Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit
Matthew -5:1-3
OKAY – let’s do this! Week 8, of our study in Matthew’s Gospel, “The King and His Kingdom.”
Our Text today is Matthew 5:1-3…
I am going to read it, and then pray us into our time of study.
Now when Jesus saw the crowds,
REMEMBER – Jesus is in Galilee, teaching and preaching that people need to, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near”
(invitation not a threat… an invitation to a change of mind, that leads to a change of heart, to a changed life)…
AND – not only is Jesus teaching and preaching but He is healing every sickness and disease among the people.
AND SO – large crowds are following Him.
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:1-3
Prayer
In 2010 a multimillionaire from New Mexico named Forrest Fenn had this idea of getting America to turn off the televisions and turn off the video games and to go on an adventure.
SO HE - took some of his treasures—gold coins, diamonds, emeralds, millions of dollars worth of valuables—and he put them in a chest and he hid the chest, sending America on this treasure hunt.
NOW - He provided a poem with nine clues that if you read it, it tells you nothing, in my opinion. And thousands of people have gone off looking for this hidden treasure, using this poem with nine clues.
A 32 year old medical student from Michigan finally found the treasure on July 2021 in Wyoming and Fenn died 2 months later in September at the age of 90.
He has an autobiography called The Thrill of the Chase, and he just talks about (how) that the most valuable things, the most beautiful things, are not easily found. They’re not just out there; they’re hidden. HE SAYS – that you’ve got to search for them. You’ve got to go look for them.
AND LISTEN – as we come to the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 through 7) in our study of Matthew’s Gospel,
‘The King and The Kingdom,’
And specifically the first 12 verses where we find what is known as, ‘The Beatitudes’
WE – are going to go on a bit of a treasure hunt together,
AND LISTEN - what we’re going to find is that for us to understand what Jesus is telling us about the Kingdom that He is establishing in these verses (in in the entire Sermon on the Mount for that matter) will take some effort.
LIKE – we will have to look for it, seek after it, pursue it.
Which should not surprise us because Jesus says this about His Kingdom in Matthew chapter 13…
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
– Matthew 13:44-46
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. -Colossians 1:13,14
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. – Hebrews 12:22-24
AGAIN - the Bible describes the kingdom of Heaven as a treasure that’s hidden in a field.
AND SO - we’re going to study, over the next have ever long it takes’ weeks, The Sermon on The Mount,
Beginning with the Beatitudes Matthew chapter 5.
Which are kind of like, eight clues that Jesus gives us to find this treasure of Kingdom Life, to find what it really means to live life to the full.
If you have your Bibles go ahead and turn there or fire up your Bible App to Matthew chapter 5.
BUT BEFORE – we go there check out this powerful verse in Colossians 3:3. It says,
You died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
NOTICE – that Paul says that your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
UNDERSTAND MGCC - there’s a hidden nature to the life that God has for you.
AND LISTEN - here’s…here’s what makes it hidden.
It’s the opposite of what many of us intuitively think it’s going to be.
LIKE - where we assume we’ll find happiness, where we assume we will find real life, it’s…it’s the opposite of some of our assumptions.
SO THERE IS - a sense in which our real life in Christ is hidden.
AND LISTEN - these clues that Jesus gives us in the Beatitudes help reveal the real life, the full life, the kingdom life that God has for us.
AGAIN - the Beatitudes are the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, which is the longest sermon on record.
NOW - here’s an important piece of information to know as we dive into this. Jesus was a rabbi.
AND – in those days every rabbi had a different interpretation and application of God’s Word.
SO - a rabbi would study God’s Word and say,
“Here’s how I interpret it. Here’s how you should live it out.”
AND - the followers of these rabbis would determine who they would follow based upon that rabbi’s interpretation and application of God’s Word.
R U tracking with me?
QUESTION – do you know what a rabbi’s interpretation and application was called? ‘The yoke of the rabbi’
NOW - a yoke is a wooden harness that is put over the neck of an animal,
AND – this yoke guides and directs the animals, in the direction they should go.
