narratives, as Simon introduced today.

It was very strange stuff.

But it all pointed to the fact that this is God's promised king.

He's arrived.

The king has arrived.

And then what have we seen so far?

He was baptised.

We can listen to Jesus because the very first act we see him do, I like how Sinclair Ferguson describes this.

You've got all these people coming to John in the Jordan, having their sins forgiven.

It's like their sins are washed off into the water of the Jordan River.

And it's just this murky mess of sin in that river now.

And what does Jesus do?

Even though spotless, he wades into it.

He's picturally taking it upon himself.

There's a very good reason to listen to this man.

That's the character of this man, this king.

And then we see him, he confronts Satan.

He confronts the enemy that all of us believe his lies and he doesn't.

He stands firm where the rest of humanity fall.

This guy can win.

He's got the power.

He's got the power to undo Satan's work.

And he's got the power to call.

We see the first disciples.

He's just, Andrew, follow me.

Simon, follow me.

And they drop their entire life and follow him.

This king has the power to summon.

And then he's got the power to restore.

All the sickness that comes to him, he heals.

There's some very good reasons to listen to this man.

He can defeat the enemy.

He identifies with our sin.

He can change our lives.

He can restore us.

So are we ready to listen to hear why we need to repent?

In verses 1 and 2, he goes up onto a mountain.

I think the fact that he goes up onto a mountain should make us think of Moses.

Moses.

Yeah, Moses.

That's right.

Moses on Mount Sinai.

Where all Israel are gathered to Moses to receive the law on what it means to belong in this kingdom.

Jesus is about to describe what it means to belong in this kingdom.

He's this new Moses.

This new connection between heaven and earth.

Now in these verses, I was sorely tempted to skip over the detail.

He opened his mouth and he began to teach them, saying,

like, why tell us that he opened his mouth?

That's a strange detail, isn't it?

Is it so that we don't think he was a ventriloquist?

I don't think so.

I doubt it.

Maybe it's saying he's not going to quote other rabbis.

The source of his authority is himself.

Maybe that's why.

I wonder if it's something else.

I wonder if there's an even deeper reason that Matthew wants us to focus on his mouth.

This is the first time public came to him, that we're told in Matthew anyway.

What does he do?

The first public rally.

This is a significant moment.

How's he going to kick off his ministry?

What's he going to do?

He could have drawn a sword.

Let's go.

The kingdom is here.

He could have made denarii, coins, fall from heaven and filled up everyone's pockets.

He could have kept healing all the sickness, but he doesn't.

He opens his mouth.

I just wonder if we're meant to think, is the words of Jesus the source of blessing?

Do we see his mouth as the source of eternal life?

I keep falling back into the same kind of thinking.

That if only I add more of God into my life, if I have a closer walk with him, then my mental state will be in a better condition.

My relationships will be better, more harmonious, and my impact on the world will be more successful.

I think if we come to Jesus' words here, wanting to add more God into our life, we're going to miss the point.

If we come to this wanting to add more God into our life, we will miss the point.

The problem isn't that we're coming to Jesus empty in order to be filled.

Our problem is we're already half filled on the things of this world.

We want Jesus to just top us up, please.

Does that describe you?

That describes me.

I'm pretty happy with the things of this earth.

I just want Jesus to top me up, make me full.

Our problem isn't that we're empty.

Our problem is we're half full.

If we listen to the words that come out of Jesus' mouth, he's going to make us empty.

The sermon contains some devastating words.

Blessed are the persecuted.

Does that jar in your mind?

It jars in my mind.

How can that be?

Or he says at the end of chapter 5,

if you want to be in the kingdom, you therefore must be perfect,

as your heavenly Father is perfect.

That's devastating news.

Who can do that?

Don't come expecting to add more God to your life.

Get ready to be emptied, made poor.

But don't fear that.

Because his very first words, as Jen has already helped us understand with the kids' talk,

he's given us a great promise.

Bless are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So let's not fear that.

But let's come ready to be made poor,

because then the kingdom of heaven is ours.

