Our last stop of the day was the hillside where Christ delivered his Sermon on the Mount sermon found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7.
This mount is absolutely GORGEOUS overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
On the top of the mount stands a modern Roman Catholic church which was built on the site of 4th century church ruins. The church is octogonal, the 8 sides representing the 8 Beattitudes.
Matthew 5:3-12
"Blessed be the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger & thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, & persecute you, & shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice & be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
I loved the gold ceiling inside the church. . . the markings around the central circle reminded me of television show "The Chosen." It made me smile. In the opening of The Chosen it shows fish swimming around a central circle, then one fish appears (in a teal color) & slowly other fish turn & follow him. I've always loved that metaphor for Christ teaching & bidding us to follow him. Seeing this on the ceiling of the church reminded me that I continue to "follow Him" in my daily life.
Since this was our last stop of the day, & it was Sunday, we all settled down on the Mount & had a small church service together as a group. We sang a couple hymns, bore testimony of our Savior, read from the Sermon on the Mount, & prayed together. It was a beautiful experience.
Afterward, we headed back to our hotel. We ate dinner together, then everyone met downstairs to watch the World Cup. I was cracking up at the crowd sitting in the lounge of the hotel. Everybody had their chairs pushed up toward the TV. . . some were rooting for France & others Argentina. Every time there was a goal, everyone screamed & high fived each other. It was such a rush of energy in there. The game went into double overtime & Argentina finally won in the end.
Bladen did NOT care about the world cup, I had to laugh at this picture. . . all the girls were huddled around him as he explained some random way to beat a game they were trying to win.
After the world cup ended, we decided to watch The Chosen: Season 3, Episode 1 together as a family. It was perfect because it was Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. It was the perfect way to end our day.
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