BUILDING A LIFE (1 OF 11)
Scripture: ?Matthew 5:13-16, ?Matthew 7:24-29
This content is part of a series.
Building A Life (1 of 11)
Series: Kingdom Come: Sermon on the Mount
Dave Gustavsen
Matthew 5:13-16, 7:24-29
Today we begin a three-month study of the first official sermon that Jesus ever gave. The Sermon on the Mount is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, and it takes up three chapters-5, 6 and 7. It contains some of the most familiar things that Jesus is known for. Don't worry about tomorrow. Ask and you receive; knock and the door will be opened. Do not judge. Our Father, who art in heaven... So even if you haven't read the Bible that much, through this series you're going to hear things and you're going to say, ''I know that!'' Because so much in the Sermon on the Mount has become part of our cultural language. So it's one of the most beloved parts of the Bible.
But it's also one of the most challenging parts of the Bible. If somebody strikes you on one cheek, turn the other. If your arm causes you to sin, cut it off. Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her. What do you do with that stuff?
Philip Yancey wrote about a friend of his who was an English professor at Texas AandM. And she gave her class an assignment where they had to read the Sermon on the Mount, and then write an essay responding to it. And she was surprised by what the students wrote. Listen to a few of these quotes:
''I did not like the Sermon on the Mount. It was hard to read and made me feel like I had to be perfect and no one is.''
Here's another one: ''The things asked in this sermon are absurd. To look at a woman is adultery. That is the most extreme, stupid, inhuman statement I have ever heard.''
If that's what students from Texas said, can you imagine what kids from New Jersey would say? So here's the point: the Sermon on the Mount is not a collection of nice, moral sayings. It gets all up in our business, and challenges us to look at life in a radically different way.
The Bible scholar E. Stanley Jones said, ''The Sermon on ...
Series: Kingdom Come: Sermon on the Mount
Dave Gustavsen
Matthew 5:13-16, 7:24-29
Today we begin a three-month study of the first official sermon that Jesus ever gave. The Sermon on the Mount is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, and it takes up three chapters-5, 6 and 7. It contains some of the most familiar things that Jesus is known for. Don't worry about tomorrow. Ask and you receive; knock and the door will be opened. Do not judge. Our Father, who art in heaven... So even if you haven't read the Bible that much, through this series you're going to hear things and you're going to say, ''I know that!'' Because so much in the Sermon on the Mount has become part of our cultural language. So it's one of the most beloved parts of the Bible.
But it's also one of the most challenging parts of the Bible. If somebody strikes you on one cheek, turn the other. If your arm causes you to sin, cut it off. Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her. What do you do with that stuff?
Philip Yancey wrote about a friend of his who was an English professor at Texas AandM. And she gave her class an assignment where they had to read the Sermon on the Mount, and then write an essay responding to it. And she was surprised by what the students wrote. Listen to a few of these quotes:
''I did not like the Sermon on the Mount. It was hard to read and made me feel like I had to be perfect and no one is.''
Here's another one: ''The things asked in this sermon are absurd. To look at a woman is adultery. That is the most extreme, stupid, inhuman statement I have ever heard.''
If that's what students from Texas said, can you imagine what kids from New Jersey would say? So here's the point: the Sermon on the Mount is not a collection of nice, moral sayings. It gets all up in our business, and challenges us to look at life in a radically different way.
The Bible scholar E. Stanley Jones said, ''The Sermon on ...
There are 20950 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
