Sermon on the Mount - Practical Priorities for Life in the Kingdom

There is great suffering in this world and we have become people who are trying to hide from it and deny it. We turn away from God, but He is the one who we can take comfort in. He is asking for us to place our worries on Him. We must be willing to let our hearts break.

How is God nudging you? We will learn about the Beatitudes from Jesus, and learn about the attitudes that can move us forward in God's Will or hinder us if we fail to understand them. Beatitudes include: gentleness, righteous hunger, mercy, purity of heart, peacemakers, and persecution.

What does it mean to be salt of the earth and lights of the world? We take a look in detail as to how these are both righteous ways of standing out against our current culture. Do we live as salt and lights or do we hide away and try to dull how we look to the witnessing world?

We look at three questions on morality: 1) what's the meaning of morality, 2) what's the standard of morality, and 3) what's the purpose of morality? We see from Jesus' teachings how humility and gratitude, not pride, are components in the meaning and standard of morality.

The uniqueness of our relationship with God the Father is broken down into three parts: 1) the Father's passion towards us as His children, 2) the Father's redemption of His people, and 3) the Father's reward. The Father's reward is not something we work for to bolster our own image but instead work that points others to God.

We learn about the purpose behind prayer. We start with Jesus' message to his disciples about prayer which most people know as "The Lord's Prayer" and break it down. God wants us to come to Him and pray as children. We learn about God's goodness, His will, and His provision; what this means for our prayers; and we see how prayer is meant for us to connect with God in a unique personal relationship with Him.

Is money spiritually neutral? We look at warnings of having your heart serve wealth in this life, and guidance on areas including anxiety and faith. We look at aspects of what spiritual rewards and treasures God has given us, how to put God first, and his people as the true treasure of the master that we serve.

Judge not so you will not be judged and "take the log out of your own eye". These are some of the most famous verses from Jesus' sermon on the mount that are still referenced today. Are you someone who is always confronting others about how they messed up? The Bible lays out a path to confront a brother or sister, not through self-righteousness, but in love and also how to restore them in grace.

Jesus presents the choice between the narrow gate and the wide gate. The wide gate represents itself as false prophets, spiritual deception, and misrepresenting God; all of which leads to destruction. But the narrow gate represents God's love and judgment and the gift of a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Jesus says not many will find the narrow gate, but God is continuously pursuing us to lead us to His truth.

How do you know your foundation? Jesus speaks on the lives of people who build their foundation; either those who live by his words, or those whose foundation is on shifting sands that can't hold up to lifes' turmoil. Are you building your foundation on your possessions or on your status? We can build on a foundation of rock which is based on God's love, truth, and grace. Audio of Bob Dylans' ?A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall?.