Matthew 4:23-5:12
These words are the heart of Jesus’ message: the sermon on the mount is the heart and summary of all Jesus’ teachings, the Beatitudes are the heart and summary of the sermon on the mount, and Blessed are the poor in Spirit is the heart and summary of the Beatitudes. Blessed means to have an unshakeable peace and shalom in all situations of life, a resting place and serenity no matter the circumstances. The Poor in Spirit are the beggarly of life. The empty and broken. And the Kingdom of Heaven is offered to such as these. We all are offered moments to see the true beggarly-ness of life, our empty-ness, our brokenness. It is exactly when our life is shaken, life reveals the brokenness inside and out that we have the opportunity to scramble up the hill to listen to Jesus and hope for the Kingdom of Heaven. Our task is to embrace our brokenness, our poor in Spirit, as a path to seeing that Jesus had to come in order to save me. My brokenness can be the best news ever because it will lead me to a place of blessed -- a place of unshakeable peace.
COMMUNITY DISCUSSION
1. What are the false places you rely on to put your hope of being good or blessed?
2. What were the opportunities for you to see your “poor in Spirit-ness” lately? What were the times you experienced fear, anxiety, depression, sadness, or hopelessness?
3. We are a people who walk through life with two realities present at all times....
First: blessed, loved beyond measure, secure in His standing, citizen of the kingdom of heaven, with a God who is ever present and listening.
Second: Poor in spirit, brokenness, sin, hurt, fear, anxiety; an inability to give life to myself lies under the surface of my skin.
Who do you have to regularly speak of those two realities to?
July 11, 2021 - Scott Cooley