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{sermon on the mount}

 {sermon on the mount} 

RELATIONSHIPS THAT ENCOURAGE_ 

Matthew 7:1-12 

 
A Christian community ought to be “a supportive family where members are helping each other rise to higher degrees of righteousness, where relationships with God are being renewed and where unbelievers are being drawn to Christ”. Unfortunately, it can also be a place where people feel condemned, manipulated and uncared for. 

 

[Group discussion starter] How has your church helped you to grow closer to God? 

 

Matthew 7 might, at first, look like a series of self-contained paragraphs, but there is a connecting thread – relationships. The Christian counterculture is not individualistic but a community. Where relationships both within the community and between the community and others are of paramount importance... 

 
[Read Matthew 7:1-12] 

 
What commands does Jesus make in these verses? 
 

 
In verses 1-2, why does Jesus tell us not to judge others? 
 

 
How do these verses (1-2) expand on what Jesus has already said about the merciful (back in Matthew 5:7)? 
 

 
According to Jesus (verses 3-4), why are we often unfit to be judges? 

 
 
Some people have suggested that Jesus was forbidding all judgement, even in law courts. How would you respond to this suggestion? 

 

 
In verse 5, what steps must we take to truly help a sister or brother? 
 

 
What kinds of people do you think Jesus is referring to as “dogs” and “pigs”? 
 

 
Why is it futile, even dangerous, to talk with these people about the gospel? 
 

 
In verses 7-8, what encouragement does Jesus give to those who ask, seek, and knock? 
 

 
How can we be assured of these promises (verses 9-11)? 
 

 
The Jewish Talmud says, “What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else.” 
Confucius told his followers, “Do not to others what you would not wish done to you.” 
How does the ‘golden rule’ (verses 12) go beyond these teachings / commands? 
 
 

 
In what sense does this rule sum up the Law and the Prophets? 
 

 
Think of a relationship that is strained or broken. 
How can this passage help you to mend that relationship? 
What steps do you want to take towards that this week? 

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