INVERSION : Study Series on Beatitude

The Qualities of NEW KINGDOM PEOPLE

Matthew 5: 1-5

 

I. What is a ³kingdom²?

The rank, quality, state, or attributes of a king; royal authority; dominion; monarchy; kingship.

 

For Jesus the kingdom was a REIGN  more than a REIGN, a POWER more than a PLACE.

 

The kingdom definedŠ

   a. in the future, after Christ returns (e.g., Matt 25: 1-13; Mark 10:30)

   b. but it¹s also ³at hand² (Mark 1:15)

 

 

II. A New Kind of Spirituality : Being a disciple in the age of consumerism.

 

A.    A call to CLIMB for TOTAL COMMITMENT. 

 

5:1When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with himŠ. (Message)

 

B.    A call to the reality of SPIRITUAL BANKRUPCY.

 

5:3"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. (Message)

 

C.   Embracing the reality of  HELPLESSNESS.

 

 5:4"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. (Message)

 

D.   A call to CONTENTMENT.

 

Meekness : a quiet confidence

 

5:5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are--no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought. (Message)

 

Spirituality is not a formula; it is not a test. It is a relationship. Spirituality is not about competency; it is about intimacy. Spirituality is not about perfection; it is about connection. The way of the spiritual life begins where we are now in the mess of our lives. Accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of spirituality, not because the spiritual life will remove our flaws, but because we let go of seeking perfection and instead seek God, the one who is present in the tangledness of our lives. Spirituality is not about being fixed; it is about God's being present in the mess of our unfixedness.   Mike Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality

 

"The things of the world will no more keep out trouble of spirit, than a paper [screen] will keep out a bullet.... Worldly delights are winged. They may be compared to a flock of birds in the garden, that stay a little while, but when you come near to them they take their flight and are gone. So 'riches make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven' (Proverbs 23:5). They are like a meteor that blazes, but spends and annihilates. They are like a castle made of snow, lying under the torrid beams of the sun" Thomas Watson