Ivy Grow Group Notes

Continuing in our series on the beatitudes. Jesus’ teachings to his disciples on what a life lived in his Kingdom looks like.

Today Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be satisfied”

Think

Food and water – two essentials for human life
Hearers of this would know what it was like to go without food or water – do we?

Easy for us to take away our hunger or thirst by snacking between meals.

Hunger is a sign of physical health, if we didn’t hunger we’d probably die. It’s also a sign of spiritual health.
Ask yourself how hungry and thirsty for God am I?

We get hungry when we don’t eat, but with the things of God the more we eat the hungrier we get! Have you ever found this?

3 things in the West particularly that can take the edge of our hunger:

1.Pleasure – (Not a bad thing depending on the what and the why) trying to find satisfaction in something other than God. Sex, drugs, alcohol…..

King Solomon had it all, including 700 wives and 300 concubines.
Read Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
What was Solomon’s response to the pursuit of pleasure?
2.Performance-For some people they are defined by what they do. Always striving for the next promotion or wage rise. This will satisfy! Really?

Read Ecclesiastes 4:8
What characterized this man’s pursuit of his work?
We know work is a good thing and we are to do it as though doing it for the Lord
(Colossians 3:23)

Have you got your work/life blend right? Are you trying to find lasting satisfaction from your performance at work?

3.Possessions – Maybe we hunger/thirst for the next phone, next pair of shoes etc?
Is all the stuff in our lives squeezing out God?
Nothing inherently wrong with phones, TV, internet but are they taking the edge off our appetite for God?
Read Mark 8:36

What are you feeding your soul with?
The more we expose ourselves to things the more an appetite we get for them.
This works for things in the world or things of God.

Back to the passage: What is it that will truly satisfy us?
What does righteousness mean, it’s a religious word not used much today?
What does it look like?

Righteousness looks like Jesus! To live a righteous life means to live a life like Christ.
Impossible in our own strength. Only possible through Holy Spirit at work in us.

This verse offers us hope and a fantastic promise: If we hunger and thirst for Jesus Christ we will be satisfied. Because of his death and resurrection we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. It is not our own doing, but his free gift to us!

Available to all by Faith in Jesus!
Read Romans 3:21-22

Jesus is the bread who satisfies our deepest hunger and the water that quenches our deepest thirst (Read John 8:35 if you have time)

Pray

This verse shows a person who is humble and accepts that they need righteousness, will be satisfied with what god gives them.

Spend some time now praying.
Ask for prayer if you would like more of Jesus, his Holy Spirit IS at work in you, making you more like Christ.

Or maybe confess if your hunger/appetite for Jesus has had the edge taken off it through any of the things mentioned.
God is good he will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Obey

Individually is their anything you need to fast from for a while and replace with God’s word or prayer?

Collectively is their anything you can do as a group to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness in the wider community?
Maybe a Besom project, helping on one of the serving teams at Ivy, supporting and mentoring an ex offender or CAP client?….

Nick Duffy
South Manchester CAP centre manager

2012 is the year of stretching

www.ivymanchester.org