Interview with Sunshine and her time studying the Beatitudes {part 1}
First off, the second part of the series studying Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ Studies in the Sermon on the Mount is available now! (And it’s half off through next week!)
I think this is the most important Bible study you can do, over the biggest sermon Jesus gave. But I don’t want you to just take my word for it. Instead, today I’d like to share a chat I had with Sunshine who just finished the Beatitudes Workshop (the first part of this study). I asked her to give her honest opinion on her time in the workshop and wanted to share it with you because we both believe this sermon study is absolutely life changing!
Kari: I’d love to talk to you about your experience working through the book and workbooks! Can you tell me a little about your time studying the Sermon on the Mount?
Sunshine: Okay, so first of all this has been an incredible experience. It has also been (and continues to be) humbling and painful. I remember approaching this study thinking, “Oh wow – Paul Washer talks about Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones a lot and here is an opportunity to read a book of sermons by him and really get a feel for Dr. Lloyd-Jones – this will be fun.” Bless my heart. The first two weeks – the general view and analysis – those went well and then I think it was week three that I started to realize this was going to in fact be a life changing experience.
This book and workshop MOST DEFINITELY changed how I viewed the Beatitudes. In the past, I have approached the Beatitudes as a sort of check-off sheet or to-do list. And then would get totally discouraged when I couldn’t just add more meekness into my speech and actions or when I couldn’t drum up the hunger for righteousness, but instead I had more of an apathetic indifference.
The workbooks and videos [included in the workshop] have been ABSOLUTELY instrumental each week. I love to read. I have already read 51 books this year and I read fast. Often times I will read as an escape from the hard day, but there are only a handful of books that I have read this year that I actually remember and still think about. This book of sermons is not one to just sit down and plow through. The paragraphs are so tightly packed with information, with such truth and insight into God’s Word. It is amazing. Even with the underlines and notes, I still needed some sort of question and answer format that would aid my understanding, reflection, and application of the teaching. Nothing, NOTHING, frustrates me more than to attend a sermon or Bible study and be taught an amazing truth from God’s Word but with NO guidance in how to practically walk that out. It is as if you are severely dehydrated and someone brings you to a window and shows you a crystal clear water source that would alleviate your dehydration. But then leaves you in the room without telling you how to get out to the water source.
The analogies [in the videos included with the workshop], as well as personal stories from your life and your experience of going through the study are invaluable. I have walked away each week knowing exactly what to pray about and how to practically apply the truths to my life, right this minute. I will say though that saying “I walked away from each week” is a bit much, because more times than not these lessons laid me flat. And going back to my original view – this has not been fun. It has been oh so much better. Rich, humbling, and life changing.
Kari: This is so good and helpful to see a glimpse of what you learned! What would you tell someone who was on the fence about doing this study? How has it changed you?
Sunshine: Okay, for someone who is undecided, I would say this: this is a sermon given by the very Son of God. And here is a man that God has gifted as a medical doctor (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones), who has a very unique way of thinking and seeing life that most of us do not have. He takes that wisdom that he gained as a doctor and applies it to the Word of God and teaches it in such a way that you have NO doubt how to walk out the truth from the Sermon on the Mount.
The problem for me is that we seem to have lost of the art of reflective thinking. The beauty of the workshop and workbooks that you created as a companion is that they force us to stop, reflect, and then verbalize what we’ve learned and what we need to do differently.
The videos in the workshop give insight into what this looks like walked out and reassurance that you are not the only one struggling with these things. That to me is invaluable. I think the temptation right now, especially with inflation sky high, is to avoid purchases that are not absolutely necessary. I am on week eleven of the workshop and I would assert that this Beatitude study is so necessary, it would be worth skipping dessert for a week or Starbucks or eating out in order to afford it. I believe in this study so much that I gifted it to my mom for Mother’s Day (with a copy of the Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ book). This sermon and study challenges me in my day-to-day moments. It has been a mirror that has shown me very clearly (uncomfortably so) who I really am as I call myself a Christian, and that does not match what I thought it would. It has made me ask myself the harder questions.
TO BE CONTINUED…
If you would like to join me, and Sunshine, and hundreds of other women in the self-paced Sermon on the Mount Beatitudes Workshop, click here for more information. Also, it is half off the regular price for one week only! This is a workshop you move through at your own pace, in your own time, so no pressure to get your work done on a deadline. It was designed to let you soak in the truth as much as you need.
If you’ve already worked through the workshop, the rest of the workbooks to finish the study are now available here! And they are half off this week only too!
We’ll finish the interview with Sunshine’s time in the Beatitudes next week where she’ll share the practical application she got from her time, and the deep conviction (and hope!) she walked away with.
