Blessed of the Lord

1 February 2017

Opening Prayer/Worship

Hymn: All things bright and beautiful

Theme: Lord of all

Topic: Blessed of the Lord

Reading: Micah 6:1-8

Hear what the Lord says:
   Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
   and let the hills hear your voice. 
² Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord,
   and you enduring foundations of the earth;
for the Lord has a controversy with his people,
   and he will contend with Israel. 

³ ‘O my people, what have I done to you?
   In what have I wearied you? Answer me! 
⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
   and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses,
   Aaron, and Miriam. 
⁵ O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
   what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
   that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.’ 

⁶ ‘With what shall I come before the Lord,
   and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
   with calves a year old? 
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
   with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
   the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’ 
⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God? 

Introduction

Although blessing is a word that is not commonly used in everyday conversations, it has profound implication for the recipient i.e. blessed.  All blessings come from God, and extends to all mankind.  According to Scripture, the Lord causes rain to fall on everyone.  God’s blessings to us are simply too many to count, and range from good health to the ability to make wealth, from peace which passes all understanding to the gift of knowing and walking with Him.  God’s most significant blessing to all mankind is the gift of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ; Jesus died to set us free from sin, guilt, condemnation and satanic oppression.  When we are tempted to be discouraged by difficult situations in our lives, may we remember that we are God’s children, and are immensely loved and blessed by the Lord.

Questions/Discussion

1) What does it mean to be blessed of the Lord?

Psalm 1:1-6

¹ Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
³ They are like trees planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper. 

⁴ The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

Ephesians 4:7-16

But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸Therefore it is said, ‘When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.’ ⁹(When it says, ‘He ascended’, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) ¹¹The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

2) What are the lessons for us in Matthew 5:1-12 regarding being blessed of the Lord?  

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ²Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

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

⁴ ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵ ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

⁷ ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸ ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹ ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰ ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

3) What are some of the challenges to receiving God’s blessings?

  How do we overcome them?

Psalm 15:1-5

Refrain: The just shall dwell on your holy mountain.

Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? who may abide upon your holy hill? Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, who speaks the truth from his heart. R There is no guile upon his tongue; he does no evil to his friend; he does not heap contempt upon his neighbour. In his sight the wicked is rejected, but he honours those who fear the Lord. R He has sworn to do no wrong and does not take back his word. He does not give his money in hope of gain, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things shall never be overthrown. R

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’ ²⁰Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. ²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, ²³but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. ²⁶ Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no one might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹in order that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’

Intercession/Worship

Conclusion

We are God’s children, and are immensely loved and blessed by the Lord.

Closing Prayer (Collect for Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany)

Living God, in Christ you make all things new. Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.