Roy Bell noted that the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ leaves us with more questions than answers, that we should never feel comfortable or complacent with the issues raised by these ideas. This so-called ‘sermon’ was a literary device used by the writer of Matthew to pull together all of the talks of Jesus into one group, a summary of possibly three years of philosophising. Taking one of the beatitudes, “blessed are those who mourn”, this simple saying does not apply solely to those who are bereaved, but also for mourning the state of the world, of society. And even if applied only to those bereaved, one might think that those who safely pass through the various stages of mourning, finally culminating with the withdrawal of emotional energy in the ‘lost’ person and investing it in another relationship, such people are blessed by being able to continue with living. Christians know the teaching, “blessed are the peacemakers”, yet some “Christian” politicians (Blair, Bush) are among the most bellicose world leaders, unwilling to merge private and public morality. This only points out that all of the standards set out in these teachings are greater than we can hope to achieve. [JEK]

Passage: Matt 5-6
Communion: No
Ecumenical or Event:
Potluck Lunch: No
Congregational Meeting: No

Speaker: Roy Bell
Worship Leader:
Song Leader: Sue Greenstreet
Pianist: Edward Kehler
Usher: Andre Pekovich
Zoom Coordinator:
Children's Feature Leader:

Bring Flowers: Ruth Enns & Doug Medley
Coffee Helper:
Sound Helper:

Child Care Volunteer: Annie Funk