From the Pastor – The Path to Blessedness

Blessings! Do you know anyone who doesn’t desire to be blessed? I don’t!

While I am hesitant to criticize others who proclaim Christ (see Philippians 1:15-18), one of the things (yes, there is more than one) that concerns me about some televangelists is that they exploit people’s desire to be blessed. Some televangelists promise people if they plant a “seed” into their ministry, they will be blessed. The seed is of course a financial contribution. The blessing most often promised is material prosperity. If an individual plants the seed but fails to see the promised blessing from God materialize in their life, it is because they did not have enough faith. I have heard of people going into debt searching for the promised blessing. I believe such theology is rotten and ripe to be critiqued.

But people want to be blessed and they do not just turn to televangelists for that blessing. They turn to all sorts of people, places, things, and experiences. Before I share a few examples, why
not jot down the people, places, things, or experiences that you turn to with hopes of being blessed.

Some seek blessings in material prosperity that comes from long hours at work. Others seek
to be blessed through the trip of a lifetime. Still, others seek blessing through people, spouses, family, or friends. Some seek out an experience that will give them a high, which if only for a moment, makes them feel blessed!

Seeking to be blessed through these people, places, things, and experiences often leads to the opposite. The opposite of being blessed is not being unhappy but cursed. Long hours at work lead to the curse of lost time with friends and family or the curse of not taking care of one’s spiritual, mental, and physical health. The trip of a lifetime can lead to the curse of credit card bills. Because people are imperfect, seeking to be blessed through our spouses, family or friends often leads to heartbreak or betrayal. Experiences that will give you a high sometimes lead to the curse of broken lives.

When people seek to be blessed, what they most often are hoping for is that life will go well for them. Do you want to be blessed? Do you want life to go well? I do. Do you?

In April we began a sermon series based on the words Jesus spoke at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. We continue this series through the month of May. Through this series, we
are exploring the attitudes that lead to life going well, that lead to being blessed. By attitude, I mean an outlook, perspective, or orientation. We are studying the attitudes known as the “Beatitudes.” Jesus declared in his Sermon on the Mount that those who are poor in Spirit, mourn, are the meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, are the merciful, are the pure in
heart, are the peacemakers, and are persecuted will be blessed.

If you want to be blessed, I am inviting you to plant a seed this spring. It is not a monetary seed; rather it is the seed of being consistently present in our zoom or in-person worship as we seek to
hear, understand, and apply “The Beatitudes” and develop the attitudes that lead us down the path to blessedness.

Pastor David

 

 

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