We're going to have the Bible reading now, so please open your Bibles.
Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 to 10.
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Well, yeah, today we return to the life of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
And we're going through chapters 5 to 7 and into 8, and it's commonly known, Sermon on the Mount.
You might know it well.
And as Simon said, I'm kicking off this series, but there's a bunch of guys,
so Matt, Sam, Simon and Wilker, who's going to be taking one of these sermons and helping us go through it.
I reckon the Sermon on the Mount used to be quite well known in society.
If you said the Sermon on the Mount, most people down the street would know what you're talking about.
I'm not so sure that the current generation that that's true.
But it's still got the most quoted verse in the Bible in it from unbelievers and believers alike.
Any guesses at what that is?
Judge not, yeah.
Chapter 7, verse 1.
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
We might think it's John 3, 16, but it's do not judge.
As if somehow Jesus is saying, yeah, be tolerant.
Even though a few verses later he's saying, my words will determine,
how you respond to them will determine your eternal destiny.
That's not very tolerant.
So it's still very misunderstood, even though it's got the most quoted verse in it.
But what about in the church?
You might be familiar with the Sermon on the Mount.
I wonder if there's something even more dangerous than ignorance.
What if we're coming today and we think we already understand it?
Maybe this term we need to actually unlearn some things.
So before we get into this series, I want to just ask a few questions about
how are you coming to the Sermon on the Mount?
So the first thing I want to ask is, are you treating the Sermon on the Mount as a unified sermon?
So you're hoping today to hear a unified talk from me.
You can be the judge of whether I succeed at that or not.
With an introduction and body and conclusion that all ties together.
Are we expecting that when we come to the Sermon on the Mount?
I think in the past I've treated it like this encyclopedia of topics on how to be a good Christian.
So it's got stuff about lust and anger and divorce and not retaliating, not judging, loving your enemies,
praying, giving to the needy, not worrying about your material needs.
Are we treating it like are we dissecting it and just focus in on a little part?
I think the danger in doing that is it lends itself to becoming moralism,
where we just need to try better to be good Christians.
So in this term, we're not going to focus in on those subtopics.
We're going to do larger chunks of the Sermon on the Mount.
Hopefully that will help us see that this is a unified sermon.
Jesus has a unified message he wants us to hear.
In the sermon, we've got an introduction which we're going to look at today
and then Matt Hand is going to take us through the next bit.
So we've got the character of being in the kingdom
and then Matt Hand will show us how that will make us salt and light in the world.
So that's the introduction to his sermon.
Have a look at chapter 5 verse 17.
Here's the start of the body of the sermon.
Do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I've not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.
So there's the theme of this sermon.
And then you can see that he finishes the body.
If you flip over to chapter 7 verse 12.
Where are we?
Verse 12.
Chapter 7 verse 12.
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you
for this sums up the law and the prophets.
Somehow Jesus is going to fulfil the law to bring in the kingdom of God.
And then you'll see after that, you've got the subheadings there,
the narrow and wide gates.
Suddenly we've got two choices.
You can go down a narrow path or a wide path,
a narrow gate or a wide gate.
One leads to life or death.
There's true and false teachers.
There's true and false disciples.
There's the wise and the foolish builders who build their house.
One house stands, the other falls.
It's that conclusion.
We need to respond.
There's two ways to live.
So are you coming ready to hear a unified sermon?
The second thing.
Are you coming to the sermon with the rest of the gospel in mind?
Matthew's placed this at the beginning of Jesus' life.
Now maybe the sermon was the very first thing,
one of the very first things Jesus did.
Maybe it was later on.
I'm not really sure.
But Matthew places it at the beginning.
I think that tells us we need to understand the life of Jesus.
First we need to understand this sermon.
We need to listen to this sermon.
And then we can see Jesus' life more clearly.
I think the sermon actually wants us to become poor in spirit,
so that then when we look to Jesus' life,
we can then see what it looks like to be full.
Or do we remember what the summary of Jesus' ministry is about?
Chapter 4, verse 17.
So chapter 4, verse 17.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach.
Here's his first words.
Here's a summary of his entire ministry.
Repent.
Turn around.
Change your life completely.
