I'm getting over a cold, so y'all are gonna sing extra loud. But we're also gonna start off with a song a little bit newer to us. It's called The Wake My Soul. And it's one of those songs where if you don't know it, like you're totally welcome to just sit, like think about the lyrics, hear it, read the words.
Like the really beautiful kind of like walk through, like imagining of like what would it be like to be in a rumor Jesus, like literally walks in. Like what is it like to be in a space where this presence comes? And so we're gonna do the chorus together first and that way we'll all learn it together. But the chorus is talking about like basically opening up our eyes, opening up our hearts, to being ready to see him when he comes.
And just the surrender and the like desire to see him rightly. So we're gonna take some space this morning in the first two songs to kind of have more, more like space to kind of process with the Lord. So it'll be the flow of the song, it'll be slightly different in the second song we'll do. But just know it's okay, like you don't have to sing every word right, like it's not about getting something right or wrong.
We're here to worship in the facilitator space where you guys are able to hear the Lord to receive from him and to offer back to him like your hearts. So you're welcome to do what you need to do. There's not a right or wrong. So I say that upfront and yeah, we're gonna look it into it.
But Lord, we just welcome you this morning. We say thank you, thank you, thank you for your presence. We're so thankful that you come into places where your people are. We're so thankful that you come and rest in rooms.
So thankful that you rest on our hearts. Jesus, would you be enthroned on our praises this morning? Would you be enthroned on our praises Jesus? We invite you here today, Jesus.
Thank you Lord. Karen to the chorus. Sing a phrase, oh loud, sing a phrase, oh loud. Sing a phrase, oh sing a phrase, oh sing a phrase.
Sing again, oh sing a phrase, oh loud, sing a phrase. Sing a phrase, oh loud, sing a phrase. Oh loud, sing a song, I love to hear, to sound of a singing swell as it walks into a room where people pray, when we hear a praise and sing reveal. I know you better keep that again.
There is a sound I love to hear It's the sound of the Savior's love that he wants And to the room where people pray Where we hear a word and chief of the words awake right sore Dangerous things to sound love Sing a praise aloud Sing a praise aloud And sing, sing a praise aloud Sing a praise aloud Where stood a wall now stands awake Where every promise is amen Make no mistake The bowels of hell begin to shake All hail the Lord, all hail the King Sing loud again The wind we pray The good wall now stands awake Where every promise is amen Make no mistake The bowels of hell begin to shake All hail the Lord, all hail the King Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Sing a praise aloud Sing a praise aloud Now you're so dancing Sing a praise aloud Sing a praise aloud Sing a praise aloud Sing a praise aloud Sing a praise aloud Just begin to thank him Where we thank you We thank you this morning, Jesus Come before you again, Lord, with humility, with gladness We take time to remember who you are We take time to remember your true character We are your people You are our God We are your temple Make us holy like you are You're gonna sing that one again Remembering who we are, remembering who He is We are your people You are our God We are your temple Make us holy like you are Make room for you, Lord We make room for you today We open our hearts to you, Jesus Sing it again We are your people You are our God We are your temple Make us holy like you are We are your children You set us apart God for your glory Make us holy like you are Make us holy like you are We're gonna do the bridge Says mark your people With your presence Make us a place where you delight To dwell And there you we heed Your hands correction O Lord, our shepherd, you do all Things well Your love as per mass It is tender Your law is perfect and your judge That's true And as we run to Resurrender You will restore what we return To you, mark us Mark your people With your presence Make us a place where you delight To dwell And there you we heed Your hands correction O Lord, our shepherd, you do all Things well Your love as per mass It is tender Your law is perfect and your judge That's true And as we run to Resurrender We are restoring what we return To you You are restoring as we ill A new As we are your people You are our God We are your temple Make us holy like you are We are your children We set us apart God for your glory Make us holy like you are If you are calling, we are coming Not walking, we are running God, we need resurrender So we resurrender If you are calling, we are coming Not walking, we are running God, we need resurrender So we resurrender If you are calling, we are coming Not walking, we are running God, we need resurrender So we resurrender If you are calling, we are coming Not walking, we are running God, we need resurrender So we resurrender We are your people You are our God We are your temple Make us holy like you are Make us holy like you are You can think of him, you can think of him He's so faithful This next song is called Shout out Want, I think we got it once or twice here maybe But it's kind of celebrating all the truths that we just like prayed and meditated through It's like remembering that he's sufficient, he's enough It's written from Psalm 23, so it's just almost a great scripture And it gets to be a celebration of like what we know is true about him Yeah, that's the invitation Lord, we thank you again We're just so thankful for you When I cannot see When I can't take another step forward Would you carry me When I've lost my fight Will you be my strength Will you set me a table in the presence of my enemies Here's the chorus I shall not want I shall not want Oh, my soul's got a shepherd in the valley I shall not want I shall not want I shall not want Cause my cup's running over And over and I shall not want To where my help comes from And I won't be afraid of the shadow Cause I've seen the sun No, I will not stop When the wag is hard Cause the green only grows in the valley And that's where you are I shall not want I shall not want I shall not want Oh, my soul's got a shepherd in the valley And I shall not want I shall not want I