Blessed, According to Jesus

What does it really mean to be “blessed”? In this message, we listen carefully to Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1–12) and discover that Jesus defines blessing very differently than we do. While the world tends to call people blessed based on stability, success, or how well life is working, Jesus names as blessed those who feel small, sorrowful, gentle, longing for justice, merciful, faithful, misunderstood, or pushed aside. Far from denying suffering, Jesus places it inside a bigger story—one shaped by where the Father is taking the world. Along the way, we discover that the Beatitudes are not just descriptions of Jesus’ followers, but a self-portrait of Jesus Himself. This message invites us to reconsider who we call blessed, to see Jesus more clearly, and to hear His call to follow Him toward the world God is making—even while we’re still standing in a broken present.