Repent.
For the kingdom of heaven has come near.
The kingdom of heaven has arrived.
It is here.
And so we need to repent.
That should make us ask, why do we need to change?
Entrance into the kingdom is not automatic.
What is it about this kingdom that our normal way of life means we're not in it?
Our normal way of life from birth, we are not in the kingdom.
We need to repent.
Are we coming to the sermon ready to learn that?
Why do we need to repent?
What is this kingdom?
A total change has to occur.
And why should we listen to Jesus?
That's a big call that you need to repent.
You need to change and listen to me.
Why listen to this guy?
Why?
Well, we've seen, last time we went through Matthew, we've seen his birth narratives, as Simon introduced today.
It was very strange stuff.
But it all pointed to the fact that this is God's promised king.
He's arrived.
The king has arrived.
And then what have we seen so far?
He was baptised.
We can listen to Jesus because the very first act we see him do, I like how Sinclair Ferguson describes this.
You've got all these people coming to John in the Jordan, having their sins forgiven.
It's like their sins are washed off into the water of the Jordan River.
And it's just this murky mess of sin in that river now.
And what does Jesus do?
Even though spotless, he wades into it.
He's picturally taking it upon himself.
There's a very good reason to listen to this man.
That's the character of this man, this king.
And then we see him, he confronts Satan.
He confronts the enemy that all of us believe his lies and he doesn't.
He stands firm where the rest of humanity fall.
This guy can win.
He's got the power.
He's got the power to undo Satan's work.
And he's got the power to call.
We see the first disciples.
He's just, Andrew, follow me.
Simon, follow me.
And they drop their entire life and follow him.
This king has the power to summon.
And then he's got the power to restore.
All the sickness that comes to him, he heals.
There's some very good reasons to listen to this man.
He can defeat the enemy.
He identifies with our sin.
He can change our lives.
He can restore us.
So are we ready to listen to hear why we need to repent?
In verses 1 and 2, he goes up onto a mountain.
I think the fact that he goes up onto a mountain should make us think of Moses.
Moses.
Yeah, Moses.
That's right.
Moses on Mount Sinai.
Where all Israel are gathered to Moses to receive the law on what it means to belong in this kingdom.
Jesus is about to describe what it means to belong in this kingdom.
He's this new Moses.
This new connection between heaven and earth.
Now in these verses, I was sorely tempted to skip over the detail.
He opened his mouth and he began to teach them, saying,
like, why tell us that he opened his mouth?
That's a strange detail, isn't it?
Is it so that we don't think he was a ventriloquist?
I don't think so.
I doubt it.
Maybe it's saying he's not going to quote other rabbis.
The source of his authority is himself.
Maybe that's why.
I wonder if it's something else.
I wonder if there's an even deeper reason that Matthew wants us to focus on his mouth.
This is the first time public came to him, that we're told in Matthew anyway.
What does he do?
The first public rally.
This is a significant moment.
How's he going to kick off his ministry?
What's he going to do?
He could have drawn a sword.
Let's go.
The kingdom is here.
He could have made denarii, coins, fall from heaven and filled up everyone's pockets.
He could have kept healing all the sickness, but he doesn't.
He opens his mouth.
I just wonder if we're meant to think, is the words of Jesus the source of blessing?
Do we see his mouth as the source of eternal life?
I keep falling back into the same kind of thinking.
That if only I add more of God into my life, if I have a closer walk with him, then my mental state will be in a better condition.
My relationships will be better, more harmonious, and my impact on the world will be more successful.
I think if we come to Jesus' words here, wanting to add more God into our life, we're going to miss the point.
If we come to this wanting to add more God into our life, we will miss the point.
The problem isn't that we're coming to Jesus empty in order to be filled.
Our problem is we're already half filled on the things of this world.
We want Jesus to just top us up, please.
Does that describe you?
That describes me.
I'm pretty happy with the things of this earth.
I just want Jesus to top me up, make me full.
Our problem isn't that we're empty.
Our problem is we're half full.
If we listen to the words that come out of Jesus' mouth, he's going to make us empty.
The sermon contains some devastating words.
Blessed are the persecuted.
Does that jar in your mind?