So what do you think will make your life blessed?

A blessed condition.

At home we've got this magazine called Wellbeing.

And the front cover, I'm just intrigued by it,

the front cover has this lady all rugged up with her PJs and a blanket over her,

with a warm drink in her hands,

and she's staring off with her eyes closed,

with a serene look on her face.

That's well-being.

Now I like a cup of tea all rugged up as much as the next person.

I'm not having a go at that.

But what about those times in life,

metaphorically speaking, when we are bruised and hurting?

What about the times when we just feel naked and cold and alone

and surrounded by so many things that just stress us out?

Or at the end of life,

when we know we're not going to leave that hospital bed,

can we be blessed then?

Can I look at my life and go,

I am blessed?

I think we all fall into the trap again and again,

believing that if only my external circumstances change,

then I will be blessed.

Only then I will be blessed.

For me at the moment,

I reckon I'll be blessed if Samuel just slept through the night.

Come on.

And then my friends with the newborn saying,

oh yeah,

my daughter sleeps through the night.

It's a cinch.

It's like,

yeah,

thank you for telling me that.

That really helps me.

If only I would get sleep,

I would be a better person to Emma.

My character would be better.

I would have more productivity.

My mental state of mind,

oh,

it would be so much better.

If only I had this.

Change my circumstances,

God,

and then I'll be blessed.

Now you might be sitting there thinking,

I envy you,

David,

that you have a sleepless night with a child.

You might be envying me.

What is it for you?

What do you think?

If only you had this,

I'd be blessed.

I'd be in a blessed condition.

I like R.T. France's definition of the blessed person.

It's someone whose place in life is an enviable one.

The blessed state Jesus is about to describe

transcends our circumstances.

We can be blessed no matter what.

Whether good or ill,

success or failure,

acceptance or rejection,

health or illness,

stress or at leisure,

we can be blessed.

It's the enviable life.

Are you ready to hear it?

Do you want it?

I want it.

I believe I have it,

but let's see what it is.

Here's the description of the people who are blessed.

Poor in spirit,

mourn,

meek,

humble,

hunger and thirst,

merciful,

pure in heart,

peacemakers

and persecuted.

Does it sound very good?

Is that really the enviable life?

Now,

I'm stopping at verse 10 there.

You might wonder,

why haven't we gone to verse 11?

You got blessed again.

If you notice there that

verse 3 and verse 10,

you've got the same promise at the end.

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This whole group,

3 to 10,

is describing

the state of the person

who's in the kingdom of heaven.

We can't pick and choose these

and go,

I'm a peacemaker,

but I'm not meek.

I need to work on that.

This is one group,

characteristic of the group.

In verse 11,

the pronoun changes

from they,

describing this group,

to you.

Bless you

when people insult you.

It starts talking

direct to the disciples.

So,

3 to 10,

this is what it means

to belong to the kingdom.

This is the enviable life.

Let's quickly go through these.

Just make sure we understand them

before we can decide

how to respond to them.

So,

verse 3,

poor in spirit.

Have you ever experienced

those times in life

where you just come

to the end of yourself?

You just,

you don't have the resources

to get through.

you just got nothing

in the tank.

You've got absolutely nothing.

You come to the end

of yourself,

all you have to look to

is that God does something,

that God helps you.

Have you ever been to that place

and yet felt full?

To have peace,

even though you're afraid

and sad?

I think those times

are rarer

than I want them to be

but there is a real joy there

when we come to the end

of ourselves

and we just,

we just look to God.

We have to trust him.

That's all we've got.

I think that's what it means

to be poor in spirit.

And it's in spirit,

it's not materially.

This is an internal

attitude

that these characteristics

are describing.

It's a spiritual reality,

internal kingdom.

It's to have an attitude

of self-emptiness

before God,

only relying

on his goodness.

Now I don't think

life has to go badly

to be poor in spirit.

I think we can be

empty of ourselves

relying on God

all the time.

But,

in God's goodness,

sometimes

he breaks us down

so that we actually

get to that point.

He strips us back

so that we can actually

be in this blessed state.