shall not want Cause my cup's running over And over and I shall not want All right, this bridge needs clapping So we're gonna clap I've got goodness And I've got mercy Hallelu Glory Hallelujah The good shepherd Shepherd Leads me to the waters Hallelu Glory Hallelujah The good Oh, dear now evil Hallelu Glory Hallelujah And I will dwell In this house forever Hallelu Glory Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelu Glory Hallelujah Hallelu Glory Hallelujah The good is over Gonna live again Gonna trade this cross for crown This is not the end When you call my name I'll take my rest There's a mansion in glory And you're gonna meet me there I shall not want I shall not want I shall not want Oh, my soul's got a shepherd in the valley And I shall not want I shall not want I shall not want Cause my cup's running over And I shall not Oh, my soul's got a shepherd in the valley And I shall not want Yeah, I gotta thank you that with you Our cup's running over. I thank you that Your spirit fills us and refreshes us And empowers us to be able to do your work Yeah, God, we pray that You would refresh us today that we would be able to Just continue to worship you about the rest of our gathering In Jesus' name, amen. Alright, thank you, Lisa McKenzie Thank you all for worshiping. You guys can have a seat Alright, so if you're First of all, my name is Janice I'm the operations director here at ENCS So you come together with us today If you're new and tables are Sitting at tables in a church gathering is different for you This is something that we intentionally do here at ENCS We find it valuable to not just meet in groups about the week, but be able to connect and Fellowship and do life around tables in a small way So this is important to us So the next part of our gathering is going to be a time where we get to have a few minutes to Introduce ourselves at Table, get to know each other So there's some questions on the screen that will help you with that And there's also donuts And the other thing, every month we've been celebrating birthdays So today we're celebrating any birthdays in April So if you have an April birthday, can you raise your hand?
Yay! Happy birthday! So we have a cupcake For anyone who has an April birthday So you can also help yourself to cupcake in addition to the donuts But yeah, we're going to take some time at our tables now To get to know each other and have a great time at your tables And then Pastor Perry will be up to do our sermon In the endless wasteland You are my rushing fountain You are my ego's sister No matter where the weather You are my better option No matter what I'm facing You are my god You hold on my arms when I'm bad will turn Oasis within me You're the Oasis within me You are coming in the sky Before he rains in the night You're the break of day Oasis within me You're the Oasis within me You are the thing I've needed In each and every season And I really need it You won't remember Your song Oasis within me You're the Oasis within me You're the Oasis within me You're the Oasis within me You aren't my lord It's you You are my slave You are my mother You are my mother You are my mother Alright, good morning everybody. Let me bring you back from your tables.
Hope you're having some good discussions. Chat about either highlights from your week. It's good to see you guys. Happy post Easter.
We just celebrated Easter last week, man. It was an exciting time. Celebrate the resurrection. A lot of fun.
Also folks, baptized last week. People starting new lives in Jesus, which is super awesome. I'm excited to be getting a word in just a few moments with you guys. For those of you who may be new, my name is Perry and the lead pastor here.
It's a joy to have you with us. Before I get into the word, a couple of things I want to announce to let you know. Shout out. This past week, we partnered with another church just to support an outreach on the University of Washington's campus.
Our very own Dr. Brian Miller. Those of you who may know him was speaking on the evidence for the resurrection. I want to tell you, Kane Hall was packed with about 400 students Wednesday night.
Super cool. Getting to hear evidence for the resurrection. Students are curious, leaning in, asking questions. I want to tell you something, I think it's one of the most open generations I have seen in a while.
It's Gen Z, the new generation that's coming up on the campus. I want to just give a shout out to our campus team. It's doing a great job on the campus. We're telling you, as many teachers, Cynthia and Warren are doing an incredible job.
We now have, I think, three community groups that are happening on the campus. They're in the dorms. They're every week meeting with students. They're going out on campus and sharing the gospel, starting spiritual conversations.
I just want to say thank you. For those of you who are leading that charge on the campus again and helping us be a campus reaching church. I just want to say thank you. I'm excited for the future to come and the students will get the impact.
If you're sitting here, we're so glad you're here and welcome to our church. How will we? One more thing I want to celebrate. This is what I love to do.
If you all ever noticed, I love to celebrate and find good news. This is actually a celebration. Many of you may know Marcus Smith, who's in the... You know that happened in the first gathering.
Right on cue. I don't know what's going on, but they're okay. Sorry. These chairs are slick.
These chairs are slick on this floor if you can't even tell. Like, you can move around easily. But Marcus Smith has been our kids' church director literally for the past two years. I'm just going on three years as an incredible job leading our kids' ministry and our family's ministry.
For many of you may not know, Marcus has been bi-vocational. He's been working a full-time job at a corporate job and being our kids' church director in the after hours of that. He's been doing that more than two years and has done a great job. We moved into the hub, helping us get everything set up.
I'm just super proud of him. His job has recently become more than enough that we decided after a prayer for a couple of months. It's probably time for him to pass that baton because it's just requiring more of him at his main job. We're sad to see him step down for that, but he's still going to be a part of our ministry, his family and all that.
