Beyond the Weekend: Taking Jesus Seriously
What if the most famous sermon ever preached wasn't meant to be admired—but lived? Jesus didn't give us the Sermon on the Mount to impress us. He gave it to transform us. This summer, we're diving into Matthew 5 to wrestle with the hard questions: How do I actually love my enemies? What does it mean to deal with anger at its root? How do I live authentically before God, not just before people? Jesus ended with a warning: hear these words and do nothing, and your life is built on sand. But hear them and act—that's building on rock. Are you ready to start building?
God’s Mercy
Read: Matthew 5:43-44 Listen: Matthew 5
That you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45
Jesus wants the people on the hillside to encounter God’s bottomless mercy. He teaches that as they live out mercy by praying for their enemies, they reflect the likeness of their Heavenly Father. Their Father sends rain and sunshine to provide crops for the righteous and unrighteous. But Jesus is God’s greatest display of mercy. He sent his own Son to die for all people’s sins. This display of mercy restores undeserving people to friendship with God through their faith in Jesus.
We, too, need to see ourselves as receivers of God’s mercy. God’s mercy is like fresh morning dew—ever-present to refresh and restore us to God. God demonstrated his love for us through Jesus’s death. He died for us while we were still God’s enemies (Romans 5:8). It’s because of his great love and rich mercy that we are made alive through Jesus even when we were dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:4-5). We could never earn or deserve God’s mercy. God’s deep love and mercy are a wonder that takes our breath away. When we encounter his mercy, our lives are never the same.
TODAY: If you have never received God’s love and mercy through Jesus’s death and resurrection, you can do so now. Pray to God and accept Jesus’s death on your behalf. Take time to worship God for the love shown to you through Jesus. Join Ada Bible Worship as they sing “There is a Savior.” Praise God that “There is a Healer there is a friend. There is a mercy that never ends.”
