Sermon on the Mount Introduction

 "And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them saying, 
'Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 
Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 
Blessed are the meek. For they shall inherit the earth. 
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, For they shall be filled with mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called Sons of God

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake, Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.' "

                                            Matthew 5:1-12: 

    Before Jesus began his earthly ministry, there were a couple major moments that happened to him before he began calling people to Himself. His cousin John, who was less than a year older than Jesus, was filled with the Holy Spirit by simply being in the same room when Mary, mother of Jesus greeted her cousin, Elizabeth-mother of John. With both babies still in the womb, John leapt for joy upon hearing the voice of his Aunt Mary, who was carrying the savior of the world. From that point on, John became a holy herald, making it his life's duty to prepare the Israelite nation for the coming of the Messiah. As part of his ministry, he would baptize people who wanted to be cleansed in the Jordan River. During one of these times, here come his cousin, Jesus. John immediately announces to the crowd, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Jesus is then baptized by John, and as he is coming up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove and a voice from heaven declares, " This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased." We as Christians would like to believe that after this moment, Jesus is ready to go start cleansing the world of sin and began his ministry on earth. However, the part if the Christian walk that we wish we could gloss over happens instead. Jesus had to have some time alone with God in the desert, not just for a few minutes, or even a day. The bible says Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, the whole time neither eating or drinking. At the end of the 40 days, Satan decides to stick his nose into Jesus' business and try to tempt him into sinning against the Father. Thankfully, for us, Jesus resists the temptations and remains a sinless, perfect sacrifice for us. For more details on this story, check out my blogpost, What is your Superhero. After his triumph in the desert, Jesus begins to call his disciples from all walks of life to journey with him and learn from his teachings. The gospel of Matthew records one of Jesus' more well-known sermons to his followers and the crowd that had gathered, The Sermon on the Mount. Journey with this Young Man as I explore the many different truths and revelations revealed by the greatest preacher and teacher the world has ever known.

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Journey into the Sermon on the Mount.