The Beatitudes of Current Church Culture

Recently a preacher friend of mine shared with me these modern day Beatitudes from the perspective of our contemporary, self-satisfied church culture.

Blessed are the well off and those with ready answers for every spiritual question…they have it all. Blessed are the comfortable…they shall avoid grief.

Blessed are the self-sufficient…they wait for nothing, they have everything they want, and they have it now. Blessed are those who are not troubled by the injustice experienced by others…they are content with realistic expectations.

Blessed are the ones who gain the upper hand…they take full advantage of their advantages. Blessed are those with a solid public image and a well hidden agenda…they are never exposed and see people in a way that suits their purposes. Blessed are those who can bully others into agreement…they shall be called empire builders.

Blessed are those who can point to someone else who is a worse person than they are…they will always look good by comparison. Blessed are you when people praise you, give you preferential treatment, and flatter you because they think you’re so great. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, because it doesn’t get any better than this.

Sue Barton posted a response to this and writes, "This struck a chord within me, and reminds me of the warning of Professional Christianity! However, my responsibility is to examine myself, not others, and have God search my heart for any iniquity. It’s tempting to read something like this and immediately think of everyone else and deny looking at myself. But change starts with me! Time to relinquish my self-sufficiency, His life in me and not mine…."

Matthew 5:3

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I love you all,

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UPCOMING EVENTS

** On Sunday, January 31st, Benny Baker will be speaking in Bible class and presenting a lesson during worship. He’ll be bringing us information during class about Mission Para Cristo and the “Christmas Boxes” we send.

** All of the AIM students will be here to lead Bible class and worship on Sunday, February 14th.

** Next month, we will be sending Sonic cards to all of our college students. Here is a list of the students we now have: Tyler and Tayleigh Johnson, Laura Brown, Zach and Carson McDaniel, Tate Adams, Deacon Burleson, Jenny Moreno and Veronica Yarbrough. Please tell the office of any other students who should be included, and also of any graduations (yeah!) or address changes. Donations for Sonic cards may be given to the office or an elder. Thank you!

If you are visiting us today, we are honored you chose us. We hope that today’s time together will help deepen your relationship with God and widen your circle of friends.

We are a church family who seeks to follow Jesus and be true to the Bible.

Please stay around after our assembly so that we might get to know you better. 

Thank you again for worshipping with us today.

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