Don’t Worry, Be Happy; Jesus’ Sermon on The Mount

Small Group Discussion Guide – July 4^th/5^th

The questions in this small group guide relate to the sermon from July 4^th/5^th. If your group has not had a chance to listen to the full sermon, they can find it at cor.org/leawood/sermons. This week’s sermon was preached by Rev. Cheryl Jefferson Bell, Pastor of Community Justice.

Opening Prayer:

Lord Jesus, as we gather to study your Word would you open our hearts to hear your voice. Help us to set aside our pride as we humble ourselves before you. Be with us as we learn together and grow in our understanding of the life you are calling us to. In the name of your Son Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

This week’s sermon is centered on Matthew 6:25-34 (NSRV)

1. Do you consider yourself someone who worries a lot? Has that changed for your lately?

2. When does it look like for you when you are worried about something? Do you have any negative habits that you fall into?

3. How do we resist the temptation to worry over resources? Read Matthew 6:19-21

4. Research supports Jesus’ words about worry. Don Joseph Goewey wrote that “85 percent of what subjects worried about never happened, and with the 15 percent that did happen, 79 percent of subjects discovered either they could handle the difficulty better than expected, or the difficulty taught them a lesson worth learning.” Down deep nearly all of us know worry doesn’t do any good, so why do you think we nevertheless do it so often?

5. How is worry connected to a lack of trust in God? Do you think it is?

6. What are some practical tools or practices you can put in place when you start to feel worried?

Closing Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,

enjoying one moment at a time;

accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;

taking, as Jesus did,

this sinful world as it is,

not as I would have it;

trusting that God will make all things right

if I surrender to God’s will;

so that I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Jesus forever in the next. Amen.