In the second week of our series week of our "Jesus's Greatest Hit" series Chad told us that the sermon on the mount was about expansion – about expanding our vision of the world to a Jesus-sized vision of the world. Our text for the week allows us to say that same thing in a little bit of a different way…. The sermon on the mount, especially the blessings of Jesus found in Matthew 5:3-12 are about expanding our field of vision that we might see God's world breaking into ours.

This episode we will explore that passage of blessing, a passage usually called the beatitudes. We will discover that blessing is much more serious than saying "bless you" or using #Blessed on social media. We will discover that blessing taken seriously can transform situations and people, blessings can be a powerful and positive force in the world. This is especially true when the blessings come from the lips of Jesus as they do in the sermon on the mount – these blessing present a radically different perspective of the world and point us Jesus' disciples toward God's future.

"God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. 6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. 7 God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. 9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. 10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 11 "God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way. Matthew 5:3-11