With a friend, your family or in your small group, discuss the following questions.

1. Are you familiar with HGTV? If so, what are your favourite shows and personalities? What is it about them that appeal to you?
2. In what context have you heard the term, deconstruction? We have defined it as breaking down a previous held belief to discover its true significance. Can you think of some thoughts, beliefs or ideas that you have deconstructed over the years? Share some examples with your group and what led to the deconstruction.
3. Why is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew Chapters 5-7 such a noteworthy passage of scripture? What are some elements of your faith that you have learned in a more formal setting? What aspects of Christianity have you learned in the course of just doing life, day to day?
4. What is your initial reaction to the concept that Jesus deconstructed the Law of Moses in the Sermon on the Mount? Why was it important for him to do so in light of the way the Pharisees had come to interpret the Law?
5. What have been some of your experiences with anger (your own or someone’s anger directed towards you)? Why is reconciliation the antithesis to anger?
6. Why is lust so damaging to God’s plan for sexual relations within the confines of a marriage? Why must we do everything we can to eliminate it from our lives?
7. In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus deconstructs what it means to love in the Kingdom of Heaven. What are some obstacles for you to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you? How are God’s idea of love and our world’s idea of tolerance so different?
8. What are some beliefs or practices in the Christian church these days that you think need to be taken to Jesus, prayed about, studied and deconstructed?

Prayer and Action Item

Pray for one another out of the key points that were discussed. Invite Jesus to help you deconstruct any areas of your faith that may be out of line with his teachings.