Your Interior World – STUDY GUIDE

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Icebreaker: How often do you evaluate your heart’s transformation, your interior world?

Sermon Title: Life in the Red Letters – “Your Interior World”– Mark 7:14-21

Group Discussion:

Read Mark 7:14-22 & Matthew 5:21-22 & 27-28 – External compliance versus internal righteousness Jesus sees our internal existence as reality: How can this inform our understanding of sin, holiness, and spiritual growth? Discuss what it means to “understand the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law” (i.e., understanding the root and the essence of Jesus’ commands and teachings).

Read John 1:45-51 & Matthew 23:25-28 – When Jesus looks at, He also looks in. How can acknowledging that Jesus knows us fully (i.e., both the decent and the indecent parts of our hearts) bring us both comfort and uneasiness? Why do you think Jesus chose such unsettling imagery like unclean cups and whitewashed tombs to describe spiritual hypocrisy? Discuss how it applies today.

Read Matthew 5:8, Luke 8:17, & Hebrews 4:12 – When Jesus sees you, you can see God. Discuss why Jesus brings hidden things to light. How can revealing our internal issues and sin to the Lord bring us closer to Him? Discuss what this process and outcomes might look like; share examples.

Read Psalm 51:7-12 & Psalm 139:1-6 & 23-24 – When Jesus cleans you, you can stay clean. Discuss the ways these verses can guide us in prayer. How does having a humble heart make room for Jesus’ cleaning? Discuss how we can model this spiritual discipline for those we mentor/disciple.

Spiritual Disciplines & Action Steps: Review resources for this series on our Church Center app: Church Center / Home / Sermon Resources, such as Justin’s outline for how to pray and fast.

Pray Specifically for God to: (1) Clean you inside and out, (2) Give you a steadfast spirit, (3) Reveal to you the Spirit of Truth, and (4) Equip you with joy and a willingness to keep clean.

Also, Jeff encouraged us to: (1) Deal with our external symptoms (e.g., establish guardrails & boundaries – confess & repent), (2) Discover our internal selves (e.g., look inward to determine what needs to be cleaned, Psalm 139: 23-24), and (3) Depend on the Eternal Savior (e.g., Jesus wants to make us clean, but He can only do so if we allow Him; He can clean us only after we fully surrender).