Predicated On the Power of God; Luke 6:20

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 02/13/2022. Can you imagine what Luke’s Gospel would be like if it was stripped of the prevailing presence of the Power of God? The story that would be left would be of little interest to the world, and certainly would not bless the souls of millions of people and lead them to salvation and reconciliation with God. We will consider how important the Power of God is to the ministry and miracles of Christ-- but primarily to His teaching concerning the Kingdom of God. In this message we turn our attention to Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount and will focus on just the first Beatitude. After defining our terms like “blessed”, “poor”, and “the Kingdom of God”, we will recognize that what Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes makes absolutely no sense without the Power of God to complete it. No one wants to be “poor” and “hungry” and “weeping” and “hated”. But when the Power of God is applied to these otherwise negative concepts, the result is the glorious life and eternal future of the Kingdom-dweller. Ultimately, we will come to realize that not only the Beatitudes, but all of the Gospels, (and indeed all of Scripture) are predicated on the Power of God.