Blessings from the Bottom

1. In simple words, how could we describe or define the Kingdom of Heaven?
2. What does it mean to you to be #blessed?
3. Which of Jesus’s statements in the Beatitudes resonates the most with you today?
4. How do Jesus’s Beatitudes inform and challenge how we might live out our faith today?

Matthew 5:1-5

1. How would you describe or define the Kingdom of Heaven?
2. What does it mean to you to be “poor in spirit”?
3. How might those who mourn be blessed?
4. How could meekness be a strength?

Matthew 5:6-8

1. What does it look like to hunger and thirst for righteousness?
2. What is “righteousness” and what it look like in our daily lives?
3. Has someone ever been merciful toward you? How did that feel?
4. Finish this phrase: A person who is pure in heart is…
5. What do you think it would mean to “see God?”

Matthew 5:9-12

1. 1. What does it mean to you to be a peacemaker?
   2. What might be some differences between peace-making & peace-keeping?
   3. What might peace look like in our lives?
   4. Finish these phrases:
      
      1. Persecution for faith in Jesus is NOT…
      2. Persecution for faith in Jesus IS…

“The blessing of God isn’t found in the achievement of worldly comfort and success, but in living into the values of the justice of God.”—What are some ways that we can live into the values of the justice of God in our daily lives?

“Jesus is in the business of pronouncing blessings from the bottom.” What might “blessings from the bottom” look like in our lives today?

1. How have you experienced blessing? / How are you experiencing blessing?
2. How have you experienced the need for God’s justice?