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Written by Kevin DeYoung, a contemporary pastor, professor, and author. This is an excerpt from his work “The Sermon on the Mount is Not an Impossible Standard to Make Us Feel Bad.”

The Sermon on the Mount is not an impossible standard, because pleasing Jesus is not impossible. With most sermons, the messenger should decrease so that message can increase. But when you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God, the point of the preaching is going to be the preacher himself. The Sermon on the Mount compels us to ask: Who is this that thinks we will be persecuted for his sake, that religious tradition bows before him, that building a life on his words makes one wise, that the final judgment will be given with reference to him and given by him? Of course, the first and lasting impression of the sermon was Jesus’s authority. No one had preached like Jesus before because there never was a God-man like Jesus before. Walking in the way of the Sermon on the Mount means walking close to Jesus. The relentless subplot to this entire sermon comes in the form of this question: Are you with me? Are you really with me? Are you with me no matter what? Submitting to this sermon means finally and fully submitting to Jesus. The law in the Sermon on the Mount reflects the heart of the lawgiver. The commands of Jesus are not meant to crush us any more than Jesus means to crush us. Jesus came to save us, to enlist us, and to be with us until the end of the age… To all who know the Son, to those who look for rest in the Son, to those who are eager to walk with the Son and learn from the Son, the yoke he gives you is easy, and the burden he asks you to carry is light.

Prayer:

Written by Jamie Maxim, a contemporary pastor.

I pray, God, that You would move on our hearts in such a way that we would respond to Jesus in the same way that Levi responded to Jesus—that we follow You with all that we are. God, we give You praise. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Written by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), a Welsh minister and medical doctor.  This is an excerpt from his book “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount.

Is it not true to say of many of us that in actual practice our view of the doctrine of grace is such that we scarcely ever take the plain teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ seriously? We have so emphasized the teaching that all is of grace and that we ought not to try to imitate His example in order to make ourselves Christians, that we are virtually in the position of ignoring His teaching altogether and of saying that it has nothing to do with us because we are under grace. Now I wonder how seriously we take the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Prayer:

Written by Benedict of Nuria (480-547), the father of Western monasticism and founder of the Rule of St. Benedict, a monastic community. He is the patron saint of Europe.

Gracious and Holy Father, Please give me: intellect to understand you, reason to discern you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, a spirit to know you, a heart to meditate upon you, ears to hear you, eyes to to see you, a tongue to proclaim you, a way of life pleasing to you, patience to wait for you and perseverance to look for you. Grant me a perfect end, your holy presence, a blessed resurrection and life everlasting. Amen.

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Written by Christopher A. Hall, a contemporary author, editor, and educator. This is an excerpt from his book “A Different Way.”

Jesus offers us the ability to live a different way. This is not different just to stand out, but different in a way that fills us with longing, a sense of goodness and joy with a deep resonance within us that this is how things were meant to be. Following this way should be the foundation for what it means to be a Christian…Considering a different way with Jesus may involve significant changes in how we act or understand God, ourselves, or the world. Recentering may make us uncomfortable as the terrain of our world shifts. Yet taking a new journey, walking a new path, can also be exhilarating…The vast panoply of human tragedy sometimes overwhelms us; we struggle to reconcile our pain and sadness with the possibility of God’s goodness, power, and love. Yet isn’t pondering Jesus’s life and teaching worth the effort? So much hangs in the balance.

Prayer:

Written by Tiffany Curtis, a contemporary writer.

Lord Jesus, help us to have faith like the crowd that followed you. No matter what we have going on, give us the courage to drop what we think is important, and instead give our whole selves to you. Help us to identify what is holding us back from fully committing our lives to you today. You call us to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Allow us to trust you fully with all four of those and to follow you, even if the destination is unknown. We know that wherever you lead us, you will provide. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Written by Uli Chi, a contemporary entrepreneur, advisor, lecturer, and author.

