Rhythms: Matthew 7:24-27

Marriage and Family
Rick Wilcox


“Everyone then who hears these words
of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his
house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and
the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because
it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears
these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish
man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and
the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house,
and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”—Matthew 7:24–27 (ESV)

Our sermon today is the fourth installment of our 5-week series
called “Rhythms.” So far, we have examined the impossible
challenge of meeting life’s demands with our limited time, energy,
and resources. We long for meaningful, fulfilling lives, but we
find ourselves constantly anxious to shift the demands of life’s
significant categories like finances, work, and family. From time
to time, we even try to make the categories the Operating
Principle that governs our priorities, but that doesn’t work either.
Only Jesus can provide us with that kind of rhythm.
Last week we took a closer look at the category of money, and
today we examine marriage and family.

WATCH—This clip from today’s message: 

QUESTION— Tell the group about your parent’s marriage –
how they met and how long they were or have been together.
What have you learned about marriage from their lives?

QUESTION— In today’s sermon, Rick talked about recently
facing the challenge of significant damage to his house. Has your
marriage faced a major challenge? Tell the group about it and
how you handled it.

QUESTION— Rick quoted the statistic that last year, the divorce
rate was 69% in Montgomery County. Does that surprise you?
Why or why not?

READ— Matthew 7:24–27

QUESTION— What kind of storms assault our lives and
marriages today?

READ— Luke 6:46–49

QUESTION— What are the similarities and differences between
these two stories?

QUESTION— What did Jesus mean by ‘digging deep’?

READ— James 1:22 and compare Luke 6:46

QUESTION— Is worshiping God enough to build a resilient life?

DIG DEEPER
The following material is extracted from re|engage Open Group Lesson 2. For many couples, the answers to their marriage struggles are often met with the following solutions: a) fix your spouse, b) try harder yourself, or c) give up. These efforts are typically ineffective and often lead to frustration from unmet expectations, discontentment, and resentment. We don’t have the power to
make lasting changes in our life. Change begins when we recognize we need God’s help.

1. In what ways do you recognize you need God’s help?
2. What is one area of your life where you have been relying on
yourself? How has this impacted your marriage?
3. If someone were to eavesdrop on your home, who would they
say has authority or control in your marriage? Who is “steering
the ship?”
4. If you were relying on God’s authority in your life, how would
that change the purpose or direction of your marriage?
5. What are one or two steps you can take to acknowledge God’s
authority in your life and marriage?

Read the Scripture below for each day and answer the following
questions. Every passage may not answer each question but think
through these questions and see how God leads you. You may
want to use a journal daily in God’s word.

1. What do I learn about God?
2. What do I learn about myself?
3. What do I learn about loving my spouse/others?

Day 1 Matthew 11:27-30
Day 2 Proverbs 3:1-8
Day 3 Psalm 121
Day 4 John 15:1-11
Day 5 James 1:2-8

Challenge for the Week: Pray with your spouse, recognizing
God’s authority in your life and marriage. If you don’t know what
to pray, pray the scriptures above or ask God for help.