Regardless of whether Psalm 24 was written for the return of the Ark to mount Zion in Jerusalem, or for another triumphant procession, it applies to EVERY TRIUMPHANT MOMENT OF GOD. The Ark coming home was a foretaste of the coming of Jesus and his Ascension to his rightful place,...

Psalm 77 is a Psalm of lament. It is a Psalm that helps guide us in our sorrow and suffering. It kneels down in the muck and the mess of life beside us. It meets us in our darkness, and it helps point us to the light.

The metaphors that Jesus uses in today’s passage, just like the beatitudes, highlight and emphasize our distinctiveness from the world and our witness to the world. The overarching point is that Christians are different from the world around them and, through their difference, they are able to witness to the...

This, the final beatitude, serves to build off of the others; it adds to our understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Matthew 5:10-12

The self-realizing, self-forgetting aspect of meekness, the complete and utter trust and dependence on God that allows us to be meek, has a direct bearing on the ability of the Christian to be a peacemaker. Matthew 5:9

Being pure in heart is inherently tied to mourning our sin and the desire to be redeemed. If we do not see our impurity, we cannot long for purity. Matthew 5:8

All of the beatitudes are built upon the foundation laid by being poor in spirit, recognizing our desperate need for Jesus and mourning over our brokenness and sinfulness. As we turn our attention to the text this morning we will see this progression and how it naturally leads to being...

Our beatitude todays flows out of the first three, namely being poor in spirit, mourning over sin, and becoming meek. This creates a hunger and thirst for doing things God’s way. Matthew 5:6

There has been a clear logical progression from the first beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit, to the second, blessed are those who mourn. We have seen that when we recognize our sinfulness and our brokenness it leads to a place of mourning and repentance.The progression moves from the...

This week we are looking at the second beatitude, blessed are those who mourn, which builds upon the foundation laid by the first beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit. Matthew 5:4