The Apostle James said: “Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.” Chances are we have sang songs and heard sermons that teach us that God will turn our mourning into laughter or dancing, but when was the last time you heard a sermon or sang a song asking you to mourn, or lament? There is an entire book of the Bible called Lamentations. This is that unheard sermon. God mourns. Do we?

Moving on to the second Beatitude, we embrace to idea of mourning as a means to comfort. This first message address the first thing we must mourn, and be available to mourn when necessary: our own sin. The willingness to mourn is the only way to true comfort. Godly sorrow leads us to true repentance. We explore David’s mourning of his won sin in Psalm 51.

This is the testimony of a weeks old baby boy who was rushed to Children’s Hospital in the middle of the night in a fight for his life. Over the next several weeks God would prove His faithfulness and He walked this baby boy and his parents through some difficult and dark days. Open hearts surgery, brain surgery and several other factors are part of his story, but ultimately God has, and continues to defy the odds and see him through the storm. If you or someone you know needs to hear an encouraging testimony about the God who sustains, this is it.

This second installment of the Poor in Spirit ethic develops upon the working definition of “poor in spirit” to include the concept of humility. So now we broadened that definition of being poor in spirit to a “humble dependency on God”. We explore different moments ranging from King David, Isaiah’s prophesies and teaching from the Apostle Paul that hit on the idea of lowliness and humility.

Believing that the Beatitudes, the Kingdom Ethics, build upon one another, being “poor in spirit” is the foundation. This is the first message of a month long series of messages about being poor in spirit. Poor is need. Poor in spirit is need of spirit. It is to live life understanding, and operating as if the Spirit of God is our greatest need, because it is. And those who live this way, the Kingdom is theirs.

This message, in the Kingdom Ethics series, prepares us to do a deep dive into the Beatitudes. This message lays the ground work to help us think appropriately about what we are embracing, Also, what Jesus may have been thinking when he was preparing to preach and teach them.

This is part two of the introduction into the Kingdom ethics. This sermon teaches us the way we receive and assimilate into the Kingdom of God: Repent. We approach the topic of repentance on a macro level, not a micro level. Looking at the Beatitudes, and understanding that we would never choose poor, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst, etc. on our own, according to the natural man, we realize our need to think, behave and live differently than our natural inclinations. That is the essence of repentance. Being convinced of the King and His Kingdom we abandon the ways of this life to follow Him, His ways and life in His Kingdom.

This is the first installment of a nine month journey of the “Kingdom Ethics” (the Beatitudes). It starts with a three week foundational teaching about the Kingdom of God. We can’t be convinced to live according to a Kingdom ethic, until we are convinced we are truly citizens of another Kingdom. This message lays out a predominant role that the concept of the Kingdom of God/Heaven plays in the gospel according to Matthew.

This is the first message of the year 2024. The beginning of this church’s 101st year. We used the story of Lazarus to illustrate this message. Suppose Lazarus died (the first time) on his 11,860th day (approximately 32 and a half years). After 4 days of death and a new outlook on life, what decisions did Lazarus make about how he would live the rest of his resurrected days? Hence the question for Church at the Armory: How will you live the rest of your days. A great question to ask on the first Sunday of our 101st year.

Danny Rivers, one of Church at the Armory’s Overseers, preached a message about Godly, Kingdom finances. Whereas this is his profession and he being the head of our budget team, Danny is uniquely qualified to discuss Biblical finances in a way that challenges the listener to purse Jesus in our giving, while not creating a picture of giving in a burdensome manner. This is solid, Bible, teaching on giving. We all should listen!