It jars in my mind.
How can that be?
Or he says at the end of chapter 5,
if you want to be in the kingdom, you therefore must be perfect,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.
That's devastating news.
Who can do that?
Don't come expecting to add more God to your life.
Get ready to be emptied, made poor.
But don't fear that.
Because his very first words, as Jen has already helped us understand with the kids' talk,
he's given us a great promise.
Bless are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
So let's not fear that.
But let's come ready to be made poor,
because then the kingdom of heaven is ours.
So what do you think will make your life blessed?
A blessed condition.
At home we've got this magazine called Wellbeing.
And the front cover, I'm just intrigued by it,
the front cover has this lady all rugged up with her PJs and a blanket over her,
with a warm drink in her hands,
and she's staring off with her eyes closed,
with a serene look on her face.
That's well-being.
Now I like a cup of tea all rugged up as much as the next person.
I'm not having a go at that.
But what about those times in life,
metaphorically speaking, when we are bruised and hurting?
What about the times when we just feel naked and cold and alone
and surrounded by so many things that just stress us out?
Or at the end of life,
when we know we're not going to leave that hospital bed,
can we be blessed then?
Can I look at my life and go,
I am blessed?
I think we all fall into the trap again and again,
believing that if only my external circumstances change,
then I will be blessed.
Only then I will be blessed.
For me at the moment,
I reckon I'll be blessed if Samuel just slept through the night.
Come on.
And then my friends with the newborn saying,
oh yeah,
my daughter sleeps through the night.
It's a cinch.
It's like,
yeah,
thank you for telling me that.
That really helps me.
If only I would get sleep,
I would be a better person to Emma.
My character would be better.
I would have more productivity.
My mental state of mind,
oh,
it would be so much better.
If only I had this.
Change my circumstances,
God,
and then I'll be blessed.
Now you might be sitting there thinking,
I envy you,
David,
that you have a sleepless night with a child.
You might be envying me.
What is it for you?
What do you think?
If only you had this,
I'd be blessed.
I'd be in a blessed condition.
I like R.T. France's definition of the blessed person.
It's someone whose place in life is an enviable one.
The blessed state Jesus is about to describe
transcends our circumstances.
We can be blessed no matter what.
Whether good or ill,
success or failure,
acceptance or rejection,
health or illness,
stress or at leisure,
we can be blessed.
It's the enviable life.
Are you ready to hear it?
Do you want it?
I want it.
I believe I have it,
but let's see what it is.
Here's the description of the people who are blessed.
Poor in spirit,
mourn,
meek,
humble,
hunger and thirst,
merciful,
pure in heart,
peacemakers
and persecuted.
Does it sound very good?
Is that really the enviable life?
Now,
I'm stopping at verse 10 there.
You might wonder,
why haven't we gone to verse 11?
You got blessed again.
If you notice there that
verse 3 and verse 10,
you've got the same promise at the end.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This whole group,
3 to 10,
is describing
the state of the person
who's in the kingdom of heaven.
We can't pick and choose these
and go,
I'm a peacemaker,
but I'm not meek.
I need to work on that.
This is one group,
characteristic of the group.
In verse 11,
the pronoun changes
from they,
describing this group,
to you.
Bless you
when people insult you.
It starts talking
direct to the disciples.
So,
3 to 10,
this is what it means
to belong to the kingdom.
This is the enviable life.
Let's quickly go through these.
Just make sure we understand them
before we can decide
how to respond to them.
So,
verse 3,
poor in spirit.
Have you ever experienced
those times in life
where you just come
to the end of yourself?
You just,
you don't have the resources
to get through.
you just got nothing
in the tank.
You've got absolutely nothing.
You come to the end
of yourself,
all you have to look to
is that God does something,
that God helps you.
Have you ever been to that place
and yet felt full?
To have peace,
even though you're afraid
and sad?
I think those times
are rarer
than I want them to be
but there is a real joy there
when we come to the end
of ourselves
and we just,
we just look to God.
We have to trust him.
That's all we've got.
I think that's what it means
to be poor in spirit.
And it's in spirit,
it's not materially.
This is an internal
attitude
that these characteristics
are describing.
