Announcements:
- The Wonder Tour is almost here! Contact Cassie Steele or Vivian Barber if you are interested in participating.
- James & Christin have found their own apartment off-base and are settling in.
- Levi and James Paul are back safe and sound from the Mojave Desert.
- Rita and Charlotte are settling into Concordia, but still need prayers for peace, joy, and closure.
- Sandra had a safe trip back from Texas and brought her son, John, with her.
- Vernon & Nellie came back safely from Liverpool, where Lydia had yet another beautiful wedding.
Praise Reports:
- Rod had his hearing aids adjusted recently and it has made a massive improvement in his hearing capacity!
- After an EF-5 tornado devastated Joplin MO, some members of the community hosted a drop-off point for relief supplies. It was a great success, raising over $1,000 for the local Red Cross and providing needed supplies.
Prayer Requests:
- Alan & Kathleen's family
- Roy Allen's cousin in Texas
- Bessie Kyle, Vivian's mother
- Beverly Randall--peace and health
- Carla Bowers with Cancer
- Gary, Ruby, Vanessa, and their families as they cope with Dixie's death
- Traveling mercies for June as she goes to be with her stepdaughter, Lisa. Keep Lisa in your prayers as she undergoes and recovers from a double mastectomy.
- Ken Childers is still recovering.
- Kyle Kirkland in his fight for life
- Mark James
- Mary
- Pam
- Rebecca and Brenna, who is very unhappy
- Sheila Martin
- Trent & Emily and their boys--traveling mercies back to NC and many blessings.
- Sulphur Springs and our entire nation
- Our veterans and soldiers
Matthew 5:17-20 The key here is, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." What is set at stake here? Entering the kingdom of Heaven. What are the conditions? Righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and Lawyers. So, what was their righteousness? The rest of the sermon goes to answer that pertinent question.
Time and time again in this chapter the righteousness of the Pharisees ("You have heard that it was said....") is contrasted with Jesus's standard of righteousness ("But I tell you...."). He sums it all up in 7:12-14 when he gives us the Golden Rule and bids us to enter through the narrow gate. So, it looks like we have two things we must do to enter Heaven:
A. Up our game to top the Pharisees
B. Choose the small gate and narrow path
Here's looking at context once more; this time it's historical context. What would Jesus's original audience have pictured when he said "wide gate" and "small gate"? At that time big gates had very small doors built into them (big gates made a wall vulnerable, so much of the time a miniature one was used instead). If this is what Jesus was talking about, then where would the gates be? One within the other. And so where are the paths? One within another!
This can give us a helpful mental picture: just as a bicycle lane is a narrower part of a highway, our path is a narrower one in the midst of a busy world. Hold onto that picture as we move on.
Here's a questionnaire for you:
1. Have you ever been angry with your brother or sister?
In other words, the Sermon on the Mount is a long way of answering the bad question, "How can we be better than the Pharisees?" Jesus insists that that's the only way we'll get to Heaven, but by his standards there's no way we can do it! He gives us an impossible code of ethics to show that we cannot be saved by a code of ethics.
1. He gives us this information to help us understand the extreme high standard of God's righteousness.
2. We are unable to live up to it.
We are walking on a wide highway with a ditch on either side of us. On the one hand is the ditch of utter godlessness and on the other is the ditch of self-righteousness. We are weaving our bicycles between the semi trucks. Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 admonishes us thus:
In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
and the wicked living long in their wickedness.
Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?
Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?
It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.
3. We are to walk humbly here on earth between the two deep ditches, not passing judgement on others, but pursuing rightness of heart.
Walking between the two camps--godlessness and self-righteousness--is very difficult. We are like pilgrims and outcasts, treading a fine line in this busy world. Personal Application: Focus on making your heart more like Christ's instead of always "doing the right thing". Our walk with the Lord is not about rules, it's about a relationship.
Jesus sums up his teaching in this way, "So (because this standard is impossible for you) do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Still a very tall order, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!
