Login / Signup

Free Access

Blessed Are You

Illustration
Stories
Teresa stood reading the new sign outside of the church.

“Nice sign,” Kevin said from beside her. “Where did they come up with those sayings?”

She turned to him. “They’re words of Jesus from the Bible called the Beatitudes.”

“Huh.” He squinted at the sign. “Usually I like what he has to say about love and all of that. These are just confusing. If I’m mourning or poor in spirit, how does that make me blessed?”

“I don’t know,” Teresa admitted. “I just remember them from when I was little. They’re part of what Jesus taught when he went up a mountain.”

“I just wish I never get in times like when I am sad or in need.” Kevin shrugged. “You going to the food bank today?”

“I am.”

“Wanna walk with me?”

Teresa nodded and they started down the road. “How’s your Dad doing?”

Kevin smiled. “He called me by name when I went to the old folks home.”

“They still treating him good there?”

“St. Anthony’s is a good place no matter what people say.”

Teresa tilted her head. “What do people say?”

“Some people think that because they let poor people like us stay there, that it isn’t a good place. You know though they treat Dad the same as they treat everyone else. He gets good meals and whenever I visit, they invite me to have lunch with him.” Kevin paused. “Thanks for telling me about the place.”

“You’re welcome, and I’m glad your Dad is doing okay.” Teresa stopped and shook a rock out of her shoe.

Kevin frowned. “Those shoes are no good for you.”

“I don’t have enough money for new ones.”

“Did you ask down at the thrift shop?”

“Why would I ask there?”

“Sometimes they have shoes that people donate and if they know you are looking for some, they will put them aside for you.” Kevin pointed at his feet. “That’s where I got these ones.”

Teresa whistled. “Those are nice.”

“Yeah, they are pretty sweet.”

“I’ll ask next time I’m in.”

Kevin opened the door for Teresa and followed her into the food bank.

“Hi Kevin, hello Teresa. How are you both today?” Charlie asked from behind the counter. “I’ll get some bags for you. Either of you have a microwave? Someone dropped off some popcorn and you’re welcome to it if you want.”

They both nodded and Charlie disappeared out back.

“You know I was thinking about those words,” Teresa said.

Kevin frowned. “What words?”

“The ones in front of the church. Remember? The blessed are you ones.”

“Yeah. What about them?”

“I remember my grandmother telling me that they are part of the Good News Jesus came to share.”

Kevin shook his head. “I don’t see how being in bad times is good in any way.”

Teresa took a deep breath. “My grandmother also told me that when you are in bad times then you find out what God can do more than ever.”

Charlie reappeared with the bags and handed them to him. He noticed Teresa squirming in her shoes. “Teresa, is it okay if I call down to the thrift store? I know they have some shoes that came in and I think they might have your size.”

“I’ve got to carry those groceries home so I’m not sure I can go today.” She sighed. “I don’t have the strength I used to have.”

Kevin lifted his bag. “I could probably carry yours if you want.”

“You’re got a bad back, Kevin.” Teresa shook her head. “I don’t want you to get laid up again.”

Charlie held up a hand. “Just give me a sec.”

Teresa and Kevin looked at each other as the man disappeared out the back again. He returned in a moment with a small basket on wheels. “Try this.”

Teresa put her bag in and pulled on the handle. “Hey, that makes things easier!”

Kevin nodded. “Now you can get your shoes.”

“Put your groceries in there too,” she said to him. “You don’t live too far from me and we could take turns pulling it.”

Kevin put his bag in and tried pulling the basket. “That does help.”

“Remember to bring it next time you come to the food bank,” Charlie said.

“Sure we’ll bring it back next week, Charlie.”

Charlie shook his head. “No, it’s yours to keep but if you bring it, the bags will be easier to get home.”

They both thanked Charlie and headed toward the thrift shop taking turns pulling the basket.

“I wonder if this is what those words mean,” Kevin said when it was his turn to pull.

“What words?”

“The ones on the church we were looking at, the Beatitudes you called them.” Kevin pointed at the basket, “We still have the same load to carry but because of what we’ve been given it’s easier to manage.”

Teresa looked at the basket and then at Kevin. “That makes sense. My grandmother always said God helps us when we are in need. So the words are Jesus telling us that even in bad times, God is there to help make things better.”

Kevin smiled at her. “Now that is what I would call Good News.”


*****************************************


StoryShare, January 29, 2023 issue.

Copyright 2023 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.

All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 | OT 29 | Pentecost 19
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 20
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Thomas Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Katy Stenta
George Reed
For November 2, 2025:

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This message involves roleplay. You will need a chair for Zach to stand on, unless it is ok for him to stand on a front pew. For the best fun, you will also want to have an adult volunteer play the role of Jesus and walk in when it is time. Whether he is in costume is up to you.

