Becoming Like Jesus Bible Study Guide Plus Streaming Video: A Bible Study on the Beatitudes

Discover the transformative power of the beatitudes.

Many of us imagine spiritual growth as a steady climb upward, but the truth is that it's a journey filled with highs, lows, and moments of relearning. Every struggle, setback, and victory is part of how Jesus shapes us into His image.

The Beatitudes listed in Matthew 5 provide a roadmap for this journey, revealing the qualities Jesus calls us to embody: poverty in spirit, godly sorrow, meekness, a hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, purity, peacemaking, and perseverance through trials. These traits don't develop overnight--they require deep work, over time, with the support of a community for them to take root and bear fruit in your life.

Benefits of the Study

• Renewed Perspective on Spiritual Growth: Gain clarity and encouragement by understanding that spiritual growth isn't a straight path but a dynamic journey of highs and lows, helping you embrace where you are in your faith walk.
• Practical Tools for Everyday Faith: Discover actionable steps to reflect Christ's character in your daily life, equipping you to navigate the challenges of work, family, and community with grace and purpose.
• Deeper Connection with God: Strengthen your relationship with God through Scripture-based lessons, prayer, and reflection, fostering a sense of peace and purpose in the midst of life's busyness.
• Encouragement for Life's Challenges: Find hope and resilience by exploring how Jesus' teachings, like the Beatitudes, can guide you through seasons of doubt, setbacks, and struggles.
• Inspiration to Lead and Serve: Be empowered to live out your faith authentically, inspiring those around you--whether in your family, church, or community--to pursue a Christlike life.

Features of the Study

• Individual access to six streaming video sessions: Dynamic video teachings from Matt Chandler offer encouragement and biblical teachings.
• Interactive Small Group Format: Designed with an engaging structure that fosters meaningful discussions, shared learning, and deeper connections within small groups.
• Flexible Six-Week Schedule: A six-week format that's easy to adapt for individual study, small groups, or church-wide discipleship programs.
• Leader's Guide: Found in the back of the study guide, the Leader's Guide provides preparation tips for leading a group through "Becoming Like Jesus", offers suggested structures for meetings, and helps leaders navigate group dynamics.
• Guided Reflection and Application: Includes thought-provoking questions, journaling prompts, and practical exercises to help participants apply biblical principles to their daily lives.

Video Sessions

1. The Invitation (19 minutes): Using the metaphor of a horizontal coil, Pastor Matt Chandler explains how every peak and valley in life propels us forward in our spiritual growth. He explains how deep work, patience over time, and the role of community are key components of this transformative journey
2. Poverty and Grief (19 minutes): Session two explores the first two Beatitudes, explaining that the journey to becoming like Jesus begins not from a place of strength, but from the lowliness of being "poor in spirit."
3. Quiet Strength and Holy Hunger (18 minutes): Meekness and righteousness are essential qualities in the journey of becoming like Jesus. The quiet strength of meekness is intertwined with a deep hunger and thirst for righteousness--a desperate desire to be in right relationship with God, ourselves, others, and creation.
4. Mercy and Purity (17 minutes): The practice of receiving and giving mercy fosters a "pure in heart" attitude--one of integrity, honesty, and wholeheartedness before God. By embracing our need for mercy and refusing to hide our struggles, we close the distance with God and experience the profound transformation that leads to true intimacy and freedom in Christ.
5. The Peacemakers (19 minutes): Sin creates separation from God, self, and others, but the gospel reconciles these relationships. All believers are called to be peacemakers, actively bringing the wholeness and harmony of God's shalom into a fractured world.
6. Persecuted and Rejoicing (20 minutes) To stand firm in persecution, we are encouraged to cultivate deep spiritual roots through prayer and Scripture, and to remain deeply embedded in a supportive church community, remembering that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who endure for Christ.

Streaming video access included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2030. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.

Matt Chandler has served as the lead pastor of The Village Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for over twenty years and is the executive chairman of Acts 29, a global church-planting network. He is known for his clear, gospel-centered preaching, deep commitment to biblical theology, and passion for forming healthy disciples and churches. Matt is also an author, speaker, and podcast host, and has spent decades helping believers follow Jesus with courage, humility, and conviction in everyday life. He is married to his wife, Lauren, and together they have three children.