The Sermon on the mount - Intro and Invite

If I have not had a chance to meet you;

 My name is Scott and I am a follower of Jesus and have the privilege of serving Him as the Lead Pastor among the people of Stonewater Fellowship. 

If you have a copy of the Bible in either electronic version or the actual book kind -

Open it to  Matthew 5:1-2   today as we Begin our Summer in the Sermon series as we walk through the Sermon on the Mount! 

SPEAK and WELCOME UNBELIEVERS – NON FOLLOWERS And THOSE who struggle in their faith –

You may have never been to a worship gathering or you haven’t been in a really long time either because you and this is the first time you have connected with the church in person or through live stream because you don't really know what being a follower of Jesus is really all about. We are so glad that we are stepping into this journey together, because most of us are on the same journey of figuring that out as well. We have a lot in common with each other. Let me also add that you could not have picked a better weekend to risk connecting with the church.

OPENING Prayer– Before we get into the message, let me say that these passages of text that we will be unpacking though this series is one of the most interesting and important teachings of Jesus in all of the bible both Old and New Testaments. and As such I want us to pray specifically for some things to happen out of the teaching that is done form me and others that will be in-front of everyone.

There is this saying that a Good sermon will accomplish 4 things.

1 - It will cause us to look at the what is written in the scriptures in new and deeper ways.

2- It will deepen out understanding of the character and nature of God and His desire for our life.

3 - IT will take us all to the wood shed a little - That means it will bring into our lives and hearts the conviction of the Holy Spirit and we will sense the conflict or sometimes what I call the collision.

4 - and finally it will cause us to live our lives differently from today forward than we did yesterday.

NOW I’m not sure that today's sermon, by its self will accomplish all 4, but my prayer over this series has been that all 4 would happen in our lives as it has already begun to happen in mine over the last 8 weeks as I have prepared for this series. SO LETS PRAY TO THAT END!

Father we come to you this morning alive in Jesus, made alive by your calling, your grace, and the power of Faith that is a gift from you. Father as we unpack and unwrap these passage of Text called the Sermon on the mount over the next weeks - Father open our eyes. Open our ears. Open our hearts to understand what you spoke through Jesus in these passages in new and meaningful ways. Deepen our knowledge of you through your Son Jesus. Send the conviction of the Holy Spirit that we may feel the weight of your words on our hearts and lives and father empower us to live differently because of your word from this day foreward.

So father, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight today Father. I pray all of this In the mighty and holy and abundant Name of Jesus.  - and all God’s children said?

Engagement –

One of the things that as a planting lead pastor that happens in my task is planning out the sermon series for what gets talked about for the calendar year. As the Elders and I grow together, moving from a church plant into an autonomous church, we will be developing that in an ever increasing cooperative way. One of the things that we desire to do is to have each of the teaching series have a commonality. This last year we came off of the Advent Series with the understanding that God in His economy uses the least to be the heralds of the Good News of great Joy. Shepard's the bottom of the bottom, the broken of the broken!

We then, IN Janurary, moved in to a season of understanding God’s desire to move the broken of the broken from being broken to being healed. Moving those that he calls our of the darkness, and actually moves them from the darkenss into His marvelous light to use them for His glory of reaching others.

We then moved into the Gifted series where we walked through the Gifting s of God and how he desires to take each one of us from Brokenness to healing and then gifting us with supernatural gifts to be able to reach other and build His kingdom, and How some of those Gifts are to be understood and used according to what the Bible says.

We then walked through the Gospel of John as we began to unfold and unwrap the Good news that we are to take to the world with the supernatural power of the Gifting s of God and build His kingdom,

Last week we finished the series on how we as kingdom builders, who have been called out from darkness, moved from brokenness to healing, Gifted by the power and Gifting of God to build His kingdom with the knowledge of Jesus from His best friend John, Where we ended last week with the series on how we are to live lives of worship. Not only what it is to worship as an individual but what is it to live as a part of the Body of Jesus, worshiping in spirit and in truth collectively.

Today we begin with the Sermon on the mount - as kingdom builders for God’s kingdom, to be used by him for His glory so that we can see and be an active part of God accomplishing HIS world changing mission, The sermon on the mount will tell us how our lives need to be arranged for God to use us completely for His Glory. NOTICE I SAID COMPLETELY! NOT partially, Not Mostly, But COMPLETELY!

