Max Lucado’s book, Anxious for Nothing – Week 5
Opening Discussion: We live in a technology-driven society, with smartphones, laptops, and tablets at our fingertips. Our reliance on technology has grown even more with all that has happened in the last year. How has technology influenced your thought patterns? How have you seen technology fill your mind with anxious thoughts?
Lets read Luke 10:38-42. Try to look at these words with new eyes and an open heart.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
What was one thing that stood out to you from the Scripture?
Video Debrief
- Read Ephesians 6:11-12 and I Peter 5:8.
What does each of these verses say about our enemy?
Why is it important to understand and know all we can about our enemy?
- The Message shares Romans 8:6 this way, “Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.”
What type of thoughts specifically lead to a “dead end”?
What thoughts lead us to a “free life”?
- Read Mark 5:24-29. What thoughts do you think the enemy had planted in the bleeding woman’s mind as she jockeyed her way through the crowd to get to Jesus?
Instead of listening to the enemy, what does the woman say to herself (see verse 28)?
How does Jesus reward the bleeding woman’s determined faith (see verses 33-34)? What promise can we take away from his response to her?
- Jesus says in John 15:5, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”
Who or what do you find yourself abiding in more than Christ?
How can you attach yourself to Christ more than the people and things of this world?
Our goal is not to bear fruit but to stay attached to Christ. What is the difference between these two goals?
Final Activity
Do the burdens you wrote down the first week still burden you, or has God replaced them with his peace? Be truthful with yourself, and remember it’s all right if the anxieties still weigh you down. God is still at work within you and will accomplish his good purposes in his time.
Final Thought: Christ is our home. He is our place of refuge and security. We are comfortable in his presence, free to be our authentic selves. We know our way around in him. We know his heart and his ways. We rest in him, find our nourishment in him. His roof of grace protects us from the storms of guilt. His walls of providence secure us from destructive winds. His fireplace warms us during the lonely winters of life. We linger in the abode of Christ and never leave.