October 3, 2004: Kimber Kauffman, Senior Pastor
of College Park, continued his series on Matthew with message on the forth
Beatitude (Matt 5:6), “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness for they will be satisfied (ESV).”
During his passionate message and encouragement for us to live such
lives, Pastor gave illustrations of how people who are desperately hungry
and/or thirsty can think of nothing else and are driven with such determination
that they put forth great efforts to satisfying their physical needs…even to
the point of fighting for their own lives.
In like manner, Pastor points out that if we make it our daily quest,
our all consuming, constant thought and desire to seek the kingdom and God and
his righteousness above all else that we think and do, then God promises that
we will be filled/satisfied. [The Greek
word chortazo translated satisfied
means to fill or satisfy one’s desire].
Application Questions:
A.
Have any of you ever been really
hungry or thirsty…to such a degree that it was an all consuming drive on your
part to satisfy your desperate need for food or drink? What was it like?
B.
What would be the results of our
Christian walk if we truly sought to do the will of God, to live in accordance
with the pattern of God’s plan for us (Romans 12:2) with such intentional drive
and determination as one who is desperately hungering and thirsting after food
and drink?
C. What would be the benefits of such a life as reflected in Psalm 126:6,
Matthew 6:33, Ephesians 3:15-21 and Philippians 1:9-11.
D. What would happen in our relationship with others if we lived such a
life? Our relationship with God? With family? With friends? With
neighbors? With fellow Christians? With our enemies?
Sidebar Question: What did Pastor say that taking the Lord’s name in vain in Exodus 20:7 really meant? How does that apply to this beatitude?
E.
Discuss practical ways we might go
about living such a life (as described in B above).
F.
Ask of yourself, what is it that you
seek on a daily basis that gets in your way of truly living such a life?
G. What practical things can we do in our flock group to encourage one
another to truly live such lives for God?
H.
What encouragement do you need? How might we help you?