It's a spiritual reality,
internal kingdom.
It's to have an attitude
of self-emptiness
before God,
only relying
on his goodness.
Now I don't think
life has to go badly
to be poor in spirit.
I think we can be
empty of ourselves
relying on God
all the time.
But,
in God's goodness,
sometimes
he breaks us down
so that we actually
get to that point.
He strips us back
so that we can actually
be in this blessed state.
So,
poor in spirit.
And then we've got
verse 4,
mourn.
What the Christian
mourns over,
I think,
is kept undefined here
because sin
has infiltrated
everything.
If we mourn sin
in myself
and sin
in others
and sin
in this world
and sin
in the church
and we just
feel the destruction
of sin,
why wouldn't
we mourn?
There's so much
to mourn over.
And then it's
the meek
and humble.
So,
meek is not
a false humility
that still
keeps the attention
on yourself
and you're still
self-absorbed.
But meekness
is a true humility
before God.
It's a stance
before God.
And
being in that state,
you are therefore
gentle.
Even when you're
attacked by others,
because of your
stance before God,
you're even gentle.
Because the person
who is brought
to the end
of themselves,
relying on God,
mourning for sin,
they're just
totally dependent
on him.
They don't have
to fret.
They don't have
to control
circumstances.
They just,
they can be meek
and gentle.
And then we've got
hunger and thirst
for righteousness.
Being freed
from being obsessed
with ourselves,
now looking to God,
our desires change.
We've got a taste
of what God is like
and we want more
of it.
We want to be
like him.
But the more
we get to know God,
the more we realise
how much we're not
like God,
and so we hunger
and thirst.
As a deer pants
for water,
so my soul
longs for you.
The Christian
is not finally
satisfied,
ultimately anyway,
until we have God
and are like him.
And then merciful,
having received
such mercy
from God,
how could we not
just love mercy
and want to give
mercy to others,
want others to have
the mercy of God
as well.
And then pure in heart.
Pure in heart,
we might think
it's about being
sexually pure
or morally pure,
but it's much
broader than that.
Pure in heart
is having a single
devotion for God,
loving the Lord
our God
with all our heart,
soul,
mind and strength.
And obviously
that will show
itself morally,
but it's having
that single
devotion,
a pure heart.
And then peacemakers,
rejoicing in the
Father,
not giving up on us,
but even sending
his Son to give us
peace.
We want others
to have that same
peace.
Not just keeping
the peace,
but trying to make
peace.
And therefore,
verse 10,
persecuted.
Because these values
are so foreign
to this world,
this kind of person
is not welcome.
Is this the normal
way of thinking
that you've come
across in others?
Or in yourself?
Let's make it personal.
Does it come natural
to you,
these kind of
attributes?
It doesn't come
naturally for me.
I come from
this world.
I still live
in this world.
Consider what
this world
might think
of Jesus'
teaching.
Poor in spirit.
If anything,
this sounds
psychologically
dangerous
to believe this.
You need
positive thinking.
Don't think
you're poor
in spirit.
Think positively,
and then you'll
be blessed.
You need
self-esteem.
You need
self-actualization,
where you need
your physical
and emotional
and safety,
all those needs
met,
and then you can
reach your full
potential.
Only then.
This is dangerous
teaching,
Jesus.
Poor in spirit.
What about
the rest?
Mourning.
That's the
opposite of
blessedness.
What's going
on?
Pain is bad.
Sadness is
bad.
Avoid them
at all costs.
People might
say that
humility is a
virtue,
but then
live all of
life believing
I need to
assert myself
if I'm going
to survive in
this world.
I need to
insist on my
rights.
They say
humility is a
virtue,
but do
people live
it?
The meek?
Really?
And hunger
and thirst.
Why hunger
and thirst?
You can be
satisfied now.
Don't wait.
Be satisfied
now.
And mercy.
Yeah,
mercy is good
as long as
I'm on the
receiving end,
but if you
wrong me,
every fiver
of my being
wants retaliation,
wants retribution.
To show
mercy would
be an
injustice.
I love
mercy when I
get it,
but does it
go the other
way?
And
peacemaking.
People who
keep the
peace are
rare.