AND SO - a rabbi would say, “Here’s my yoke. Here’s my understanding. Here’s my application of God’s Word.”
And the followers would say, “Okay, I’m going to put that on, and that is what I am going to use to direct and guide my life.”
AND MGCC – that is exactly what Jesus is doing in this sermon on the mount…
HE - is saying okay… people of God and people seeking God HERE IS - my yoke.
HERE IS – my understanding and application of the Word of God… HERE IS – what should guide and direct your life.
AND LISTEN – one thing that is blatantly obvious right out of the gates is that Jesus’ yoke is much different from what people have ever heard before.
IN FACT – it’s going to be counterintuitive to them.
IT’S – going to be the opposite of what people would expect.
AND – opposite things can be very disconcerting at first.
LIKE – do you remember when you learned to drive in reverse? Some of you are still learning.
It’s difficult to learn to drive in reverse because it’s counterintuitive, right?
You have to do the opposite of what feels right as you turn around and as you look over your shoulder.
NOW - the word counterintuitive could be defined as “doing something that on the surface doesn’t seem to make sense, but it’s what works.”
On the surface it doesn’t seem to make sense, but it’s what works.
AND THIS - is the hidden nature of the teaching of Jesus Christ. So much of it is counterintuitive.
It doesn’t seem to make sense, but it is, in fact, what works.
It’s the yoke that leads to real life, even though it seems to be the opposite and upside-down.
Leonard Sweet in his book, “Jesus Drives Me Crazy…” writes…
Everything that Jesus taught goes against how ‘normal’ people see and function in the world.
YOU SEE – turning the other cheek, going the second mile, giving the spare coat, washing someone’s feet, heaping blessings on those who curse you, selling your possessions and giving them to the church, living without anger,
laying down your life – all these things ‘normal’ people have a hard time understanding much less thinking and living. The truth is, Jesus stood, ‘normal’ wisdom on it’s head…
Christianity invites us to live an intuitively counterintuitive life… The lifted up One, the One who sits high and walks low, taught that the thoroughfare to God is full of bypaths and back roads.
• The way up is down - The way in is out
• The way first is last, The way of success is service
• The way of attainment is relinquishment
• The way of strength is weakness
• The way of security is vulnerability
• The way of protection is forgiveness (even to 7 x 70)
• The way of life is death – death to self, society, family
• Know your strengths. Why? Because that’s the only way that you can lay them down.
• God’s power is made perfect…where? In our weakness.
• Want to get the most? Go to where the least are.
• Want to be free? Give complete control to God.
• Want to become great? Become least.
• Want to find yourself? Forget yourself.
• Want honor? Honor yourself with humility
• Want to ‘get even’ with your enemies? Bless, love and pray for them.
And for Jesus, it wasn’t enough to turn the other check. One had to turn the hands and feet as well in doing good to that person…
To a world obsessed with power, the gospel is nuts
To a world obsessed with success, Jesus’ teaching is nuts.
SO JESUS - begins this sermon on the mount with this introduction of the Beatitudes, and each Beatitude begins with the word blessed. So He says, “Do you want to be blessed?”
AND EVERYONE SAYS - “Yes, we want to be blessed. We want to be happy.” AND THEN - Jesus says, “Blessed are you who…” AND HE - gives eight different characteristics of a life that is blessed.
NOW MAYBE - your version translates blessed as happy. “Happy is the one who…” AND - happy is an okay word.
I MEAN - it might be the best standalone word for us to translate the word blessed . BUT YOU KNOW - happy is too small of a word. Happy doesn’t fully capture it.
NOW - I think to understand what Jesus is talking about in regards to a blessed life, we need to look at what He said in John 10:10. He says, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
B/S – that’s a blessed life. It’s a full life in Christ.
OKAY
SO HERE – is how we’ll define it for the purposes of this series.
A blessed life = living with a God-given (joy, fullness and satisfaction) regardless of outward conditions.
