“Framework of a Blessing”

THE BEATITUDES: How to Be Truly Blessed Sermon Series

“Framework of a Blessing”

KEY PASSAGE: Matthew 5:1–12 (NASB)

Heavenly Father, this morning, we are reminded of what gives You Joy. Psalm 147 helped us to know what gives You joy. Even though You created everything, [but] the greatest joy comes from our genuine worship and trust. And so, we pray that our church will give you genuine worship in spirit and truth. May we take our minds off ourselves, focus on God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and seek to become more like our heavenly Father. Thank you, worship band, for blessing us [again] with amazing praise and worship songs. You may have your seat.

The Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion Exhortation)

Father God, this morning, we are gathered as believers to proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. As we come before You to partake of communion, we confess our sins and understand that the Lord’s body was given to put away our sins. The bread speaks of the broken body of Jesus, and the cup speaks of the New Covenant. Jesus was born to die and to shed His blood. Again and again, the apostles remind us that we have forgiveness of sins because of the blood of Jesus. Jesus did not open the back door of heaven and slip us in under the cover of darkness. Jesus brought us in through the front door as sons and daughters because the penalty of sins was paid in full when the demands of a holy God were met. That alone is enough, and that is good news. And so, as we observe the Lord’s Supper, let’s look to the future [the blessed hope] because Jesus is coming again. We will pass around the communion element as we continue with worship service.

Let us pray. Bless this loaf as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice and the unity of this church. Bless the cup as a sharing in the death of Christ, as we die to ourselves to live for You. Thank You for Your love and forgiveness. We pray all this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Tithe and Offering

It is the time for us to give God our gifts [that is, our tithe and offering]. Paying our tithes and giving our offerings are essential principles for Christians. When we honor God with our tithes and offerings, we show the world that God is first in our lives. Secondly, it helps the local church in many ways, one of which is advancing the work of God here on earth. So, thank you for obeying God in your tithe and offering. Users, please pass around the offering plates as we collect our tithes and offerings. Please be sure to use the church giving App. Please follow the instructions on the screen on how to give. Worship band, please lead us in worship as we collect our tithe and offering.

WELCOME

Welcome to our Sunday Worship Service. We are glad to have you with us today. Please find some folks around you, greet them in the Lord, and tell them Jesus loves you. Our first visitors, please stand so we can see you. We also welcome all who join us online. Let's clap for our online viewers.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Our Community Meal is on Saturday, September 7th, at noon. We are looking for volunteers, so if you are interested in helping, please talk to Kim and Victor Barbee.

Women’s Night is on Saturday, September 14th, at 6:00 p.m.

Night of Worship Service is on Friday, September 27th, at 6:00 p.m. Please join us for a night of Praise and Worship. These are times when we gather as a church and have extended times of music, singing, prayer, testimonies, and praise. There is no sermon or teaching time.

Men’s Breakfast is on Saturday, September 28th, at 10:00 a.m.

I will call Paula to talk about the Marriage Checkup Workshop on Friday, October 25th, at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 26th, at 9:00 a.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study Connect is at 7:00 p.m. Please join us on Wednesday night to STUDY THE WORD OF GOD.

Also, our church corporate weekly prayer meeting is every Saturday at 8:00 a.m.

If you want to join the church, please talk to Farai and Paula about the new member class.

All the church events and activities are posted on the church App and website.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Let’s pray. Heavenly, we thank You for this new month of September. As we begin this new sermon series on THE BEATITUDES: How to Be Truly Blessed, I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us, open our eyes, and enlighten our understanding. I also pray that the tithe and offerings be used to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ and help our church to be the light in this dark world. And may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen.

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

One of the great problems of our day is people who show up at church regularly for a blessing. They want a gift from God. Many people attend church on Sunday and pray to God because they want the Giver of the universe, God, to bless them. This has become a theology called prosperity theology. Come to church so God can give you a new car. Come to church so God can give you a new house. Come to church so God can give you a higher salary. Come to church so God can give you a better career. Come to church so God can give you a mate. Come to church so God can fix the mate you already have. Come to church so God can bless you. The Bible is clear that God blesses His people. The Old Testament to the New Testament contains all the good things God offers His people.

