Discovery Questions for January 24, 2020 christianstandard.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from christianstandard.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rich Mullins played a song on his hammer dulcimer entitled “My One Thing.” When too many things occupy our attention, our devotion to Christ becomes compromised. The real, greater, fulfilled righteousness in Christ that Jesus taught about in the Sermon on the Mount should be our single focus. When it is, generosity will mark us, and worry will flee from us.
Jesus was one of the most colorful speakers ever. In this latter half of Matthew 6, Jesus employed at least 18 different metaphors or images to drive home his point. He spoke of treasures, moths, vermin, and thieves. He spoke of eyes, light, darkness, masters, and money. He spoke of eating, drinking, clothing, birds, grass, flowers, a king’s son, and fire. Jesus truly engaged the right side of people’s brains as he taught.
Lesson Aim: Focus on building character, who you are even in private, more than you focus on your reputation, what others think of you.
There is a subtle danger of letting your righteousness surpass that of the religious elite (Matthew 5:20) and in striving to be perfect (5:48). The danger is religious hypocrisy, which is the worst kind of hypocrisy. True kingdom people will do their best to live out the real, greater, fulfilled righteousness that Jesus spoke about in the six antitheses (5:21-48). The danger comes when these true kingdom people practice their righteousness just to be seen by others. They become more interested in the praise of people than the nod of God. They become duplicitous in the public practices of their faith.
1. What new challenge did you face last week?
2. In what specific way did you live by Jesus’ higher standards over the past week?
Ask three people two readers and one reteller to help. Ask the readers to read
Matthew 6:1-18 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions.
Ask the third person to summarize the teaching in one minute or less. (After the reteller finishes, others can fill in any parts the person may have missed.)
3. In what ways are a person’s motives important to how they practice their faith?
4. Let’s dig deeper into this passage:
• What is Jesus’ main point in this passage?
1. What challenge did you face or what blessing did you receive last week?
2. In what specific way did you “let your light shine before others” over the past week?
Ask three people two readers and one reteller to help. Ask the readers to read
Matthew 5:17-22, 27-28, 31-35, 38-39, 43-48 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions.
Ask the third person to summarize the teaching in one minute or less. (After the reteller finishes, others can fill in any parts the person missed.)
3. How would you title this Bible passage?
Pick one and explain your choice.
• How to Exceed What’s Expected of You