[Matthew 5:6]

We all want to be satisfied... but are we? Jesus tells us just who is satisfied and we discover how to get it here.

In a world run by the boldest and loudest, Jesus tells us that the meek are to inherit the Earth. But how? Where does Meekness fit in our culture? How can we apply meekness to our own lives? And how can being meek truly make us happy?

Jesus taught many things that the world scoffed and gawked at it, but some of the most obscure of teachings were taught on the mountain top during the sermon on the mount. Jesus' beatitudes defy the world's standards and expectations. How can we reflect Jesus when we are spiritually bankrupt?

Like so many of the other lives recorded in the bible, God takes the brokenness of Naomi's life, and heals it in to an account of redemption and new hope.

Naomi and Ruth are two widowed women alone in a city that is very different from when Naomi was there last. As God moves, Ruth meets Boaz, the virtuous and powerful relative of Naomi who takes it upon himself to protect and care for Ruth and Naomi.

In Naomi's story of redemption, Ruth, the foreign daughter-in-law, follows Naomi to Israel where God is moving. Ruth's story intersects with God's plan for the ultimate redemption of mankind. When before Ruth was an outcast and foreigner, her submission to God's plan gives her an identity that is greater than genetics or homeland.

When life seems to drop out from under us, we turn to Jesus and ask "why?" When we turn to Christ. shouldn't our lives get easier? Doesn't our American view of Christianity say that everything should be easy and happy after Christ? What does the bible say about our hope and stay in times of trials? Paul points to our future of our home.

What happens when following Christ suddenly turns down a street that we're unfamiliar with? What happens when following Christ leads us in to desperation and despair? Luke retells an account of two desperate people reaching out for Christ.

As Paul wraps up his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, he finishes well. In the final four verses, Paul mentions "love" four times alone along with grace and peace. As we follow God and display Him to the world around us, Paul and John encourages us to never forget our first love.

Among the important aspects of the whole armor of God, Paul last mentions prayer. In our lives, how important is prayer? What is the purpose? Pastor John relates the intimacy of prayer to his own life in retrospect.