One of the first things we need to get right about how to love our enemies is the story we tell ourselves about them. Jesus’ command in the Sermon on the Mount raises the stakes that our enemies are really our neighbors. If that’s so, then shouldn’t we treat our enemies as human beings like ourselves, rather than as some kind of subhuman version of ourselves? Even when our neighbor/enemy behaves badly, what might it mean for us that they are nevertheless created in the image of God? And what might it mean to love our enemies as an expression of our love for God? These are difficult questions that those of us who seek to follow Jesus have wrestled with for millennia. Our ongoing struggle likely reveals our profound need for God’s grace and mercy—and wisdom… First, be curious about your enemies. Someone once said that the first casualty of war is the truth. I suspect that’s often the case for how we see our enemies. We reduce their humanity to a mere caricature. We stop trying to understand what makes them tick and why. Of course, we don’t have to agree with them. But we should grant our enemies the dignity of being made in the image of the God we claim to serve deserves… Second, learn to look for the positive. This is hard to do. And the difficulty is proportional to how strongly we disagree with someone or oppose their position. But as hard as it is, focusing on the good on which we can agree or affirm is always helpful… Third, be honest about the negative …Jesus wants us to love our enemies, even when they are patently “ungrateful and wicked.” And that means we don’t have to pretend they are being good when they are not. Whether or how we might confront our enemies in those situations requires additional discernment. But one thing is clear. We can always bring our frustration, anger, and even hatred into God’s presence and ask for help, particularly when we need insight and skill on how to deal with our enemies constructively lest we become like them. All this reminds us of our need for wisdom. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is his distilled wisdom that helps us to understand who we are and how we are to live in the world. And it suggests that such wisdom is not something we “master” but one which is discovered on a journey with other people and with God. 

Prayer:

Written by Emilie Griffin (1936-2022 ), American author about living the  spiritual life.

Dear God, help me to trust in the power of your Incarnate Word even when I do not see the way. Let me not second-guess you. Let me not put my wisdom above yours. Let me believe, Lord, that evil is overcome by your grace. And show me how to forgive my enemies, as Jesus did. Teach me to trust in the Incarnation of Christ Jesus, who comes to transform our fallen world. Amen.

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Written by Phil Rehberg, a contemporary writer.

Shame can be described as a sense of embarrassment, dishonor, disgrace or inadequacy. These feelings come from something you did or thought that contradicts what you believe to be good or valuable (this is essentially guilt which is a precursor to shame). Just the fact that we fall short of our own standards of good produces shame in all of us. We want to hide our weakness from others because we want them to value us. This is why it is normal for people to display their best self to others, which probably helps society stay civilized. But we also naturally display a false self in many situations, which keeps us from truly connecting with others. We use our false self to cover up our shame, for example, pretending that we have our life all together when actually we are broken or struggling. It takes time, but we need to let go of our false self. As we defeat shame in our lives it becomes easier to put off the false self because we don’t have self-rejection to cover up. As we let go of more false self we can develop stronger relationships with God and others. The kingdom community then becomes stronger. Shame generally causes you to believe that you have less value. If you allow this belief to continue , …  if you don’t deal with your shame in the healthy and loving way God intends, then the shame becomes self-rejection which blocks yourself and your connections with others. Your belief that you aren’t worth as much contradicts what God says about you. He says you are His child, beloved, chosen by Him, and citizens of the Kingdom of God, among many other titles. We should believe the same thing about ourselves that our Heavenly Father does. Rejecting yourself doesn’t necessarily mean that you are consciously thinking that God doesn’t love you. You just might have a general mindset that you aren’t worth very much. Perhaps this started in your childhood because of the way you were treated. In any case, that mindset will make it very difficult to experience God’s love or anyone else’s love, including anyone you might marry. And you might find yourself puzzled as to why you can’t experience love. Your self-rejection might even be buried so deeply that you are only dimly aware of it, if at all. Applying this to our relationship with God, unresolved shame will make it hard to believe God loves you and accepts you as you are. So it will be very difficult for God’s love to flow into you because you are blocking it. And you need to have an awareness of God’s love in order for your life to truly change. For how can you love God and others unless you have some sense that God loves you? This doesn’t mean you have to feel it but just that you have a general belief that God loves you as you are.

Prayer:

Written by Heather Caliri, a contemporary author.

God, these tiny little prayers feel like cheating. Does that even count? Yes, I know they do. Help me combat these feelings of shame by speaking truth, by offering up these small prayers of surrender as I can and trusting they are enough. Give me freedom from the shame I am feeling. Help me fix my thoughts on you, not on my past, my failures, or hurts. Give me eyes to see your goodness. Amen.

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Written by Toyohiko Kagawa (1888-1960), a Japanese Christian pacifist, and Christian reformer.  This is an excerpt from his book “Living Out Christ’s Love.”

It is impossible to restrict the gospel of Christ to narrow limits. It redeems the sins of the past, restores the present, and stimulates development in the future. Moreover, this is not merely for the individual but for society as well. We must conceive of it as the liberation of the entire human race. The gospel is the message of a year of jubilee, of a year of rejoicing. It should mean the liberation economically, politically, socially, physiologically, and spiritually of the human race. It must mean the true emancipation of the whole humanity.

Prayer:

Written by Brian Doyle (1956-2017), and author and editor.

Father, thank You for your beautiful, multicultural, intergenerational family, gathering in so many countries. Revive and sanctify us, I pray. Make us a house of prayer for all nations. And set our hearts on fire again with the good news of your gospel.

