Matthew 6:33 Bible Study Questions

SEEK GOD FIRST

Matthew 6:33-34

Questions to start: (For everyone to answer) What is something people worry about? Share 1 thing you are personally worried about. 

1. Read Matthew 6:33,34. What does it mean to seek his kingdom first? What does it mean that tomorrow will worry about itself?

2. Choose one or two of the following passages to read aloud together. Reflect on how these people demonstrated faith and obedience to God. 

Matthew 19: 25-30 (Jesus' promise to those who follow Him)

1 Kings 3:9-14 (Solomon's desire for wisdom)

Genesis 22:1-14 (Abraham Tested)

1 Kings 17:7-14 (The widow's sacrifice of her food to help Elijah)

Daniel 3:16-28 (Daniel's friends and the burning furnace)

3. The following verses encourage us to trust in God and His providence: Please read them together and choose 2 or 3 to memorize individually or as a fellowship. If there are any other verses that come to mind, share them to mutually encourage one another.

Deuteronomy 8:17-18,  Deuteronomy 31:8, Joshua 1:9,   2 Chronicles 7:14,

Psalm 23:1-2,  Psalm 34:8-10,  Psalm 94:19,  Psalm 145:15-16,

Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 41:10,  Lamentations 3:22-24,

Matthew 7:7,  Matthew 11:28-30, John 14:27,  John 16:23-24,

Romans 8:31-32,  2 Corinthians 9:7-11, Philippians 4:6-9,19, 1 Peter 5:6-7

4. Please take time to pray together for each person's worries - that each person may seek God first and leave their worries in His hands. Amen.

Start on title slide

Good morning. Did you all have bible study? The questions were a little different right? Sorry if it wasn’t what you were used to. I hope gbs was a time to pray for one another and look at all the encouragement the bible has to offer us. The title of my message is Seek God First. As we look at our passage, we can see that our life can become simplified and peaceful when we seek First God’s Kingdom and his righteousness. Let’s read our passage again. 🔴 Matthew 6:33,34 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own

Let’s pray.

To know God. to seek him with our lives and that we can get through each day remembering who is lord of our lives. To seek God with our lives to glorify him.

Today, Pastor Juan and our belize mission team aren’t here. Let’s pray for them as they serve the poor as well as the summer conference. Let’s also pray for our church. We have just started Revelation and have only scratched the surface. We had an introduction to Revelation and Revelation 1:1-8, where Jesus introduces himself to John as the faithful witness, firstborn from the dead, and ruler of the kings of the earth. We haven’t gotten to what Jesus says to the seven churches of Asia or what’s after that. There are so many passages to look forward to! Revelation is written for us to learn and be blessed! But we can still be fearful and worry when we don’t understand. The future often causes us to be worried. So, let us seek God First.

This year, at 🔴the NAYAC, there was time to talk and pray with young people from around N America. I realized that many young people know God! They hear the gospel and believe! Amen! But they still have fear. Especially about the unknown future. They do not know where God will take them and how to hear His direction. 🔴They do not know what to study, what job to take, what calling they have, who they should marry, whether they should stay nearby or move for better opportunities. There is so much they do not know and it’s hard to hear “just have faith” or “pray about it.” This anxiety and fear makes it difficult to move forward in their lives and their relationships with Jesus.

I also have anxiety about the future. I’m sure many people do. As I’m in my early 30s, my worries are a little different from those younger or older than I am, but the underlying reason for fear is the same. Can I trust God with this aspect of my life? IS the way I’m living following His commands? WWJD? Will I be able to pay my mortgage? Can I retire? Early? Will NYC be the place that I continue to live and raise my daughter? How can I help my sick father? How long will he be here? How long will I be here for my family? I don’t know the answers to these questions and sometimes it keeps me up at night. But God has given me truth from the bible to alleviate my anxiety 🔴Key Verse 33, “but seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” We as Christians believe the bible to be true. If we truly believe it, we must live by these words! We must🔴 seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. Amen.

Context:

During Jesus’ time, people were in desperate situations. They had less knowledge. No google. They had more uncertainty. No social media. People were mostly farmers or tradesmen: like fishermen, carpenters, laborers. Their bodies were abused by their work, there was no modern medicine - it was a tough and often short life. Without education, resources, or opportunity, people could only use what little they knew to survive each day. 🔴 Today’s passage is part of the sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7. Jesus is talking to Jews oppressed by Roman authority. They did not have hope and despaired for their futures. What could they do? Would they be able to bring home food? Was there a better way to live? Where was God? Could things ever get better? There seemed to be no hope. They prayed for a Messiah.

