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The Sermon on the Mount
Reflections on a new humanity
“If any one will piously and soberly consider the sermon which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke on the mount, as we read it in the Gospel according to Matthew, I think that he will find in it, so far as regards the highest morals, a perfect standard of the Christian life…”
St Augustine
During the “ordinary” season following Pentecost and Trinity Sunday 2008, we’ll be shifting from the set lectionary gospel readings to an extended reflection on the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 5-7). We will retain the other RCL readings as scriptural foils for our gospel reflections during this period.
A number of resources are available to complement the sermons and worship services. Encouragement is given that you make use of one or more of these in preparation for worship each week.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship
- This is a classic study of the sermon on the mount, and available in English two versions – the long-standing 1959 revised edition (published by SCM and others) and the new critical translation (entitled simply Discipleship). The older translation is available from local bookshops for about $25; the new version can also be purchased locally, but is rather cheaper online (paperback) – again around $25 posted to Melbourne.
- John Wesley’s sermons on the Sermon on the Mount.
- This is available as part of his “Forty-Four Sermons”, or can be obtained in the collection available as a download from here (free registration with CCEL is required).
- St Augustine’s reflections on the Sermon on the Mount
- This is available as a download from here (free registration with CCEL is required).
Further resources could be found at most Christian bookshops.
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