Loving God means that we love and seek to be reconciled with our neighbor. Anger, lust, and unfaithfulness, which leads to treating others poorly, prohibits us from loving God and entering a genuine relationship with God.

At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus wants us to know who we are. We are salt and light because we are followers of the Law of God. Only, we haven’t always understood the Law correctly. Jesus is helping us see what the Law means so that we can be salt and light.

In the Beatitudes, we are called to respond to the grace we have been given by giving it to others. If we are faithful, we will be persecuted.

In the Beatitudes, we are first given God’s grace amid our brokenness.

We often want a sign that God will come to us as a conquering hero. Here, God gives us a sign that consists of a defenseless child, not a conquering hero.

God calls us to wait patiently with him so that we might learn how to allow our weapons of conflict to be transformed into implements that bring life.

Jesus chooses to save others before he saves himself. Christ calls us to seek to live in the same way, actively working for the salvation of others even if it costs us greatly.

We are encouraged to believe that, even when it seems the world is crumbling around us, God is still in control.

God is the God of the living, not the dead.

Speaker or Performer: Pastor Dan Mund

Scripture Passage(s): 2 Samuel 6:16-23

Date of Delivery: November 3, 2019