And Jesus came! But Jesus was not the political Messiah they envisioned. for many, that led them not to believe in him. But they were blind, he was even greater than that. If you read through Mt 5-7, Jesus gave many words of encouragement and wisdom through the sermon on the Mount. Last week, P Juan mentioned the beatitudes, the blessings. This was from the Sermon as well. Jesus gave encouragement and advice on a huge list of topics, more than we can cover today. Our focus is from the passage titled, 🔴 (slide of v25) “Do Not Worry,” from Mt 6:25-34.Jesus starts by saying not to worry about your life, your food, your body, your clothes. 🔴(slide of v26-27) He pointed to the birds flying over the mountain - they did not have anything stored away, but God fed them with what naturally appears in the world. And he asked them, “Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?” He knew the worries they had - but he told them Not to worry!🔴(slide of vs 28) He pointed at the flowers growing on the side of the mountain. 🔴 (slide of v29-30) See how the flowers are more beautiful even than Solomon’s clothes. The short-lived grass filled with beautiful flowers is burned at the end of the day, but God loves us more than those things. Will he not clothe you- you of little faith? 🔴 (slide of v31-32) Jesus told them not to worry! Do not run around chasing schemes and plans and worries the way the pagans do! God knows your needs. God knows your worries. But what must we do? Look at our key verses again: 🔴 (slide of v 33-34) Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Do not worry! Do not worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. It is clear that Jesus was not ignoring their needs. He was well aware of the very real problems they had. However, worrying about them would only eat away at their bodies and minds. There was a higher thing they needed to focus on: 🔴 God.

Jesus’ words were not meant to throw away all regard for your life or to YOLO (you only live once) life. He didn’t tell them to give up on working or buying clothes or growing food. God has told us multiple times in the bible to be responsible stewards of what we’ve been given. He didn’t say: don’t have clothes, starve, do nothing. Even flowers need to absorb nutrients to bloom. Birds need to fly around to find food and make their shelters. Jesus’ teaching was to free our hearts from worry by focusing on God! When we 🔴 (keep same slide up) Seek God First, we can continue our lives secure in faith.

So How do we do this? Through coming closer to God through prayer, fellowship, and the bible, we are equipping ourselves with the tools that will give us assurance in His power.

Let’s look at a biblical example: 🔴 Jacob in Genesis was a big worrier. He cheated his brother, Esau, out of his birthright by tricking his father, Isaac, into blessing him instead. Jacob then ran far away from his angry brother to his uncle’s house where he worked hard, married, and became wealthy. After 20 years of struggling, he ran away from his jealous uncle, back to where his brother was. On his way back, he made plans to appease his brother. The night before meeting his brother, he was alone. There, he spent the night wrestling with God. As he wrestled, he wouldn’t give up his pride and submit until God popped Jacob’s hip socket. Seeing God’s power, Jacob finally realized that there was no victory in the plans he made - he was still anxious, there was no clarity. He finally decided to surrender to God’s will, transforming from Jacob into Israel, the father of the Israelites. He then continued to hold onto God, not to fight, but to hold fast to God until God blessed him.

The story of Jacob shows how much he tried to succeed and come out victorious. Even after receiving God’s blessing, he was still often anxious, as seen by his worry over his favorite sons, Joseph and later Benjamin. I often empathize with Jacob. My father is a quiet man, like Isaac. He is simple and faithful to God. I, on the other hand, am always making plans, trying to get better and do better and be better. I am protective over my favorite only daughter, Lydia. I am worried about how things will turn out, even things that are not under my control. But after struggling with both man and God, I have come to see that there is no point in worrying! I just need to depend on and remember God in my daily life and He will do the rest. God is the almighty author of our lives! We only need to trust in His mighty power and providence! Amen.

As I mentioned, I have my own worries. Like Jacob, I am learning to trust in God’s blessing, but that hasn’t stopped me from worrying 100%. I worry about my finances, my family, and myself. As many of you know, 🔴 I am an orthopedic PA at Forest Hills Hospital. It is a pretty good, stable union job. But I am tired. I would rather not work anymore haha. I hear from coworkers and through SNS about ways to get rich faster and make more money; retire early. They are always talking about their stocks, pension, and tax deductions. I’m wondering where these people get all this money?! I work so much and I don’t feel as stable and optimistic! I may have been a little too rushed in buying a house. My worries about my finances keep me up sometimes, inputting different numbers into online calculators, wondering what my savings will be in 30 years, if I will have money to pay off my house, support Lydia, and retire maaaybe 5 years early. If you see my youtube feed, it’s filled with videos about retirement, investment, and saving strategies. But what if I become disabled tomorrow (is that early retirement?)? What if that stable job isn’t as stable as I thought? What if AI takes over and I don’t have work anymore? What should I Do? Linkedin? No. Seek God First. In Matthew 6:19-21 🔴 it says, “do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” God has been telling me countless times not to worry! The verse is not saying don’t save money, but not to put my heart and soul into money! If money or family or success is my treasure, then I am storing up my treasures here on earth. But if God is my treasure, if I Seek God First! 🔴 Then I am storing up my treasures in Heaven. Do not worry about your life doesn’t mean don’t care about your life. Do not worry about your clothes does not mean you don't care about your appearance. It just means that If I Seek God First! If I Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, then all these things will be given to me as well. Amen.

