Activities like praying can help us grow closer to God. Yet, that reward only comes when we do them for the right reason, as we discover in Matthew 6:5-6.

Being right with God means doing the right things for the right reasons, starting with giving to help those in need. As we discover in Matthew 6:1-4, giving like that brings us closer to God with all His rewards.

There is a reason Jesus preached such challenging stuff like "love your enemies" in the Sermon on the Mount. As we discover in Matthew 5:43-48, He is trying to help us become more like God.

When people hurt us, we naturally want them to hurt, too. That makes the challenge of Jesus to "turn the other cheek" in Matthew 5:38-42 one we try so hard to get out of doing. If we will do it, though, everything can change.

People are flaky; but if we are learning from Jesus how to live, then we discover in Matthew 5:33-37 that we have to really mean what we say.

The things Jesus preached in His Sermon on the Mount are needed as much today as they were then. As we discover in Matthew 5:31-32, His teaching on divorce leads us somewhere much different than where people usually go.

In the most famous sermon of all time, Jesus talked about sex. No matter what the world says, we discover from God's Son in Matthew 5:27-30 that our thoughts and feelings about it have a serious impact.

It is not a sin to feel angry...but that doesn't mean it is okay. We discover in Matthew 5:21-26 that Jesus wants to help us deal with our anger as He changes our hearts.

Jesus told His disciples He expected them to be more righteous than the most righteous people in their society…and if you saw Jesus’ disciples, you’d appreciate how impossible that seemed. Yet, it had everything to do with just what God was accomplishing through Jesus, as we discover in Matthew 5:17-20.

The world may not value you, but it sure does need you. As we discover in Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus teaches His followers to be salt and light as we live each day.

Jesus' followers will face persecution...but sometimes we cause our own struggles. To experience the blessing Jesus promises in the Sermon on the Mount, we must discover what we are really supposed to stand for.

Everyone wants peace...but the only way to achieve it is to wholeheartedly seek Jesus and learn to do the hard things He teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount.

God's kingdom operates very differently than the world, as we discover when Jesus blesses the meek and the hungry in His Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount in a startling way, calling the poor and mourning “blessed”. The world doesn’t see it, but blessing is exactly what follows when our need and hurt lead us to Jesus.

One sermon had a greater impact than any other speech in human history: the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus preached. When we as His followers discover it in Matthew 5, we will be truly blessed.