Matthew 7:28-29

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Preparing for Our Descent -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series:  The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:28-29
26 November 2017

Deep Sheet:  Sermon Study Questions
1.  How has the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount been anticipated for several weeks?
2.  Discuss the outline given for the Sermon on the Mount. Which sections have been the most formative for you?
3.  What would it look like to make the Sermon on the Mount foundational for your Christian life and for our Gospel Community Group?
4.  In what ways have you been “astonished” by Jesus’ teaching? Why is astonishment not enough?
5.  Where do you see Jesus’ authority displayed in the Sermon on the Mount?
6.  How has the Sermon on the Mount increased your appreciation of Jesus and desire to follow him?

Matthew 7:24-27

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The Foolish Hearer, The Falling House -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series:  The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:24-27
19 November 2017

Deep Sheet:  Sermon Study Questions
1.  Why have Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:13-27 been so hard and uncomfortable to hear? In the words of D.A. Carson, is Jesus trying to frighten people into the kingdom?
2.  What are the differences between the two houses portrayed in this passage?
3.  What does it mean to have Jesus as our Rock? (Isaiah 28:16; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Luke 6:46)
4.  What were the “sandy stopping points” noted in the sermon? In what ways do they contribute to self-deception? (Matthew 7:21-23, 28-29)
5.  How does the Parable of the Sower help us to answer the “Why” question?
6.  How can we apply the effect of the storm to life, death and future judgment? (Proverbs 10:25; 12:7; 14:11)

Matthew 7:21-23

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Considering the Final Verdict -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series:  The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:21-23
12 November 2017

Deep Sheet Sermon Study Questions
1.      How can we examine or test ourselves, and why is this so important? (2 Corinthians 13:5; Psalm 139:23-24)
2.      What does it mean to put our trust in Jesus as Lord? What is the difference between empty words and active obedience? (Romans 10:9; Luke 6:46; Matthew 12:50)
3.      Why is the use of the word “many” (v. 22) in this context so surprising and startling?
4.      How is it possible for false converts to do the great acts mentioned in v. 22? How can religious experiences and activities give us false assurance? (Matthew 24:24)
5.      How does this passage help us to understand what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus? (Romans 4:7; Titus 2:14; 1 John 3:6-10)

Matthew 7:15-20

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Spotting A Counterfeit -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series:  The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:15-20
5 November 2017

Deep Sheet: Sermon Study Questions.
1.  What does it mean that Jesus is THE true prophet?
How is he also THE healthy tree that bears good fruit? (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19; John 15:1-11)
2.  In what ways are Christians sometimes naïve about false prophets/teachers?
Why should their presence in the church not surprise us? (2 Peter 2:1-3; 1 John 4:1; Acts 20:29-31; Jude 4)
3.  How does Jesus characterize false prophets in this passage?
4.  Why must we “beware,” and what does it look like to do so? (John 10:12)
5.  What are some of the “fruits” by which we can recognize these ravenous wolves and diseased trees? (John 15:1-11; Galatians 5:22-23; Matthew 5:3, 17)
6.  What does the preceding passage (vv. 13-14) imply about the kind of teaching that comes from these false prophets?
7.  How does 2 Timothy 3:16-17 help us to discern true from false teaching?

Matthew 7:13-14

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This Way or That -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series:  The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:13-14
29 October 2017

Deep Sheet Questions:  Sermon Study Questions
1.  How would you describe Jesus’s audience? How does this affect the way we interpret and apply these verses? (Matthew 5:1; 7:28-29; John 6:66)
2.  In what ways does this passage highlight human responsibility? How does it challenge you?
3.  What distinguishes the narrow gate/way from the one that is broad?
4.  How does this passage challenge the hearer to “count the cost”? (Luke 14:25-33; 2 Corinthians 5:15)
5.  How do the “gate,” “way,” and “life” relate to Jesus? Why is the way of cost the way of rest? (John 10:9; 14:6; 11:25; Matthew 11:28)
6.  What does it mean to say that a choice between life and destruction or heaven and hell is really a choice between Christ’s presence and his absence?