AND UNDERSTAND - this is huge for us, because we are all about a blessed life.
WE – are all about joy, satisfaction and fulfillment.
I MEAN – in this country, it is one of our rights: the pursuit of happiness, right?
AND LISTEN - most of us would say that the pursuit of happiness is all about outward conditions. THAT…
IF - we can change our situation
IF - we can change our circumstances
THEN - we can be happy, THEN - we can be blessed.
BUT MGCC
JESUS - is going to teach us that a blessed life is first of all God-given. UNDERSTAND - it’s not that we personally pursue it and we find it on our own.
INSTEAD – it is given to us from God.
AND B/S – here’s the deal…
A blessed life is not dependent upon our circumstances,
our conditions, our situations.
NO – a blessed life, supersedes all of that.
QUESTION – does anyone in this room or watching online, want to live a blessed life?
AND SO – in the open salvo of His Sermon on The Mount, Jesus is going to teach us what it means to be blessed…
AND B/S – what we are going to discover,
IS THAT - it is different, counterintuitive to what many of us would assume.
GET IT?
So here we go. Matthew 5:3…Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
UNDERSTAND MGCC - This is how Jesus begins this powerful sermon about what living in His Kingdom is all about…
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
NOW - those first four words, are kind of head scratchers, right? “Blessed are the poor.”
YEAH - some of you are like, “Yes! I win! I’m broke. That’s great news.”
BUT SERIOUSLY - most of the time, you know, we would look at this and say, “You know, maybe Jesus is a little nervous and He misspoke here. ‘Blessed are the poor.’
SURELY - He meant to say, ‘Blessed are the rich.’”
BECAUSE – that is how the equation works for us.
YES WE EQUATE - a blessed life with being rich.
I MEAN WE EVEN USE - the words interchangeably.
LIKE - if you go over to a rich person’s house and you say, “This is a beautiful home” or “That is an incredible car,”
THEY - don’t say, “Thanks. I’m so rich.”
INSTEAD - What do they say? They say, “Thanks. I’m so…”? “I’m so blessed,” right? AGAIN - because we equate being blessed by God, with being rich.
IN FACT – there are many false prophets out and about today… THEY – are on television, write books, have podcasts, hold conferences and fill up large buildings… spewing out a message that God wants them to be rich.
Here is a quote from one of their prophets…
(who is to remain nameless, he gets enough airtime already)
“God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny he has laid out for us.”
Needless to say, this guy is not booking any arenas in Ukraine anytime soon to sell that nonsense.
AGAIN - the very first thing out of Jesus mouth as he kicks off this powerful declaration as to what living in His Kingdom is all about is, “Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the poor.”
AND LISTEN - He’s talking about more than just, you know, monetary possessions (and) material stuff. He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
NOW - The word for poor used here is (ptochos) and it means “destitute, bankrupt.”
“reduced to begging”
“helpless, powerless to accomplish an end”
SO - when I am destitute and bankrupt in spirit, that’s when I’m blessed?
OKAY – but what does that even mean?
AND LIKE – this to be something we should try to figure that out, right?
I MEAN - if this is how Jesus is going to begin, if this is what will lead us to a blessed life, to real life
THEN - what does it mean to be poor in spirit?
WELL B/S – that is what I want us to try to unpack in our time remaining. OKAY, SO FIRST of all…
Being Poor in spirit means…
Embracing Your Brokenness
Being ‘poor in spirit’ means that you reach a point where you realize you’re broke. That spiritually you are bankrupt.
It’s acknowledging that YOU…
• Cannot pay the bill.
• Can’t dig yourself out of the hole.
• Can’t take care of yourself.
• Can’t fix your problems.
• Can’t redeem your situation.
• Can’t put the pieces back together
• Can’t turn things around
• Can’t get passed it
And you declare bankruptcy.
And Jesus says, “In that moment, blessed are you.”
“Blessed are you when you declare spiritual bankruptcy.”
