Matthew 6:25-34 | How Not To Worry | Sermon on the Mount

W26_W7_MAR 8

Life Group Guide QUESTIONS

SERMON OUTLINE

THE PROBLEM:

The moment we make ourselves our own master, anxiety inevitably follows. Self-worry demands control of both today and tomorrow, and that is a throne too heavy and too large for us to sit on.

1.        Worry limits our ability to see our value in God (6:25-26)

2.        Worry is unproductive (6:27-29)

3.        Worry prioritizes ourselves over our Heavenly Father (6:30-33)

THE SOLUTION:

1.        We shift from self-reliance to trust in God.

2.        We move from distraction to devotion.

3.        We step away from fear and into prayer.

LIFE GROUP QUESTIONS

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

1.         What’s the most useless talent you have?

2.         What’s one thing you’re proud of so far in 2026?

QUICK REVIEW

1.        Looking back at your notes from this week’s teaching, was there anything that particularly caught your attention, challenged, or confused you?

2.        Pastor Adam quoted another pastor saying, “It’s not that we’re going to drown, it’s that we’re safe in our drowning.” Does that affect how you might work through the worry and anxiety you feel in your life? How so?

READ SCRIPTURE

Matthew 6:25-34

1.        How does this passage highlight God’s presence in our world?

2.        What does this passage say about our broken human condition?

3.        How does this passage call me to make change in my life?

DIGGING DEEPER

1.        READ Matthew 6:25-27. There is a sense of peace we lose when we forget that God is lovingly and sovereignly in control. When you were growing up, what helped you feel safe or secure? What is a typical worry that people your age tend to carry?

•       READ 1 Peter 5:6-7. In your own words, what does it mean to “cast” your anxieties on God? What kinds of worries feel easiest to give to God? What makes certain worries harder to release?

2.        READ Matthew 6:28-30. Worry, or anxiety, often reflects our attempts to control what belongs to God. In what areas of your life do you most naturally drift toward worry (finances, health, relationships, future plans, parenting, something else)? Why that area?

•       READ Ecclesiastes 1:12-14, James 4:13-17. According to Ecclesiastes, what “burden” (NIV) or “unhappy business” (ESV) weigh on humanity? In James, what posture or response are we called to adopt in light of life’s uncertainty?

3.        READ Matthew 6:31-33. What practical habits (prayer, scripture, generosity, community, etc.) help keep you to “seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness”? What habits have you heard of that you are interested in trying? How might fasting help you to seek His kingdom over your own?

•       READ Colossians 3:12-17. What insights does this passage provide in answering the question: what does it mean to “seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness”?

TAKING IT HOME

READ Matthew 6:34. The thrust of this passage has us consider just how our trust in the Lord needs to outweigh our worry about tomorrow.  Why is that easier said than done? What elements of life are holding to yourself, that you need to submit to the Lord? How do you feel challenged (or encouraged) to live in today’s needs?

PERSONAL REFLECTION

READ Psalm 55. It’s almost like David has been wrestling with the same matters of life that we do today.  What in his words do you identify with? Why is that? As you consider all those elements of this life that cause all kinds of worry and anxiety, pay attention to the moments in the Psalm where David cries out to God, and then close this moment, in prayer, with the words of vs.22-23.