* * *
John Jamison
Object: You will need one or more pictures of people recognized as saints. You may find some pictures by Googling “public domain pictures of saints” and printing images from the results.

* * *

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 and Psalm 119:137-144
Walter Elwell in the Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook notes of righteousness that it is, “Right standing, specifically before God. Among the Greeks, righteousness was an ethical virtue. Among the Hebrews it was a legal concept; the righteous man was the one who got the verdict of acceptability when tried at the bar of God’s justice.” God is a righteous God, even when is people are not righteous.
Frank Ramirez
One of the features of Synagogue worship is the Shema. The Hebrew word is “Hear!” and is the opening for Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” God’s people are commanded to “hear” these words. They come from the Lord. And these three scriptures invite us to hear God and each other, something that is lacking in our society today.
Wayne Brouwer
Fred Craddock tells of a vacation encounter in the Smokey Mountains of eastern Tennessee years ago that moved him deeply. He and his wife took supper one evening in a place called the Black Bear Inn. One side of the building was all glass, open to a magnificent mountain view. Glad to be alone, the Craddocks were a bit annoyed when an elderly man ambled over and struck up a nosey conversation: “Are you on vacation?” “Where are you from?” “What do you do?”
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 and Psalm 149

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, but your commandments are my delight. Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live. (vv. 143-144)

When I was an associate pastor in Janesville, Wisconsin one of my responsibilities was to give a lecture on spirituality once a month at a drug treatment facility. The students who attended were persons who had been convicted of drunk driving and were required to attend the class as a condition of their sentence. Attendance was always good.
Frank Ramirez
Call them the good old days. Call it the Golden Age. It’s not unusual for people to look back in their youth, or to the youth of their country, as somehow more perfect, honorable, or simpler. C.S. Lewis was always skeptical about claims that chocolate was better in one’s youth. It wasn’t better. Our taste buds were stronger and more receptive.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
The Roman Catholic Church's canonisation of Edith Stein some years ago, fuelled considerable controversy. Edith Stein was born and bred into a Jewish family, becoming a Roman Catholic Christian at the age of 31. She was also a leading German intellectual in the early thirties, during the run-up to World War 2, although she gave up that career in order to become a Carmelite nun. But she didn't deny her Jewish roots, for in 1933 she petitioned the Pope, Pious XI to write an encyclical in defence of the Jews.
Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus didn't reject anyone, even those who were liars and cheats. By a simple act of friendship Jesus turned Zaccheus' life around. In our worship today let us consider friendship and all that it means.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, there are some people I don't like.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, there are some people I reject.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, there are some people I keep out of my circle of friends.
Lord, have mercy.


Reading:

SermonStudio

Carlos Wilton
Theme For The Day
The world offers many blessings, but none of these things will save us: only the blessing of God in Jesus Christ can do that.

Old Testament Lesson
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Daniel's Apocalyptic Dream
Perry H. Biddle, Jr.
Comments on the Lessons
John W. Clarke
This chapter of Luke brings us ever closer to the end of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus enters Jericho, just fifteen miles or so from the holy city of Jerusalem. It is here that Jesus transforms the life of Zacchaeus, the tax collector. This is one of the few stories that is peculiar to Luke and is a wonderful human-interest story. The fact that Zacchaeus is willing to climb a tree to see Jesus is a clear indication that he really wanted to see and meet the carpenter from Nazareth. His eagerness to see Jesus is rewarded in a very special way.
Scott A. Bryte
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
Mark Ellingson
This is a story written for people who had been or were about to be persecuted, if not enslaved. (The book of Daniel was probably written in the mid-second century B.C. during a period of Seleucid [Syrian] domination in Palestine.) It tells them and us how their ancestors had once faced a similar slavery under the oppression of the Babylonians centuries earlier. The implication was that if these ancestors could endure and overcome such bondage, so could they and so can we.
Gary L. Carver
Ulysses S. Grant fought many significant battles as commander of the Union forces in the War Between the States. He also served as President of the United States where he probably engaged in as many battles as he did while he was a general. Toward the end of his life he fought his toughest battle -- with cancer and death.
Richard E. Gribble, CSC
There is an apocryphal story told that after completing his masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, the famous Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci went to a nearby tavern to celebrate the event with his friends. While in conversation and sipping a little of the local wine, Leonardo noticed that many in the tavern were making sport of an ugly fool who made his living going from tavern to tavern, entertaining patrons for a spare coin or a crust of bread. This man truly was an ugly person; he seemed to be more of a troll than a man. His small beady eyes were not centered in his oversized head.

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL