I must say that church today was just what I needed after a crazy week. We've been going through the Sermon on the Mount on Sunday morning as well as in our bible study. Just in the first two weeks of the series study I've realized that the Sermon on the Mount is no easy call to follow. The first few verses are known as the Beatitudes and while the name can seem very friendly, the traits that Christ calls us to embody are not easy at all. In fact, as I read through Matthew 5:1-12, I stopped at one point and thought of almost how contradictory these statements were with the culture that we live in today. If I had to be completely honest, I would probably classify myself as more a product of the culture, than a product of the teachings here. But the greatest news here is that God's favor upon me is not based on my performance, but on Christ's perfect and finished work on the Cross. To say it even better:

We must let Jesus' radical demands confront us with all the unnerving force with which they would have struck their first hearers. At the same time, the rest of the Gospel narrative, where Jesus does not repudiate disciples who miserably fail yet repent, does season the text with grace. Most Jewish people understood God's commandments in the context of grace; given Jesus' demands for greater grace in practice, we must remember that Jesus embraces those who humble themselves, acknowledging God's right to rule, even if in practice they are not yet perfect. Jesus preached hard to the religiously and socially arrogant, but his words come as comfort to the meek and brokenhearted.

Of course one also needs to read grace in light of the kingdom demands; grace transforms as well as forgives. Jesus is meek and lowly in heart to the broken and heals and restores the needy who seek him; it is the arrogant, the religiously and socially satisfied, against whom Jesus lays the kingdom demands harshly. (from IVP New Testament Commentary)

If you're interested in the ECHO messages, check out the podcast that was so graciously set up for us last week: 

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=213168939