Tim Keller offers the following definition of what Jesus meant by “poor in spirit.” He says,
It means seeing that you are deeply in debt before God,
QUESTION – is that how you see yourself?
and you have no ability to even begin to redeem yourself. God’s free generosity to you at infinite cost to Him is your only hope.
But he says,
That’s hard for us today. As Americans this is a really difficult thing for us.
And he explains it this way. He says,
On the contrary, most of us…you believe that God owes you something, that He ought to answer your prayers and to bless you for the many good things you have done. We can say that you are middle-class in spirit.
You feel that you’ve earned a certain standing with God through your hard work. You also may believe that the success and the resources you have are primarily due to your own industry and energy.
WOW – yeah, I think that Tim really nailed it. Middle-class in spirit. IT’S – this belief, this yoke, this thinking,
This mindset…
THAT - you’ve worked hard and God owes you something for your hard work, AND THAT - the good things that you have in your life, the positive things that you have, are there, because of your own resourcefulness, your own energy and industry.
AND B/S – THAT… THAT SPIRIT - is exactly what keeps so many of us from experiencing God’s blessing in our lives.
BECAUSE - we approach Him (like we approach most everyone else) AS IF - we have something to offer.
YEAH WE TRY - to bribe God with things that are already His.
WE SAY - “God, look at what I have done. Look at what I’ve accomplished. You owe me.”
BUT HERE’S THE DEAL - it’s not until we admit our bankruptcy that we can truly be blessed by God.
MGCC - Jesus says, “Blessed are those who admit their poverty.” AND THAT’S – really hard for us, because we are all about maintaining the image. We’re about looking like we have it together, HOWEVER - someone who is poor in spirit acknowledges that they don’t… that they don’t have it together.
THIS PAST THURSDAY – I was having lunch with 4 other pastors, and this very topic came up.
HOW – though church is supposed to be a safe place where people can be honest about their brokenness, it is very often a place where people work the hardest to hide that brokenness.
I MEAN…
We can be like, you know, the person who is about ready to declare bankruptcy but they’re driving around in a brand new car because they’re keeping the up façade as long as possible. AND - spiritually we can be like this.
For years and years and years, we just…
We don’t acknowledge the mess, the brokenness
We don’t want anyone to see inside or look in the windows.
We don’t want to say that we need help, that we are broken
But Jesus says, “Blessed are you when you reach that point.”
BECAUSE - When you realize the truth about you, about your situation… YOU – will be poor in spirit,
AND YOU – open up the door to God’s blessing in your life.”
IT’S LIKE - a child who finally comes to a parent and without…without making demands, without making excuses, without making justification, just says, “Mom, Dad, will you help me?” Jesus says at that point you can be blessed.
BUT LISTEN – to get there… You’ve got to reach a point where you say, “I can’t fix it. I can’t repair it. I can’t restore it. I can’t rebuild it. I can’t patch this thing up on my own.”
SO - being poor in spirit, is reaching that point where you embrace, where you own your brokenness.
AWHILE BACK - I was reflecting on my own brokenness and I was sharing by text what I felt God was saying to me to some of my bros in Christ… and when I typed the brokenness
It was auto corrected to broken mess.
YEAH – I am a broken-mess!
AND LISTEN – I get it, we would like to be made whole without being or acknowledging our brokenness, but it does not (@ least according to the yoke of Jesus our rabbi) work that way…
GET IT?
Here’s the second thing…
Poor in spirit means…
Asking For Help
Sounds simple, right?
You just…you just ask for help.
BUT LISTEN – it can be one of the hardest things for us to do.
I MEAN – most of us are not good at asking for help, because to ask for help means that we can’t help ourselves – that we can’t do it on our own…
AND THAT - goes against how many of us have been taught to believe, and to pretend.
Did you know that the self-help movement is a 10 billion dollar industry in the US alone… and that there are more than forty-five thousand self-help books in print.
QUESTION - why are we so into this self help thing?
Ten billion dollars a year, forty-five thousand books in print. Why? Why are we so into this?
