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The Beatitudes: Blessed are the merciful

January 15, 2020

[Editors note: This is the fifth in an Adult Forum series on the Beatitudes, a class with Pastor David E. Mueller. We meet at 10 a.m. on Sundays in the Great Room.] “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) In virtually every gathering of Christians, there is, because there must be, mercy. Every time we together approach God in worship, prayer, instruction, there is mercy. The same is true when we approach God individually. There is no getting to God except through mercy. The over-riding and underlying truth is that God is merciful.

The Beatitudes: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

December 26, 2019

[Editors note: This is the fourth in an Adult Forum series on the Beatitudes, a class led by Pastor David E. Mueller. We have been meeting at 10 a.m. on Sundays (between the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services). The series resumes on Sunday, January 12.] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6). Our “holy hike” with Jesus Christ thus far has taken us through some fairly deep forest as well as steep incline. We have remained below the tree line, so to speak, but the going hardly has been easy…. We are not quite out of the woods yet and the climbing gets particularly tough today.

The Beatitudes: Blessed are the meek

December 8, 2019

[Editors note: This is the third in an Adult Forum series on the Beatitudes, a class with Pastor David E. Mueller. We meet at 10 a.m. on Sunday (between the 9 a.m. service and the 11 a.m. service) through mid-December and then again after the holidays. Join us in the Great Room!] “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5). A series allows us to dig deeper and look closer at a section of Scripture than is otherwise possible. I have taught on the Beatitudes as a whole, but eight lessons are more instructive and inspirational if the listeners and (or) readers keep up. Each Beatitude leads into the next one. We need to grasp grace in each and all of them. We started out “poor in spirit” that we might become enriched. We then mourned the loss of whatever spiritual baggage we had left behind. While the mood was somber, we heard Jesus say: “Happy/blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” Today the mood is restful, relatively relaxed, tranquil. This is what often follows mourning.