Hunger for Righteousness: Embracing the Beatitudes

"Father, that is our story. I pray that we would be men and women, boys and girls, who are in a very, very moral sense of awe and worship and amazement at the reality that happened 2,000 years ago on the cross that Christ was the substitute, the lamb of God that took away the sins of the world, was buried and picked his life back up three days later, conquering sin, Satan, and death." [00:36:26] (26 seconds)


"And Father, that our lives, that the posture of our lives would be one where we find hope and joy, meaning, purpose, forgiveness, our identity in you. As we read the word, as I preach the word, as the word is preached, may we listen with attentive, ready hearts, Holy Spirit, may you give us soft, receptive hearts." [00:37:11] (26 seconds)


"Rich people, people who have nice jobs, nice houses, they're blessed and everybody else who doesn't have that, somehow, they've experienced somehow God's wrath or punishment. And that was the audience then and oftentimes, that's the audience today as we walk through this text. This is the biography of a Christian." [00:39:28] (19 seconds)


"I don't want to be persecuted. I don't want to grieve over my own sin. I just gotta tell you, if nobody else is gonna tell you, you need to examine your life to see if you are in Christ. If you're a believer in Jesus, if you're finding yourself saying, outright rejecting it, I do not want this way." [00:40:13] (17 seconds)


"To mourn over your sin, to be humble or contrite in spirit, to thirst or hunger for righteousness, to be meek. These are not natural. These are not natural proclivities or inclinations of people. This is indicative of a person who's repented of their sins, believed upon Christ, and the Spirit of God has taken up residence in your life and you long for these things in your life because you understand, I want what Jesus wants. This is the way of the kingdom." [00:41:53] (28 seconds)


"Take a moment and discern. Where is my heart? The heart's the real you. Publicly, privately, your affections, your values, your words, your actions, your thoughts, your motives. Your heart is the real you. Take a moment and examine your life. Ponder, evaluate, and discern. Where is my life? Okay? Every time the word is preached, we have an opportunity to move closer and to live out the things. We have an opportunity to live out the things of God or to remain where we are." [00:43:53] (30 seconds)


"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. I'm not gonna tell you what you need. You should do, but I know for me, and I imagine no temptation that sees you, Nate, but that which is common to men, women, and boys, and girls. So what I struggle with, I gotta imagine and believe, based upon the Scriptures, there's some solidarity in the room. I know that technology and social media and Amazon and Netflix and Hulu and Reddit, they work against you and I, hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Can I get an amen? Yes." [00:50:54] (31 seconds)


"And what it does is all these things we just scroll, scroll through social media, scroll through Netflix, scroll through Amazon Prime, and we want instantaneous gratification. And then we have a problem. Well, I've been walking with, I've been reading my Bible for three days, and I've been talking to you, how come I don't feel joy and this blessed happiness? We live in a world where you get anything you want at the click of a button, and we think Jesus is like that. You gotta develop disciplines. You gotta develop an appetite for the things of Christ. It's a new year." [00:51:56] (32 seconds)


"Jesus has changed me so that I can actually live in a way where I'm merciful and kind and gracious and seek to bring relief and kindness to people's life rather than compound it by my actions. And let me, real quickly, summarize. Let me summarize the Beatitudes, and then I want to close with a time where we want to ask you just to really lean in, and what do we need to believe and do as we ask that question every week? How do I summarize the Beatitudes? Here they are." [01:02:21] (29 seconds)


"Jesus bases happiness on a relationship with God. Self-realization about God and his ways. Blessedness, fulfillment, happiness is based upon God and his ways. It works against what the world says. The world says you need self-realization. It's about you. It's about awakening to your inner special light. And God says, no, no, it doesn't start with you. It starts with God. And Jesus says the way of happiness, the way of being blessed, the way of deep joy actually starts not with morality, not with principles, not with maxims, not with characteristics. It's actually devotion to a person." [01:04:20] (37 seconds)