The Sermon: A Christian Analysis

The words spoken by Christ are delivered with brevity and beauty. He speaks of his disciples as the salt of the earth and the light of the world in carrying out his teachings. He called upon the multitude to not only hear his words, but to act upon them.

The modern world has experienced a growing movement away from these principals. Historically humanity has ignored or completely neglected the appeals contained in the Sermon, as too difficult to attain. Most human endeavors or basic instincts go against man’s natural instincts. Sorrow in place of comfort, poverty over wealth, and not only forgiving our enemies but loving them. It was something G.K.Chesterton pondered, as he became a catholic convert. In his view “Christianity had

This trend always accelerates in times when Faith is weakened and religion comes under attack. This allows the anti-Christian forces the opportunity to challenge church authority, ridicule their values and create open mistrust of the clergy. Rather than focus on unpopular decisions and the weakness of a few human representatives of the church, the faithful must always keep their eyes fixed on Christ himself. We should take comfort that when God offers such guiding principles; faith in him will provide the way. When people become poor in spirit and renounce or abandon their trust in their faith, they become subject to a loss of their own personal free will. Too much reliance on oneself rather than trust in God can only limit a person, for all goodness and perfection emanates from God. Faith is the very root of love, and in combination with trust, it evokes love. The injection of doubt, which has roots in hatred, entwines with mistrust, which eventually separates man from

They in turn deal with the internal values that come with feelings from the heart, which has universally been the center of willing, thinking and feeling. One of the finest country singers of our time, the late Johnny Cash, had a unique way of speaking from the heart and with great feeling. Perhaps we should all pay more attention to what is in our hearts, or as Cash sang “I keep a close watch on this heart of mine.” Good advice on listening to what comes from within. The steps toward heaven are paved with the wisdom of the beatitudes. They have become humanities’ signposts, clearly marking the direction toward God. In our present day culture, intensely focused on physical fitness, where the food pyramid is often regarded as the ultimate series of nutritional steps toward living a healthy life. It is widely acclaimed as giving us a method for avoiding things, which can adversely affect our