This Sunday we will begin a new series in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ first major section of teaching in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt. 5-7): The Upside-Down Kingdom. The Sermon on the Mount is the most well-known teaching Jesus did. It is a striking series of ethical teaching that upends the norms and even religious expectations of His time. It is much more than a new ethic or religious approach, though. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus announced the inbreaking of the His Kingdom. This week we will start with the Beatitudes, the beginning and foundation for the realities of the Upside-Down Kingdom that stands outside of and opposed to the values and kingdoms of our world.