Manifesto: "a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer."
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is perhaps his most definitive statement of how the Kingdom of God differed from what passed for religion in his day. His words were as radical in the First Century as they are in the Twenty-First. If we can understand what Jesus meant and absorb it into our Spirit, we can grow into the kind of Christians that he intends for us to be.
Hundreds have been touched personally by studying The Jesus Manifesto of the Kingdom as an online Bible study. You, your small group, your church will feel the Sermon on the Mount come alive again, fresh for the Twenty-First Century.
Here's the basic outline of the book. It is designed to be taught in a
13-week quarter, if your calendar is set up that way.
Preface
Introduction
I. Kingdom Citizens (5:1-16)
1. Paradoxical People: the Beatitudes (5:1-13)
What Is the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus Proclaims? (Excursus 1)
2. Witnessing People: Living as Salt and Light in the World (5:13-16)
The Religion of the Pharisees (Excursus 2)
II. The Kingdom and the Spirit of the Law (5:17-48)
3. The Spirit of the Law and Reconciliation (5:17-26)
Did Jesus Believe in Hell? (Excursus 3)
4. Adultery, Lust, and the Spirit of Marriage (5:27-30)
5. Divorce and the Spirit of Marriage (5:27-32 with 19:1-12)
Loving Your Enemies Case Study: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Excursus 5)
6. The Spirit of Truthfulness and Love (5:33-48)
III. Piety in the Kingdom (6:1-18)
7. Giving, Prayer, and Fasting (6:1-8, 16-18)
Verses on How God Looks at the Poor (Excursus 6)
8. The Lord's Prayer (6:9-15)
IV. Materialism and the Kingdom (6:19-34)
9. Temptation to Idolatry (6:19-24)
10. Temptation to Worry (6:25-34)
V. Discernment in the Kingdom (7:1-29)
11. Judging Self and Others (7:1-6)
12. Asking in Faith (7:7-12)
13. Discerning the True Way (7:13-29)
Appendices
Appendix 1. Question Handouts for Group Participants (may be duplicated at no extra charge)
Appendix 2. Songs and Hymns Based on the Sermon on the Mount and Related Themes
Appendix 3. Inductive Bible Study Questions for the Sermon on the Mount (downloaded
separately in PDF format)
Appendix 4. Readers Theater Scripts for the Sermon on the Mount (downloaded
separately in PDF format)