He's going to focus just on his main work that he does. I'm excited to share with you that we have asked Jonathan Patek, who has been a key leader in our kids' ministry for a few years now, has said yes to taking on that role. He's going to be stepping on our staff part-time and taking on the kids' ministry role. He's picking it up right now.
In a couple weeks, we're going to pray over him in the commission. We have a new kids' church director. If you don't know Jonathan, you get to see him. He's in the early gathering using because he has two small boys.
We're excited for the heart and the experience that Jonathan's going to bring to our kids in our family ministry. If you do get around to see him, tell him congratulations, pat him on the back and say, hey, how can I help? That's going to be helping him a long way for our kids' ministry. We're ready to get to God's Word?
Yep, let's do it. We're going to do it. I am excited for the journey we're starting today. We're starting a brand new journey, a brand new study that's going to carry us through the next couple months, called Living in the Kingdom.
What we're going to begin to do is we're going to actually explore, verse by verse, over the next few months, Jesus is famous sermon on the Mount. This is his most dense, compiled teaching that we have in all the gospel stories. It's about 100 verses from Matthew 5 to Matthew 7, and we're going to slowly walk through that over the next couple of months together. Here's what we're going to be looking at, and this is what I love about this, is what we're going to get to see is Jesus' vision of what the good life actually is.
Jesus is going to unpack what does it look like to live in a midst of a broken world but live life in the Kingdom of God in the midst of it. We're going to get to see what that looks like. We're going to do four movements we're going to walk you through, so you'll know some of you like a GPS and a map and know where you're going. Let me show you briefly.
We're going to walk you through four movements for the next few months. We're going to look at what he calls the Kingdom identity of who are the blessed people. We're going to look at Kingdom righteousness, which is what does a transformed heart look like, not just external kind of compliance or conformity. We're going to look at Kingdom practices, which is what does it look like to really trust the Father in the everyday stuff of life that we deal with.
And lastly, we're going to look at Kingdom choices. We're going to look at the two ways or two different foundations which Jesus called the narrow road versus the broad road. We're going to look at what does it look like then to actually choose to live life in the way of Jesus and what that'll do for us. And we're going to begin that today.
So today we're going to begin just looking at the sermon on the Mount and you'll notice Jesus starts with this thing called the Beatitudes. I mean, you know what we're talking about? Beatitudes. Someone's maybe new for you.
Basically, Jesus starts his famous sermon with nine sayings and he keeps saying repeatedly, blessed are blessed are blessed are, and what I want to do this morning is kind of open up that idea of that word. What does it mean to be blessed? What does Jesus mean by it? And what is his vision for us that he's inviting us into?
I'm here to tell you today that Jesus has a new vision for each and every one of your lives. And through this study, he's going to invite you in to begin to say, Jesus, what is that vision? For me, my life, my family, what is it? You would please stand in your feet.
We're going to read the sermon, the beginning of the sermon on the Mount and we're going to dive in. Now, when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountainside, he sat down, his disciples came to him and he began to teach them. He said blessed are the poor in spirit, for there is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meat. They will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure and heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for there is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you and people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. This is God's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for Jesus' vision of the good life, of what it is like to live in the Kingdom of God in the midst of a broken world.
Jesus, I believe we all need fresh vision, fresh vision for our life, fresh vision for what you would have for us and what it would look like for us to walk truly with you as our King. But when I pray today, you'd open our hearts up, open our minds that we can begin to see the vision that you have for us in Jesus name. All God's people said amen amen. You may be seated.
Now, I want to start this morning with a question to you. And I'm going to just think for a moment, if you were to think of the life that maybe people want or the life that people actually pursue, what we call the good life, what would you say the good life is? In other words, if you were to fill in the blank and say the good life is this. I'm curious what you would say.
And so I want to invite you to do an audience participation with you this morning. We had fun in the first gathering. We had a lot of cool things being shared. But if you were to really sincerely think, hey, that's the good life.
What are some things you would think of? Would be one word, simple answers, but what would encapsulate the good life? The one you would want to pursue or enjoy. What are some things?
Family, yeah. Community. Yeah. Good health.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Mar, peaceful. Can't be.
I love it. You're a true Northwestern, Mar. Yeah. Can't be.
You said peaceful. Yeah. Say that again. Love that being loved and fulfilled.
Sounds like a good life. What else? You can have some fun with this. Thank you.
Adventure. Yeah. Yeah. The end of it, get out and try new things.
Adventure. What's that? Taking a cruise. Taking a cruise?
Yeah. If you dare get on a boat like that. Yeah. Taking a cruise.
What else? Good life. Come on. Let your mind go there.
Imagine with me. Come on. Good food. Absolutely.
Going to Bible school. Going to Bible school. It's good life. We got some folks here in Bible school here.
Yeah. Being glad. Blessed. Yeah.
We're going to talk about what that all looks like today. Yeah. Some good things, isn't it? Do you feel it in your body?
Like literally when you begin to think about the good life and start naming it? Do you notice a change in your body and your mood? Yeah. You're beginning to taste a little bit of what Jesus is inviting us into and what he's wanting us.
