Guard Your Eyes, Watch Your Mouth

Intro

Sermon on the Mount

Jesus Preaching to:

Disciples

Crowd around him

He taught them first the way to receive God’s blessings

He taught them the need to reflect God’s goodness

He taught them that he didn’t come to get rid of the law and prophets but to complete it!

We saw last week how Anger towards people is one way we sin against God and others.

We also saw that no matter how many times we mess up, God makes us pure again!

This week we are examining how God views lust and oaths.

Opening Illustration: The ease of sin grows as we continue to walk in that path.

Call up a student, give them a piece of tap, (you have received Christ now.)

What happens once you stumble in sin. Are you and Jesus in good fellowship?

Pull tape off (instruct student)

Does that tape stick as good as when I first gave it to you?

Thank the student,

Keep using the same piece of tap

No, what happens if you repeatedly keep on sinning that same sin over and over.

The key take away tonight: we must guard our heart and minds from all sinful behavior because when we practice a life full of unrepentant sin, our hearts become stone towards God’s conviction.

Guard your Eyes!

Matthew 5:27–30 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Lustful images are all around us all the time

We must guard our minds from that kind of content

Silly Putty-

Our minds are wonderful creations of God. But did you know they need to be guarded? When I was a boy I used to play with Silly Putty. You could do a lot of neat things with it. You could make shapes, and you could even bounce it like a ball. But the best thing to do was to flatten it out, press it on the Sunday comics, and pull up a copy of the comic on the Silly Putty.

Our minds are like that too! They are made by God to pick up everything. If we constantly expose our minds to bad things, they will get filled with bad thoughts and desires.

Prayer points our minds toward God, cleanses our hearts and minds, and fills them with good things. All of this helps to control anxiety.

Philippians 4:7 ESV

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Watch Your Words

Matthew 5:33–37 ESV

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

We all general

are you trustworthy?

Are your yeses actually yes?

We shouldn’t need to swear on the Bible, or cross our heart (Story about crossing my heart, hope to die as a 2nd grader on the playground.

Closing

Illustration: Call student up—Give a gag gift

(Purpose: Breaking Trust example

Give a real gift.

Invitation:

We can live moral lives, trying to abide by these rules. However, at some point or another, we will stumble and fall. And just one separates. us from God.