The Applause of Heaven - Max Lucado [48]
12. Matthew 10:27-28.
13. Paul Harvey, Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story New York, NY: Bantam, 1977),117.
chapter 9 • a satisfied thirst
1. Luke 22:20.
2. Hebrews 10:4.
3. John 7:37.
4. "It is not sufficient that we merely want righteousness unless we have a downright famine for it ... "-St. Jerome, quoted in Bruner, The Christhook, 142.
5. Matthew 26:28, PHILLIPS.
chapter II • the father in the face of the enemy
1. Archibald Hart, The Hidden Link between Adrenaline and Stress (Waco, TX: Word, 1986), 101, 142-45.
2. Matthew 18:21-35.
3. Matthew 18:34.
4. Romans 2:4.
chapter 12 • the state of the heart
1. Proverbs 4:23.
2. Matthew 15:18-19.
3. Luke 6:45.
4. Psalms 51:10.
chapter 14 • seeds of peace
1. James 3:18, LB.
2. Paul Harvey, Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story New York, NY: Bantam, I977), 49.
3. Isaiah 53:2, LB.
chapter 15 • the greasy pole of power
1. USA Today, 22 March 1988, SD.
2. Henry Emerson Fosdick, quoted in A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants (Nashville: The Upper Room, 1983), 263.
3. Genesis 3:5.
4. Gary Smith, "Ali and His Entourage," Sports Illustrated, 16 April 1988, 48-49.
5. Paul Lee Tan, ed., Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations (Rockville, MD: Assurance Publishers, I979), 1213-14.
chapter 16 • the dungeon of doubt
1. Matthew 14:I-12.
2. Matthew 11:3-4.
3. Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1988), 158.
chapter 17 • the kingdom worth dying for
1. Matthew 11:4-5.
2. Matthew 11:3-4.
3. Isaiah 35:5; 61:1.
4. Psalm 139:13.
5. Ephesians 2:10.
6. George Sweeting and Donald Sweeting, "The Evangelist and the Agnostic," Moody Monthly, July/August 1989, 69.
7. Ibid., 67.
8. Ibid., 69.
9. Ephesians 2:8-9.
10. Quoted in A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, 345.
II. Romans 8:26.
12. Matthew 27:46.
chapter I8 • the applause of heaven
1. Revelation 21:1-5.
2. Psalm 23:3.
STUDY GUIDE
MEETING CHRIST
ON THE MOUNTAIN
This book is not an end in itself. If it does its job, it will lead you toward your own encounter with Christ on the mountain. And the following guide is intended to help you make that connection between reading a book and meeting the Christ.
This, then, is not so much a study of a book but a study of Christ's message and a catalyst for helping the book bring his message into the core of your life. It does not proceed chapter by chapter, but beatitude by beatitude, using the insights of the chapters as springboards for your own study and meditation.
There are ten study "sessions" here. If you are meeting together in a group, you might try to work through one a week. (Note to group leaders: since some of the questions in the guide are very personal, "sharing" answers should always be optional.) If you are studying on your own, go at your own pace, taking the time to let each beatitude work its transforming way into your attitude and character.
To each encounter, I suggest you bring your Bible and a notebook for writing down your own thoughts and observations. More important, bring a prayerful spirit and an expectant attitude. And when you come, plan to be surprised with the sacred delight of meeting Christ on the mountain.
Session 1 • Chapters 1 & 2
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.... and he began to teach them, saying: Blessed ...
1. Describe the happiest moment you can remember. Jot down some of the circumstances surrounding it-who was involved, when it happened, how long your happiness lasted. Now, recall the time in your life that you were most miserable. What was happening then? How have the circumstances of your life contributed to your happiness or unhappiness?
2. What is the difference between "choosing to be cheerful," as Beverly Sills describes it, and putting on a cheerful facade to cover up or deny misery? Under what circumstances, if any, could "choosing to be cheerful" be a negative choice?
3. The following Old Testament passages reveal some of the ideas about happiness Jesus' listeners had grown up on. How does each passage