What if you simply stopped being afraid, can a life free of worry even be called a responsible life? This sermon turns to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus speaks of the birds, the lilies and the impossibility of serving both God and money (Matthew 6), and shows that the opposite of faith is not unbelief but fear. It offers a vision of a life focused on what is eternal, along with very concrete practices of generosity that loosen the grip of possessions. Listen if your calendar and your bank account say more about you than you would like to admit.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus points to the birds and the lilies of the field. What did these images say to the people on the margins listening to the Sermon on the Mount, and what do they say to you?
- How do you understand Jesus' words "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" and the image of the eye as a lamp, which the sermon said can mean generosity or stinginess?
- The sermon asked whether we can live without worry and still live responsibly. Where do you see the line between healthy concern, anxious worry and carelessness in your own life?
- The speaker said the opposite of faith is not unbelief but fear. How does that idea change the way you look at your own worries?
- If your calendar and your bank account were a mirror of your heart, what would they reveal about you, and what surprises you about that?
- Which practice of generosity from the sermon, priority giving, percentage giving, progressive giving or giving prompted by the Holy Spirit, is your next step this week, and how will you take it?
