SummerGroupThis summer, we're going to be talking about Jesus's famous Sermon on the Mount--and we'll be looking specifically at the surprising introduction to his sermon, the "Beatitudes" (Matthew 5). The Beatitudes are particularly well-known because in them, Jesus turns upside-down our ideas of what it looks like to belong to him. The broader context of this sermon is the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus is ushering in a new kingdom... a kingdom where the King himself dwells with his people. What will this new kingdom be like? What will the lives of those living in it be like? While we may be tempted to see these questions simply as historical or theological queries, they could not be more relevant to our own lives. Why is that? Because the Kingdom of God is our story; the same Kingdom Jesus talks about in this sermon is the one in which God's people live today. Thus, we need to hear from the King what life in the Kingdom will be like. We find our answer in the Beatitudes, where we encounter the symptoms of resurrection--the "vital signs" of a spiritually-alive person. Jesus says that his followers lives' will be characterized by a recognition of their spiritual bankruptcy, a mourning over their sin against a loving Father, a deep humility in relationship with others, an attitude of mercy toward those who who've made a mess of their lives... and so on. We hope you'll come this summer as we worship, pray, and discuss the beatitudes each week.
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Summer Conference (May 2008) Photos
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Reformed University Fellowship
at The University of Georgia