This week, we are starting a new series titled "The Sermon on the Mount: The Greatest Sermon Ever Delivered." And we begin at the beginning...by looking at the Beatitudes. And, what we are going to see is if we are to truly be the people of God, if we are to truly experience Kingdom Life in this world, we need to display the qualities that Jesus is lifting up in the Beatitudes. But, the key is, we can’t display these qualities on our own because they are not merely actions that we can DO; we can’t just try harder to be poor in spirit or pure in heart, for example. Instead these are all inner qualities, inner characteristics, that can only truly come about through the transformative work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if we want to avoid having an inflated sense of ourselves and instead have the inner righteousness Jesus is describing in this passage, we must acknowledge our own shortcomings, we must submit our whole lives to God, and we must be transformed and energized by the Holy Spirit.