Bible Study - MATTHEW KING AND KINGDOM: Practice
Sermon-Based Bible Study – June 26, 2022
- What is something God has done for you that you are thankful for? What is something you are celebrating? How have you experienced God’s love and faithfulness this week?
- Where are you experiencing stress, anxiety or discouragement? How would you like to see God move in your life or in the life of someone close to you?
- What did you hear in this week’s sermon that was new or particularly interesting? Did anything stand out to you as puzzling or troubling?
- Read Matthew 7:13-27. In this passage, Jesus paints four pictures or contrasts:
- Narrow and Wide Gates (Matthew 7:13-14)
- True and False Prophets (Matthew 7:15-20)
- True and False Disciples (Matthew 7:21-23)
- Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-27)
- Chris argued that each of these pictures is really illustrating one main point. What is that? Do you agree? Why?
- What is it about the teaching of Jesus that is “narrow?” What choice do you think Jesus was encouraging people to make when he advised them to enter through the narrow gate? Is that choice a “once and done” kind of thing?
- How does Jesus say you can tell if someone is a false prophet? How might that be related to choosing between the wide and narrow gates? What “fruit” do you evaluate to determine if someone is a “false prophet?”
- Which of the many things that Jesus teaches us to do in the Sermon on the Mount do the false disciples point to as proof they should be admitted into heaven? Would you consider prophesying, exorcisms and miracles “fruit?” Why? Do you think the people listening to Jesus had a clear idea of what it meant to do the will of the Father in heaven? Do you?
- Jesus says the wise builder is the one who puts His teachings into practice. Which of Jesus’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount have you spent the most time and effort “practicing?” Which have you not practiced at all? Do you have a coach or a training partner that helps you practice any of Jesus’s teachings? Why?
- What is a simple, next step you could take in obedience to what the Spirit is saying to you through this time in the Word? Who would benefit, or be interested in hearing about what you’ve learned in this study?