Sermon Discussion Guide 5-10-26
Sermon Discussion Guide
The Ten Commandments | First Things | Exodus 20:3
Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve experienced God in your life this week?
Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.
Opening Questions
Read Exodus 20:1-17
Who Has Your Heart
Disordered Desires
David Foster Wallace, This Is Water (Commencement Speech, Kenyon College),
“… in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship…is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.
If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure, and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. …Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful, it’s that they’re unconscious. They are default settings. They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day… without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing."
You Cannot Serve Two Masters
Worry and Worship
Closing Prayer
The Ten Commandments | First Things | Exodus 20:3
Gathering Question:
What is one way you’ve experienced God in your life this week?
Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would You guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.
Opening Questions
- What stood out to you in the sermon?
- What insights did you gain?
- What questions did it raise?
Read Exodus 20:1-17
Who Has Your Heart
- Exodus 20:3 says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Consider the use of the word ‘have’ in marriage (Will you have this woman?) How does that imagery deepen your understanding of this commandment?
- What are some modern “rival gods” that compete for our trust, affection, and loyalty?
Disordered Desires
David Foster Wallace, This Is Water (Commencement Speech, Kenyon College),
“… in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship…is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.
If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure, and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. …Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful, it’s that they’re unconscious. They are default settings. They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day… without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing."
- Idolatry is not just doing the wrong things, but loving the wrong things in the wrong order. Where do you see this in your own life?
- Why do even good things (like family, success, or security) become dangerous when they become the ultimate things?
You Cannot Serve Two Masters
- Read Matthew 6:19-24. What stands out to you in Jesus’ teaching?
- Jesus says, “You cannot serve both God and money.” Why do you think money is such a powerful rival to God?
- How do you see tension between trusting God and trusting money in your own life?
Worry and Worship
- Read Matthew 6:25-34. How does Jesus connect worry to what we worship?
- The sermon suggests that worry can be a sign of misplaced trust. Do you find that to be true in your own life?
- How might you personally “seek first the kingdom of God”?
Closing Prayer
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