Announcements
- College worship night- Students! We are having a worship night this Tuesday at 7:00 pm here in the main space at the well. It’s going to be a great opportunity to reflect on the cross as we approach this Easter season. https://www.thewellabilene.com/events/2019/4/16/college-worship-night
- Art exhibit still open- Secondly, as you can see on our walls we have an art exhibit still displayed! Our doors are open throughout the week if you want another chance to look through the art! You can look
on the event page of our website for all the dates and times. https://www.thewellabilene.com/events/2019/4/14/holy-week-art-exhibit - Normal Service Times for Easter- 8:45, 10:00. 11:15!
Objectives
- Discuss our inability to actually live up to the law on our own and identify what we need to successfully fulfill it.
- Acknowledge Jesus as the means, goal, and reward of entering
in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Key Passages
Matthew 7:12-27
Summary
The introduction of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount,” explained who the subjects of Jesus’ kingdom were and why they needed true righteousness.
In chapters 5 & 6, Jesus discusses what it is like to fulfill the law.
In chapter 7, Jesus is concluding his sermon by beginning with a summary of the entire law- live with other people the way that you would want them to live with you. However, he makes clear that nobody can actually produce this fruit on their own. He goes on to connect knowing Jesus as the only way to truly receive righteousness.
Sample Questions
Feel free to use or reword the questions below that you think will be most helpful to meet the objectives above. Remember, these questions should ultimately cultivate discussion of ways to respond to or apply what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us through Scripture.
- Why is the gate that leads to death wider and easier than the gate that leads to life?
- What sort of fruit do you see in your life and what does it tell you about its source?
- Give an example from your week of how your “being” in Christ led to your “doing” like Christ.
- How do we come to truly know God?
- What is the way to righteousness, the narrow gate, good fruit, and the house on a rock?
- What is a time in which you
genuinly viewed Jesus as the ultimate reward of being a Christian? - What does it look like to live as a wise man who built his house upon the rock? Why is this so different from living as a fool who built his house upon the sand?
Sample Responses
Either in smaller groups or as a whole GC:
- Ask the Lord in prayer to give us a greater knowledge of himself, that we might be transformed to bear good fruit for his glory.
- Reflect on God as the ultimate source of Righteousness- God is always good and right.
- Praise Him in song and prayer for the great reward of knowing Christ!