So,

poor in spirit.

And then we've got

verse 4,

mourn.

What the Christian

mourns over,

I think,

is kept undefined here

because sin

has infiltrated

everything.

If we mourn sin

in myself

and sin

in others

and sin

in this world

and sin

in the church

and we just

feel the destruction

of sin,

why wouldn't

we mourn?

There's so much

to mourn over.

And then it's

the meek

and humble.

So,

meek is not

a false humility

that still

keeps the attention

on yourself

and you're still

self-absorbed.

But meekness

is a true humility

before God.

It's a stance

before God.

And

being in that state,

you are therefore

gentle.

Even when you're

attacked by others,

because of your

stance before God,

you're even gentle.

Because the person

who is brought

to the end

of themselves,

relying on God,

mourning for sin,

they're just

totally dependent

on him.

They don't have

to fret.

They don't have

to control

circumstances.

They just,

they can be meek

and gentle.

And then we've got

hunger and thirst

for righteousness.

Being freed

from being obsessed

with ourselves,

now looking to God,

our desires change.

We've got a taste

of what God is like

and we want more

of it.

We want to be

like him.

But the more

we get to know God,

the more we realise

how much we're not

like God,

and so we hunger

and thirst.

As a deer pants

for water,

so my soul

longs for you.

The Christian

is not finally

satisfied,

ultimately anyway,

until we have God

and are like him.

And then merciful,

having received

such mercy

from God,

how could we not

just love mercy

and want to give

mercy to others,

want others to have

the mercy of God

as well.

And then pure in heart.

Pure in heart,

we might think

it's about being

sexually pure

or morally pure,

but it's much

broader than that.

Pure in heart

is having a single

devotion for God,

loving the Lord

our God

with all our heart,

soul,

mind and strength.

And obviously

that will show

itself morally,

but it's having

that single

devotion,

a pure heart.

And then peacemakers,

rejoicing in the

Father,

not giving up on us,

but even sending

his Son to give us

peace.

We want others

to have that same

peace.

Not just keeping

the peace,

but trying to make

peace.

And therefore,

verse 10,

persecuted.

Because these values

are so foreign

to this world,

this kind of person

is not welcome.

Is this the normal

way of thinking

that you've come

across in others?

Or in yourself?

Let's make it personal.

Does it come natural

to you,

these kind of

attributes?

It doesn't come

naturally for me.

I come from

this world.

I still live

in this world.

Consider what

this world

might think

of Jesus'

teaching.

Poor in spirit.

If anything,

this sounds

psychologically

dangerous

to believe this.

You need

positive thinking.

Don't think

you're poor

in spirit.

Think positively,

and then you'll

be blessed.

You need

self-esteem.

You need

self-actualization,

where you need

your physical

and emotional

and safety,

all those needs

met,

and then you can

reach your full

potential.

Only then.

This is dangerous

teaching,

Jesus.

Poor in spirit.

What about

the rest?

Mourning.

That's the

opposite of

blessedness.

What's going

on?

Pain is bad.

Sadness is

bad.

Avoid them

at all costs.

People might

say that

humility is a

virtue,

but then

live all of

life believing

I need to

assert myself

if I'm going

to survive in

this world.

I need to

insist on my

rights.

They say

humility is a

virtue,

but do

people live

it?

The meek?

Really?

And hunger

and thirst.

Why hunger

and thirst?

You can be

satisfied now.

Don't wait.

Be satisfied

now.

And mercy.

Yeah,

mercy is good

as long as

I'm on the

receiving end,

but if you

wrong me,

every fiver

of my being

wants retaliation,

wants retribution.

To show

mercy would

be an

injustice.

I love

mercy when I

get it,

but does it

go the other

way?

And

peacemaking.

People who

keep the

peace are

rare.

They're rare.

People say

comments all

the time that

just could

destroy peace.

But people

who are actively

trying to

create peace,

they're even

rarer still.

peace.

When everyone

is scrambling

over the top

of each other

to get a

slice of

this earth,

peace is

only helpful

if it serves

my own

agenda.

