Sermon Blog

“Blessed.”   We began this series many weeks ago, and then, in the aftermath of Florence, we broke from it for the last two weeks.   In a time where we really need to be reminded what it means to be blessed, we return to our series.   What does it mean to be “Blessed”?   We’ve discovered in our series that being “Blessed” is not about being “Happy,” it is beyond any emotional state that we have. Being “Blessed” is a state of being…it means to find oneself fortunate, well-off, or privileged.   Who are the “Blessed”?   As we have journeyed through the Beatitudes, we find that Jesus takes our world and turns it upside down in defining who is “Blessed.”   Let’s remember what we have already considered. “Blessed are the poor in spirit…for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”   Jesus said those who realize that they are not self-made and are not self-reliant are blessed.   Those who are blessed are those who realize that they are wholly and com...

How many of you have felt you have been blessed during the last nine days? What are we supposed to do with those blessings? Too often we think the blessings that we have received are all about us, ways that God is simply enriching our lives for the sake of us.   We come into unexpected money and automatically start thinking to ourselves okay, now I can get a new dress, now I can get those shoes I’ve been wanting, or now I can get that new television, “now I can take that dream vacation” or “now I can move into a new house,” or “now I can join the country club.”   Maybe we don’t actually plan on spending any of those financial blessings right away.   Many of the blessings that we have experienced in the last week aren’t financial though…they have come in a home spared from damage, a quick visit from an assurance adjuster, free meals, disaster supplies, or the kindness of a fellow scorch member or a neighbor providing a meal for us.   We consider all of these b...

Are y’all ready to stand on your heads this morning? We are in the midst of hearing how Jesus takes the world and, if we truly heed His Words, have our world turned upside down, just as those who first heard His words, hence the bulletin covers for the last three weeks… Remember as Jesus offers these words, we are not to think “Blessed” means “happy,” but that “Blessed” equates to “well-off,” “fortunate,” or “privileged.” We heard him say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.   Blessed are those who realize they are not self-sufficient.   Blessed are those who realize that they are dependent not on themselves, but on God.   Blessed are those who have let go trying to control their own lives and given complete control over to God.   Blessed are those who realize just how impoverished they are without God’s grace in their lives.   For those who are poor in spirit are already experiencing the Kingdom of Heaven…they are already in the midst of eternal lif...

I have always loved to fish.   I will have to say, though, that I did not grow up with as many opportunities to fish as there are around here.   I grew up in rural Granville county—this was before there was any such place as Falls Lake.   There were opportunities for lake fishing, in the reservoirs for Butner, Creedmoor, or Oxford, or even trips up to Kerr Lake.   However, one of the most common opportunities to go fishing was pond fishing.   There is one thing, well probably more than one, but one in particular, that you have to remember about pond fishing in Granville County.   Most of those ponds were located in the middle of horse or cow pastures.   Outside of the possibility of a roaming bull or the owner with a shotgun (if you didn’t get permission to use the pond), the biggest thing that you had to be wary of were the gifts that the cows or horses left behind.   Walking from the fence to the pond was often like being in the marching ban...

Have you ever looked out into the world and just wanted to cry?   I’m not talking about being unhappy with the weather because you were counting on going to the Cape and it is blowing up a storm, or being on the way to church and realizing that it is just the opposite, a beautiful everybody-else-is-going-to-be-at-the-shore kind of day.   What I am talking about is looking out at those who are truly hurting in the world—the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the abused, the addicted, the enslaved, the forgotten—and really just had your heart break for them? That's where we find ourselves this week in Jesus’ blessings that we consider the Beatitudes. We started this series last week. We considered that while as a kid we might have liked having our world turn upside down, as adults we usually don't like it when things are flipped upside down. Yet Jesus is always about turning the world upside down.   We discussed that Jesus comes in and calls those blessed that we and t...