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{sermon on the mount}

 {sermon on the mount} 

WHAT GOD THINKS OF MY AMBITIONS_ 

Matthew 6:19-34 

 
Everyone is ambitious to be or do something. As children, our ambitions tend to fit into stereotypes... professional footballer, astronaut, film or pop star. But as adults, there seem to be just as narrow stereotypes too... to be wealthy, famous, powerful. 

 
[Group discussion starter] Share your childhood dreams. What did you want to be when you grew up? Why and how did this ambition change? 

 
Does our Christian faith make a difference as we set our ambitions? 
In this passage Jesus helps us to choose well. He points out the foolishness of the wrong way and the wisdom of the right way. Then he invites us to compare them and decide for ourselves... 

 
[Read Matthew 6:19-34] 

 
What, according to Jesus, are the most important things in life? 
 

 
In verses 19-21, why should we store up heavenly treasures rather than earthly ones? 
 

 
Does this mean that we cannot (or should not) have personal property, savings accounts or insurance? Explain. 
 

 
Practically speaking, how can we store up treasure in heaven? 
 

 
How are physical and spiritual sight (or blindness) similar (verses 22-23)? 

 
These days, many people manage to have two jobs and are able to satisfy two bosses. 
So why would Jesus say that it is impossible to serve two masters – God and money? 
 

 
How will the crucial choices we make, in verses 19-24, affect our ability to live free from worry (verse 25)? 
 

 
According to Jesus, why are we foolish to worry about our physical and material needs? 
 

 
How does worry also reveal a lack of faith? 
 

 
If God promises to feed and clothe his children, then why are many of the insufficiently clothed and undernourished (see Matthew 25:41-45)? 
 

 
Give examples of how people today “run after all these things” that Jesus mentions in verse 32. 

 
 

 
In verses 32-34, why and how are our ambitions to be different from those of non-Christians? 
 

 
How has this passage challenged you to reexamine your goals and ambitions? 

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