Welcome to Sunday Fuel! This series of questions is designed to assist your personal reflection and fellowship with others about the sermon from this past Sunday.
Go to This Sunday’s Sermon (start at 25:34)
Key idea: We find God’s blessing in being hearers and doers of his Word.
- Be ready to receive the Word
- Put away any sin that keeps you from receiving.
- Respond by being doers of the word
- Forgetting is the key failure
- “Be doers” refers to who we are, to our nature
- Being doers means growing in Christ-likeness (sanctification)
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”—Matthew 7:24
- “Put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness” (v. 21): Sin can keep our hearts from receiving God’s Word. What filthiness and wickedness in your heart need to be addressed first, in preparation to receive His Word? Are there sins you tend to minimize or downplay—so they remain and hinder your ability to hear? How might these prevent you from receiving God’s Word? What would it mean to put it away?
- “Receive with meekness” (v. 21): This is the other side of this verse. Honestly evaluate your posture as you approach God’s Word, whether in your personal devotional time or at church on Sunday. Do you come to it with a receptive and meek heart or a hard and prideful heart?
- Besides putting away sin, what proactive measure(s) can you take to help you receive God’s word with meekness? Pastor Ryan suggested 1) getting a good night’s rest the night before, 2) praying that God might prepare your heart to receive the Word (ask Him to speak to you, open your eyes, teach you his statues), 3) get rid of or limit distractions, 4) remember you’re sitting before the King of the Universe and honor Him with your undivided attention, 5) take notes of things that move, challenge, or convict you.
- “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (v. 22): In what area(s) do you see consistent growth in godliness in your life? If you do not see growth in your sanctification, why might that be? If being a doer is evidence (not a prerequisite) of our salvation, what might need to change in your response to God’s Word?
- What is one way you can be a doer of the Word this week? What responses or steps of faith towards God can you take (e.g. faithful prayer, confessing sin, pursuing holiness, choosing to depend on Him instead of yourself)? What actions of love or service can you extend to others as a result of what you hear?
Resources mentioned:
Walk By the Spirit, sermon from June 2, 2024