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Written by Stephen V. Doughty, a contemporary pastor, executive presbyter, and writer  and Marjorie J. Thompsen, a contemporary minister and author.  This is an excerpt from their book “The Way of Discernment.”

We need to open our eyes and ears. In a culture so fixed on the superficial, the negative, the sensational, and the tawdry, we need to be a people who look for the movements of God’s grace and stand ready to follow where those movements lead. The question is so straightforward: “Where have we seen the reign of Christ since we last met?”

Prayer:

Written by John Birch, a contemporary author and editor who has written several books of prayers and studies Celtic prayer.

God of wholeness, God of Grace,

to you we bring our thanks and praise.

To a world that searches

you are a lamp that shines,

to a world that is hungry

you are food that sustains,

to a world that suffers

you are hope of release,

to a world that’s broken

you are one who restores,

to a world full of hate

you are love that forgives,

to a world that denies

you are truth that endures.

To you we bring our thanks and praise,

God of wholeness, God of Grace.

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Written by Ronald S. James (1930-2003), a pastor and author.

We are more than a curious accident, more than a chance occurrence in time and space. This intricate world, so full of beauty and terror by turns, is on a journey. Up from dust and nothingness toward order, toward mind and spirit, it makes its way, guided by the hand of God. It is going somewhere. For us who follow Jesus and call ourselves by his name, it is a journey toward the kingdom of God. We have no language adequate to express what it means, but there are times when we can hear the distant trumpets and catch a fleeting glimpse of the towers of the eternal city. That is why biblical writers speak of gates of pearl and streets of gold, using the richest language at their disposal. That is why Christianity faces east, toward the dawn. Our faith makes us people of the morning. That is why the spiritual says, “There’s a great day comin’ by and by.” We are leaning into the future in expectation.

Prayer:

Written by James Lowry, a contemporary retired pastor and author.

Lord God, forgive our weary dreaming that gives up on the hope of seeing justice roll down like waters, a peaceable kingdom, and truth to set us free. Lord God, forgive our tired singing that sets no rafters ringing: with peace on earth, goodwill to all, with the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and with joy to the world. Give us grace, O God, that these days of our lives be filled with vision and praise, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Written by Stacy Edwards, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from her book “Devotions from the Front Porch.”

Sometimes hurting people just need your presence, to sit and drink a cup of coffee with no words spoken. Sometimes all people need is a moment when they’re not obligated to share all the details and you’re not pressured to offer advice. When there’s nothing to be said, don’t say a thing. A chance to breathe and a friend’s presence can be two of the most healing things.

Prayer:

Today’s prayer is from“Reclaim Today” an organization that  has a mission to help people connect with God in the ordinary moments of life.

Whispering God, who longs for us to hear your voice, and waits in the sheer silence for us to recognize your presence, meet me in this quiet moment. Silent my loud, tumultuous thoughts, and grant my brain rest. Help me let go of my distractions, and my desire to be distracted, to simply sit here with you. And, as the silence unsettles my spirit, let the waves of your peace and presence wash over me. Amen.

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Written by Tom Schwanta, a contemporary professor of Christian formation and author.

God is in our midst, and we are often unaware of His presence. Scripture reveals God’s deep desire to be in fellowship with us and the hunger of the human soul for a relationship with Him. God always takes the initiative by His grace and seeks to draw us back into a personal friendship. Central to this relationship is understanding the dynamics of knowing God. Since God has already revealed Himself to us, we need to be alert to recognize that God is indeed present and active in our world today…[In] the words of C.S. Lewis: “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labor is to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake.” Lewis captures the reality of the human ability to stifle God. Periodic awareness of God is not God’s design. Instead, our triune God desires for us to cultivate a practice that is the habitual pattern of our lives. Closely connected to this is a realistic understanding of what it means to experience God’s presence. We should not expect or seek only the spectacular encounters with God. That minimizes the normal way in which Christians have experienced God over the centuries. Like Elijah, we need to realize that God’s presence is typically not in the mountain-shattering wind or in the convulsions of the earthquake or in the consuming fires, but rather in God’s gentle “quiet whisper.”

Prayer:

Written by Debbie McDaniel, a contemporary Christian writer.

Dear God, forgive us for drifting away from you, for allowing other things to become more important in our lives. Help us to live aware, to choose wisely, to stay close to you, and anchored in your Truth. Apart from you, we have no hope. Thank you for your great love and mercy, thank you that you wait for us, that you call us to yourself, and you strengthen us in our weakness. Thank you that you alone are our Refuge and Safety, and you fill us with hope. We come to you today, choosing to walk in your Presence and Light. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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