The "Be" Attitudes and also the "Be" Actions - Matthew 5:1-12

 


This is the meadow above the Cascade Falls on the North Inlet.  You are looking at Snow Drift Mountain in the center.  I am hanging right at the 10,000 mark but next week I will have an opportunity to go up another 1,000.  I am thankful to be hiking with others who have been to these places before.  Thank you Anna and Phil for the trekking poles for Christmas last year.  

We ventured into the Sermon on the Mount last Sunday.  What does a disciple of Jesus look like and act like?  The Beatitudes give us a good picture.  

  • One who knows he needs God.  (poor in spirit)
  • One who is physically impacted by his sin.  (mourn)
  • One who is under control because he is following divine instructions.  (meek)
  • One who can't get enough of Jesus.  (hunger & thirst for righteousness)
  • One who thinks and acts on behalf of others more than himself.  (merciful)
  • One who keeps devotion to God by keeping short accounts through confession.  (pure in heart)
  • One who points others to God.  (peacemaker)
  • One who endures the consequences for being a Jesus' follower.  (persecuted)
  • One who can rejoice because he looks ahead to heaven and back to those who have done the same.  (rejoice and be glad)

Anytime we have a list given to us in the Scriptures, we have the temptation to think, "If I can just do better."  We might also evaluate which ones we have "in the bag" and which ones "need a little help."  The point made at the end of the sermon is that something from the outside needs to happen for us to fulfill these Beatitudes.  We are not capable on our own.  God needs to change our hearts (from a heart of stone) so that we think and see with our head (renewing our minds) as He thinks and sees and then use our hands to touch others with the gospel with our words and deeds (evangelism & discipleship).

Two of the Beatitudes are in the present tense, (for theirs is) salvation and persecution, which happen now in the kingdom of heaven.  The rest of the Beatitudes are in the future tense (they shall be) for we will realize these more fully when we are with Jesus face to face.  

I can't help but think of Gaylord Family Fellowship when I went through the book of Matthew chapter by chapter and verse by verse the first time with a congregation.  That would have been about 20 years ago.  God is going to use His words to keep transforming our lives to be more like Him to the world around us.

Below is a picture of me at the top of the raging and roaring Cascade Falls.  I am thankful to be in this place at this time to not only hike some of this glorious creation of God but also to hike with this part of God's family.  Pray with me that others join us here on this hike to glory!

Adam






A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians #15 - Galatians 6:11-18 - "On The Road Again..."

Image
  Another week closer and it involves some more travel for the Wolfgangs.  I feel like the Willy Nelson song, " On the road again... "  I don't know if I agree with the next line though. " ...I can't wait to get on the road again. " One of the members of the church in Wisconsin calculated that I will travel well over 10,000 miles to make this transition.  Traveling mercies prayers please. Last Sunday we will look at Paul's final words to the churches in Galatia.  He brought them the gospel (good news) message of Jesus and what resulted were churches forming throughout the region.  The letter is to defend that message that our salvation comes from and is in Christ alone.  Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins.  The summary statement of the letter is found in  Galatians 6:15 (LSB) .  " For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. "  Translated another way earlier in  Ga
Read more

God gave us a good weather window to travel...yeah God!!!

Image
  Berthoud Pass Here we are at the top of Berthoud Pass.  It was a whirlwind week to conduct a " hand off " service in Wisconsin on 3/17 and then preach a Palm Sunday sermon in Colorado on 3/24.  We give God all the glory for this happening.  So there are two video links at the bottom of this blog.  One is for the Wisconsin service and the other is for the Colorado service.  I racked up over 12,000 in the last 7 weeks.   I love to take these pictures sitting from the front row of chairs and listening to the one God has provided for the church I had been serving for 20 months.  I now have 3 and I am so thankful for the opportunity God gave us to serve Him in this type of ministry over the last 5 years.  It has been great to add to our daily prayer list Zach in Maine, Chris in Ohio and now Stephen in Wisconsin. This was our set up for the 2000+ mile trip.  No " hiccups " except for the strong eastern winds in Kansas.  Of course everything was quite a bit dirtier when
Read more

Resurrection Sunday in a new space...Matthew 27.62-28.20

Image
  Resurrection Sunday has come and gone but it was a sweet day to be with the gathered saints of the Stillwater Community Chapel .  We are venturing through the Gospel of Matthew and this Sunday will take us back to Matthew 1.1 but last Sunday we were in Matthew 27.62-28.20.  It was a lot to cover so the white board was truly a help to keep me on track.  This year in my Resurrection Sunday message, I focused on the contrast of the cover-up story of the disciples stealing the body of Jesus fueled by a bride and the commission of speaking of a risen Lord fueled by boldness . After the service upstairs, we ventured downstairs to the lower level and had a great meal together.  The conversations around the tables allowed us to continue to talk about the passage of Scripture we covered upstairs.  Maybe this is a very informal picture of what happens at the  Waushara Community Church called the " Going Deeper " classes of the Come For More hour following the Sunday morning worshi
Read more