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At Calvary this last weekend, we dove deep into the subject of worry and we celebrated communion. You might be surprised how much those two are woven together. You know as I was working on this message, something occured to me. As we look at the whole of Jesus' mountain top message, the beatitudes take up 8 verses. Reconciliation and forgiveness gets 7 verses' adultery and divorce 6 verses. Prayer is really important, it shows up twice and in total gets 14 verses. Giving gets 7 and judging 6. Worry gets 10 verses and they aren't short!

As Jesus lays out his vision for a new Kingdom...one which gets a lot of his time is worry. Basically he's saying, "In my Kingdom, life can be lived...worry-free." Do you believe that?

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There is a booklet which has been used by God to lead many people to believe in Jesus. It's called the "The Four Spiritual Laws." Maybe you've read it. The first law is this, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." I believe that law is true, especially looking back. But what if the flip-side is also true? God loves you and has a difficult plan for your life.

Not too many Xtian best-sellers incorporate that into their title. Not too many songs about the God who plans to make our lives difficult; and if he really loves us and is really pleased by us...well get ready for really difficult. But perhaps that's what Jesus meant when he said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted..." Don't skip this one...just because you don't like the title. :)

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As we come to the last of eight beatitudes we arrive at what I call the “Thanks-No-Thanks” beatitude. And listen I’m not saying that Jesus saved the best for last, I even hesitate to say that it’s the most important blessing, because they are all so important. Remember it’s a process, and as a journey, all the steps are necessary. But this one, #8, in our world today, it’s so key that understand it's a step to becoming the light of the world. We cannot shrink back from this last step, if we want to be part of Jesus' Kingdom-Story.

And as you listen, listen for the challenge that will help us persevere in persecution. It will come in the form of a prayer. "God cross out the "I" in my life."