In 1970, James Smart wrote a little book entitled "The Strange Silence of the Bible in the Church." In it he convincingly argued that the Scriptures were falling silent in the teaching and preaching of the church and in the consciousness of the people in the pews. More than 30 years ago—back in what some see as the glory days of the church—vast sections of the Christian faith had already stopped listening to Jesus. Sermons largely ignored the biblical text. Sunday School classes were more interested in psychology than theology. Bible studies virtually disappeared as fewer and fewer of the faithful attended.

Now, decades later, not a lot has changed. Today studies show that biblical illiteracy is high—that many churchgoers reared in the modern Sunday School and youth programs lack even a basic knowledge of the Scriptures. The Bible remains silent—and Jesus with it.

If we are to build our lives, our children's lives and our grandchildren's lives on a solid foundation, listening to Jesus is essential. There is no where better to begin than the Sermon on the Mount. As Dallas Willard has noted, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus addresses "the guts of human existence"