These values,

the world

does not

believe them.

We don't

naturally

believe them.

It's as if

these are

two completely

different

kingdoms.

kingdoms,

the kingdom

of heaven

and I'll

call it

the kingdom

of earth.

They're

completely

different

kingdoms.

Two ways

of looking

at reality,

two value

systems.

And so

anyone who

embodies the

kingdom of

heaven is

not welcome.

You are

alien and a

foreigner in

the kingdom

of earth.

You are not

welcome.

like a

foreigner who

might just,

it might be a

subtle thing

where you just

don't feel

totally welcome

in a new

culture or it

might be an

overt thing

like we're

seeing at the

moment where

people were

spitting.

I had a

friend from

college who

just down the

street, she's

from Hong Kong

and someone just

spat on her

because of the

COVID going on

at the moment.

Sometimes the

persecution is

just you don't

belong, other

times it's

quite avert.

Embodying

this, don't

expect to fit

in in this

world.

And yet

Jesus says

this is the

enviable life.

How is that

possible?

How is this

the enviable

life?

I don't think

there's anything

inherently good

about hardship.

I don't think

Jesus is

saying you

must have

hardship and

then hardship

itself is

blessed.

There's nothing

inherently good

about hardship.

So why is this

the blessed

life?

It's blessed

because of the

promises.

The second

half of each

of these

verses.

You only

believe that

this is the

enviable life

if you believe

these gracious

promises.

promises.

Theirs is the

kingdom of

heaven.

They will be

comforted.

They will

inherit the

earth.

They will be

filled.

They will be

shown mercy.

They will see

God.

They will be

called children

of God.

Theirs is the

kingdom of

heaven.

God.

It's the

promises that

make this the

enviable life.

When your

confidence in

yourself is

stripped away

forcing you to

rely on God

you can look at

yourself and

go my life

belongs in the

hands of a

good king.

I am in the

kingdom of

heaven.

I'm blessed.

As you

mourn, as you

bear the burden

of living in a

sin-filled world

you can say I

am blessed for I

soon will be

comforted.

As you are

wronged and you

don't retaliate,

you don't strive to

be on top of this

world and you

seemingly miss out

all because you

want to wait for

God to act.

You can know

this promise.

I will inherit

the earth.

I don't need to

have it now.

I don't need to

be on top.

As you feel so

discouraged by your

own sin, getting

the upper hand in

your own life,

you're just thirsting

for righteousness,

righteousness, you

want righteousness

to characterize the

church and the

world and you

just, there's so

much self-centeredness

in me and others

and I will be

satisfied.

The kingdom of

righteousness is

coming.

I will be

satisfied.

As every fiber of

your being wants to

get justice when that

Christian friend

offends you, as I

look forward to the

day of judgment and

I know I'm only going

to receive mercy, I'm

blessed.

I'm blessed.

As you wrestle with

feeling double-minded,

your heart desiring

God but also desiring

this world and this

tension is just

constant.

I wish I was more

pure in my devotion

to God.

He's the promise.

I will see God and

when I see him, I

will be like him.

I am blessed.

That struggle means I

will see God.

I am blessed.

As you feel despondent

that there's so much

peace breaking, even

among Christians, you

can still pursue it.

don't give up on it

because I'll be called

a son of God.

Look at the character

of my father.

Look at the lengths

he went to to create

peace.

Peacemaking is worth

it because I'm a

child of God.

I'm a son.

I'm a daughter of

God.

And as you feel like

you don't fit in with

society, with your

friends, with your

colleagues, with

family even, you can

say, well, there's a

reason for that because

I belong to the

kingdom of heaven.

I am blessed.

I am loved by my

king.

I am blessed.

I don't think we

value these

characteristics naturally.

So how do these

promises become ours?

Because they don't

quite fit us.

Because we're so in

bondage to the

kingdom of earth

still.

There's two things

that need to happen.

I've already said the

first one.

First one, we need to

be emptied.

We need to let go of

the kingdom of earth.