Let me be clear upfront with you: you can have a lot of stuff and still not be blessed. You can have a new house, but it is not a blessing. A new car and it is not a blessing. New clothes and not be a blessing. A new career with a higher salary cannot be equivalent to a blessing. You can have more money in your bank account, and your 401(k) which is not equivalent to a blessing. So, why am I telling you this? What I want to make clear is that blessings are not, first and foremost, defined by the external stuff. I am not dismissing the goodness of God in and upon our lives. I am not in no way dismissing the kindness and all the good things of God upon the lives of His people. What I am saying is that it is not the foundation of a blessing.

SERMON EXPOSITION

So, over the next ten weeks, I want to clarify for you, me, and our church, “How to be truly blessed.” In this sermon series, we will try to help you understand blessings and how you get them. Today, I want to define a blessing for you so you can leave here understanding what a blessing is. The “Sermon on the Mount” from Matthew 5-7 is the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived. Jesus Christ proclaims this masterpiece. [He] “Jesus saw the crowds …” verse 1 of Matthew 5 says: “He went up on the mountain after He sat down. His disciples came to Him. He opened up His mouth, and He began to teach them.” [Please notice] There are two groups here: the disciples, to whom Jesus speaks directly, and the multitude. There is the direct group—those who are His direct followers – the disciples of Jesus.

But then there were the masses. So, Jesus speaks to two groups in the Sermon on the Mount, but His first group is His followers[His disciples]. It is like the Sermon that I preach to you on Sunday, which is live on our church website, church app, and social media platforms, but the sermon is preached to members of our church.

That is my target group, but other folks will hear the sermon. Right now, I am speaking to you directly. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks directly to His disciples. The Sermon on the Mount opens with the Beatitudes, or blessings [if you will]. And its primary purpose is to teach the Kingdom disciples the principles of Kingdom living. In the Beatitudes, the blessings are bracketed by the Kingdom of Heaven statements in verse 3, and Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven in verse 10.

The Beatitudes describe the attitude that should be in our lives today. There are four attitudes. The first is the attitude toward ourselves found in verse 3. To be poor in spirit means to be humble and have a correct estimate of oneself. It means to be honest with ourselves: we know ourselves, accept ourselves, and try to be ourselves to the glory of God.

The second is “Our attitude toward our sins” in verses 4 to 6. We must see sin the way God sees it and seek to treat it the way God does. The third is “our attitude toward the Lord,” described in verses 7 to 9. Lastly, “our attitude toward the world” in verses 10 to 16. Being a dedicated Christian is difficult because the world is not a friend to God and God’s people. And so, as we read and study the Beatitudes over the next ten weeks, , we will discover that we represent an outlook different from the world. The world praises pride, not humility. The world endorses sins, especially “if you can get away with it.”

Jesus taught [introduces] His disciples the concept of the Kingdom of Heaven. What is the Kingdom? How does it work? What are the roles and responsibilities of Kingdom disciples? The Beatitudes set forth the character of kingdom men and women. One preacher refers to the Beatitudes as the antibiotics from God’s pharmacy that help with life transformation. In the Beatitudes, you will find the first 12 verses in Matthew 5, the word blessed nine times. Nine times, you will find the word “blessed.”

These nine times cover eight particular blessings that God offers His people. Jesus wants you and me to know what a blessed life looks like. In verse one, we are told that “Jesus sat down.” To sit down was a position of authority. The Oval Office in Washington, D.C., where the president speaks from, is a place of authority. 1 Peter 3:22 says Jesus is seated to the right hand of God. Acts 2:33 says Jesus is seated to the right hand of God. It was from the seat of authority that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus sat down and said to His disciples, [watch this] I want to give you, as King of this Kingdom, the principles that the King’s disciples need to know to live a blessed life.

Throughout this sermon, Jesus will address the major problem that people of His day faced, that people of our day face, and that is to look at your life from the outside in. So, Jesus Christ lays out this sermon to tell Kingdom disciples the principles of Kingdom living. So, the question on the floor is, “What do we mean by blessed?” That is all I want to explain this morning, so you have a foundation and the framework of a blessing.

