Message Outline

1. The Situation

2. The Shema

3. The Lord is Our God

4. The Lord is One

5. Keep These Words

Next Steps

1. Memorize Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

2. Recite these verses to yourself throughout this next week.

Growth Group / Personal Reflection Questions

1. Verses 4-5 (a.k.a. The Shema) connect obedience and love to well-being. In your life, do you see connection between loving God and well-being? If so, how?

2. Even when one tries to live faithfully, is there a tension between the promise of well-being and the realities of everyday difficulties? If so, how do you reconcile that?

3. Verse 6 says that the commandments must be kept “...in your heart..." and passed on to children. Instead of just knowing something intellectually, how do you internalize something in your heart?

4. In everyday life, what might it look like for the values of verse 6 to be “on your heart”? What challenges do you face in trying to keep something in your heart instead of drifting away?

5. Verse 7 emphasizes how we integrate faith into everyday life.
First, identify times of your day or week when you “sit,” “walk,” “lie down,” or “rise up”. Then identify how your faith does (or doesn't) get integrated into those times.

6. According to some commentators, verses 8 - 9 are not just literal instructions but metaphors for integrating God’s Word into everyday life. What kinds of reminders do people have in their lives (physical or otherwise) that help keep their faith "front and center"? How do you feel about such expressions of faith?

7. What do you think the phrase "The Lord is One" means? How would you interpret this statement about God?

Worship Song List
1. Your Love Never Fails by Jesus Culture
2. His Mercy is More by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa
3. Great is Thy Faithfulness by Thomas Chisholm and William M. Runyan
4. Be Still My Soul by Pat Barrett
5. Reason I Sing by Phil Wickham