Now, okay, I want you to do this with me. That was really good. Some people would say, like, hey, the good life would be financial security. Somebody said that in the last one.
Someone said, hey, man, I'll job you really like and enjoy. Some people said freedom and flexibility, right? Someone said in the last one, hey, having the money you need to do what you need to do, right? That sounds like the good life.
You guys had some really good ones. We're surrounded by visions of the good life. Think about when you scroll your phone. Whenever you scroll your phone, guess what?
We're also being told or invited into what is the good life, aren't we? Yeah. We're actually, I think, we're being marketed and told this is the good life you should want, right? So what do you think for a moment of what you see in your feed on a normal basis?
And I want you to tell me, what are some of the things you see being kind of pitched our way of what the good life is and what we should want or what we should pursue or what we need? What are some of those things that you would see? Like recently. Hey, I'm doing our chores.
Tom wants a robot. Okay. Try to save him. Sure.
Okay. What else? A mansion. Yeah.
Well, for sure. Flashi cars. Yeah, that's the good life, right? You need that.
You need to get that. What else? Pass the big dog. Pass the big dog.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Get that cryptocurrency going for you, bro. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Pictures of wildlife.
Yeah. Tell us we need to get outside. Opt outside. Lots of big dogs.
Lots of big dogs, especially those doodles. They're the popular thing. You know what I'm saying? Everybody needs a doodle now.
Yep. I'm saying that. That's the jam. Anything else you see on your feed that's talking to you.
Hey, this is the good life. Vacations. Oh, yeah, big time, right? Yeah.
Vacations. How to what? How to barbecue. Love it.
Love it. Love it. So you think about this idea of the good life and you name some beautiful stuff, but you also we name some of the tension that we live in as we live in a culture. We live in a world of digital media, all this stuff that's also pitching and coming after us, pretty often trying to get us to think about what the good life is we need and they're offering us products, pharmaceuticals, whatever it may be.
And yeah, here's the reality. I think underneath the surface of that, we have our real lives that we truly live and we get up and we go to work and go to school and get the face every day. And then we actually have underneath all that, we have this thing called anxiety that may be playing at us about the future, about economics, war, job security. It's in a community group the other night and like three or four people I was praying with.
We're praying about jobs. It's real. Yeah. Some of us might be dealing with exhaustion.
Exhaustion of the world we live in, the pain, the challenges we see around us and its creeps in and how it affects us. Some of us, I think, are dealing honestly while we're thinking about the good life, we're also living with tension, with relational tension and like, well, how do I make this relationship better and how do I manage this and some of us live with uncertainty? We live with the tension of what has offered us and what is really real. Yeah, with me.
What's real life? It doesn't look like that on a screen. It doesn't. It doesn't feel that way.
My question is, which vision of the good life are we actually pursuing? Which vision of the good life are we really chasing? And are we freshly open for Jesus to give us his vision of what the good life looks like? I wonder what he has to say about that vision for you.
And I want to tell you today that Jesus has vision for your life, for your marriage, for your career, job placement, for these things that he cares deeply about him. But he has a vision for us to grab a hold of that might challenge what we're constantly being seen and invited into and think is the good life. Jesus starts his preaching, his famous sermon with these statements, and it's intentional. Nine sayings.
It's like, come on. It's like, blessed are, blessed are, blessed are these people, blessed are these people. And I don't know about you. I didn't grow up in church.
But I would hear that word, blessed. And I'm like, what does that mean? You hear it that said a lot, don't we? You hear it in songs used to hear it hashtag blessed, you know, even though we don't do hashtags anymore.
That's gone. I'm aware. My kids tell me, dad, don't do the hashtag anymore. Okay.
But that word, blessed is often used. But I actually think it's probably not as understood as we think. It sounds good. It sounds religious.
Because sometimes sound vague. Some people have translated it, thinking it means happy. But it's much deeper than that. And I want to walk you through just a few moments of what I think Jesus was really trying to get at.
The Greek word that Jesus uses when you see it translated blessed is a Greek word called macarrios. And I'm going to show you the definition of what it means. When Jesus says blessed are blessed, macarrios is referring to a state or condition of a person whose life is genuinely going well. That's why you heard me say the good life.
And it consists of this idea of like wholeness, purpose, semi-hour naming it earlier, peace, fulfillment. It includes happiness. But it's all of this thing wrapped up into one idea, this word blessed. And it means something closer to like flourishing.
So the person that's blessed, the person that's actually flourishing in the fullness and wholeness of life. Another way to say it, instead of saying, oh, how blessed are Jesus could say, oh, how fortunate are these people. They have the good life. The good life belongs to these people.
And this word, macarrios, is in the Old Testament where you go and read the word blessed is a different word. It's a Hebrew word. It means it's called ashre, is the word for blessed. And that word is what carries the real meaning that Jesus is speaking of is this idea of flourishing wholeness, a good life that just surrounds you and encompasses you.