To begin with, let me give you the definition of a blessing: a state of well-being. A blessing is a [state of well-being], where the Kingdom followers of Christ enjoy and extend the goodness of God in their lives. Let me say that one more time. A blessing is a state of well-being where the Kingdom followers of Christ enjoy and extend God’s goodness in their lives.

Watch this now. When the Holy Spirit gives joy, it becomes a way of life, not an event. You don’t go to an event or a celebration to get joy. The Greek word for blessed is called Makarios [Mar-Car-Rios]. Makarios was the name of an island off of Greece. The Makarios Island was known as the blessed island. Let me tell you why they called this island the blessed island. Because the island, [Watch this] the Makarios Island was self-contained. The residents didn’t need to leave the island to meet their needs because the island offered everything they needed. Not only that. The natural resources of the blessed island were so thick, so rich, [so] fruitful, [so] abundant, and [so] productive that everything they needed to enjoy their lives was already built into the island.

So, the folks living on this island were self-sustained and self-contained. They did not have to run to another island to meet their needs because the blessed island provided everything they needed. They didn’t have to look or go to another place for their well-being. They could live there and be okay because that was their location.

Now watch this: All the stuff you get outside [of] you—the new car, the new house, and the new money—are fine, but they are extra stuff. Being in the Kingdom of God with the King puts you in a blessed location. So, if you have to leave the island, that is a bonus trip. One of the ways you know that you are not blessed is that you [have to] keep leaving the island to have fun.

You have to keep leaving the island to have peace of mind. You keep leaving the island to have joy because you don’t recognize what is already on the island. 1 Timothy 6:15 says, “Jesus Christ and God are blessed.” In other words, that is their state. God and Jesus live in a blessed state. They live in a blessed state when there was no creation. God has always been blessed. Watch this: God never had a bad day. God didn’t exist for thousands of years in depression. He didn’t live in defeat because, by nature, He lives in a blessed state. That is who God is. When God created stuff, all He made was an expression of the state in which He lived because He lived in a blessed state so He could do blessed things.

In Philippians 4:11, Paul says, “I have learned to be content.” He says that sometimes, I have extra money, and sometimes, I am barely getting by. He says that sometimes, I live in a house, and other times, I live in an apartment. Sometimes, I drive a new car, and sometimes, I drive an old car. Sometimes, I have a job promotion. Sometimes I didn’t get a pay raise. But he says, “I have learned the secret; I have learned the secret that whether abased or abound, I have learned the secret.” So, what is Paul’s secret? He says, I have learned that God and Jesus are already blessed, and [they] lived in me.

Ecclesiastes 5:13 says, “Riches are kept for the hurt of their owners.” Did you get that? Riches are kept for the hurt of their owners. Watch this: There is no satisfaction in what the world offers, and when Jesus came into the world, Jesus wasn’t offering the world stuff. But today, some folks call themselves Christians who offer the world stuff. They are promising financial prosperity, money, and success. Jesus never offered the world stuff. What they are offering today was never in the Sermon on the Mount. The things of the world become fuel for pride, [fuel] for lust, and a trap. As Jesus Himself said, the things of the world, the cares of the world, and the world’s riches will rise up and choke out the word. They are thorns and will do to your soul what thorns do to your shirt or your dress.

So, what you will hear from me over the [next] ten sermons from our sermon series “THE BEATITUDES: How to Be Truly Blessed” will go against every commercial you have seen on television or heard on the radio. Every billboard you have ever seen while driving down the highway [that] promises you happiness. Books that you have read that promise you joy and peace of mind. Our sermon series will contradict and [cancel] everything you have heard or seen. As a disciple of the Kingdom of God, you will discover that the island you live on is self-contained and self-sustained. Everything else is a bonus.

SERMON EXPLANATION

The Bible says, “Every good and perfect gift comes from above.” Now watch this. I am going somewhere with this so stay with me. Every good and perfect gift means everything good in your life comes from God. There is no such thing as a good thing in your life that did not come from God. There is no such thing. James 1 says. “He is the Father of lights.” You see, like the sun is to the stars, the sun is the father to the stars. James 1 verse 17 says, “God is the Father of lights, in whom there is no …” Watch this, “… shadow of turning.” He says, “Everything good you receive in your life is derived from God, the Father of lights.”