We need to let go of

believing that if only

our circumstances

change, then and only

then can we be blessed.

We need to come to the

end of ourselves.

We need to be poor in

spirit, just only looking

to God.

God.

As we come to the rest of

the sermon on the

mount this term, get

ready to be undone.

Get ready to be

flawed, emptied.

Do not have confidence in

yourself but in God's

goodness.

But again, don't fear

that.

Don't resist that.

Because it's the empty

who have it all.

It's the poor who are in

the kingdom of God.

And once we are emptied,

once we are poor in

spirit, then we're ready

to hear these promises.

We will look outside of

ourselves to our king

who embodies these

characteristics perfectly.

He is the blessed one.

He is the one poor in

spirit.

He is meek.

He is pure in heart.

He is merciful.

He lives the blessed life

that we have recorded in

the rest of the gospel.

He is the blessed one.

This describes our king.

He came to fulfill the

law.

He was so poor in spirit,

always trusting his

father to provide every

step of the way, even

trusting his father that

he would be raised from

the dead.

Every step of the way he

was poor in spirit.

Who as he approached

Jerusalem, he weeps.

He mourns.

If only you would be

gathered to me.

He mourns the sin of

this world.

He is the one who

mourns.

Who is so merciful, he

was known as the friend

of sinners.

He's the merciful one.

Who always thirsted to do

what was right in the eyes

of his father.

Who is so pure in heart

that even in the garden of

Gethsemane, about to face

the cross, sweating drops

of blood, he prays not my

will but yours be done.

Every fibre of his being

wanted to go the other

way and yet he's purer in

heart.

He loves the Lord his God

with all his heart.

Who is so meek.

Being accused and slandered

at his trial, he didn't

retaliate.

He didn't fight back.

But entrusted himself to his

father's will.

That is incredible meekness.

Whose passion was to see

people at peace with God.

So much so that while being

crucified, his nails going

through his hands, father

forgive them.

What a peacemaker.

And who accepted the fact that

belonging to his father would

mean being rejected by the

entire world.

He accepted that persecution

because belonging to his

father was worth it.

He's the blessed one.

It's a totally different way of

life.

And that's the point.

We need to be emptied of

ourself and look to him to have

his life given to us.

He has come to make us empty

and then give us his enviable

life.

So that looking only to him

we can say, in Christ I am

blessed.

No matter what circumstances

you might be in, I am blessed

if I have him.

If I have his life.

Could you imagine the

difference it would make in our

families, in our workplaces, in

this church, if we could always

say I am blessed.

It would just transform it all.

It would be such a difference as

like a light in a dark room.

As a city on a hill.

This kind of attitude would just

stand out.

Our priorities and goals would

change.

Instead of chasing after the

illusion of blessedness in the

kingdom of earth as if we need,

we're clinging on to it as if we

have to have it.

This attitude would just stand

out.

It would be so different.

And the promises empower us to do

this.

The promises are the ones that

empower us to have these

attitudes.

If we believe we are blessed,

then we'll be merciful.

Then we'll be pure in heart.

If we believe we have it all in

Christ, then we can start to

resemble Christ.

But I think we'll only stand out,

we'll only be light in our world,

if it can be clearly seen that we're

not clinging to this kingdom on

earth.

If people can tell that it's not

our circumstances that we're

relying on to be blessed, and yet

we have a joy and peace that's the

envy of all, that will show that

we belong to a different kingdom.

There is a joy that's from outside

this world.

That no matter what our

circumstances, we can say in Jesus

Christ, I am blessed.

If you don't know this blessing yet,

what are you waiting for?

Will you pray with me?

Father, empty us and fill us up with

yourself.

Please help us to see Jesus as

just living that enviable life.

Thank you for your gracious promises

that we can have it all in you.

Lord, please speak to each one of us and

help us to let go of whatever we're

clinging to in this earth at the

moment, so that we can look to you and

know that we are blessed and then act

like we are blessed.

Lord, do this so that people would see

Jesus through us as a church family in

the way that we live, and so that others

might come to know the peace and joy that

we now have.

I pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.