This week our text talks about loving our enemies. A radical idea: not the most natural response to enemy behaviour. Out temptation is to hate our enemies, after all, they have done something to hurt us and we tend to respond aggressively out of our pain. The Old Testament Law commanded that the people of God love their neighbour. The Law never said to hate their enemy but it was implied and many people in Jesus' day understood that the hatred of an enemy was totally acceptable. Obviously the Middle East and the whole world for that matter, still has issues along these lines.

So the false narrative that Jesus contradicts in this passage is that it is okay to hate our enemies. He challenges us to love our enemies. This is perhaps the most well-known section on the Sermon on the Mount and one of Jesus' most famous sayings. In fact even today, Christians are judged according to this standard.

We are to love with "agape" love that originates in our will and actively seeks out the best for our enemies. When we love like this we are proving ourselves to be sons and daughters of God because this is the way he treats his enemies. But in order to love our enemies we must confront what might be called a "poverty mentality." It is that tendency to think that we are so near the brink of disaster that one more bad thing would push us over the edge. It is the feeling that we are impoverished and lack adequate resources to survive. We say to ourselves that we must protect ourselves at all costs and that any threat to our emotional, financial or overall safety must be dealt with quickly and severely. I believe this is at the root of our tendency to hate our enemies.

Instead Jesus wants us to understand that we have more than enough. We have a surplus when we consider that Christ dwells in us and the Kingdom we belong to is strong and secure. Even if our enemies strike us we will survive and in fact flourish because we are Kingdom People; citizens of the everlasting Kingdom. When we know our identity in Christ, we are able to love our enemies.

Questions for Discussion:

1. Slide 2-5. Discuss briefly the false narrative we have addressed in the past two weeks. What new narratives have you learned that replace the false narratives?

2. Slide 9. Why is terrorism so rampant today? How does it reflect the world's attitude toward enemies?

3. Slide 10-12. Discuss "agape" love and how it applies to how we should treat our enemies. Does agape love still allow us to protect ourselves from our enemies? Why or why not? Can you see any evidence of how God protects his people from his enemies while still loving them?

4. Slide 13-16. Describe the "poverty mentality" that sometimes resides in the People of God. Why do some Christians feel this way? What is the opposite extreme? What can be done to keep us balanced? How do we maintain a proper/biblical attitude regarding our identity in Christ? List at least three ways to help us remember to live generous and gracious lives.

This week our text talks about loving our enemies. A radical idea: not the most natural response to enemy behaviour. Out temptation is to hate our enemies, after all, they have done something to hurt us and we tend to respond aggressively out of our pain. The Old Testament Law commanded that the people of God love their neighbour. The Law never said to hate their enemy but it was implied and many people in Jesus' day understood that the hatred of an enemy was totally acceptable. Obviously the Middle East and the whole world for that matter, still has issues along these lines.

So the false narrative that Jesus contradicts in this passage is that it is okay to hate our enemies. He challenges us to love our enemies. This is perhaps the most well-known section on the Sermon on the Mount and one of Jesus' most famous sayings. In fact even today, Christians are judged according to this standard.

We are to love with "agape" love that originates in our will and actively seeks out the best for our enemies. When we love like this we are proving ourselves to be sons and daughters of God because this is the way he treats his enemies. But in order to love our enemies we must confront what might be called a "poverty mentality." It is that tendency to think that we are so near the brink of disaster that one more bad thing would push us over the edge. It is the feeling that we are impoverished and lack adequate resources to survive. We say to ourselves that we must protect ourselves at all costs and that any threat to our emotional, financial or overall safety must be dealt with quickly and severely. I believe this is at the root of our tendency to hate our enemies.

Instead Jesus wants us to understand that we have more than enough. We have a surplus when we consider that Christ dwells in us and the Kingdom we belong to is strong and secure. Even if our enemies strike us we will survive and in fact flourish because we are Kingdom People; citizens of the everlasting Kingdom. When we know our identity in Christ, we are able to love our enemies.

Questions for Discussion:

1. Slide 2-5. Discuss briefly the false narrative we have addressed in the past two weeks. What new narratives have you learned that replace the false narratives?

2. Slide 9. Why is terrorism so rampant today? How does it reflect the world's attitude toward enemies?

3. Slide 10-12. Discuss "agape" love and how it applies to how we should treat our enemies. Does agape love still allow us to protect ourselves from our enemies? Why or why not? Can you see any evidence of how God protects his people from his enemies while still loving them?