I also have worries about my daughter. Lydia. She is 4 years old now. She soaks up everything. She understands most of what people around her are saying in English even though she mostly speaks Korean. There are many bad things that she can absorb from the media, friends, school, etc. New York City, with its high population and its rough nature, means there is a high concentration of sinners and sin. I have legitimate fear for her health, safety, and faith in this world of sin. I grew up here in NY and thank God I have come to know Him personally, but she’s my baby! Previous results do not guarantee future outcomes! I worry for her a lot. But what can I do? Jesus told us in🔴 John 16:33, that even in this world of trials and tribulation, we can have peace in God! We can be encouraged because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, saving us and giving us the path to eternal life. God’s glory and his peace are provided to us because he has overcome the world. 🔴 Proverbs 3:5-6 was my kv this year proclaim to me that those who trust in God can grow and be liberated from the darkest areas of sin. I cannot do it. I cannot save and protect my daughter from everything. But if I submit to God, He will bring Lydia on straight paths to His protection. Thank God for guiding us when we trust in Him.

I also have worries about my father. Last month, before our summer conference, he was in the hospital. He needed IV antibiotics and a lot of supportive care because his body is not able to do it for him. For more than 24 hours, he was on a small stretcher in a small cubby of the urgent care section of the hospital. He was waiting to be seen by the proper teams and placed on the proper floor. My mom had nowhere to rest except a regular chair for that entire time. He was stuck between stable and critical. They didn’t have a lot of beds, so they were waiting for my father’s condition to get better or worse. That day, my mother asked me to pray for him and words would not come out of my mouth. Looking at his poor condition, his fragile body that looked closer to death than to life closed my voice. I didn’t know how or what to pray. After more than 30 minutes of silence, with only the sounds of the monitors going off and people walking and talking, I could only pull out my bible app to Matthew 6. I read verses 5-13 as the nurses did their work around my dad.🔴 “ 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever Amen) sounds familiar? It is the Lord’s prayer we sing every Sunday. At that time, the only thing I could do was depend on God’s words. Words already written in the bible. Only by turning to the word of God did my voice start to work again. My voice trembled and I cried, but I had peace. I was able to pray for my father with conviction in my heart- Like it says in 🔴 verse 32 and in verse 8, God already knows what we need before we ask. We just need to Seek God First.

These are some of my personal worries. Even now, my father, recovering from infection, is not in great condition. He went back to the hospital last Sunday night with difficulty breathing and needing IV antibiotics. Thank God for all of your prayers and we pray for miraculous healing! He is home/here today. But also, I am learning not to worry even in this stressful time. I am learning to seek God first even in this time of hardship. I pray to God first - thanking him for all that he has already done for us and blessed us with. Then I pray for the doctors and nurses care, the medicine, and my father’s body to fight infection and cancer. I cannot control what happens. My dad can’t control it either. Whether God will take my father soon or whether my father will be healed by God’s power, I am learning to seek God First in all these things. In doing so, I am learning faith that overcomes anxiety. Many of you may have the assurance that God will protect and provide in all circumstances. I hope to grasp this as well.🔴 Jeremiah 17:7-8 says “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

When we trust in Him, when we have Confidence in Him, we will be strong well-watered trees! We will not fear cold, heat, insects, or animals. We need confidence in Christ! We need to seek God First! I know there are also many here who are not sure what to do next in their lives. You may be waiting for the next semester, wondering if you’re studying the right thing. You might be applying to jobs and are not sure if you will have a stable steady job any time soon. You’re not sure if this job you’re in is the best or if you might need to apply to other jobs to try to get more experience or money or opportunity. You might be praying for your relationships, for your marriage and are wondering when and who God will provide as your significant other. And How will you know for sure?? Maybe you are worried about how to support yourself, your family, your future. There are so many videos and articles of people saying they regret not having done something earlier. Do we have to watch all those videos and do all the things they say? No. It could be good advice, but the best advice is🔴 Seek God First. One of the things that someone said at the marriage by faith seminar at NAYAC was that the people who are curious about marriage may need to go to the prayer seminar first. We need to seek God First with all our hearts! With all our soul! With all our might! When we seek him, when we love him, we will have peace. We will not worry. And God will provide for us with His glory and for our needs!

What does God want us to do? God said it many times. 🔴 Deuteronomy 10:12 is another such verse¹² And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? What does this mean - in short, Seek God first. 🔴 Read Key verse Matthew 6:33-34 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Do not worry! Let us seek God First! 🔴 When we focus on God, all our worries seem small and can be easily held in his hands. Let us live lives that honor and glorify God first. He isn’t promising us wealth and health, but he does promise us His glory and eternal life with him. Amen.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.