And I want to give you an example of it in Psalm 1. So no, whenever you read the Old Testament, you read the word blessed, you're going to hear you're reading the word ashre. Oh, how how flourishing is this person, how holistically good of life that they're experiencing. Listen, blessed are ashre is the one and watch the wisdom literature has to say of who's the blessed person.
Blessed is the one who does not walk in the step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is where? Oh, and the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night, watch this. It's that person that's blessed. Ashre, that person is flourishing.
This is the one. And here's how you see it, because that person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither whatever they do prospers. So in other words, it doesn't matter what they're going through in life, what circumstances are surrounding them. They are actually able to flourish in their soul and their body and their life because of where they choose to plant themselves, which is near God's word in his ways.
So this is a little taster of the vision of the good life. So when you read it in the Old Testament, wherever you see blessed, whatever you know, Jesus, God is giving vision for what the good life looks like. And he's trying to paint a picture for you that, hey, if you will embrace this vision, you actually will become that you'll be that blessed person in that way. Another way to say it would be, oh, how flourishing is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked.
That's the person who has the good life, who's delight in the law of the Lord. That person has the good life because they're like a tree planted by streams of water. So Ashre is this wisdom word, a vision picture for us. Another way would be it's like if you were to, this week, as you go out about your week, you walk out and you see someone's life that you look at and you see some of these ideas of you named earlier, you were looking at, man, they have the good love.
That's flourishing right there. Man, that's wholeness. That's goodness. That's peace.
That's these things, right? That's the idea Jesus wants you to have in your mind when you're blessed are. They're the ones with the good life. How are we doing so far?
You catching it? Flourishing. These are the people that are flourishing. I want to take you back to Jesus's world.
Let's step back into the first century. Jesus is coming on a mountain. He's beginning to speak and say, I've got to, I want to paint a vision for you of what the good life actually is. But we step back into his audience and we realize that God's people back then had their own version of the good life.
For them in the first century, for the Israelites and the people that Jesus came to speak to, you know what, they would have said the good life is? They would have said, good life would be freedom from Rome. Freedom from political oppression. Freedom have their own political power and have a voice.
They would have said, man, prosperity, be able to actually have our own land and actually take care of it instead of being heavily taxed and have to pay it to Rome and not actually have our own property. They would have said, man, how about restoration of our nation? They would have said these kind of things about the good life. But their reality is they were pressed by Rome.
Their reality, they felt powerless. The reality they were poor in many ways. They didn't feel blessed. They felt poor in spirit.
They felt sad. They felt fearfully not in control. And the people who did look blessed, he would say, oh, it's a good life. It was the people who were powerful, who were wealthy and were in control.
That's the, oh, well, they must be the blessed ones. Here's the tension and I want you to feel it and we're going to open up what Jesus says and say about it. Their reality, in other words, that they were really living with didn't match the vision they had in their mind of the good life. It didn't look like the kingdom of God was anywhere near them.
And yet it's Jesus steps into this moment into the reality they're really living in. The theologians said that Jesus was like a new Moses, reframing what God's instruction and Torah really is. So Jesus steps on the scene and he says, let me paint a picture for you of what good life living under the kingdom of God is actually like in the midst of a broken world, in the midst of a mess. And he goes up on a mountain, he sits down and begins to teach.
And everybody's sitting on the edge of their seat going, okay, he's finally going to tell us how to win. He's going to tell us how to get back power. He's going to tell us how to take over the establishment. He's going to give us these ways and secrets that man, we can get back this good life that we want.
And Jesus shows up and starts saying stuff like this. First word out of his mouth. Oh, the good life of the kingdom belongs to the poor in spirit. In other words, those who know they don't actually have the spiritual power strength that they think they need.
They don't have what it takes. It's the people that say, hey, I'm lacking actually in spirit. I'm not actually enough. I'm not that strong.
I'm not that great. He goes, oh, there's the kingdom. Jesus comes on and starts saying stuff like the good life of the kingdom belongs to those who are mourning, who are grieving, those who feel the weight of what's broken, not only in the world, but in themselves and those who let themselves feel that and experience it in the morning, he goes, oh, they're the ones that are going to be comforted. I'll give you one more.
He says, the good life of the kingdom belongs to the meek, those who are not grasping for control, not forcing their way. Why? Because well, they're the ones that are going to inherit the earth. Do you see what Jesus is doing.
Jesus is flipping the script. Do you feel the tension of it? This is why people call the upside down kingdom because Jesus is bringing values that we don't value. And he flips the script on who are the really blessed ones?
Who is the kingdom of God really near and close to? Nobody expected it. It's like walking into a room and a successful success seminar for business. We have this all over Seattle a lot of times that come to our city and they offer these things.
Do you imagine walking into a success seminar in Seattle and you hear the guy get up and go, all right, I'm going to tell you who really are flourishing in our business guys, the ones who know they're empty. You know, the truly flourishing people here are those who are actually grieving the realities of our world and brokenness in their own lives. Man, you know, the really flourishing people are the ones who are not fighting for control. How do you think that business seminar is going to fly?
It's not, right? That doesn't sound like winning, does it? It does not. Here's the good news.
