RAP SHEET LUKE 6:20-26

Series: The Kingdom Way

Sermon: How Do You Keep Score?

Scripture: Luke 6:20–26

REVIEW

This week, we stepped into the opening of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, where He immediately challenges how we think about life, success, and blessing.

Jesus says:

“Blessed are you who are poor… hungry… weep… are hated…” (Luke 6:20–22)

“But woe to you who are rich… full… laughing… well-spoken of…” (Luke 6:24–26)

At first glance, this feels backward. In the world’s system, blessings look like comfort, success, security, and approval. But Jesus introduces a completely different scoreboard—one that focuses on what is happening inside of us.

He is not talking primarily about external conditions, but internal posture:

• “Poor” points to dependence on God

• “Hungry” points to longing for righteousness

• “Weeping” points to sensitivity to sin and brokenness

• “Hated” points to faithfulness to Jesus

Jesus is addressing our paradigm—how we define what it means to win in life. It’s important to understand what Jesus is—and is not—saying.

He is not teaching how to earn salvation or enter God’s family. Scripture is clear that we are brought into relationship with God by grace through faith, not by our works.

Instead, Jesus is teaching how citizens of His Kingdom live and what God values. He is revealing how we experience life in His Kingdom now and how we are rewarded in His Kingdom later.

This is about the NOW vs. LATER perspective, not saved vs. not saved.

If we build our lives around the values of this world, we may experience comfort now—but we miss out on the deeper, eternal reward that comes from living for God’s Kingdom.

But when we live dependent on God, hungry for Him, sensitive to His heart, and faithful to Him—even when it costs us—we are living in line with how God defines true blessing.

Jesus is flipping the scoreboard so we can see what actually matters.

APPLY

This passage invites us to examine our lives honestly:

How do you keep score?

What defines “winning” for you right now?

• comfort and security

• success and achievement

• approval from others

• control over your circumstances

Or is it:

• dependence on God

• desire for righteousness

• sensitivity to spiritual things

• faithfulness to Jesus

This is not about earning God’s love. This is about aligning our lives with what God values so we can experience the fullness of His Kingdom and live for what lasts.

So here is the question:

What is ONE area of your life where you need to shift your perspective to match God’s Kingdom instead of the world’s?

Be specific. It might be:

• trusting God instead of chasing control

• choosing obedience over comfort

• prioritizing spiritual growth over success

• letting go of the need for approval

This is about learning to live by the right scoreboard.

PRAY

Use prompts like these as your group prays together:

• “Jesus, show me where my thinking needs to change.”

• “Help me value what You value.”

• “Teach me to depend on You more deeply.”• “Give me a hunger for righteousness.”

• “Help me live for what truly matters in Your Kingdom.”

Take time to thank Jesus that we don’t earn our place in God’s family—but we are invited to grow, mature, and live for eternal impact in His Kingdom.