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Weekly Playlist  |  January 15-21
Sermon on the Mount-Introduction
Doing Right Differently
1
Read - Matthew 6:1-21
4 min
2
Watch - Visual Commentaries, Matthew 6:1-21: Religious Practices
1 min
3
Listen - Living With the Torah Written on Your Heart
5 min

Listen to the reading of Scripture below and then learn more from related resources. As you listen and reflect, think about this question: How does Jesus uniquely challenge his followers to show their devotion to God?

1
Read - Matthew 6:1-21
Consider While Reading

Similar to us, ancient Israelites could fall into performing religious practices to win praise from other people.

Matthew 6:1-21

Righteousness and Religious Practices

4 min

Be careful about your doing-what-is-right. Don't do it in front of people for the purpose of being seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in the skies.
So then, when you do acts of generous-giving, don't signal with a trumpet before you, like the hypocrites do in the gathering places and alleyways for the purpose of being honored by people.
Truly, I tell you: they have fully received their reward.
But you, when you do acts of generous-giving, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your generous-giving is done in a hiddenness,
and your Father who sees what is done in a hiddenness, He will fully reward you.
And when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in the gathering places and at the corners of wide streets for the purpose of being visible to people.
Truly, I tell you: they have fully received their reward.
But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room and shut the door so you can pray to your Father in hiddenness.
And your Father who sees what is done in hiddenness, he will fully reward you.
And when you are praying, don't use meaningless repetition like the nations, because they suppose that they will be heard on account of their many words.
So don't be like them. Because your Father knows what you need before you even ask him.
Therefore, when you pray, do it this way.
Our Father who is in the skies, may your name be recognized as holy.
May your kingdom come, and may your will be done as it is in the skies, so also on the land.
Our daily provision of bread, give to us today.
And forgive us our debts, just as we also have forgiven those indebted to us.
And don't lead us to be tested, but deliver us from the evil one.
For if you forgive people their transgressions, your Father in the skies will also forgive you.
But if you will not forgive people, then neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
And when you fast, don't look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they make their faces look disfigured so that their fasting will be visible to people.
Truly, I tell you: they have fully received their reward.
But you, when you fast, anoint your head with oil and wash your face so that your fasting won't be visible to people, but to your Father in a hidden way.
And your Father who sees what is hidden, he will fully reward you.
Don't store up for yourselves stored-wealth on the land, where moth and nibbler can ruin, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves stored-wealth in the sky, where neither moth nor nibbler can ruin, and where thieves can't break in or steal.
For where your stored-wealth is, there your heart will be also.
Reflect

What is the true reward from God when we follow these practices in Jesus’ intended way?

About This Translation
This reading uses a new translation from the BibleProject Scholar Team, which aims to bring fresh language to familiar words while using consistent English terms for Greek words used throughout this part of Scripture.

We'll be adding more translations here in the future, but in the meantime, you can find more translations now on the BibleProject app.
2
Watch - Visual Commentaries, Matthew 6:1-21: Religious Practices
Video player poster image
1:25
HIGHLIGHT

“Be careful, Jesus says, because if you’re doing your righteousness to get public praise, then you’ll miss out on the real reward that God has in store.”

3
Listen - Living With the Torah Written on Your Heart

Chapter from Sermon on the Mount E2

Living With the Torah Written on Your Heart

5 min

HIGHLIGHT

“Jesus sees himself as offering this charter for what the Spirit-empowered new representatives of God are called to be and to live like. What kind of ethic does somebody who has the Torah written on their heart live by? What does it mean in practice to have the Spirit of God moving you to follow God's will revealed in the Torah? That's what Jesus is claiming to unpack right here.”

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