Sunday, March 12th, 2017
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is set early in the Ministry of Jesus as it picks up after he has been baptized by John the Baptist in chapter 3 of and gathered his first disciples in chapter 4. It is the longest piece of teaching from Jesus in the New Testament, and occupies chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. Here we see Jesus teach on the fundamental elements of His ethics and His kingdom. The Sermon has been one of the most widely read and quoted elements of the of any of the 4 gospel accounts.
Our hope and prayer this Lent season is that through the study and meditation of this text our hearts together would be refreshed and transformed by the Spirit of God as we join with Him in the renewal of our city.
As you read and study together, make sure to work hard at hearing from everyone that has gathered together. Pray for one another and be accountable to applying the word of God to your lives.
General Questions:
- Have you been following through with the Lent guide, and if so, how have you experienced God through the spiritual practices?
- What does it mean to you that Jesus did not come to abolish the law or prophets, but to fulfill them? How should we view the law and prophets of the Old Testament in light of who Jesus is and what He has done?
For Further Discussion:.
- How difficult is it to live out all of these calls? How can you avoid ever being angry? Ever thinking lustfully about someone? What is Jesus trying to tell us by setting this standard so high?
- What does Jesus mean by “lesser commands”? How do you see yourself, and the church at large, living into these “lesser” and “greater” commands?