Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

This week we continued our series on the Sermon on the Mount by diving into the Beatitudes—Jesus' blueprint for what it means to be truly blessed in God's kingdom.

In the message, Pastor Joel shared that being "blessed" isn't about material prosperity, happiness, or worldly success. Rather, it's about being approved by God and living in sync with His kingdom values. The sermon focused especially on the first beatitude—"Blessed are the poor in spirit"—which unlocks our understanding of all the others. To be poor in spirit means approaching God with empty hands, acknowledging our spiritual poverty and absolute need for Him. This isn't a one-time confession but an ongoing spiritual discipline of repentance that positions us to receive everything God has for us.

Here are three observations to take from the message:

• Spiritual poverty is the doorway to the kingdom. We cannot earn God's favor or blessing through our achievements, education, or good works. The starting point of the Christian life—and the continual posture we must maintain—is recognizing that we bring nothing to God except our need. "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling."

• The Beatitudes build on each other progressively. After acknowledging our spiritual poverty, we mourn over our sin, demonstrate meekness in our relationships, hunger for righteousness, show mercy, pursue purity of heart, make peace, and willingly suffer persecution for Jesus' sake. Each posture and promise flows from and builds upon the one before it.

• Jesus perfectly embodies what He teaches. He is the ultimate fulfillment of the Beatitudes—meek and humble in heart, merciful, pure, a peacemaker who suffered persecution unto death. His invitation remains: "Come to me, all you who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

If you would like to do a deeper dive into the details of The Beatitudes, we encourage you to check out this excellent resource from The Bible Project:

As we continue through the Sermon on the Mount in the coming weeks, may we approach it not with self-righteousness but with hearts increasingly aware of our need for God's transforming grace.