Beattitude 2 Series

Beatitude Series # 2

Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ

Matt 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted

Original date April 18, 1999

Revised May 5, 2001

Intro. Church bulletins

„h "Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled . Proceeds will be used to cripple children."

„h "The Pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning."

„h "Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 to 8:30 PM. Please use the back door."

„h "Pastor is on vacation. Massages can be given to church secretary."

„h "The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without musical accomplishment."

„h "The Rev. Merriwether spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience. "

„h "The pastor will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing, ’Break Forth Into Joy.’"

„h "Next Sunday Mrs. Vinson will be soloist for the morning service. The pastor will then speak on ’It’s a Terrible Experience’."

„h "Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM. Please use large double door at the side entrance."

„h "Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community."

„h "The eighth graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the church basement on Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy."

„h "Potluck supper: prayer and medication to follow."

„h "Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones."

„h "The choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir."

Sometimes we say the wrong things or say things that we don’t mean.

We can be sure that God says what he means.

Seinfeld, George does the opposite

George gets a girlfriend and a Job; George experiences a better life because he resolves to do the opposite.

God asks us to do what is completely the opposite of every human instinct that we posses.

Jesus said if you want to be great you have to be humble

If you want to be a leader you have to become a servant first

It is the kind of lifestyle that gives Joy through Morning, Freedom through Surrender, Liberty through Confession.

Read and stand together

Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted:

Prayer

This does not fit together for us

Didn’t Jesus talk about an abundant life?

Doesn’t he want us to have Joy in Our lives? Then why this expectation of mourning?

This is completely the opposite than what we have learned. But Jesus knows that true blessedness begins with deep sorrow.

Blessed are those who mourn is foreign to us

1. Stan Real men don’t cry steryotype

Cute Girl Barbie dolls

2. Marlboro Man

3 Verdict read "Defendant showed no emotion’

Jesus said show emotion

1. Parents talking about Kennedy’s death

2. Challenger

3. Oklahoma city

4. Princess Diana

What’s the benefit of showing emotion?

Jesus did say Laugh with those who Laugh and weep, with those who weep

But that is just the tip of the iceberg, This verse means a lot more than showing compassion for others

The Key point that Jesus is stating in this verse has to do with sin

I Samuel 15:35 Samuel mourns over Saul’s sin

Nehemiah 1:4 Nehemiah mourns the condition of Jerusalem

Psalm 51 David is mourning his sin with Bathsheba

Luke 22:62 Peter weeps bitterly after denying that he knows Jesus

Will Rogers was known for his laughter, but he also knew how to weep. One day he was entertaining at the Milton H. Berry Institute in Los Angeles, a hospital that specialized in rehabilitating polio victims and people with broken backs and other extreme physical handicaps. Of course, Rogers had everybody laughing, even patients in really bad condition; but then he suddenly left the platform and went to the rest room. Milton Berry followed him to give him a towel; and when he opened the door, he saw Will Rogers leaning against the wall, sobbing like a child. He closed the door, and in a few minutes, Rogers appeared back on the platform, as jovial as before.

If you want to learn what a person is really like, ask three questions: What makes him laugh? What makes him angry? What makes him weep? These are fairly good tests of character that are especially appropriate for Christian leaders. I hear people saying, "We need angry leaders today!" or "The time has come to practice militant Christianity!" I don¡¦t think so "the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20).

What we need today is not anger but anguish, the kind of anguish that Moses displayed when he broke the two tablets of the law and then climbed the mountain to intercede for his people, or that Jesus displayed when He cleansed the temple and then wept over the city. The difference between anger and anguish is a broken heart. It’s easy to get angry, especially at somebody else’s sins; but it’s not easy to look at sin, our own included, and weep over it.