Sunday at Summit - The Sermon on the Mount Week 1

This last Sunday, we started a new series at our church. We just wrapped up a 16 week series on Exodus, and have now transitioned into the Sermon on the Mount. Our lead teacher, Paul, explained that having just studied the law, he thought it made sense to go see what Jesus did with the law.

Now this can make me a little nervous because the Sermon on the Mount is the trendy thing for all those social gospel, works righteous people out there to start quoting. Instead of using the teaching as a plumb line, they use it as a means to an end, and this is really dangerous.

As a Christian, I am fully accepted by God, completely forgiven and made righteous. God's Spirit in me lives the righteous, holy life that I'm called to. So, the sermon can be something I refer to in order to test if I'm in the right place, but it's not something that gets me in the right place. Only God can get me there.

But I shouldn't have worried because our elders are so solid on truth, and Paul addressed this very thing early in the message... instantly putting me at ease. He warned that, read in the wrong context, people could easily see the sermon as a checklist of what we're supposed to do to be God's people. But, as Jesus clearly taught in John 6:28-29, the only "work" the Father requires of us is to believe in Jesus.

Okay... moving on....

Even though we aren't required to do works to reach God, God's perfect plan for us include heart change that leads to actions that show evidence of this heart change. As Paul put it, "Our conduct flows from our character in Christ."

Another point Paul made that I appreciated was that Jesus' teaching and his miraculous power aren't sold separately. It's a package deal, and to lean one way is to ignore the balance that Jesus showed while on earth. Jesus is not just a good teacher, and he's not just a genie in a bottle.

The last point that stuck out to me was Paul passionate admonition that the Church (at large) and our church (Summit, specifically) needs to stop trying to look like the world. He gave a few comparisons of the dichotomy between the two.

The world is concerned about being hot. The church is concerned about being holy.

The world is full of greed. The church is full of generosity.

The world is swooning over celebrities. The church is swooning over Christ.

If the Church isn't showing these attributes, then we are living in our old patterns and not surrendering to Christ. It is Christ that lives through us... our old self was crucified and we are made new... Christ is in us, we are in Christ. It is the Spirit that bears fruit in and through us. Are we letting the Spirit do his work?