TENSION

There is a PROBLEM HOWEVER - IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE.

NOW SOME WOULD SAY - I its impossible than its not really what Jesus expects!

Here is the question That we really need to ask and answer before we begin to attempt to interpret the meaning of the Sermon on the mount. How do we apply in our life the Sermon on the mount? Is the Sermon on the mount practical! What Importance of what is Said in the Sermon on the mount should have in our lives? As we begin this morning to answer those questions lets read out text!

TRUTH

Matthew 5:1–2 NASB95

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

BACKGROUND

So a little background about where we are in the timeline of Jesus time here on earth. Jesus has begun to do the work of the Father. This conversation that He has with His Followers.

Jesus has been baptised in the river Jordan, He has been in the wilderness with the Devil, He had called the original 12 followers who would later be apostles and kick off the world changing movement called the church. He has turned water into wine, Healed a blind man at the pool of Bethesda,

Spoken in the Synagogue reading from the Scrolls. Spoken to the Samaritan woman at Jacobs well. Cleaned out the temple for the first time. Has had his middle of the night visit from Nicodemus. And established the Apostle John as his best friend. And began a preaching tour saying “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

UNPACKING

Jesus on this preaching tour was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, healing every kind of disease and sickness from among the people the NEW about him had spread rapidly. Lots of people were following Him and Some drew closer to learn more from this miracle worker who spoke with authority and all knowledge and wisdom. Thousands of People were following Jesus.

VS1 When Jesus Saw the Crowds - When He saw the thousands “He went up on the mountain” -

Now I want you to get in your head a proper picturew of what the Scripture is talking about when it says Jesus went up on the mountain. It was more than likely what we would refer to, here in the Hill country of Central Texas, A bill hill. More than likely possibly a few hundred feet tall not thousands of feet tall like we see mountains can become.

It is interesting that Jesus Saw the Big Croud and withdrew! Jesus had times fo speaking with the multitudes and He had times of speking with less than a hundred or even just speaking with the 12 or 3.

But here Jesus see the crowd and withdraws.

Jesus finds a place to Sit down and after He sits down the Bible Says His disciples came to him.

His disciples were His followers. They came to Him. They came seeking after Him to learn form Him to listen to Him. There is a disagreement weather this was the original 12 or the 72 foundin lukes Gospel or the Hundreds of followers that are spoken of through out. I lean on the idea that is was certainly more than the 12 and probably at least the 72 if not more. I especially think this because Jesus didnot call His disciples to Him this event - His disciples or followers chased after HIm. This is also Early in His ministry and Jesus has not begun to say the harder things of the Kingdom that we jee in that later parts of the Gospel of John. Not to Mention that at the End of the Sewrmon the Scriptures tell us that the crowds were amazed at His teaching.

So there were many who were following Jesus That Day. Jesus goes up on a Mountain, away from the masses, His followers come to HIm seaking HIm out and VS 2 says He opened His mouth and Began to teach them.

Jesus Sitting would have been a normal posture for a Rabbi a teacher to take with His followers. I also want to paint a picture of what this looked like. When you and I read through the Sermon It might take all of 10 minutes to read. I promise it took much longer for Jesus to say these things than 10 minutes.

Imagine a conversation fo questions and answers - This conversatinal style is how people were engaged by Rabbi’s Sitting and having a conversation and asking queestions about happiness, joy , life, marriage, death, life, relationships with others, relationships with God, These are the issues raised in this conversation and Jesus engages with His followe3rs in a Sit Down conversation.

The questions that we began to ask is Who do we interpret the meaning of this Conversation. How do we place what it says in a level of importance iin our live as modern 21 centurt followers of Jesus or maybe just people who are courious about the teachings of Jesus?

What are we supposed to Do with the sermon on the Mount?

The Best and really beginning steps to understanding or interpreting scripture, or trying to think about something the Bible says and how to place the framework around a particular subject is to look at the character and nature of God and what He has said to other peoples at other ties throughout the History of the Bible and apply those truths to What is being said.

