Matthew 6:16-24 | How do I Pray & Fast Part 2 | Sermon on the Mount

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Life Group Guide QUESTIONS

SERMON OUTLINE

THE GENESIS 3 REALITY:

•                       Our body has become our __________.

THE PLAIN MAIN THING (REVISITED)

•                       Jesus succeeded where Adam failed. Therefore, we are freed from performing righteousness and invited to live our lives before an audience of One. 

ON SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES:

•                       Jesus __________His disciples will be __________, __________, and __________

WHAT IS FASTING?

•                       It’s not __________

•                       It’s not a __________diet, or __________fasting

•                       Fasting starves the __________to feed the __________, and reorients our hearts to God

WHY FAST?

•                       To offer our ____________________to Jesus,

•                       To grow in __________,

•                       To stand in solidarity with the poor & the __________.

LIFE GROUP QUESTIONS

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

1.         What is the last photo on your camera roll? Are you willing to share it?

2.         When was the last time you had a good solid break from the busyness of life? What did you do?

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.        Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 both center on food and temptation. Revelation 19 and the Lord's Supper both center on food and abiding in the Spirit. How do these themes shape your perspective on fasting?

READ SCRIPTURE

Matthew 6:16-24

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 6:16-18. Fasting is about abstaining from something for a period of time in order to seek and focus on God’s voice and direction.  What is something that you might feel lead to abstain from, in order to deepen your faith?

•       READ Matthew 6:5-15. In what ways does fasting build on what Jesus taught about prayer?

•       READ Hebrews 4:12-13. God sees the heart, not the performance. How might this truth make fasting feel freeing or encouraging? In what ways might it also make fasting more challenging?

2.        READ Matthew 6:18. What are the rewards that we seek from our neighbors? How are those different than the rewards we should be seeking from the Father?

•       READ 1 Corinthians 9:25, 2 Timothy 4:8. To Timothy, Paul writes about a reward, a crown, won by an athlete which will not last.   To the Corinthians, he expands on the concept, calling the reward a “crown of righteousness.”  What do you understand this reward to be? How do disciples of Jesus receive it?

3.        READ Matthew 6:19-23. What subtle forms of “earthly treasure” can quietly compete for our loyalty, even if they are good things?

•       READ Luke 12:15–21. How attached to your “things” are you? What would need to happen to help you realize that your things have no lasting value? How might the spiritual rhythm of fasting help this sense of attachment?

TAKING IT HOME

READ Acts 13:2-3, 14:23. What are some reasons to fast that appeal to you? Although fasting was a regular part of the early church (Matthew 6:16 & 17 “When you fast…”), nowhere in scripture claims fasting as mandatory for salvation.  Under what conditions would you consider fasting? Is that something you’re willing to explore?

PERSONAL REFLECTION

READ Matthew 6:22-23. What you look at, and what gets your attention, not only highlights the values that you have in your heart, but communicates those values to others around you.  How have others experienced your values? What changes might you need to make, or what additions might you need to seek, in your spiritual rhythms, in order to correct these ways?