They're rare.
People say
comments all
the time that
just could
destroy peace.
But people
who are actively
trying to
create peace,
they're even
rarer still.
peace.
When everyone
is scrambling
over the top
of each other
to get a
slice of
this earth,
peace is
only helpful
if it serves
my own
agenda.
These values,
the world
does not
believe them.
We don't
naturally
believe them.
It's as if
these are
two completely
different
kingdoms.
kingdoms,
the kingdom
of heaven
and I'll
call it
the kingdom
of earth.
They're
completely
different
kingdoms.
Two ways
of looking
at reality,
two value
systems.
And so
anyone who
embodies the
kingdom of
heaven is
not welcome.
You are
alien and a
foreigner in
the kingdom
of earth.
You are not
welcome.
like a
foreigner who
might just,
it might be a
subtle thing
where you just
don't feel
totally welcome
in a new
culture or it
might be an
overt thing
like we're
seeing at the
moment where
people were
spitting.
I had a
friend from
college who
just down the
street, she's
from Hong Kong
and someone just
spat on her
because of the
COVID going on
at the moment.
Sometimes the
persecution is
just you don't
belong, other
times it's
quite avert.
Embodying
this, don't
expect to fit
in in this
world.
And yet
Jesus says
this is the
enviable life.
How is that
possible?
How is this
the enviable
life?
I don't think
there's anything
inherently good
about hardship.
I don't think
Jesus is
saying you
must have
hardship and
then hardship
itself is
blessed.
There's nothing
inherently good
about hardship.
So why is this
the blessed
life?
It's blessed
because of the
promises.
The second
half of each
of these
verses.
You only
believe that
this is the
enviable life
if you believe
these gracious
promises.
Theirs is the
kingdom of
heaven.
They will be
comforted.
They will
inherit the
earth.
They will be
filled.
They will be
shown mercy.
They will see
God.
They will be
called children
of God.
Theirs is the
kingdom of
heaven.
God.
It's the
promises that
make this the
enviable life.
When your
confidence in
yourself is
stripped away
forcing you to
rely on God
you can look at
yourself and
go my life
belongs in the
hands of a
good king.
I am in the
kingdom of
heaven.
I'm blessed.
As you
mourn, as you
bear the burden
of living in a
sin-filled world
you can say I
am blessed for I
soon will be
comforted.
As you are
wronged and you
don't retaliate,
you don't strive to
be on top of this
world and you
seemingly miss out
all because you
want to wait for
God to act.
You can know
this promise.
I will inherit
the earth.
I don't need to
have it now.
I don't need to
be on top.
As you feel so
discouraged by your
own sin, getting
the upper hand in
your own life,
you're just thirsting
for righteousness,
righteousness, you
want righteousness
to characterize the
church and the
world and you
just, there's so
much self-centeredness
in me and others
and I will be
satisfied.
The kingdom of
righteousness is
coming.
I will be
satisfied.
As every fiber of
your being wants to
get justice when that
Christian friend
offends you, as I
look forward to the
day of judgment and
I know I'm only going
to receive mercy, I'm
blessed.
I'm blessed.
As you wrestle with
feeling double-minded,
your heart desiring
God but also desiring
this world and this
tension is just
constant.
I wish I was more
pure in my devotion
to God.
He's the promise.
I will see God and
when I see him, I
will be like him.
I am blessed.
That struggle means I
will see God.
I am blessed.
As you feel despondent
that there's so much
peace breaking, even
among Christians, you
can still pursue it.
don't give up on it
because I'll be called
a son of God.
Look at the character
of my father.
Look at the lengths
he went to to create
peace.
Peacemaking is worth
it because I'm a
child of God.
I'm a son.
I'm a daughter of
God.
And as you feel like
you don't fit in with
society, with your
friends, with your
colleagues, with
family even, you can
say, well, there's a
reason for that because
I belong to the
kingdom of heaven.
I am blessed.
I am loved by my
king.
I am blessed.
I don't think we
value these
characteristics naturally.
So how do these
promises become ours?
Because they don't
quite fit us.
Because we're so in
bondage to the
kingdom of earth
still.
There's two things
that need to happen.
I've already said the
first one.
