pleasure to hear the word preached from Michael Belch.

So if you would, welcome Michael with me this morning.

Good morning.

It's a great privilege and honor to open the word with you and for you this morning.

We're going to be continuing in our series in the book of Matthew. So our scripture texts today

will be Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 through 12. As you get that out, will you stand together and we'll

read it together. And as you're preparing that, as you're looking that up in your Bibles, let me just say one word by way of introduction here, because I know I'll forget to say it

later. This passage in Matthew chapter 5 is commonly referred to as the beatitudes. The beatitudes.

And so I just want to be clear on the front end. The beatitudes means statements of blessing.

Statements of blessing.

And it gets the title because all of the beatitudes, all of these statements start with

that word blessed.

That word blessed in the original language means happy, right?

Happy.

And so as we study this passage today, really when I refer to the beatitudes, when

commentators throughout history, we're talking about the blessed statements, the statements of

why Christians are blessed. All right, once again, our passage this morning is going to be

Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 through 12. After I read read it please, if you would be willing to,

I will say this is the word of the Lord.

Please reply, thanks be to God.

Matthew 5, 1 through 12.

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain.

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