Sermon Notes
The According to the Scriptures:
1. The heart is the place where we experience emotion.
2. The heart is the place of intellectual activity/thought.
3. The heart is the place where we desire and make choices.
4. We protect our hearts by feeding it truth.
5. Righteousness is the application of truth flowing from our hearts into everyday life.
6. We guard our hearts by righteous living.
7. The Breastplate of righteousness stands for our righteous living flowing from our relationship to Jesus.
Follow-up Questions from Sunday:
Quick Review:
Looking back at your notes from this week’s teaching, was there anything you heard for the first time or that caught your attention, challenged, or confused you?
Introduction question for groups:
What is one of your favorite songs that has the word “heart” in it?
Digging Deeper:
1. What does Isaiah 65:14, Romans 10:9, Hebrews 3:12, Psalm 19:14, Psalm 21:1-2 and Matthew 15:17-20 say what our spiritual hearts are capable of doing?
2. Last Sunday, Pastor Frank quoted this definition of the heart from one of his professors: “Our whole life stems from our heart. Our thoughts, our motivations, the words that we speak, our feelings and attitudes, and all of our actions originate from our heart”. Dr. Saucy. What thoughts go through your mind when you read this definition?
3. The Bible says we are to “guard” our hearts (Proverbs.4:23), how does Paul’s metaphor of the “breastplate of righteousness” help us in understanding how to do this?
4. If someone was to ask you what righteousness is, what would you say? How do you think righteousness protects our hearts in practical ways?
5. We read in Read 1 Corinthians 5:21 that we are already righteous in Christ, so how have you been living who you are in Christ? In what ways have you seen righteousness grow in your life as you have been following Jesus?
Taking it Home:
Since the “Breastplate of Righteousness” is a spiritual weapon of Christ’s power in your life, spend some time alone with God in prayer and ask Him if there is anything in your life that you need to reject that you have allowed in? If anything comes up write it down and ask God what steps He wants you to take to remove this?
Ask God if there is anything He wants you to bring into your life like: reading and studying the Bible more, prayer, joining a small group, getting baptized, going to church more, forgiving someone, encouraging someone, living more in your means, honoring God with your lips and what you watch, etc. These are all examples of putting on the “Breastplate of Righteousness” in our daily lives.
Prayer:
Close your group with prayer for each other asking for victory in righteous living this week.