First one, we need to
be emptied.
We need to let go of
the kingdom of earth.
We need to let go of
believing that if only
our circumstances
change, then and only
then can we be blessed.
We need to come to the
end of ourselves.
We need to be poor in
spirit, just only looking
to God.
God.
As we come to the rest of
the sermon on the
mount this term, get
ready to be undone.
Get ready to be
flawed, emptied.
Do not have confidence in
yourself but in God's
goodness.
But again, don't fear
that.
Don't resist that.
Because it's the empty
who have it all.
It's the poor who are in
the kingdom of God.
And once we are emptied,
once we are poor in
spirit, then we're ready
to hear these promises.
We will look outside of
ourselves to our king
who embodies these
characteristics perfectly.
He is the blessed one.
He is the one poor in
spirit.
He is meek.
He is pure in heart.
He is merciful.
He lives the blessed life
that we have recorded in
the rest of the gospel.
He is the blessed one.
This describes our king.
He came to fulfill the
law.
He was so poor in spirit,
always trusting his
father to provide every
step of the way, even
trusting his father that
he would be raised from
the dead.
Every step of the way he
was poor in spirit.
Who as he approached
Jerusalem, he weeps.
He mourns.
If only you would be
gathered to me.
He mourns the sin of
this world.
He is the one who
mourns.
Who is so merciful, he
was known as the friend
of sinners.
He's the merciful one.
Who always thirsted to do
what was right in the eyes
of his father.
Who is so pure in heart
that even in the garden of
Gethsemane, about to face
the cross, sweating drops
of blood, he prays not my
will but yours be done.
Every fibre of his being
wanted to go the other
way and yet he's purer in
heart.
He loves the Lord his God
with all his heart.
Who is so meek.
Being accused and slandered
at his trial, he didn't
retaliate.
He didn't fight back.
But entrusted himself to his
father's will.
That is incredible meekness.
Whose passion was to see
people at peace with God.
So much so that while being
crucified, his nails going
through his hands, father
forgive them.
What a peacemaker.
And who accepted the fact that
belonging to his father would
mean being rejected by the
entire world.
He accepted that persecution
because belonging to his
father was worth it.
He's the blessed one.
It's a totally different way of
life.
And that's the point.
We need to be emptied of
ourself and look to him to have
his life given to us.
He has come to make us empty
and then give us his enviable
life.
So that looking only to him
we can say, in Christ I am
blessed.
No matter what circumstances
you might be in, I am blessed
if I have him.
If I have his life.
Could you imagine the
difference it would make in our
families, in our workplaces, in
this church, if we could always
say I am blessed.
It would just transform it all.
It would be such a difference as
like a light in a dark room.
As a city on a hill.
This kind of attitude would just
stand out.
Our priorities and goals would
change.
Instead of chasing after the
illusion of blessedness in the
kingdom of earth as if we need,
we're clinging on to it as if we
have to have it.
This attitude would just stand
out.
It would be so different.
And the promises empower us to do
this.
The promises are the ones that
empower us to have these
attitudes.
If we believe we are blessed,
then we'll be merciful.
Then we'll be pure in heart.
If we believe we have it all in
Christ, then we can start to
resemble Christ.
But I think we'll only stand out,
we'll only be light in our world,
if it can be clearly seen that we're
not clinging to this kingdom on
earth.
If people can tell that it's not
our circumstances that we're
relying on to be blessed, and yet
we have a joy and peace that's the
envy of all, that will show that
we belong to a different kingdom.
There is a joy that's from outside
this world.
That no matter what our
circumstances, we can say in Jesus
Christ, I am blessed.
If you don't know this blessing yet,
what are you waiting for?
Will you pray with me?
Father, empty us and fill us up with
yourself.
Please help us to see Jesus as
just living that enviable life.
Thank you for your gracious promises
that we can have it all in you.
Lord, please speak to each one of us and
help us to let go of whatever we're
clinging to in this earth at the
moment, so that we can look to you and
know that we are blessed and then act
like we are blessed.
Lord, do this so that people would see
Jesus through us as a church family in
the way that we live, and so that others
might come to know the peace and joy that
we now have.
I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.