Dear Friends,  

This coming Sunday I will be continuing our series on The Beatitudes of Jesus and taking a look at “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8) 

We live in a world and in a culture where the lines between what is genuine and fake, what is truth and what is deception, who is a person of honest integrity and mixed motivation is blurred. In some cases being those who “break the rules” is celebrated regardless of who gets hurt in the process.

In this beatitude Jesus gets us to consider our own “heart” and the inner motivations that influence our relationship to God and to each other. Purity is about having uncluttered thoughts and motivations. It is also recognizing those attitudes and behaviours which are not from God and are beneath what we know is true.

Thomas Long in his commentary on this beatitude says  “Are we those whose faith is genuine, people of integrity whose words are backed up by conviction and whose outward lives match their inner commitments?”

There is some honest heart examination in this beatitude.

The promise Jesus says (future tense) is that the “pure in heart will see God”. (Remember in the Bible, it was Moses who was only allowed to see God’s back, because to see God fully would cause him to die).

As we seek God more and more, we will recognize that which is genuine, honest and true. God has shown his face to us in Jesus, and as we follow him we will begin to “see” him in our lives and our relationships more and more.

We will know the blessed nature of a pure heart.   

We have started Christianity Explored course here at Glenbrook on Wednesday nights. The next study will be July 24th @ 7 pm.  It is a course that explores the basic beliefs of the Christian faith.

• Who is Jesus?

• What are the basic doctrines of Christianity?

• What is a Christian?

• and much more.

If you are interested please contact the office and I will be glad to welcome you to “Christianity Explored.”   

Blessings,

Pastor Ian