June 24, 2018 - Sermon on the Mount - The Kingdom

ILLUST: “Once Upon a Time...”

What type of thought does that provoke?

How do you know? You recognize the format? (fancy word is genre)

A moral lesson taught in a way that is easily understood

INTRO/OPEN

Jesus is Ready to Teach

30, Tempted, Baptized

The Mount

Near Sea of Galilee

Acoustically, 1000’s could hear

Jesus Sits

Blessed are...

Poor in spirit - not just impoverished, but spiritually understood they were dependent on God

(Full, present blessing - “theirs IS”)

Mourn - grief due to personal sin and social oppression

(Partial, “shall”)

Gentle (meek) - humble; THE defining characteristic of a follower of Christ, and a characteristic NOT valued in their society, or ours

(Partial, “shall”)

Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness - basic needs met, and also desire for obedience to God in every area of life

(Partial, “shall”)

Merciful - generous and forgiving, compassionate (a MAIN characteristic of God)

(Partial, “shall”)

Pure in Heart - morally upright, not just ritualistic or superficial; lifestyle characterized by pleasing God, not self

(Partial, “shall”)

Peacemakers - work for harmony, not strife or discord, true ambassadors for God

(Partial, “shall”)

Persecuted for sake of righteousness, insulted - doing the right thing, even when it’s hard (not suffering for doing wrong)

(Full, present blessing, “reward in heaven IS great”)

Jesus’ Ministry

- proclaiming the Gospel (“good news”) of kingdom

describes people who are blessed

KINGDOM DWELLERS

Sermon on the Mount, summarized_

“I’m looking for kingdom dwellers, who’s with Me?”

(People who are here, who live in Heaven) - passing through

Dwelling in His Kingdom

Not easy (must accept Christ, which means humble repentance)

Lots of “pretenders”, who “follow” along the way

“Lord, Lord...”

- draw attention to self, fasting, e.g.

Fast, but don’t let it show!

FEW enter the narrow gate ()

Kingdom dwellers are recognized by their fruit ()

Sermon on the Mount builds to prepare people for what lies ahead

The Kingdom (in Jesus’ Teaching)

Jesus, the masterful teacher

Parables were a main source of His teaching style

Parable

Earthly story with Heavenly meaning

Why Parables?

So people can’tfollow understand? NO

So people can’t learn? NO

To make point without directly saying it

ILLUST: Do I like chocolate? Is the Pope Catholic?

(To Jesus) - “Are You the Christ? A: “I and My Father are One”

And people remember stories with examples they relate to

Kingdom Parables

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like… or can be compared to...”

Jesus, fully human, understood:

Life - carpentry, work, family, friends, farming, culture, government

We’ll be going through some kingdom parables

Do the characteristics of kingdom dwellers depict/describe us?

Can we be recognized as kingdom dwellers?

SUMMARY

In the end, most will reject

Many will say “Lord, Lord...” and Jesus will say depart from Me

FEW really, truly, believe, accept and follow

summed up

All hear Word

All build house

All encounter storms

All hear

All make a choice

Build on Christ

Build on self, world

Kingdom dwellers know the right foundation, where to build, on THE Cornerstone!

Questions

What foundation am I building on?

If people accused me of being a follower of Christ, do they have the evidence to "convict" me?

Let’s explore this kingdom, specifically the royalty who dwells there

CLOSE, PRAY

SING Verse 1 of invitation, then communion, then last verse