Sunday, June 23, 2024

Theme:

This Sunday we begin this summer’s sermon series on ‘the Beatitudes’ the opening statements to Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s gospel account. In it, Jesus begins to explore what the “Kingdom of Heaven” looks like by listing several kinds of people who are (as most translations put it) ‘blessed’. The word Jesus uses, however, is not a pronouncement of God’s blessing, but an assessment of those who are ‘living the good life.’

However; those who we think of as living the good life and those who Jesus lists are not the same kinds of people. Much like Jesus’ original hearers, we have assumptions about success, importance, power, and value. We have inherited these assumptions from our cultures and contexts. By starting his sermon in this way, Jesus is inviting his disciples to reframe our own assumptions as he is inviting us into this upside-down ‘kin-dom of the skies.’

Questions for Consideration:

• What assumptions do you have about what the good life looks like? Do any of them need to be reevaluated?
• What assumptions for the good life are found in our scriptures?

Reflections:

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Introit: Though not a paraphrase of a particular psalm, “O God, You Are My God” has definite scriptural overtones, one of which is verse one of our Psalm 1 scripture.

Opening Hymn: After touching on the Beatitudes with our Call to Worship, we return to a paraphrase of Psalm 1, “How Happy Are the Saints of God”

Transition Hymn: Continuing through the rest of June, we will sing the first verse of  “Praise, I Will Praise You Lord” as our Transition Hymn.

Special Music: Jimmy Boyter will present an a capella rendition on “In the Garden”

Responsive Hymn: We respond with a direct paraphrase of Matthew 5:1-12, “Blest Are They”.

Sending Hymn: Essentially a paraphrase of Romans 8:31-39, “Shall Tribulation or Distress” also counts the verses from Matthew 5 amongst it’s references as well.

Benediction: For the remaining weeks of June we will close with “We Will Go Out with Joy”.