Well, you know, I have five children. And I can tell you that it was not long before they learned these 5 words…
“I can do it myself. I can do this myself.”
“No, you can’t.” “I can do it myself.” “I do”
YOU SEE - there is something within us that just…we just want to do it ourselves.
We got ourselves into this situation; I’ll get myself out of it. If I really wanted to, then I could fix the problem. I can do it myself.
BECAUSE LOOK - there are no awards at sports banquet for being poor in spirit—right?— No awards or applause for saying, “I can’t do it. I need somebody else’s help.”
NO - we don’t…we don’t, celebrate that in our culture.
I MEAN – no one puts that on a resume “I don’t know…what to do here, but I sure could use some help.”
INSTEAD - we celebrate not the poor in spirit, but the self-reliant in spirit.
We celebrate those who help themselves.
But Jesus says, “If you want to be blessed,
You must be poor in spirit.
You must get to the point where you recognize your poverty and you say, ‘God, I need help.’”
AND – Jesus says that the point where we are blessed, is when we finally say, “I can’t do it…”
I Can’t Do It…
• I can’t mend and heal my marriage.
• I can’t fix my kids.
• I can’t stay sober.
• I can’t control my temper.
• I can’t restrain my lust.
• I can’t let go of the hurt
• I can’t save myself.
• I can’t put the pieces back together,
God, I can’t do it. Help me!”
The Message Paraphrase puts it this way. Matthew 5:3, “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.”
NOW - most of us would think, that this, is not a good thing—TO - get to the end of our rope, to find ourselves in a situation where everything has fallen apart and the pieces are pretty broken.
But Jesus says, “Blessed are you when you reach that point,” because when you reach the point of realizing that you are bankrupt; you have finally made room for God’s hand to move in your life. With less of Him the is more of Him.
BUT - that’s difficult for us.
AND – I think one reason is because we have put on some (false and faulty) yokes.
LIKE - I was reading about this survey...
WHERE - it asked people to quote their favorite Bible verse, and one of the most common verses quoted was this verse (You might know it.): “The Lord helps those who…?”
“God helps those who help themselves.”
Yeah, it’s a great verse…that is nowhere in the Bible.
It’s just not there, right?
Though in a Barna survey 81% of Christians thought it was.
It’s a false yoke.
UNDERSTAND - the Bible teaches the opposite?
God helps those who can’t help themselves.
YEAH - that’s who God helps. GOD - helps those who can’t help themselves. GOD - helps those who ask for help.
BUT - it’s just kind of who we are. We want to say, “I’ve got it, God.” I MEAN – we want to re-write Psalm…
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
– Psalm 121
where does my help come from?
My help comes from me.
I don’t know.
But getting our help from The Maker of Heaven and Earth seems like a better option.
AND LISTEN – when you study the ministry of Jesus…
What you see is that it was the people who asked for help – who are the ones who get blessed…
So a woman comes to Jesus whose body won’t stop bleeding, It’s been 12 years (and some of you can relate because what is broken in your life has been broken for years)
AND SHE - has spent all of her money on doctors.
She’s severely anemic, she is wasting away.
She is at the end of her rope, and she reaches out in desperation to Jesus for help…and she’s blessed.
YEAH - it was the people who asked for help –
who are the ones who get blessed…
The centurion whose servant was sick and paralyzed…he knew that he didn’t even deserve to have Jesus come to his house, but he had to try something. He was at the end of his rope. And so the Bible says that he came and he asked Jesus for help…and he was blessed.
AND – there’s this Canaanite woman…
I mean, no one would help her. She was considered an outsider. But her daughter was suffering terribly, and no one…no one was there. And she was desperate. She was at the end of her rope, and so she finally cries out in her brokenness to Jesus, “Lord, help me!” and she is blessed.
AND THEN - there is the blind guy in Luke 18…
WHO IS - begging by the roadside. He hears that Jesus is passing by so he begins to shout… “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me.” Now, the crowd told him to be quiet, but he keeps on shouting… Jesus help me!
He was at the end of his rope.