Matthew 7:12

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Righteousness Rightly Understood -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series:  The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:12
22 October 2017

Deep Sheet Questions:  Sermon Study Questions
1.  How does this verse relate to previous instruction in the Sermon on the Mount? How does it simplify the Christian life? (Matthew 5:17-20)
2.  How does Jesus’ statement taken in its immediate context mirror the two great commandments in Matthew 22:37-40? (Matthew 7:7-11)
3.  Why are regeneration, adoption, and prayer essential for living out the “Golden Rule”? (Galatians 5:22; Matthew 7:7-11)
4.  How does the Sermon on the Mount push us both towards self and away from self at the same time?
5.  What does it look like to live for the interests of others? (Philippians 2:3-4)
6.  What does it mean that Jesus’ teaching here is positive rather than negative? Why is this way of life more demanding? (Galatians 6:10)

Matthew 7:7-11

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A New Start, Part 2 -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series:  The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:7-11
15 October 2017

Deep Sheet Questions:  Sermon Study Questions
1.  Although Jesus’ words of promise here are directed to the Christian, what should this teaching communicate to the non-Christian? (Romans 10:13)
2.  In what ways have you seen prayer as a “duty” or a “key”?
3.  How does Jesus tie together prayer and God’s fatherhood in the Sermon on the Mount
What are the implications for how we should conceive of prayer? (Matthew 6:5-13)
4.  What is the comparison that Jesus makes at the end of this passage, and what does he want to highlight about our heavenly Father? (Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 11:13; Ephesians 5:1)
5. What does it mean to say that God gives out of what he has already given? (Romans 8:32; Titus 3:6; 2 Peter 1:3; Ephesians 1:3)
6.  What are some implications of this passage for parenting?

Matthew 7:7-11

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A New Start, Part 1 -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series:  The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:7-11
08 October 2017

Deep Sheet:  Sermon Study Questions
1.  What does it look like to have a Christian life that is “motion, but no progress”?
How does this passage hold out the possibility of a fresh start?
2.  Why is the persistent prayer that Jesus describes in this passage “the only way forward”? (Matthew 5:3)
3.  What do you tend to substitute for prayer?
4.  In what ways can our spiritual disciplines end up being prayerless?
What should be the relationship between Bible reading and prayer?
5.  Why should this passage give you great confidence in prayer and in the prospect of spiritual growth?  (Luke 11:13; 1 John 5:14-15; James 1:5-8; 4:2)
6.  Where do we see Jesus’ emphasis on persistence in prayer?
How much “giving up” is there in your Christian life? (Luke 11:5-8)

Matthew 7:1-6

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Judging -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series:  The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 7:1-6
01 October 2017

Deep Sheet:  Sermon Study Questions
1.  How has Jesus’ teaching against judging been hijacked and misused in our culture?
2.  What are some instances in which God has convicted you of judging or criticizing other Christians? How has this attitude and behavior negatively affected your relationships?
3.  How does Jesus relate our judgment of others to God’s future judgment of us? How much thought have you given to the fact that “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10)? (John 5:24; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10; Romans 14:10, 12; 1 Corinthians 3:15)
4.  What does this activity of judging that Jesus is rebuking and forbidding look like in practice? (Romans 14; 2:1-5)
5.  How can we begin letting judgmental thoughts turn us inward, and how will this make us more useful in holding others accountable? (Galatians 6:1; Matthew 18:15)
6.  Why does dealing with our own sin enable us “to see clearly” (v. 5)?
7.  What kind of judgment/ discernment is Jesus telling us to have as we relate to unbelievers? (Proverbs 9:8; Matthew 7:15-16)

Matthew 6:25-34

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War Against Worry, Part 2 -- Lonnie Bell
Sermon Series: The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 6:25-34
24 September 2017

Deep Sheet:  Sermon Study Questions
1.  How does this passage heighten your seriousness about worry? How is worry the opposite of hallowing God’s name?
2.  In what ways do you see the pervasiveness of worry in the world? What does it mean to say that we must avoid world intake without Bible intake?
3.  How is faith foundational and central to Christian identity? What does it mean that we both enter by faith and live by faith? (Ephesians 2:8; Romans 1:17; 14:23; Hebrews 11:6)
4.  Does God provide for all of our needs? In what ways do we often misunderstand what we really need? (Philippians 4:19)
5.  What does it practically look like to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”? (Romans 14:17)
6.  Based on Jesus’ teaching in this passage, how should we think about the future? (Proverbs 27:1; Psalm 34:19; Lamentations 3:22-23; Matthew 6:11)