Sermon on the Mount!

For Sunday, January 8, 2023:

Matthew 5:1-2 NLT: “One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them.”

Jesus caught on! He was trending! People would follow him from place to place, and gather each morning to listen to his teaching. If this happened today, we’d say he received thousands of ‘likes’ on Facebook and was trending on Twitter. Jesus would be an ‘influencer!’

Jesus went up a mountainside, presumably so his voice could boom across the valley. The crowd then assembled on the opposite side of the valley, up the side of the neighboring mountain, forming an impromptu amphitheater. This was to be an important, detailed presentation. Theologians have named it, “The Sermon on the Mount.”

2,000 years ago, people were quite concerned with themselves, their power, their success, their place in society’s pecking order. It was quite a narcissistic society with everybody looking out for #1. Jesus is about to change all that! His heavenly concepts of loving the Lord and loving your neighbor somehow got lost in religion’s rules and rituals. Jesus is giving us a better way to live together, by caring for one another.

The best news is that God had eyewitnesses document the event, so even today we all could live our lives like Jesus taught!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Best Sermon Ever!

January 17, 2011 Monday Message:

Truly the Sermon on the Mount was the best sermon ever. Jesus delivered this message c AD30 to his disciples and a large crowd of followers. We don’t know which mountain. Matthew summarizes this message, while Luke reports the similar Sermon on the Plain. Both contain what we call Beatitudes or blessings, promises that teach us that no matter how bad things appear here on earth, God has you covered.

Both Matthew and Luke report Jesus speaking about the poor or poor in spirit, saying, “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Mourners or those who are weeping will be comforted and laugh. The hungry will be satisfied according to Luke, while Matthew writes that those who hunger after righteousness will be filled. He tells of those persecuted for seeking righteousness receiving the kingdom of heaven. Luke concludes with the followers of the Son of Man receiving the kingdom of heaven.

Only Matthew reports that the meek will inherit the earth, the merciful will likewise obtain mercy, the pure of heart will see God, and the peacemakers will be called sons of God.

On the mount, Jesus instructed his listeners about good works, holiness, judging others, the law and how to pray. We still use his Lord’s Prayer in most worship services.

It seems that the overall theme is “Love.” God loves all the people he created, and God has a special place for each of them. Jesus loves us just as God loves us. And we are to love the Lord our God, and love one another the same way that God loves us. After all, we’re like family.

Norton Lawellin