4. Slide 13-16. Describe the "poverty mentality" that sometimes resides in the People of God. Why do some Christians feel this way? What is the opposite extreme? What can be done to keep us balanced? How do we maintain a proper/biblical attitude regarding our identity in Christ? List at least three ways to help us remember to live generous and gracious lives.

Our guest speaker, Dr. John Auxier, has studied addictions and provides remarkable insight into the area of understanding why addictions occur, why they are so hard to break, and how to overcome them.

Our guest speaker, Dr. John Auxier, has studied addictions and provides remarkable insight into the area of understanding why addictions occur, why they are so hard to break, and how to overcome them.

This is the first week of our new series and our Church Wide Initiative. This year we are following up on our series from last year at this time. Last year we looked at a book by James Smith called The Good and Beautiful God. Our theme this year comes from the next book in his series called The Good and Beautiful Life. This first week of the series is an introduction to the topic of what it means to live the good life. For that, we are going to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. Since we will be spending the next several weeks in the Sermon I thought it might be appropriate to introduce the series with some comments that Jesus makes near the end of the Sermon that help to capture some of his most important points.

Our text gives us a choice and a warning. The choice is about deciding to take the small gate and the narrow road that leads to life. It is not the most popular pathway and many won’t find it. But as friends of Jesus we know the way and are invited to heed the advice of the sermon and start the great adventure he has laid out for us. Along the way we are to watch out for those who appear to be with us but are in fact deceivers (false prophets). While they talk the talk and even appear to walk the walk they are indeed not followers of Jesus but evildoers. They are to be distinguished by their fruit. In other words, the aftermath of their work will not be good, it will be chaotic. Only those who do the will of the Father will produce the kind of fruit in keeping with the Jesus adventure.

There is a lot of truth in our text to ponder. Not the least of which is the challenge that we must produce good fruit. Real change in our lives comes as a factor of Believing, Behaving and Belonging. There is something to believe, some way to behave and somewhere to belong. In James Smith’s terms this is a matter of the mind, the spiritual disciplines and the community of faith. In other words, there are some false narratives to jettison and some new truth to embrace, there are some soul exercises to practice that will shape our behavior, and there are a group of people to help us along the way. This is the pathway of change and this is the way to the good life.

This is the first week of our new series and our Church Wide Initiative. This year we are following up on our series from last year at this time. Last year we looked at a book by James Smith called The Good and Beautiful God. Our theme this year comes from the next book in his series called The Good and Beautiful Life. This first week of the series is an introduction to the topic of what it means to live the good life. For that, we are going to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. Since we will be spending the next several weeks in the Sermon I thought it might be appropriate to introduce the series with some comments that Jesus makes near the end of the Sermon that help to capture some of his most important points.

Our text gives us a choice and a warning. The choice is about deciding to take the small gate and the narrow road that leads to life. It is not the most popular pathway and many won’t find it. But as friends of Jesus we know the way and are invited to heed the advice of the sermon and start the great adventure he has laid out for us. Along the way we are to watch out for those who appear to be with us but are in fact deceivers (false prophets). While they talk the talk and even appear to walk the walk they are indeed not followers of Jesus but evildoers. They are to be distinguished by their fruit. In other words, the aftermath of their work will not be good, it will be chaotic. Only those who do the will of the Father will produce the kind of fruit in keeping with the Jesus adventure.

There is a lot of truth in our text to ponder. Not the least of which is the challenge that we must produce good fruit. Real change in our lives comes as a factor of Believing, Behaving and Belonging. There is something to believe, some way to behave and somewhere to belong. In James Smith’s terms this is a matter of the mind, the spiritual disciplines and the community of faith. In other words, there are some false narratives to jettison and some new truth to embrace, there are some soul exercises to practice that will shape our behavior, and there are a group of people to help us along the way. This is the pathway of change and this is the way to the good life.

Last week, we looked at what our first priority in life should be: Seeking Christ's Kingdom and Righteousness. This week, we examine what our first response should be: Giving.

Last week, we looked at what our first priority in life should be: Seeking Christ's Kingdom and Righteousness. This week, we examine what our first response should be: Giving.

This passage encourages us to have our priorities straight: Heavenly Treasure should trump earthly treasures. When we choose Kingdom Values (Heavenly Treasure, Clear Heartsight and choosing God over money) we are much less anxious about our future. If our first priority is God's Kingdom, we can rest assured that God will take care of the rest.

This passage encourages us to have our priorities straight: Heavenly Treasure should trump earthly treasures. When we choose Kingdom Values (Heavenly Treasure, Clear Heartsight and choosing God over money) we are much less anxious about our future. If our first priority is God's Kingdom, we can rest assured that God will take care of the rest.