Blessed: Poor in Spirit

Jesus speaks more about money than any other topic. Is wealth a bad thing in and of itself? Jesus warns about the pursuit of wealth as our end goal but wealth can be used for God. When Jesus talks about being “poor in spirit” it is more about a disposition before God the Father than a condition of material possessions. How can we be people who are poor in spirit before the Lord?

Blessed

This week I start a new series on the Beatitudes at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. For Matthew’s gospel, the Kingdom of Heaven is an important theme. In the first teaching of Jesus’ that Matthew records, Jesus sets the tone for what the Kingdom will be about. What do the Beatitudes have to do with being Kingdom oriented people? Listen in and meditate on this question with me.

10 Christian Practices: Generosity

God has been generous toward us in his mercy and love. We are called as Christians to be generous with the blessings God has given to us. What does it look like to live a life of generosity toward God and others? We take a look at the parable of the Good Samaritan to think about this Christian practice.

10 Christian Practices: Thanksgiving

God has blessed us with so much in life let alone the grace and mercy we have received through Jesus. We see a regular practice throughout scripture of giving thanks to God for all God has done. Do we have thanksgiving on our lips first or grumbling? Listen in as I talk about how to develop a practice of giving thanks.

10 Christian Practices: Confession

We are totally forgive by God in the grace offered to us in Jesus Christ. What keeps us hiding from God still? Confession is an important practice in the Christian life that helps us to come before our creator vulnerable, trusting, and ready to turn from our sinful ways. Listen in as we reflect on this practice today.

10 Christian Practices: Meditation

We hear a lot about meditation these days as an important practice for mental and physical health. Christian meditation takes after the Jewish practice of meditation focusing your mind on God’s revealed word to learn God’s will for you. We look in this sermon how to develop this practice in your life.

One practice we have used in Church before can be found in more detail on this page about Lectio Divina