In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes through six case studies of living life God’s way. For each case, he begins with “You have heard it said …” and then responds with “But I say …” The common wisdom that we often hear about how to do life helps us get by, but in these case studies, Jesus introduces a radical approach to living that frees us from the shortcomings and pitfalls of “the normal way.” How can we learn to live radically and to totally transform our approach to others?Week 6 of You've Heard It Said

Teacher: Brad MillerIn Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus shares his sixth and final case study based on the wisdom of the Torah, and it may be the most challenging one yet. The first three case studies focused on treating others as sacred image-bearers of God. The fourth and fifth case studies offered guidance on how to handle conflict. And in the final case study, Jesus concludes with wisdom on how to respond to people who not only dislike us but even desire our harm. In this message, we discuss one of Jesus’ most famous teachings: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes through six case studies of living life God’s way. For each case, he begins with “You have heard it said …” and then responds with “But I say …” The common wisdom that we often hear about how to do life helps us get by, but in these case studies, Jesus introduces a radical approach to living that frees us from the shortcomings and pitfalls of “the normal way.” How can we learn to live radically and to totally transform our approach to others?Week 5 of You've Heard It Said

Teacher: Megan StibrichIn Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus offers wisdom from the Torah about retaliation, justice, and nonviolent resistance to injustice. He references a series of laws in Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, and Deuteronomy 19, all of which contain the familiar language of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth.” Jesus reveals the surprising wisdom within these laws, using real-life scenarios that would have been familiar to oppressed Israelites living under Roman occupation: turning the other cheek, giving your cloak, and going the extra mile. In this message, we discuss how these actions can open up our imaginations for boldly standing against injustice in creative, nonviolent ways.

n his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes through six case studies of living life God’s way. For each case, he begins with “You have heard it said …” and then responds with “But I say …” The common wisdom that we often hear about how to do life helps us get by, but in these case studies, Jesus introduces a radical approach to living that frees us from the shortcomings and pitfalls of “the normal way.” How can we learn to live radically and to totally transform our approach to others?Week 4 of You've Heard It Said

Teacher: Elohim SalazarIn his second set of three case studies, Jesus offers wisdom about how people can work together in spite of conflict. In Matthew 5:33-37, Jesus focuses on the ancient practice of oath keeping. By the time of Jesus, ancient Israelites no longer spoke the divine name of Yahweh out of respect, but they would still swear oaths by things closely related to God—like the sky, land, temple, etc. Some people used these oaths as a loophole because they felt less serious to break (“I only swore by the temple!”). In this message, we discuss Jesus’ teaching on oaths, which demonstrates God’s wisdom on the integrity of our words and the danger of even small deceptions.