Jesus is not giving commands. Like, hey, if you'll do this, you'll get this. That's not what he's doing. He's making announcements about spiritual reality.
He's not saying, hey, become this so you can be blessed. You need to be poor to be blessed or you need to be weak or you need to be part to be blessed. That's not what he's saying. What he's saying is the kingdom of God, God's nearness and closeness and rule belongs to people who are in the states of condition and who are aware of it.
Those who are the flourishing ones are in the states of reality that I just named and recognize it. So let me say it this way. If you ever have been felt poor in spirit, in other words, have you ever felt weak spiritually? Have you ever felt like, I don't have enough for what life is demanding of me right now, work or relationships or things God's calling me to do?
Well, man, that seems overwhelming. It seems pretty challenging. If you've ever felt poor in spirit and you felt your real spiritual neediness, I want to know you're in good company. Jesus is yours as the kingdom if you're in that state, if you're aware of it.
If you find yourself mourning, grieving the realities of our broken world or in yourself, you're in good company. Because Jesus is the kingdom of God is near you. God's comfort comes near to those who are actually facing realities and allowing themselves to feel it, not numbing out, not acting like it doesn't exist, but actually naming it and owning it. Jesus says, oh, that's where my comfort flows.
If you find yourself feeling me powerless maybe. When you see others fighting for control, doing things the wrong way and yet they seem to be winning, you're in good company. Because Jesus says the kingdom of God is near you. Now, for some of you people you hear me say this and I, you would think, man, are you advertising for the poverty gospel?
Not the prosperity gospel. You mean I'm supposed to be like, become poor and do this and be whatever? And I'm like, no, no, no, no. What I'm saying right here does not give you, does not give anybody permission to persist in a sense of victimhood or justification remaining in a bad circumstance?
Not at all. What I'm trying to paint the picture of is what Jesus is trying to do. Is Jesus is trying to invite us to see with his eyes and have vision to understand that it's those who admit their spiritual reality are the ones who Jesus is kingdom is close to. The truth is everybody's poor in spirit.
They just don't know it. Everybody. But the proud won't acknowledge it. Everybody actually is mourning if they're paying attention.
But the problem is many people don't allow themselves to feel it. Ignore it, numb out, escape. You're not facing reality. But Jesus says, hey, that's where I come near to.
Do you see the picture? Jesus is trying to paint the vision of God. Is it the kingdom of God? The presence of God, the love of God, the peace of God, the things you already said earlier, it's like God's like, I draw near, I am near us to those who are aware of spiritual poverty, who are aware of the things that are hurting them and causing them to mourn and the ways they feel weak or powerless.
He's like, that's who I am, nearest. And Jesus, I tell you today, wants to begin with this whole sermon on the Mount thing is to begin to give you a picture and a vision of what true flourishing actually is. Jesus would say to those who are aware of their spiritual states are actually the ones who are truly flourishing because that's where his kingdom comes. God draws near Jesus draws near to those who admit their realities and invite in the end of the world.
I suggest to you guys this morning and I'm speaking to myself, is man, we don't just need help. We need a new vision. We need a vision of what the good life really is. What does it look like to really live under Jesus' kingdom?
And ways. What would that look like? If Jesus' kingdom would have really like, flood into your life this year, like his perfect rule and peace would have flood your life. I'm really curious like what you would begin to say is, what would the good life look like for you then?
What would it look like for his kingdom to flood your marriage, your home? Some of your kids here. What would it look like to invade your roommate's situation? What would it look like for Jesus' vision of reality to just show up?
I just wonder if you were to get a vision of what real flourishing is, man, I would dare say it'd probably impact our choices, how we arrange our time, what we do with our money. I think it would change everything. I believe Jesus is offering a vision of a sermon on the Mount, a better one, a true one. And I think he's saying I want to show you what flourishing really is.
And it's not what you think. The good life he's inviting us into. So let me reframe it this way. What if, what if actually recognizing our deep need for God, our dependence upon him in him was actually not weakness but strength?
Something we don't shy away from. But we readily admit to ourselves, and maybe do those around us. What if grieving something, in other words, giving yourself permission to really feel what you have ignored? What if giving yourself permission to grieve and be honest is not wasted emotion or time, but actually a way to enlarge your soul and make you more human?
What if gentleness, oh boy, what if gentleness, me, meekness, and not grasping for control was actually not losing? Jesus is trying to give us a different vision of what it means to flourish. The signs that we're going to look at in the next several weeks are just those things. They're signposts that Jesus is trying to say, let me show you where God's kingdom really is and where his work is and who the blessed ones really are.
My question for us today is we just kick this thing off. Is this is which version of the good life are you actually chasing? We've got media telling us what the good life is. Here's what you need to do.
Here's what you need to do. Here's what you need to product you need and things you need to do. That's the really good life. And so we're tempted to take that in and then chase those things and rearrange our desires and our wants and our money and our time and we're rearranging because we end up chasing a vision of good life that actually might not be a good life.
And yet we've got these beautiful pictures you all shared earlier of good life. You all said some beautiful stuff, man. Sounds like the kingdom of God to me. My question will be, how can we have more of that?
