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CrossWay Church
May 3, 2026 Matthew 5:10-12
Locations & Times
CrossWay Church Battle Ground
311 N Parkway Ave, Battle Ground, WA 98604, USA
Sunday 10:00 AM
Matthew 5:10-12: When Blessing Looks Like Suffering
I) Redefining what it means to be blessed
A) Blessed means being spiritually ________ and genuinely well-off — not because of your circumstances, but in the ________ of them.
B) The Beatitudes describe the kind of person God ________ — someone anchored in his ________, not their circumstances.
II) Following Jesus will cost you something
A) What can we expect to face?
1) Persecution: Being actively ________, opposed, or punished because of your faith.
2) Insults: Being mocked, ridiculed, or ________ attacked for your faith.
B) Why will Christians face persecution and insults?
1) God’s people have ________ faced persecution.
2) Jesus ________ it so his followers will too.
3) ________ does not like light.
C) Not all heat is the same — is this suffering for Christ, or because of us?
1) Righteousness: Living like ________
2) Jesus’s sake: His ________ claims to salvation.
3) This should not be caused by our own ________ and unchristlike behavior.
III) Reasons to rejoice in the midst of suffering
A) Our true ________ is not here — we are citizens of heaven.
B) Our suffering is not ________ — God is writing something with it.
1) Persecution strips away false sources of ________ — what remains is what’s real.
2)Insults force a choice: ________-pleasers or God-pleasers.
3)Suffering deepens our ________ and intimacy with Jesus.
C)Persecution and insults cannot ________ what God has secured
Helmut Thielicke, Life Can Begin Again: There is another comfort, however, in the fact that Jesus promises that his followers must endure sufferings; for the very fact that all this is stated beforehand in his words assures us that suffering is by no means contrary to plan. No matter how grim the fears that surround us, none of it can frustrate the plans of our Lord; on the contrary, they are all exactly in line with his plans. Time after time we learn from experience that it is not the suffering itself that is the worst; the worst is meaninglessness. For the disciples the worst thing about the sufferings of their Lord was not that now they saw themselves facing persecution and torture, but that all the torment of rack and scourge that he would have to suffer suddenly appeared to have become meaningless and worthless.
I) Redefining what it means to be blessed
A) Blessed means being spiritually ________ and genuinely well-off — not because of your circumstances, but in the ________ of them.
B) The Beatitudes describe the kind of person God ________ — someone anchored in his ________, not their circumstances.
II) Following Jesus will cost you something
A) What can we expect to face?
1) Persecution: Being actively ________, opposed, or punished because of your faith.
2) Insults: Being mocked, ridiculed, or ________ attacked for your faith.
B) Why will Christians face persecution and insults?
1) God’s people have ________ faced persecution.
2) Jesus ________ it so his followers will too.
3) ________ does not like light.
C) Not all heat is the same — is this suffering for Christ, or because of us?
1) Righteousness: Living like ________
2) Jesus’s sake: His ________ claims to salvation.
3) This should not be caused by our own ________ and unchristlike behavior.
III) Reasons to rejoice in the midst of suffering
A) Our true ________ is not here — we are citizens of heaven.
B) Our suffering is not ________ — God is writing something with it.
1) Persecution strips away false sources of ________ — what remains is what’s real.
2)Insults force a choice: ________-pleasers or God-pleasers.
3)Suffering deepens our ________ and intimacy with Jesus.
C)Persecution and insults cannot ________ what God has secured
Helmut Thielicke, Life Can Begin Again: There is another comfort, however, in the fact that Jesus promises that his followers must endure sufferings; for the very fact that all this is stated beforehand in his words assures us that suffering is by no means contrary to plan. No matter how grim the fears that surround us, none of it can frustrate the plans of our Lord; on the contrary, they are all exactly in line with his plans. Time after time we learn from experience that it is not the suffering itself that is the worst; the worst is meaninglessness. For the disciples the worst thing about the sufferings of their Lord was not that now they saw themselves facing persecution and torture, but that all the torment of rack and scourge that he would have to suffer suddenly appeared to have become meaningless and worthless.