All the lights in your life. All the good things in your life have a father. God is that Father in whom there is no shifting shadow. Now, what does he mean? What is James saying? The earth revolves around the sun on a 24-hour day. When the Earth revolves around the sun, half the Earth is cast in a [shadow] called nighttime. That is darkness. Here is the other half. The other half is full of light, and it is called daytime.

That raises a question. Why is half the Earth dark and half the Earth light? Because the earth is turning, not because of the movement of the sun. The sun does not move at all. It is the earth that moves. And because the earth turns and turns and turns in a 24-hour day, a shadow is cast over half of it. But the earth has only been dark for [a period of time] because it has turned its back on the sun. The sun has not changed or moved because the sun only knows how to shine. And so, it gets dark in one part of the world because the earth has turned its back on the sun.

Watch this: “God is the Father of lights in whom there is no turning.” So, when you live day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year in the shadow of discouragement, in the shadow of defeat, in the shadow of despair, and depression, God hasn’t moved [or changed], it is you who have been turning. And you have been turning [rotating] and turning [spinning] and turning because there is no turning with God.

So, to live in the blessed state and enjoy God’s goodness irrespective of the circumstances you are now experiencing because you see, watch this: there are still rainy days on the blessed island. On the blessed island, there were still bad weather days. However, the bad weather days on the blessed island did not determine whether the island was blessed. On bad weather days, the island was still the blessed days. On good weather days, the island is still blessed because that is just the nature of the natural resources. God has set up the blessed island within you and me in His Kingdom. And God set this up within you so that you can bless other folks around you because God never blesses you simply for you.

The blessing of God brings approval. So, when you are in a blessed state, God approves of you. So that means that God is at home in you. And when God is at home in you, and [you are] facing the sun, there is no shadow or nighttime because you live in this approved state. That is why the Beatitudes are talking about your approval. That is, God is comfortable inside you. Because if God is comfortable inside you, you live on the island with all the natural resources. When God is happy in you, you are satisfied [happy] with yourself regardless of the weather outside. Until you and I develop this attitude towards blessing, we will always search for it and only find it at a cotton candy level. And if blessing refers to stuff primarily, then the most blessed person in the world is the devil. If blessing is stuff, then the most blessed person in the world is the devil because the devil told Jesus in Luke 4:6, “I will give you all the kingdoms of this world and their glory, for they are mine to give.”

Nobody has any more access to power on earth than the devil. Nobody has more access to stuff than the devil. So, if stuff means blessing, then the devil is the most blessed being in the world. But the Bible would consider the devil a cursed being because stuff is not equivalent to blessing. The two are not the same. So, don’t get caught in the trap. And don’t misquote what I just said. There is a place for stuff. The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11, “God prospers His people.” God prospers them financially; He prospers them with good things. God has given you your island. He has given you the blessed island.

FAITH APPEAL, CALL to ACTION and ALTAR CALL

So, I want to challenge you. Your main goal as a Christian should not be the blessing you seek; that is the fruit of what you are after. Many folks want the blessing but don’t they don’t want the God who blesses them because you don’t see them anymore in church when they get their blessing. And so, we should be seeking the giver and not the gift.

Sometimes, God will put us in a situation so we can learn to put Him first, trust Him, and walk with Him so that when we get our blessing, we will not forget about God. The problem today with us Christians is that we want God to give us our blessing, but we don’t want the God that gives us the blessing. And how do I know this is true? Because you don’t see them again in church when they get their blessing. They were not looking for God or the blesser; they were looking for the blessing. God bless you.

And if you are here today and you don’t know Jesus. That means you have never accepted Jesus to confess Him as your sin-bearer. To acknowledge that you are a sinner and you need a Savior. I want you to come forward and receive Jesus before we say our benediction.

And if you need prayer, please come forward so we can pray for you.

BENEDICTION

Shall we stand to our feet? Just bow your heads. Father, it is with great joy that we embark upon this adventure of studying this marvelous truth. We thank You, our Lord, for bringing us this far to the place where our hearts are open and ready to receive Your Word. Father, we know that the reception is only for those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, only those who have to live within them the very life of God. I pray that You teach us the power of this message in our lives and our world. Father, I pray that You dismiss us in Your glory. We will praise You in Christ’s name. Amen.

God bless you. We will see you next week at 10:30 a.m.