Encouragement Moves Relationally

Introduction

**Walk through the Student Booklet

So we’ve pretty well established that we’re traveling up the MOUNTAIN, hear a Kingdom purposed message, and then go back down a new way directed by Jesus.

The journey up to the mountain may feel lonely sometimes. This loneliness can be a result of no one else wanting to come along or maybe you just wanted to be away from people. THAT’S REAL.

Whether you are alone or want to be alone

Whether you are with friends or with no one you know

Jesus has a message to show!

Whether someone has hurt or offended you

Whether you see hurt and pain in others from your view

Jesus has a message for that too!

Whether your intentions are to bring others down

Whether your intentions are to present yourself with a crown

Jesus wants to give you the rundown!

There is much that goes through our mind and heart when it comes to our relations with others! Some of it happens so quick - we miss how it communicates to someone.

Who in here likes to cook? take ingredients, combine them together, ‘tidda’ masterpiece of food

Who in here likes to build? legos - snap the pieces to form a planned design; wood/metal, screws/nail, tidda masterpiece of construction

Who in here likes to build code? throw some 1s and 0s together with some fancy coding, tidda an app or program

Who in here likes to work with people? class assignment, team for school or sports, solve a puzzle, get togther, tidda problem solved/victory achieved

Who in here likes to solve mysteries? who likes to watch a movie or read and book guess the outcome/message

With all of this in mind, we want to offer an opportunity for you to approach a passage, ask designed questions, use knowledge and notes to discover God’s message and your proper response.

Tonight I want to introduce 3 Beatitudes that speak to our relations with God and others. From this introduction of each one, we want to invite you and send you off to a Study Group where you can work through Three Study Questions and know the application to your life.

Let’s read our guide together tonight — who would like to read our guide? (6th grader, 7th grader, 8th grader)

Matthew 5:1–8 ESV

1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Prayer Time

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Lets go over our repeated terms and definitions

What was the base for our 2 questions and this series? ENCOURAGEMENT

the ongoing reassurance that God sees you, God is for you, and God is working through you.

What were our two primary questions from Encouragement?

Where does it come from? UP ON THE MOUNTAIN

Where does it go? THIS QUESTION WILL BE ANSWERED EVERY WEEK.

We have one word that shows up 9 times. What is it? BLESSED

What ways have we define it?

Happy

Fortunate

Good Life

This whole sermon is about offering and extending an invitation to the Kingdom of Heaven.

SATISFY A CRAVING

Matthew 5:6 ESV

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

What are the NEEDS in the life?

Food

Water

Oxygen

Shelter

Jesus presents that righteousness is a NEED! We are to HUNGER AND THIRST for it. But what exactly are we hungering and thirsting for? Again, we have come across a word that is not that common.

Let me take you though a TIMELINE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS so that we better understand and find its place in our lives.

As we walk through RIGHTEOUSNESS, keep this definition: right relations with God and other

RELATED TERMS: justice, generosity, and honesty

GENESIS 1-3: what about the perfect relations between God and Adam | God and Eve | Adam & Eve| God & Adam & Eve. Being in right relations is an original design of God

Exodus 20: records the Ten Commandments. Every command speaks to relations. The first 4 are between you and God. The last 6 are between you and people

Leviticus 19: “Love your neighbor as yourself”

Deut 6:4-5 “Love God with all your heart”

Tabernacle & Temple Design: Ark of the Covenant was described of having an ‘empty place’ on top. God said leave that space open for my Throne to extend to earth. God desiring to be with His people.

Matt 22: Jesus records the greatest 2 commands

Luke 10: records the Good Samaritan

John 15: Jesus to love others as I have loved you

What are some first steps to craving Righteousness, craving right relations? Based upon these verses, I hope you that by right relations — this does not mean that everyone likes you. There is movement in your life of generosity, honesty, love, forgiveness, communication.

Those who focus on this will be satisfied - flourishing - sustaining.

Those begin to hunger for the right things — they will be satisfied. FULL SATISFACTION will be in the Eternity Kingdom where everyone is hungering for the same thing.

RECOGNIZE & RESPOND TO TRUE HURT/PAIN

Matthew 5:7 ESV

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Mercy seems to be a more common word for us but it still blurry on “the good life belongs to the merciful.”

Lets first build MERCY to be: going beyond what is required/expected, generous love, it is to pause your life to offer life to someone else.

Mercy is recognizing someone’s conditions and responding to that condition. Its compassion in action.

God has shown MERCY TO US. Psalm 136 (maybe something to look at in Study Group) records “loving kindness or steadfast love” and this a direct synonym for MERCY. There is enough time in history to share a timeline of Mercy. God has shown us compassion in action — an importance response is to reflect compassion in action to others.

TO SET DIRECTION ON THE PATH

Matthew 5:8 ESV

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

Ill give this one to you fast — BEHAVIOR matched by MOTIVATION to do right by God and right by others. What motivates you to do what you do?

Sometimes kind gestures can come from a heart of self elevation. XXX note pure in heart!

This is amazing what Jesus is doing in this passage because He is referencing a message that He previously shared with David in Psalm 24 (maybe something to look at in Study Groups)

Psalm 24:1–6 ESV

1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

Being PURE IN HEART sets direction on the path! If you Christ to set the direction, you will discover that this new path leads straight to Him!

Psalm 24 IS RICH! We can mine gold nuggets from it all night but we want to offer a moment for you to go through the

ingredients

building supplies

coding format

puzzle pieces

well designed questions

and construct God’s message and God’s movement in your life!

CLOSING

As you go into your Study Groups, some of you may find that you’re not able to make it through the three Beatitudes — and that is OK. When it comes to studying the Bible, it is not the amount you read. It is what you actually come to KNOW in your heart and SHARE with others.

If your groups experience is that you do not make it through the three focused Beatitudes or even if you do and want to know more, we have three devotions - one that focuses on each Beatitude in the back of your book. This can be way to start a daily quiet time with God. This could temporarily replace where you are reading. Let it be an additional study. However you can place these devotions in your life, I guarantee (money-back guarantee) you will have a better understanding of the Beatitude and how God wants to send you down the Mountain.