7.0.0 Living Jesus

The Sermon on the Mount is more than great ideas by a great teacher. It is a way of life. In the book Living Jesus, Randy Harris invites us not just to understand these great biblical teachings but to live them in ways we’ve never before imagined. This book study is a training tool for those who want to live the way of Jesus. Providing an overview of the entire contents of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7, this study unpacks the sermon in hard-hitting, easy-to-understand, and practical ways.

G. K. Chesterton said Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried. Many people today view the Sermon on the Mount this way. They simply believe the teaching is too hard and give up in exasperation and guilt or confusion. The single most important thing to remember about this sermon, says Randy Harris, is to believe that Jesus really intended for us to live these teachings.

---

7.1.1 Section 1 Objectives
By the end of this topic, students should be able to:

• summarize the Sermon on the Mount
  
• determine Jesus’ expectations of us, as it applies to Matthew 5-7
  
• analyze the possibility for Christians to live out Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5-7
  
• defend the Sermon on the Mount as both practical and realistic
  
• identify the audience for Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5-7
  
• define the term “Anawim”
  
• explain Jesus’ purpose for sharing the blessings in the Beatitudes
  
• recite from memory Matthew 5:3-12
  

7.1.2 Section 1 Content

• Chapter One START AT THE END: WISE AND FOOLISH PEOPLE
  
• Chapter Two YOU ARE BLESSED
  

7.2.1 Section 2 Objectives
By the end of this topic, students should be able to:

• explain the significance of the images of salt and light Jesus uses as it relates to Christians interacting with the world
  
• recognize the effects of making personal changes in one’s life 
  
• describe the life that Jesus is calling us to in the Sermon on the Mount
  
• explain the different ways we might view and practice the “Law of God” after reading Matthew 5:17-20
  
• list the six ways Jesus compared the way the Pharisees and law teachers interpreted the law with his own interpretation
  
• defend Jesus’ view of the law, the Torah, based on His words
  
• discuss the balance of how we can experience grace and also practice the commands of Jesus

7.2.2 Section 2 Content

• Chapter Three YOU ARE SALT AND LIGHT
  
• Chapter Four THE HEART OF THE LAW
  

7.3.1 Section 3 Objectives
By the end of this topic, students should be able to:

• explain the connection Jesus makes between anger and murder in Matthew 5:21-26
  
• list the negative effects of our disrespect, demeaning, and degrading actions
  
• discuss Jesus’ command for reconciliation in our relationships
  
• explain the ways in which Jesus tells us we need to change the way we look at the world and change our hearts
  
• explain why God created sex and in what ways he declared it to be good
  
• explain how man has made sex into something that can be sinful and immoral
  
• summarize how sexual sin is a matter of the heart and not just a matter of the body
  

7.3.2 Section 3 Content

• Chapter Five IDIOT! STUPID! MORON!
  
• Chapter Six GOD MADE SEX REALLY GOOD
  

7.4.1 Section 4 Objectives
By the end of this topic, students should be able to:

• recognize the importance of having integrity
  
• understand how much Jesus cares about the words we use
  
• understand how much Jesus cares about the condition of our hearts
  
• discuss why always being truthful is vital to our living Godly lives
  
• summarize the stories from the Bible that display God's truthfulness and integrity
  
• explain how Jesus wants us to treat those who want to do us harm
  
• explain why Jesus would ask us (command us) to love our enemies
  
• recognize Jesus view on dealing with violence
  
• discuss the various ways Jesus suggest we should counter violence and aggression
  

7.4.2 Section 4 Content

• Chapter Seven DEEP INTEGRITY
  
• Chapter Eight HOLY PRANK!
  

7.5.1 Section 5 Objectives
By the end of this topic, students should be able to:

• explain why Jesus would tell us to do good things in secret, out of the view of others
  
• recognize the ways we act good to improve our status and to be seen by others
  
• discuss why performing for good works man is not what God wants us to do
  
• describe the “discipline of secrecy”
  
• explain why secrecy is crucial to our spiritual lives
  
• define the term “allelon” as it applies to living in a Christian community
  
• explain how worrying about earthly wants and needs displays a lack of trust
  
• summarize Jesus’ view of money and wealth
  
• explain why owning many things is a hindrance to our spiritual lives
  
• discuss real, practical steps to living more in line with Matthew 6:19-24
  

7.5.2 Section 5 Content

• Chapter Nine WATCH ME!
  
• Chapter Ten TREASURES IN HEAVEN
  

7.6.1 Section 6 Objectives
By the end of this topic, students should be able to:

• discuss the concept of “generosity” as it relates to our judgments of other people
  
• understand how God’s generosity should cause us to offer graciousness to others
  
• explain the harm of judging others too quickly and too harshly
  
• summarize the “benefit of the doubt” principle as it relates to Matthew 7:1-4
  
• explain what Jesus says regarding giving our allegiance to government and politics
  
• explain how God is “keeping score” in Matthew 7:15-23
  
• apply the teachings of the Sermon in the Mount to live a life free of materialism, and full of integrity and love
  

7.6.2 Section 6 Content

• Chapter Eleven STICK IN MY EYE
  
• Chapter Twelve WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
  
• Living the Sermon in Your Community