SERMONS
Matthew 5:6 - righteousness (Copy)
Community Group Questions
Read Matthew 5:7
Getting Started
What comes to mind when you hear the word "mercy"? How is mercy different from simply being nice or overlooking someone's wrong?
Why can it be so difficult to extend mercy to someone who has hurt, disappointed, or offended me? What does my resistance reveal about my heart?
Other Passages to Look at
3. Read Luke 18:9–14. What does the tax collector understand about himself that the Pharisee does not? How does receiving mercy change the way we see ourselves and others?
4. Read Ephesians 2:1–10. What does Paul say God has done for us because of his great mercy? How does remembering the mercy we have received shape the way we respond to others?
Practical Implications
(Re)Orientation
5. How does Jesus statement about mercy reshape your understanding of what it means to live as a citizen of his kingdom? How does the mercy Jesus has shown us challenge that way of thinking? What does it reveal about the kind of King Jesus is?
Inspection
6. Are there people in your life you find it difficult to be merciful toward? When someone disappoints me, or keeps making the same choices that hurt me, what am I tempted to hold against them? How might my response reveal how I have forgotten my own need for mercy?
Invitation
7. Jesus says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." How does the mercy of God toward us become the foundation—not the reward—for becoming people who show mercy to others?
Prayer focus: Jesus, help me remember how deeply I have been shown mercy, so that the mercy I have received from you can overflow toward others.
Matthew 5:6 - righteousness
Community Group Questions
Read Matthew 5:6
Getting Started
Jesus describes righteousness as something we can hunger and thirst for. What do you think he means by this kind of longing? What does it tell us about what the heart is made for?
What are some of the things you find yourself hungering and thirsting for instead of God and his righteousness? What do those desires reveal about your heart?
Other Passages to Look At
Read Psalm 42:1–2 and Psalm 63:1. What do these psalms reveal about the kind of desire God wants his people to have for him? How is this different from simply trying harder to be spiritually disciplined?
Read Philippians 3:7–9. Paul speaks about wanting to "gain Christ" and to be found in him rather than having a righteousness of his own. How does this help us understand the righteousness Jesus is speaking about?
Practical Implications
(Re)Orientation
5. How does this Beatitude change the way we think about the blessed life we are pursuing? How might our lives look different if we saw knowing Jesus and sharing in his righteousness as our deepest need, rather than simply trying to become better people?
Inspection
6. What am I looking to for satisfaction in that only Jesus can give? Where do you find yourself trying to prove that you are good enough, spiritually successful, or pleasing to God? What might that reveal about what your heart is hungry for?
Invitation
7. What is Jesus inviting us to hunger for, and what is he promising to give? What would it mean to bring your deepest longings and your failures to him, trusting that he is the one who can satisfy you?
Prayer focus: Jesus, awaken in us a deeper hunger for you and your righteousness, and teach us to receive from you what we cannot produce in ourselves.
Matthew 5:5 - Meek
Community Group Questions
Read Matthew 5:5
Getting Started
1. Is there anyone in your life that you would describe as meek? How would you have described meekness before the sermon? How is Jesus' picture of meekness different from weakness or simply being quiet and agreeable?
2. What does our human desire for control, defending ourselves, proving ourselves, or protecting our reputations reveal about what we believe we need to be safe and secure?
Other Passages to Look At
1. Read Psalm 37:7–11. Matthew 5:5 is closely connected to this passage. What do you notice about the relationship between meekness, waiting, anger, trust, and God's promises?
2. Read Numbers 12:3 and Matthew 11:28–30. Moses is described as very meek, and Jesus describes himself as "gentle and lowly." What do these passages help us to understand about a posture of meekness?
3. Read 1 Peter 2:21–23. What do you see in Jesus' response when he is mistreated and falsely accused? How does his example challenge our instinct to defend ourselves or demand our rights?
Practical Implications
1. Are there areas you find yourself most reluctant to surrender control of your life to God? What might that reluctance reveal about your trust in him?
2. What would it mean to rest in the grace of Jesus—to trust that you don't have to grasp, control, or prove yourself because your future is secure in the hands of the King?
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Prayer focus: Jesus, help us release what we are grasping and rest in the grace of knowing that our lives and our future are secure in you.