To understated this we must keep in mind the Story line of the whole Bible. The Overarching Storyline. If ou will. The Overarching Stroyline fo the Bible is God, redeeming, reconciloing, restoring and recovering all tings to Him self through the person and work of Jesus. From the Beginning God has called a people to Himself to be used at His discression to accoplish His will on earth. In the Old Testament it is the People of Isreal. In the New Testament it is the Church. With Booth God has set about them His desire to have relationship with them, Called them to be seperate and different from the rest of the world and live a life that He would have for Him that would build His kingdom all for the glory of His Name.

God calls His chosen people in the Old Testament and the New Testament to “be holy” Be separate. In Leviticus 18 God tells His chosen People not to be like the other people around them. OR better yet not to be like the culture they just left.

Leviticus 18:1–3 NASB95

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. 3 ‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.

God calls His people that He has called out of the culture to Be his so that He can use them to Bring about His salvation and Fix the borkenness of the world caused by the rebellion of man. He tells them Not to behave the way that the Egyptions did and the way the Cannonites do.

be different than the Culture you came from and different than the culture you will be engaged in. In Leviticus God was setting about the frameworks of what being in relationship with Him and what it ment to actually be different than the culture around His people.

In the conventional relationship that God had with His people God would call one of the tribes to be even more different than the other tribes that He would call to be different from the Culture.

These were the Tribe of Levi -The Levites the Priests. God calls the Levites. These priests would be the ones in the closest relationship with God as they took care of the temple and administered the offerings to Him.

The Church is called a Royal Priest Hood We are told to BE holy as God is Holy. We are to be different from that which is around us as God is different from what is around us.

SO WE MUST INTERPRET the Sermon on the Mount and the actual living way of life under the framework of Leviticus 18 and the New Testaments call to Be Holy as members of the Royal and Holy Priesthood.

The Sermon is so CENTRAL to the way of Life that Jesus calls His people to that EVERY new testament writer writes from the basis of this framework.

APPLICATION

Jesus comes and users a NEW and Everlasting covenant through His blood and as his ushering into the covenant was declared He came and Said “Repent” for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

No there are lots of discussion as to what the “kingdom” ultimately is. However - Jesus is calling his followers to Repent” Repent means to Turn.

Modern day conservative preachers have said this simply means to Turn Away from something Specifically SIN.

However that is not what Jesus is saying. Jesus is calling those to put their total trust in not only His redeeming work to save them by His death and Resurrection But Jesus is calling those who want to receive the Gift of eternal life to a new and different life here and NOW - Repentance is a TOTAL turning over of all of life to live the life that Jesus came to give us.

Jesus in the Sermon on the mount sets the Framework by which the New life He has for us looks like. IT set the framework for what being Holy looks like! It sets the Framework for what a life that Has been transformed by the power of the Gospel looks like. Jesus gives us health and life and abundance through the words of the Sermon on the mount.

Jesus sent His apostles and those that would follow after them into the world to make followers of Jesus out of people who new nothing of Jesus. He sent them into the world with the very power of the Holy Spirit, Resurrection power. He sent them into the world as world changers to Make disciples, be fishers of Men as Jesus promised them they would be. With the commands to Make disciples. Baptizer them and teach them all that He has commanded. What Jesus commanded as to the life style of His fishers of Men is encapsulated in the sermon on the mount.

IMAGINE and INSPIRATION

I want you to imagine with me the change in our lives as followers of Jesus if we learned of this new life through this time together Studining and applying what Jesus is calling us to in the Sermon on the mount. What our life wuld look like as we began to life the Sermon out in our lives.

It is upside down living. It is a clear and unambiguous declaration of the Economies of God and the life that He has for us in stark contrast to the life we would have for our selves. Paul writes the Colossi Church and says that we should not be held captive by the Philosophy and empty deception of MAN NOR the Elementary principles of this world. But, Paul Writes that we should be held captive by the Philosophy and elementary principles of Jesus.

The Sermon on the Mount is The LIFE giving Philosophies and LIFE Giving Elementary principles of Jesus that is available to those who Follow HIM.

The invitation is simple - Let spend the next weeks of the summer growing in our following of Jesus by learning and applying His philosophies and principles of Life found in the Sermon on the mount.

The GOSPEL -

REPENTANCE

COMMUNION

CONNECTION - CARDS AND ONLINE

DISMISSAL BY ROWS AND FAMILY UNITS