How can we have more of that? Peace. Kindness, gentleness, these things you mentioned, relationships. Which version of the good life are you chasing?
Is it the one shaped by the world that's coming out here or is it one shaped by Jesus as values? Anyways. So you're only going to give me an action step for the week. I'm going to close with this.
I want to invite you this week to take some time to be honest with yourself, which is usually the hardest thing for anybody to do. Take a moment this week. Take a couple moments. Slow down and sit with Jesus.
Get out of peace of paper or do it on your computer or your phone and you're going to ask yourself, what do I really believe will make me flourish? What do I really believe will make me flourish? Every one of us is sitting here today with a vision of what we think will make us flourish. Some of us may have lost touch with that.
Some of us may have lost sight of what the good life really is and what God has for us. And Jesus is trying to invite you to a moment to actually dream again. To begin to rethink and let Jesus enter the moment and reframe, hey, I actually have some good stuff for you. I have some really good stuff for you, but I need you to re-envision what does that look like for you?
Some of you may have been depressed and discouraged and mourning as I mentioned earlier and sometimes we can get stuck in those spaces and we can truly forget what the good life could be. Jesus wants to reframe that for you and me. And say, I've got visions for you and your life. And it's better than the algorithms that you're scrolling through.
I promise you. But you've got to take time to first face and go, what do I really believe is the good life? What would I name it? I want you to get it out in brainstorm and give yourself freedom and don't judge yourself.
Just get it out. And then I want you to bring it to Jesus and you're going to ask in one question this week. Jesus, would you reshape my vision of the good life? Would you begin to reshape my vision of what that looks like?
What would it look like if I were just truly walking freely, fully, under your lordship and rule and kingdom was coming on earth as it is in heaven? How many of you would like on earth as it is in heaven? Jesus taught us to pray it, didn't he? Jesus in his very prayers inviting God's people to say, as it is here.
Here please, as it is there, bring it here. What an invitation. He's inviting you to welcome the vision of the kingdom of God into your life and re-envision it. John, when I ask you to be honest, why do I really believe?
What do I really think? What am I really holding onto? And then ask Jesus, would you reshape my vision of the good life? And then I want to invite you to just start out.
Doing what we call saturated reading is where you just take the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5 to 7 and just walk and slowly through it. Just slowly read it. And then you read it over and over and over again. My prayer for us is a congregation.
I believe God wants to do something powerful over the next several months. And that's we begin to give vision to re-envision what life, walking with him in the kingdom of God in the midst of a broken world, looks like for us. And it's going to look a little bit different for everybody. It's going to look a little bit different for each and every one of you.
But Jesus wants to give you some time to open your eyes and say, I want to give you fresh vision for your life of what it looks like to walk with me and me to be the king of your life and what flourishing really mean for you. Because here's what he's going to do. He's going to set you up to begin to see it. And then he's going to invite you to participate with him in bringing it about.
Because you're meant and I'm meant to participate in bringing what's up there down here. And that's one of the greatest joys of being a Christian. And I want to tell you today that you can. You can get a vision for the kingdom life that God has for you.
And you can begin to partner with him to bring it to reality. That's what you're doing for your name. The good life. Let's pray.
Father, I'm so hungry to be Jesus for your people. I'm just hungry today, Jesus, for us to get a hold of the good life vision reality of the kingdom. Of what flourishing really is. And I know Lord that we've got to confess, Lord, we've got a lot of stories in our head.
We've got a lot of stories coming at us from the scroll, the feed that we walk through every single day that's trying to tell us this is the good life. This is success. This is comfort. This is control.
This is what will satisfy you. And Lord, we just say today that there's a lot of falseness that's being put at us. And we end up judging ourselves by and comparing ourselves to others. We fall into that ditch.
But today, Lord, I'm praying that you'd help us begin this journey into the Sermon on the Mount. Do we begin to slow down here a different voice talking to us? My prayer today, God, as you would renew our minds, you would reshape our desires. And you would teach us what it truly means to flourish under your rule.
God, I pray for those today who feel poor in spirit and know it. I pray you meet them with your kingdom. Those who are mourning in the space. You bring comfort.
Those who feel powerless and tempted to take control because they see others winning and doing it the wrong way and they're tempted to do things the wrong way in order to get the results they want and pray you teach on your gentle way. Jesus, we surrender to your vision of the good life. And I just pray today that our people would know whatever state we may find ourselves in. It is our awareness of it and admission of it.
Then welcomes the presence of God and the kingdom of God. You do not draw near to the powerful and the self-reliant. You draw near to the ones who are poor in spirit and needy and broken and mourning and make. That's where you are.
Jesus, give us a new vision. I pray Jesus name. All guys, people said, Amen. Now we keep your eyes closed.
Just your head bowed. I want to invite you just in a moment to ask Jesus. Jesus, what are you saying to me today? Just ask Him.
Talk to Him yourself. Jesus, ask Him. Jesus, what are you saying to me today? Just listen for Him.
Oh, I hear Jesus wants to breathe fresh life into some of you. You've lost sight. You've lost sight of the good life that He has for you. You've lost sight of the kingdom of God to invade your life.
