How can we grow in kingdom character? When Christ came into the world, he preached the kingdom of heaven (Matt 4:17). He taught that not only was the kingdom something future but a present reality, as the kingdom of heaven was in their midst (Lk 17:21). The kingdom consists of all those who profess Christ as Lord—though all who profess are not truly saved (cf. Matt 7:21-23, 13:36-43). In Matthew 5:3-10, Christ introduces the character of those who are truly part of his kingdom. They are the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. They are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for righteousness. These character traits are affectionately called the Beatitudes, as each one begins with “Blessed” and finishes with a promise of God. If these characteristics are not in our lives, at least imperfectly, we are not truly part of Christ’s kingdom. However, the Beatitudes not only represent the nature of kingdom citizens, they also represent the aspirations of them. Only Christ perfectly modeled these characteristics, but each kingdom citizen should constantly aim to grow in them. As we consider the Beatitudes, they will both affirm if we have truly entered God’s kingdom and also challenge us to grow in these kingdom characteristics. Let’s study them together with The Bible Teacher’s Guide. “Helpful to both the layman and the serious student, The Bible Teacher’s Guide, by Dr. Greg Brown, is outstanding!” —Dr. Neal Weaver, President of Louisiana Baptist University " The Bible Teacher's Guide ... will helpany teacher study and get a better background for his/her Bible lessons. Inaddition, it will give direction and scope to teaching of the Word ofGod. Praise God for this contemporary introduction to the Word of God." --Dr.Elmer Towns; Co-founder of Liberty University; Former Dean, Liberty BaptistTheological Seminary "Expositional,theological, and candidly practical! I highly recommend The Bible Teacher's Guide for anyone seeking to betterunderstand or teach God's Word."--Dr. Young-Gil Kim; Founding President, HandongGlobal University "Helpful to both the laymanand the serious student, The BibleTeacher's Guide, by Dr. Greg Brown, is outstanding!" --Dr. Neal Weaver; President,Louisiana Baptist University "Whether you arepreparing a Bible study, a sermon, or simply wanting to dive deeper into apersonal study of God's Word, these will be very helpful tools." --EddieByun; Missions and Teaching Pastor,Venture Christian Church, Los Gatos, California; Author of Justice Awakening "I am happy that Greg is making his insights into God's truth available toa wider audience through these books. They bear the hallmarks of good Bibleteaching: the result of rigorous Bible study and thoroughgoing application tothe lives of people." --Ajith Fernando; Teaching Director, Youth for Christ;Author of A Call to Joy and Pain "The content of theseries is rich. My prayer is that God will use it to help the body of Christgrow strong."--Dr. Min Chung; Senior Pastor, Covenant Fellowship Church, Urbana,Illinois; Adjunct Professor, Urbana Theological Seminary "Knowing the rightquestions to ask and how to go about answering them is fundamental to learningin any subject matter. Greg demonstrates this convincingly." --Dr. WilliamMoulder; Professor of Biblical Studies, Trinity International University "Pastor Greg ispassionate about the Word of God, rigorous and thorough in his approach to thestudy of it... I am pleased to recommend The Bible Teacher's Guide to anyone who hungers for theliving Word." --Dr. Jun Mo Cho; Professor of Linguistics, Handong GlobalUniversity; Contemporary Christian Music Recording Artist "...thorough but concise, with thought-provokingdiscussion questions in each section. This is a great tool for teaching God'sword." --Dr. Steve Pettey, Dean, LouisianaBaptist Theological Seminary "I can't imagine any studentof Scripture not benefiting by this work." --Steven J. Cole; Pastor, FlagstaffChristian Fellowship, Flagstaff, Arizona; Author of the Riches from the Word series "Greg deals with theprinciples, doctrines, and applications of the text in a practical way which isuseful for both individual growth or for help in preparation for teaching." --BobDeffinbaugh; Ministry Coordinator, Bible.org; Pastor, Community Bible Chapel,Richardson, Texas