Jesus stopped, ordered the guy brought to him and asked Him (a question he wants to ask you today…)
What do you want me to do for you? – Luke 18:41
Jesus, help me – I want to see!
And he was made whole and went home that day, seeing.
YES - Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who embrace their brokenness and ask for help.
NOW - Psalm 107 is a Psalm that powerfully praises the God who helps…
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out. Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and helpless, hungry and thirsty.
They nearly died. ‘Lord, help!’ they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.
Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery. ‘Lord, help!’ they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
Some went off to sea in ships, and their ships were tossed to the heavens and plunged again to the depths. The sailors cringed in terror. ‘Lord, help!’ they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
And he calmed the storm to a whisper, and he stilled the waves. Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.” - Psalm 107:1-8
Three times they’re in trouble; three times they cry out, “Lord, help!” and three times He rescues them.
SO THIS - is how Jesus begins this sermon that is a powerful declaration of what living in His Kingdom is all about…
BLESSED - are those who are at the end of their rope.
BLESSED - are you who embrace your brokenness and ask God for help. BLESSED - are the poor in Spirit.
BECAUSE – that is where real life, kingdom life begins
BECAUSE – theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!
OKAY – here is how I want us to end our time together.
QUESTION - have you noticed that one of the images in our culture that used for asking for help is ringing a bell…?
LIKE - if you go to the store during the holidays and there’s a Salvation Army volunteer out there, (he) rings a bell to let you know “We need your help.”
If you go to a hotel (or perhaps a store) and there’s a counter but no one’s behind the counter but you need help…there will sometimes be a little bell that sits out, you know, on the counter and it says, “Ring the bell for help.”
NOW - some of us don’t do that.
I don’t know, maybe because we don’t want to appear to be high-maintenance and needy, so we just wait.
BUT MGCC - that’s what you’re supposed to do if you want help—you ring the bell.
YOU KNOW - I remember being sick as a kid, you know really sick… that my mom would give us a little bell to ring.
So if I needed her I would ring the bell and let her know that I needed help.
NOW - here is the bell that I gave my older kids to ring…
Not used much with Mei-Leigh and Jin-Tao
Because we have phones and texting.
BUT LISTEN - that’s what I want us to do as we close —just kind of ring a bell and let God know that “We need help”
Jesus says in Mark 2:17… He says,
Healthy people don’t need a doctor; sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, those who think they are healthy, but those who know they are sinners, those who know they’re sick.
AND LISTEN – the point is this:
IF YOU - want what Jesus has for you, you’ve got to be sick. NOW - we’re all sick, BUT - some of us think we’re well.
We think we’re healthy, and so we don’t ask for help.
We don’t ring the bell.
OKAY SO - what we’re going to do, is we’re going to have a time of worship where we just kind of put this into practice AND WE - practice what it means to be poor in spirit.
AND SO – a bell like this one, at several places around this room…
AND AS WE – wrap up our time together this morning,
AS WE – sing the song ‘Run To The Father.’
YOU – are going to have an opportunity as we sing, to go over to one of these bells, and ring it.
AND – as right before you ring it, I want to encourage you to think of some area of your life that is broken, some area where you are going to declare bankruptcy,
an area of your life where you’re going to say,
“God, I need Your help with ___________”
AND THEN…
I want you to ring the bell as an acknowledgement
that you can’t,
that you don’t have the power and you can’t fix it,
you can’t heal it, you can’t redeem it,
BUT - you’re asking God for His help.
UNDERSTAND – there is real power in doing this.
NOW – some of you have some real, deep broken places in your life…
AND LISTEN – right now the enemy is telling you that you do not need to go over, ask God for help, and ring that bell.
BESIDES – you do not want people to know that you are broken, that you are struggling…
LISTEN – we all are!
B/S – do not let him (the evil one) win!
So we’re going to sing a song, and that’s what I want us to do during that time—is just allow it to be a time where we say, “God, here’s where I need Your help,” and we ring a bell to say, “God, please help me.”
