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Monday, November 9, 2020 - Devotional from Pastor John

“Most Blessed”
      
Believe it or not, some of the commercials on television contain secular versions of the beatitudes. Do you remember the Southwest airline commercial a few years ago that had the tagline, “Wanna Get Away?” Each advertisement showed a person in a painfully embarrassing situation, and how Southwest could take you away from all your problems.
One of my favorite commercials is when a singer at a concert walks onstage before hordes of screaming fans and yells, “We love you Detroit!” The crowd goes silent. The singer has that deer in the headlights look in his eyes, especially when a band member looks at him and says, “Detroit was last night.”
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that it is during our moments of humiliation and weakness that God meets us most powerfully. It’s not when we are flying high on a jet plane to some warm tropical island, but when we are down and out, desperate and in despair, - that is when we are most blessed. Now at first glance, this doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s almost as if Jesus is saying, “Happy are the Unhappy,” or “Blessed are the unblessed.” Does that make sense to you?
What does make sense, and what we see played out every day of our lives is this notion that the world runs on might, ambition, and power. And so, we say things like, “Blessed are the mighty.” “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for a good time.” “Blessed are those who look out for number one.” “Blessed are the trash talkers.” “Blessed are those who make themselves look good and others around them look bad!” If that doesn’t sound like the recent presidential campaign, then I don’t know what does.  
And yet, Jesus teaches us through the beatitudes that in the kingdom of heaven, -- things will be different. In fact, Jesus gives to us a new kind of law, -- guidance for our work, help for our marriage, patience in our parenting, our grandparenting, and in our ethics for living out our faith in Christ. The point is, shouldn’t we start living this way now? It has been a joy to be able to share these words of Jesus with you over the past few months, as they are timely and timeless, and I look forward to the ninth and last of the beatitudes next Sunday, November 15.  
Congregational Meeting Update:
The recommendation of the Nominating committee was approved, as were Pastor John Hartman's Terms of Call, as part of presenting the 2021 budget.
Thank you for your participation and support.