In this Easter message we look at one of, if not the main, emphasis of Jesus after His resurrection: the teaching of the Word of God about His life. We see one of the culminations of this in the message Peter preached at Pentecost where he cites several Psalms that Jesus had just explained to him after His resurrection. We need to have a fresh renewal, or baptism if you will, in the scriptures. The Word of God being explained to His disciples was the explicit context for the “did our hearts not burn within us” line so famously expressed in Luke 24. May this resurrection season feature a resurrection of the love of God’s Word in our lives.

One of our Overseers, Jim Jones, shares his personal testimony and presents a call to the Gospel of Jesus Christ exemplified in the virgin birth, sinless life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, return and great commission. Encouraging the church to rescue sinners drowning in a sea of being lost.

This last message on the ethic of mourning hones in on the aspect of the reward of “comfort”. Not as a translation, but as a different way of thinking about the second beatitude, think of it like this: Blessed are those that mourn for they will get the Comforter. Capital “C”. Those that become poor in “spirit” move on to mourning by the Spirit, and reap the benefits of life with the Spirit. What is more “comfortable” than that?

Guest speaker Ryan Johnson preaches a needed message about what idolatry looks like in our generation. He draws from the story of Moses and the children of Israel at the foot of the mountain and the golden calf. Have we created a god in our own image and put His name on it?

The Apostle James said: “Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.” Chances are we have sang songs and heard sermons that teach us that God will turn our mourning into laughter or dancing, but when was the last time you heard a sermon or sang a song asking you to mourn, or lament? There is an entire book of the Bible called Lamentations. This is that unheard sermon. God mourns. Do we?

Moving on to the second Beatitude, we embrace the idea of mourning as a means to comfort. This first message address the first thing we must mourn, and be available to mourn when necessary: our own sin. The willingness to mourn is the only way to true comfort. Godly sorrow leads us to true repentance. We explore David’s mourning of his own sin in Psalm 51.

This is the testimony of a weeks old baby boy who was rushed to Children’s Hospital in the middle of the night in a fight for his life. Over the next several weeks God would prove His faithfulness as He walked this baby boy and his parents through some difficult and dark days. Open heart surgery, brain surgery and several other factors are part of his story, but ultimately God has, and continues to defy the odds and see him through the storm. If you or someone you know needs to hear an encouraging testimony about the God who sustains, this is it.

This second installment of the Poor in Spirit ethic develops upon the working definition of “poor in spirit” to include the concept of humility. So now we broadened that definition of being poor in spirit to a “humble dependency on God”. We explore different moments ranging from King David, Isaiah’s prophesies and teaching from the Apostle Paul that hit on the idea of lowliness and humility.

Believing that the Beatitudes, the Kingdom Ethics, build upon one another, being “poor in spirit” is the foundation. This is the first message of a month long series of messages about being poor in spirit. Poor is need. Poor in spirit is need of spirit. It is to live life understanding, and operating as if the Spirit of God is our greatest need, because it is. And those who live this way, the Kingdom is theirs.

This message, in the Kingdom Ethics series, prepares us to do a deep dive into the Beatitudes. This message lays the ground work to help us think appropriately about what we are embracing, Also, what Jesus may have been thinking when he was preparing to preach and teach them.