Matthew 5:9
Speaker Notes - Matthew 5:9
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
William F. Buckley - William Sloan Coffin story
Five Components of a Blessing:
1 - The Recognition of a Scared Moment and Place in History Ordained by God
2 - Hierarchical Approval
3 - Physical Touch
4 - Verbal Recognition of Worth, Talents and Gifts
5 - A Prophetic Vision of a Special Future Favoured by God
Peacemakers - Shalom-making
Psalm 34:14
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
Jeremiah 29:7
7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Children of God
Ephesians 2:11-22
Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Craig is the City Administrator for Navigators in Boston.