Walking the Narrow Way | Devotional Guide(lines)

The Sermon on the Mount is more than a collection of inspiring teachings or moral rules. In Matthew 5–7, Jesus offers his disciples a vision of an entirely different way of life: a life shaped by humility, mercy, integrity, trust, love, discernment, and faithful practice.

This devotional guide accompanies our sermon series, The Narrow Way: The Cost of Following Jesus. Its purpose is not simply to help us learn more about Jesus’ words, but to help us become people who increasingly live them. To integrate our head and heart and our hands.

Each weekday includes four simple movements:

1. Read — Spend time with a short passage of Scripture.
2. Reflect — Consider how the reading connects with the way of Jesus.
3. Consider — Sit with a question that invites honest attention to your own life.
4. Practice — Take one small, concrete step toward putting the teaching into action.

You do not need to rush through the guide or find the “right” answer. Read slowly. Notice what stands out. Pay attention to any resistance, comfort, conviction, or invitation that emerges. You may wish to journal your responses, discuss them with someone else, or simply carry the day’s question with you.

The practices are intentionally small. Discipleship is rarely formed through one dramatic decision. But rather discipleship grows through repeated practices. Over time, these ordinary practices help cultivate a life with Jesus, like Jesus, doing the things Jesus did.

Use the guide in whatever rhythm works best for you: individually, with your family, with a friend, or in a small group. Missed a day? Simply begin again. The goal is not perfect completion. The goal is to keep returning to Christ and learning to walk with him on this Narrow Way.

Week 8 — Devotional Guide

Continuing the Way…

Theme: Integration
Formation goal: Receive the Sermon on the Mount as an ongoing way of life.

As we wrap up our series The Narrow Way: the Cost of Following Jesus this weel’s devotional guide acts as a summation of where we’ve been and offers a runway for you moving forward. 

Monday | Matthew 5:1–16

• Reflect: Jesus begins with a vision of flourishing and identity before giving commands. Formation starts by remembering who Christ is calling us to become.
• Question: How has your understanding of a “good life” changed?
• Practice: Choose one Beatitude as a guiding word for the coming month.

Tuesday | Matthew 5:17–48

• Reflect: Jesus moves from outward compliance to inward transformation. The narrow way reaches into anger, desire, speech, retaliation, and enemy-love.
• Question: As of late, where has Jesus challenged your inner life most directly?
• Practice: Make one concrete act of reconciliation, honesty, or enemy-love.

Wednesday | Matthew 6:1–34

• Reflect: Jesus addresses the hidden life, our audience, our treasures, and our anxieties. He invites us into a life centered on God’s kingdom.
• Question: What competing allegiance most often draws your attention away from God?
• Practice: Fast from one distraction and use that time to pray, give, or serve.

Thursday | Matthew 7:1–23

• Reflect: Life together requires humility, discernment, prayer, and love. Jesus forms people who can recognize good fruit and treat others with mercy.
• Question: What kind of presence are you becoming in the lives of others?
• Practice: Ask someone you trust, “Where do you see me growing, and where might I still need growth?”

Friday | Matthew 7:24–29

• Reflect: The Sermon ends not with admiration but practice. The narrow way is built one embodied choice at a time.
• Question: What practice will help the way of Jesus become the foundation of your life?
• Practice: Write and share one specific commitment for the next thirty days with someone who can encourage you. Check in regularly with that person on how their journey is going.