Matthew Chapter Six
In chapter Five, Jesus showed us that
belief and all sin begins with the heart, and not with outward appearance.
Murder begins with anger, adultery
starts with lust; instead of seeking revenge even when it is just, love your
enemies and pray for those who do you harm.
As He continues with this line of
teaching, what did He say about practicing righteousness in front of others to
be seen by them? Vs1
What example did He give? Vs2
When we give, what attitude or heart
issue do you think we need to examine?
When we give, how are we to do it?
Vs3-4
Why?
How
do you think those who are receiving the gift for their needs would feel if it
were announced and everyone knew of their need, or the giver made a big deal of
themselves out of their need?
I
urge you to try this, at some point this week.
Find a need to fulfill or an act of kindness/encouragement and perform
it without anyone else knowing that it was you.
And then, never tell anyone that it was you. Let it be between you and God alone.
Have
you ever done this before?
Jesus talked about prayer. What did He say not to be like? Vs5
What do they do?
What reward do they get for this type
of prayer?
How did Jesus say we should approach
prayer? Vs6
What does God reward for?
Next, what did Jesus say not to do? vs7
Who does this?
Why?
Why is it that more words or longer
prayers do not impress God? Vs8
Read Luke 22:39-46. Does this conflict with the Matthew teaching,
why or why not?
What
is your prayer life like?
Jesus teaches how to pray, let’s break
it down;
Who do we call out to in prayer?
Vs9
What do we recognize about Him?
What do we ask for on earth, that also
takes place in Heaven? Vs10
What need do we ask to have filled?
Vs11
What measure of forgiveness do we ask
for? Vs12
If
we are going to ask this, what had we better do for others?
What are we to ask forgiveness
for?
What
do you think that “our debts” means?
What do we ask to be led away from?
(or, in other words, strengthened against?) Vs13
Read 1 Corinthians 10:13. What does this verse tell us?
Who do we want to be delivered
from?
According to the first part of this
verse, what is something that he does to us?
When will we be forgiven by our
heavenly Father? Vs14
When are we not forgiven by our
heavenly Father? Vs15
Does Jesus soften words here or is He
rather black and white with this subject?
Look at verses 14 & 15 in context
with the other text it is with. Does
what Jesus said about forgiveness, apply to a certain situation?
What did Jesus speak about next? Vs16
What do the hypocrites do in this
situation?
What have they received when they act
this way?
How did Jesus say fasting should be
done? Vs17
Why? Vs18
What
do you think is the difference between the reward we produce ourselves in
public, and the reward the Father gives in secret?
This portion of scripture reveals what
many of our so called “good deeds” are really done for, what is it?
What did Jesus say about treasures on
earth? Vs19
What
kinds of treasures might these be?
What did Jesus say about treasures in
Heaven? Vs20 store these up, they can’t be destroyed or stolen.
What
types of treasures could these be? Love,
compassion, empathy, help, service (acts, not things)
What do our hearts follow? Vs21
What is the eye? Vs22
What happens when the eye is
healthy?
What happens when the eye is
unhealthy? Vs23
What
light is Jesus speaking of?
Remember the context of where we are
in scripture, we are looking at treasure.
Therefore, if we say we are God’s people and yet we don’t value others
over stuff or money, what does Jesus say about our darkness? Vs23
How many masters can we serve?
Vs24
Why?
What two masters was Jesus speaking
of?
Can they both be equally
important?
How
important are the two to you? Which
comes out as master in your daily life?
What
would be good questions to ask yourself for determining who you serve?
We can’t serve both God and money, so
Jesus wants us to serve God and not ______________________. Vs25
What types of things do we worry about
if we think about not serving money?
Jesus says that life is about more
than these things. Who can we learn from?
Vs26
How do they live?
Who feeds the birds?
Who is much more valuable to God than
the birds?
If
God provides daily for them, will He not provide daily for us? Do you trust Him to?
If you truly surrendered your life to
Him, do you think that He would provide for you?
Why do you think it is so hard for us
to keep that concept in our minds daily?
Read Exodus16:14-18. When Israel was in the desert after being
released from Egyptian bondage, how did God provide for them?
Did anyone not have enough?
Read Exodus 16:35. How long was Israel in the desert, eating
only what the Lord provided?
While in the desert, did the food ever
run out?
Why
do you think that we get nervous and feel that we won’t always be provided
for?
What did Jesus ask? Vs27
Who did Jesus say was dressed better
than Solomon (the richest man ever) even though they don’t labor, toil &
spin? Vs28-29
How
long does a single flowers bloom last?
Does
it seem like Jesus is tying together serving the god of money and worry? In other words, do you think worry is one of
the reasons that we serve money instead of trusting God?
Read Genesis 1:26-27.
Who did God create in His image?
For what purpose did He create
them?
Were any of the birds, fish,
livestock, wild things, etc. made in His image?
Were any of those things created to
rule over mankind or anything else?
Back
to Matthew 6:28-29.
If
God does all that He does for a flower bloom, how much would He care for us,
who were made in His likeness?
If we are of the most value to God and
yet we don’t realize and acknowledge that He would care for us at least as much
as a bird or a flower, what does Jesus call us? Vs30
What did He tell us about the things
that we need? Vs31-32
What should be our first priority?
Vs33
If we seek this first, what will we
receive?
What is Jesus admonishment? Vs34
What
are your fears?
Do
you understand the love that God has for you?
