Reading the Sermon on the Mount

On Sunday mornings we are looking at the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12).
This is the first part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) which is Jesus’ first major teaching in the gospels.

We are encouraging you to read and meditate on the Beatitudes each week.

We are also encouraging you to read the entire Sermon on the Mount, and at least once to read it out loud. You can have the text read to you here.

Why read the text out loud?

  • The text of Scripture was originally read aloud, in the synagogue and in the early church gatherings.
  • In reading the Bible out loud, we slow down.
  • And in slowing down, we hear the whole text. We don’t skip over sections that we are familiar with.
  • When we read things out loud, we emphasize what we say. When we process the pronunciation of words and the articulation of sentences in spoken form, we consider not only what we say, but how we say it.

Let me encourage you to read the Sermon on the Mount out loud, ideally in one session. While there is great value in looking at individual words and phrases and verses, it is also important to see the flow of the entire passage.