Week 5: Our King and His Kingdom – Matthew 5:21-48
Jesus identified 6 areas of our lives where we may have “heard it said” but missed the heart of the matter. Jesus wants to be our King and wants to leads us to live our lives under His rule and reign, but to live this out we need His help.
What is Jesus saying to me? And how will I look to Him to help me live it out?
LIVE OAK CONNECTION POINT:
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DISCUSSION/REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
- What is a core memory for you about celebrating the 4th of July as a kid?
- What are your plans for celebrating July 4th this year?
- What’s the one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever received?
READ: Matthew 5:21-48.
Spend some time SOAPing this passage. You can either spend time SOAPing individually and documenting for a several minutes and then spend time sharing with each -OR- SOAP in real time with each other. Either way make as many observations as you can.
- Observations: What are the things that stand out to you about this passage?
- Six times in Matthew 5:21-48 Jesus says in various ways, “you have heard…but I tell you”. Doug pointed out that Jesus was challenging them and us to lay down our Earthly IDEA on various matters and look to God’s IDEAL of what it looks like to live as a child of the King in the Kingdom of God. How do you think we can get confused on God’s IDEALS and truth with our own IDEAS of how to live life?
- What are the six areas Jesus brings up?
- What are the “HEART of the matter” IDEALS that Jesus gets to in each of these areas?
- In Matthew 5:21-26, Jesus tells us to deal with our anger toward others and Jesus teaches us to “settle matters quickly” and even tells us to interrupt our worship to go seek reconciliation face to face with the person we are in dispute or conflict with. What stands out to you about the importance and application of seeking to make things right with others?
- Jesus teaches us to deal with what is going on inside of us (anger, lust, etc.). How are you managing what’s going on inside your heart and mind? What are your best practices for living a life that feeds your heart and mind good things and God things and dealing with things that can become spiritually destructive for us and others?
READ: Colossians 3:17, 23-24.
- Doug said this passage helps us move beyond these 6 areas of life Jesus addressed and helps us think about living every part of our life in a God honoring way.
- Discuss this passage in Colossians 3:17, 23-24 and talk about what stands out to you and how you could practically live this out.
READ: Matthew 5:48.
- What do you think that means for us who are obviously imperfect people?
READ: 1 Peter 1:13-16.
- What are your observations and applications of this passage?
- What else stood out from this week’s sermon?
APPLICATION: What is your big takeaway from this week’s sermon? Be specific.
NEXT STEPS:
Everyone has a next step to apply what we have learned. What is your next step? Be specific.
MEMORY VERSE: *Challenge yourself or your group to commit this verse to memory:
1 Peter 1:15-16 “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
PRAYER:
Spend some time praying for each other.
Scripture References:
Matthew 4:17; Matthew 5:21-48; Exodus 20:13; Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 24:1; Exodus 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21; Leviticus 19:18; Colossians 3:17, 23-24; 1 Peter 1:13-16
