Where are beatitudes found in the Bible?

The Bible passages below can be used in sermons, prayers, pastoral care, or worship planning focused on the Beatitudes. 

See also Sermon on the Mount

• Psalm 2:12, blessed are all those who take refuge in the Lord
• Psalm 32:1-2, happy are those whose sins are forgiven, who are not deceitful
• Psalm 41:12, blessed are those who care for the helpless
• Psalm 65:4, blessed are those God chooses and draws near
• Psalm 84:4-5, blessed are those who dwell in the Lord's house, who find their strength
• Psalm 89:15, blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk in the light of God's face
• Psalm 106:3, blessed are those who act justly, who do what is right
• Psalm 112:1, blessed are those who fear the Lord
• Psalm 119:1-2, blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who keep God's laws, who seek God with all their heart
• Psalm 128:1, blessed are all who fear the Lord
• Psalm 146:54, blessed are those who help and hope are in God
• Proverbs 3:13, blessed are those who find wisdom and gain understanding
• Proverbs 8:32, blessed are those who keep God's ways
• Proverbs 8:34, blessed are those who listen to the Lord
• Isaiah 30:18, blessed are all who wait for the Lord, the God of justice
• Matthew 5:1-12, the Beatitudes in Matthew
• Luke 6:20-26, the Beatitudes in Luke

Sermon ideas about the Beatitudes

Kingdom entrance requirements?

In sermons about the Beatitudes, it would be a mistake to turn these eight blessings in Matthew 5 into a kind of legalistic checklist for entrance into God's kingdom. The Beatitudes as Jesus proclaimed them are not a to-do list. Instead, as the Christian philosopher Dallas Willard pointed out, they represent the good news that when the kingdom of God comes upon people, those whom the world regards as losers and non-starters turn out to be exactly God's kind of people through whom God gets work done on this earth. You don't gain entrance to the kingdom when you attain these various positions in life. Instead, you discover that when the kingdom comes upon you as a sheer gift of grace, you do not have to turn into a successful, powerful, respected person as the world defines those things in order to be pleasing to God or to do great things for God. 

Sermons about the Beatitudes provide opportunites to eplore the truth that God takes that which is humble and of no account by the world's reckoning and blesses all of it as a relfaction of how life should really operate. Of course, the fact that Jesus blesses those who in this world are downtrodden, sad, and abused does not mean the church is relieved of responsibility to minister to such people and to alleviate suffering when and where it can. The Beatitudes are not entrance requirements for the kingdom, but neither are they a set of excuses in case the church fails to stand up for justice for people in distressing circumstances.

Matthew vs. Luke

Sermonds about the Beatitudes can examine the significant differences between Matthew's Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and Luke's (sometimes called) Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6, and these differences extend to the Beatitudes as well. Matthew has Jesus speaking eight blessings, while Luke presents just four (and then neatly balances out those four blessings with four corresponding woes that are not present in Matthew). Matthew also tends to present the blessings as present-day sources of comfort and reassurance for people in these circumstances, whereas Luke aims the blessing in more of an eschatological direction as latter-day and ultimate reversals of all things when God's kingdom fully comes. There may be no neat harmonization of the two versions. Instead, understanding the function of the Beatitudes in the context of Matthew and then in the somewhat different context of Luke allows a richer and more nuanced understanding of the full import of these peculiar blessings, which encapsulate so much of what Jesus taught about the surprising, upside-down nature of the true kingdom of God. These are compelling ideas to explore in sermons about the Beatitudes.

Excerpts about beatitudes

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org sermon ideas about beatitudes: 

"God's view of life is different than the priorities people often hold. Jesus died to rescue us so that we can follow what truly matters." Children's Sermon or Lesson by Kristen Schmidt from Ministry to Children by Kristen Schmidt from Ministry to Children 

"And the way in which the Beatitudes summarize the spirituality reflected throughout the entire New Testament indicates that they were never intended as unrealistic ideals." Scripture Meditation or Sermon by John Driver from Plough

"It doesn't look as if there's a hero among them. They have their jaws set. Their brows are furrowed with concentration. They are blessed when they are worked over and cursed out on his account he tells them. It is not his hard times to come but theirs he is concerned with, speaking out of his own meekness and mercy, the purity of his own heart." Book Quote by Frederick Buechner from Day1

Worship ideas about beatitudes

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org worship resources about beatitudes: 

"O God, call us together as you did those so long ago to discover your blessed people. Today, in this place, Christ gather us." Call to Worship by Sidney D. Fowler from ReWorship