Jeff is preaching a series about "Living righteous from the inside out" and going through the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5-7, and yesterday he was focussed on the beatitudes, Matt. 5:1-12. How many times have all of us heard a sermon on this passage? And how confusing is it ALWAYS?!?!!! We try to make sense out of what Jesus taught thousands of years ago, using translated words that don't really mean what they look like they mean. Anyway, that is always how I felt about it. Until yesterday.
If you want to read Jeff's simplified version of this sermon on his blog, go here. But this is what jumped out to me. Blessed just means happy. "Happy are the..." And here, he took the opposite of what the scripture says. It is amazing to me how these describe exactly what the world teaches us...it is astounding to me...
* Happy are the spiritually self-sufficient, for they don’t have any need for God.
* Happy are those who disconnect when sin troubles them, for they don’t ever feel bad about it.
* Happy are the aggressive, powerful and manipulative, for the will get their way.
* Happy are those who creatively self-medicate and self-satisfy, for they won’t ever have to be bothered by their flaws.
* Happy are those who won’t forgive, for they won’t ever be taken advantage of again.
* Happy are those who secretly indulge, for they will have it both ways.
* Happy are those who cut their losses short and divide relationally, for they will maintain the upper hand.
* Happy are those who blend in, for they will be accepted and included.
It takes a couple of weeks for the audio sermons to appear on our churches website, otherwise I would link you there to listen to Jeff's sermon in person. If you haven't been there before, feel free to check it out. I wish this sermon was on there already, but I will link you to it when it gets there. Anyway, it hit me, hopefully you can get something out of it also!
So, onto other news.....I'm sick. I think it's just sinus stuff, but I feel miserable. I didn't really realize how bad I felt until Brent called me from work this morning, and told me to go buy some new medicine b/c I sounded horrible...for Brent to mention it, it must be bad. I feel congested, plugged up, swollen, snotty, etc....I think the California allergies are kicking my butt...I may need to find some sort of seasonal allergy medications for this...it's NOT GOOD!!!
One of my favorite kids books of all time, The Hallowiener has become one of Judah's favorites as well! And, sadly, in amongst three moves in the last 2 years, we lost track of it. Knowing that fall is here, and Halloween is indeed drawing near, I went in search for it once again. And much to my surprise, it was a very brief search! It was on the Halloween book table at Barnes and Noble! So we bit the bullet, and paid the $5.99 to have the joy of this wonderful book in our home once again. And Judah is in more love than he was before! If you don't have it, please do yourself and your kids the favor of acquiring this wonderful book! I'm going to start selling some thing on Ebay. Mostly Judah's baby clothes and things, seasonal stuff, etc. Any tips? I've ever only bought stuff on Ebay, and I'm a little nervous to start selling. But I need some way to put money in my camera fund, and I think this will help, maybe just a little.
Judah just asked me to please get him some juice in a cup, and I told him he needed to finish the juice that was in the juice box before I would get him some juice in a cup, and this was his response. "But this is the juice that hurts my feelings."
I was going to do some sort of comment contest...but I don't have anything very interesting to send to a winner. I was contemplating sending a winner a cherry or blueberry pie in the mail, but after recalculating how much it would be to do that, I realized I could use that $35 somewhere else...sorry!!
Have a great week everyone!!!
4 comments:
You crack me up! I think my family is in need of a "Halloweener" book! Feel better! Sometimes local honey can help with the "Season Change" allergies. Geez I'm really liking the "" today :)
You already know the "Halloweener" book is one of my favorite because I was looking for it when I was there. I never get tired of reading it to my grandkids. Glad you found another one so quickly. I can imagine how much more fun it is for Judah this year - especially that "scary monster".
Nothing like a superman superhero riding his bike with his cape and his helmet. What a priceless shot.
Hmm,I've never thought of the beatitudes backwards. What an interesting way to look at them.
The Halloweiner! Ha ha! Garrett would love that book! I'll have to go look for it.
What is it with those Superman jammies? My boys would wear them night and day if I let them. I think it's the cape. Those are great pictures! :)
Yay! Happy 100th post! That does sound like a good sermon; I have never heard the beatitudes explained that way.
I like Judah's juice comment. What a silly kid!
Tips for ebay: always keep your receipt when you ship stuff and get a tracking number too if you can. Say that you won't be held responsible for things getting lost in the mail. That way if you run into problems you can hopefully avoid bad feedback. I am sure you'll do great!
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