Beatitudes Series: Stories Worth Living
Speaker: Pastor Pierre
Read: Exodus 34:6-7; Matthew 5:1-26; Luke 6:36; John 1:1,13,14; 3:3,5,6; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 1:3-4
God’s names reveal His nature to us noting that He is compassionate, slow to anger, and so much more. God’s nature has staggering implications for who we are to be. As believers, we are born again by His Spirit and into His DNA. As His son and daughters, we are to reflect His characteristics in the world, such that the world knows what God is like by looking at the people of God. As God is compassionate, we are to be compassionate (Luke 6:26), as He is loving, we are to be loving, and as He is patient, we are to be patient.
Some may wonder what it would be like if God lived among ordinary humans in the chaotic, sinful world we now live in. Would God’s nature and personhood be different when faced with the fallen, imperfect world we have to experience? But Scripture reminds us that Jesus came into this world as a human and that He is able to sympathize and understand our lives because he was tempted and knows exactly how it feels to be human. When He gave the beautitudes during the Sermon on the Mount, He was giving us instructions for how to live in this flawed, messy world and how to stay faithful to God’s DNA. He described conduct that is to flows out of right standing with God as a result of a transformed heart.
Discussion Questions:
1. What resonated with you as you listened to this sermon and reviewed it?
2. Considering your DNA, what characteristics do you have that is reflective of your parents or other family members?
3. Some call the Sermon on The Mount a manifesto. This was defined as a previously published opinion or public consensus that promotes a new idea for carrying out changes the author believes should be made. Read Matthew 5:1-26. What changes or new ideas does Jesus seem to be promoting?
4. In Matthew 5:3-10, what words in these verses seem to contradict one another?
5. The word beautitude has its root in the Latin word “beatus” which means blessed. It refers to a divine joy, perfect happiness, an inner satisfaction and sufficiency that does not depend on outward circumstances for happiness. How can we experience this while living in such a broken world and being faced with life’s challenges?
6. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 3:3-6 and 1 Peter 1:3-4. How would you explain to someone how to acquire God’s DNA?