I just want to know that Jesus loves you and He's inviting you. It's okay to be poor, spirit, and admit it. It's okay to say, I've lost sight. I haven't seen it.
Jesus is coming to judge you and continue. He's coming to say, hey son and daughter, I'd like to come and refill you and restore you and give you sight for what I have for you. I just hear Jesus saying He wants to breathe on you fresh, fresh hope and life again. Oh man.
Jesus bless my friends as we begin this journey into your vision. Jesus name. Amen. I'm going to invite you just to turn at your tables now and we're going to get a chance just to share what's one thing that's encouraging you or even challenging you at your table.
I'm going to ask our veterans in the room to take the lead. If you're new with us, if you're just new around here coming in, feel free. If you don't feel comfortable sharing, you say, I'm just here to listen. We're just glad you're here and you get to be a part of our conversations.
We're going to also have you to take time around that table to just go around that table. It's one thing you'd like prayer for today. It may be appropriate to pray as a whole circle of the table. I found sometimes it's helpful.
You might need to pair off in groups of twos and threes. Maybe be able to pray that way together. So you're free to take that as you need to at your tables. Have a great conversation.
We'll be back in a few minutes. All right. I'm just going to close this in prayer really quick. Jesus, thank you so much for this time.
Thank you for the words that you spoke. I got to pray that we would take what we learned and what we what you've been stirring in our hearts today and be able to apply it this week. Yeah, God, we just thank you for what you're doing and spirit we seal what you have spoken to us today. I pray that you would guide us in wisdom as we go from this place and do his name.
Amen. All right. So as we prepped ahead out, just want to do a couple of administrative details on your tables. You'll find connection cards and prayer cards.
So connection cards, if you're new or you want to get more connected with us, we'd love for you to fill one out. Let us know who you are. And that would be a great way to take next steps into our community or next step with next step with Jesus. So there's also prayer cards on the table.
If you have a prayer request, our staff and elders do pray over these every week and we'd love to be able to partner with you in prayer. So please fill that out. You can drop both of those cards off at the black box over there by the staircase on your way out. We also have worship through giving.
So your generosity and ties and offerings is what enables us to be the church and make disciples here in the city. So thank you so much to those of you who do give. It's our hope that everyone who calls every nation church Seattle home would consider becoming a monthly partner with us. And yeah, support the mission of that.
We're doing here in the city. So you can give through the church app. That's easiest way to give, or you can also give with an envelope in the black box. So for those of you who have been following along with us with our belongs study before Easter, we just want a quick reminder for our belong form.
You can fill it out either by scanning the QR code or there's paper forms over there. The last chance to fill it out is going to be this Tuesday. So if you haven't filled it out yet, we encourage you to fill it out. But this is just a way to follow through on what we were praying through and the next steps that we're asking people to consider taking in belonging and partnership.
So there's a giving pledge piece on that form. So that giving pledge is going to be what enables us to plan making a move into a bigger space. So we ask you to write that down if that's something you're considering. And yeah, if you're newer to this church or want to get more connected and find out more about us, we'd have our welcome bunch right after this gathering today.
So if that's something I'd interest you, it's free lunch, which probably will be arriving shortly. So it's a great way to meet people and get to know who we are as a church family. And if you have not already done what it are out, the best way to find out what's going on at every nation is downloading our app, looking at our app calendar, seeing all the different ways to get connected and next steps. But yeah, as we go, I just want to send us with a scripture.
In Psalm 1, blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit and season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever they do prospers. So church, as you go, may you delight in the Lord this week, and may you be rooted in his love and see his grace in your life. Our gathering is officially done, but you're welcome to continue your conversations and prayer if you'd like, and we'll see you in a community group this week.
Have a great rest of your Sunday. Cry for me. Cry for your children now. And you will see that's a childless one.
Don't cry for me. Cry for their sin in you. This is my grief. Judgment is coming soon.
Let's please open my eyes. Show me a sin in my life. You die. Jesus please open my eyes.
Mother forgive. Ain't no Lord what they do. Really my friend. I've died space for you.
In is your son. He is your mother now. Careful her needs. Love my beloved one.
Don't cry for me. Cry for their sin in you. This is my grief. I must make all things new.
Open my eyes. Show me the sin in my life. You die. Jesus please open my eyes.
Jesus please open my eyes. Show me the sin in my life. Mother please and you die. Jesus please open my eyes.
You are my ego, sittestum. You are the air I'm breathing. In the endless wasteland. You are my rushing fountain.
You are my ego, sittestum. No matter where the weather. You are my better option. No matter what I'm facing.
You are my rod. And there's no more. You hold on my arms when I'm bad or torn. Oasis within me.
You're the oasis within me. You are coming to the sky. I have four e-rays and I think I'm in high. You're the break of day.
Oasis within me. You're the oasis within me. You are the thing I've needed. In each and every season.
And I really mean it. You are really mean it. You are the rock. And there's no more.
You hold on my arms when I'm bad or torn. Oasis within me. You're the oasis within me. You're coming to the sky.
I have four e-rays and I think I'm in high. You're the break of day.