In Matthew 5, Jesus shows humanity what the path to a beautiful livable life looks like. It is a counterintuitive way of living and as we see in this teaching, it actually includes the Divine's favor resting on the non-aggressive, non-assertive, gentle ones.

In this teaching, Jesus announces that the Kingdom of God is not necessarily for those who are strong and able to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, but the favor of God is on those who are brokenhearted, down and out.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit..." and this is how Jesus kicks off his teaching ministry. Jumping right off of Isaiah 61, Jesus announces that the Kingdom of God is not so much for the elite and powerful, but the Kingdom starts with the down and out.

In Matthew 4, Jesus begins his teaching ministry. In his very first teaching, Jesus lays out exactly who the truly sacred life is for. The simple answer is: everyone. Not just the bigwigs or the elite or the famous or the popular. To take it a step further, Jesus seems to offer the truly sacred life to those who society exiles.

This week we discuss the importance of community - real connectedness to others as well as ways in which to more fully practice living life with others.

Every couple of months we take time to slow down and reflect using questions that cause us to look a little more deeply at ourselves.

A couple of times each year, we take a break from teaching and use our gathering as an opportunity to hear from others in the community of faith to talk about their lives, their ups and downs. This week we heard from Wesley Hawley, Kristy Jeansonne and Shawn Lefort

Just a few days before his crucifixion, as Jesus rode into the great city of Jerusalem on a donkey, people flooded to the streets to welcome him. Filled with faith and doubt, hope and angst, questions and possibilities, we find ourselves approaching Jesus in much the same way today.

The good news is that Jesus inaugurated a new world through his life, death, resurrection and ascension. In the middle of the violence, and chaos, God is making things right and has asked us to open our eyes and lives to this reality. There is great presence in proclaiming the story of Christ.

Jesus promises that whenever two people have a conflict and the get together to work it out, that the Spirit is present. This is another beautiful way that God is changing the world around us as God is present in the reconciliation of broken relationships.