CONNECT: In what ways can you see God’s strength at work through your weaknesses?.

WARM-UP  Question  

1. Can you think of a time in which you received a long anticipated reward? Did this fully satisfy?
2. What are the types of rewards that our culture loves to love?

READ Matthew 6:1-8

CHOOSE YOUR AUDIENCE

1. What are the three types of religious practice that are mentioned in this passage (and in verses 16-18)?
2. Is there anything incorrect about these practices in and of themselves? What did Jesus find so offensive about the way in which they were being practiced?
3. Who were the hypocrites (most likely) that Jesus spoke of? What did Jesus mean by this?
4. When serving God, have you ever been tempted to do something to earn praise or look good in front of others? What do you think is behind the temptation to impress others or earn praise from them?
5. Is there any area in your life in which you are more likely to want to seek the praise of others?
6. If the most public places in the ancient world were synagogues and street corners, where are the public places that people are most likely to try and impress people today?
7. When we seek to serve God, what helps to choose God as your audience (and not others)? 

GUARD YOUR REWARD

1. What does Jesus say about the rewards that hypocrites are to receive? What is meant by the term ‘reward in full’? Why is nothing more due to them?
2. Why is the praise we earn from others ultimately so fleeting? 
3. Why does our Father reward giving (or praying or fasting) in secret? How is this helpful for us?
4. In what ways are the rewards of God both now and not yet? What are some of the ways in which you have recognised the blessings of God as you seek to serve him faithfully (and humbly!)?
5. If the Father rewards us, does that mean that we earn our salvation? Why or why not?
6. Read 1 Corinthians 2:9: What is the great promise of reward that we look forward to? How are many of the other worldly ‘rewards’ that we experience just a consolation for a deeper hunger?
7. What do you think that you’re ultimately driven by? How is God himself the ultimate reward? 
8. How should the certainty of God’s eternal promise help shape our choices and lives today?

APPLY:  What are the opportunities this week to choose God as your ultimate audience? 

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On Your Frontline This Week: Have you considered that God has sent you to your frontlines with a purpose? How does that make a difference to your daily life?

For Families: Download some of the family resources to use at home

Listen:          

• AUDIO: “Truly Heavenly” by William Taylor
• AUDIO: Prayer the Poor” by Tim Keller [PAID]
• AUDIO: “Investment Strategies” by Paul Tripp:
  

Read:

• ARTICLE: “What are the ‘Rewards” in Heaven and Should they motivate us?
• ARTICLE: “Donkeys, Carrots, Sticks - And the Gospel”
• ARTICLE (ACADEMIC): “Degrees of Reward in the Kingdom fo heaven” by Blomberg
• BOOK: “Where is God in a Coronavirus World?” By John Lennox
• BOOK: “God and the Pandemic” by NT Wright

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