A New Playlist–– Distraction Addiction—August 9, 2015 Scripture: Matthew 6:24-34

Facilitator Prep: If you choose to show the video used in this week’s message, prepare a television or computer for the group to view.

Key Verses: Matthew 6:24-34 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be de-voted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomor-row will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Hebrews 12.24 …to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Summary: The messages that we hear from the world or from our selves often perpetuate our own bent towards unhealthy expectations. Many of us are wired to be people-pleasers. Others of us spend time and energy making sure we look good to others. Most of us feel the pressure to be on the move…all the time. In Matthew 6.24-34, Jesus isn’t discouraging the pursuit of our passions, or plan-ning for the future. Instead he’s inviting us to rest in the awareness of who God is. God promises to be with us, to provide for us, to care for us. We don’t need to be frozen by fear. Even though we hear these words, we easily slip back into the distraction of the old playlist—“make everyone happy”, “make sure you look good”, “run faster”. We can tune into the better playlist that Jesus is offering.

Discussion Starter: Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITd5pesVjpY As someone who is facing an overwhelming diagnosis and difficult treatment, school teacher Adriana Lopez has likely heard a range of messages from the world around her. What discour-aging messages would you imagine she might have heard? What message would you want to speak into her life?

Read and Discuss Unless otherwise noted, scriptures have been researched and referenced based on the New

International Version (NIV); however any translation is perfectly acceptable to use for discussion.

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A New Playlist–– Distraction Addiction—August 9, 2015 Scripture: Matthew 6:24-34

1. Read Matthew 6:24 Jesus makes it clear that in order to follow him, we have to chose our ultimate allegiance. Some faithful people respond to these words by choosing isolation from the world, in order to avoid the temptations of other masters.

• How can you serve only God when both God and money (and all of the things it can buy) are present in your life?

• What other things compete to be “master” of your life? How might you keep them in the their place?

2. Read Matthew 6.25-32 We have several phrases in our everyday talk that sound strange when you step back and examine them. I’m (Mark) convicted every time I’m tempted to say, “I’m starving”. I’ve been hungry, sure, but starving? No. You may know what extreme thirst feels like, but a fear of lacking water is somewhat rare. Many of the things we do worry about aren’t worth the energy spent on them.

• What are the life and death issues that cause you to worry? (security?, threats to your health?, decisions of others?)

• Look for evidence around you that God is already present in each of these situations. Share it with the group.

3. Read Matthew 6.33-34

• What do you think Jesus means when he says, “Tomorrow will worry about itself.”?

• Jesus ends this section of the Sermon on the Mount with a summary. —-Do not worry about tomorrow.—- Because God takes care of everything God created, He’ll take care of you.

Is there a time of day when you find yourself doing most of your worrying? When is that and how does that feel? How might Jesus’ words address your worry?

Pray: As you pray together, consider allowing each member to share situations that they are worry-ing about. Then invite the rest of the group to respond with the following verse from Philippians 4.19.

Group member: I worry about _______________________________.

Group Response: my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

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