Hope Today 024 - What do you do with worry?

A weekly program of word and music featuring an eclectic mix of Christian music and teaching by Pastor Tom Cullen and Brian Evans.  Mac Wigfield starts the program with southern gospel classics.

Produced at Straight Path Studio in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada.

Christian Artists featured are:

Gaither Vocal Band

Glovers

Kingsmen

Audrey Assad

Keith Kitchen

Jason Gray

Page CXVI

Travis Green

The Issacs

Jon Buller

Francesca Battistelli

Thank you for listening to HOPE TODAY. This is a program developed at Light & Life Programming, a registered charity. We are listener supported. If you would like to help with this ministry, donations can be made through our website at www.lightnlife.ca.

Transcript

Brian 0:09

Thank you so much for joining us again for Hope Today. This is a program of inspiration, joy, and faith. May God encourage your hearts as you listen over this next hour. Today, Pastor Tom Cullen will be considering the question: what do you do with worry? Listen for some help and answers in word and music during our time together. But first of all, we look forward to some blessings in harmony as Mac Wingfield gets our program started.

Mac 0:42

Well, good morning. Thanks for tuning in today. We live in a day when worry comes easy for many folks. Here's a song from the Gaither Vocal Band. Simple statement.

Mac 3:06

I think of a story in the book of Acts, chapter 16, where we find the apostle Paul and his friend Silas in jail. Now those fellas had a reason not to worry, don't you think? Lovers tell us not true. God is still God. At midnight, down the road of Philippi, all in silence came.

Mac 6:16

So then, if God is still God at midnight, why do God's people end up in prison? Will I never fall? Will I never fail? Well, yes, I'll fall. But he will pick me up, he will put me back on track. This is the God we serve, a sovereign God. He knows what he's doing. Underneath me, always the everlasting arms.

Tom 10:02

Thank you, Mac, for introducing our theme for us on Hope Today. What do you do with worry? It's a serious question, as there is much in our world to worry about and much that causes anxiety. Jesus has a lot to say about worry, but before we get there, what greater reminder could we receive in the midst of our worry than God is in control? Audrey Assad sings, everything is yours.

Tom 13:45

What do you do with worry? Well, Jesus addresses this question in Matthew chapter 6, verses 25 to 31. He tells us three times in that passage not to worry. And we ask why? Why shouldn't we worry, Jesus? This pandemic has ravaged the world. And Jesus doesn't deny the troubles we face. They're real. But he does question the focus of our worry. Jesus says, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. The rule of God in your life. And all these things will be given to you as well. Only one life we live. Only what is done for Christ. He had it all. He had money, he had fame, he had physical ability, he had intellect, and he gave his life to Christ as a young man in university. When one comes face to face with eternity. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? In the midst of your worry, ask yourself, is it worth your attention? God cares for you, He will provide for you. Let your focus be on Him. Keith Kitchen expresses it so well in Faith in Your Goodness.

Tom 18:02

And yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? It's a rhetorical question, at which you're supposed to say, Yes! Think of it. The wonder of God's care. God cares for birds. What are birds in the whole realm of the universe? The tiniest sparrow is an insignificant God on the landscape of creation. He looks after little insignificant sparrow. I know that there is much of the world. Said the Robin to the Sparrow. I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so the sparrow to the Robin. Friend, I think that it must be that they have no heavenly father such as cares for you and me. Oh, but we do. We have a heavenly father whose care for you is infinite. The birds of the air know this truth. God holds your tomorrow. Jason Gray sings, sparrows.

Brian 23:32

It is quite interesting that so many hymns, which have become a meaningful encouragement in the lives of others through several generations, actually originated out of a significant tragedy. The hymn entitled Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, written by a most remarkable woman, is no exception. Louisa Steed was born around 1850 at Dover, England. As a youngster, she felt the call of God on her life for missionary service. She arrived as a missionary in America during her early 20s in 1871 and lived for a time in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1875, she married Mr. Steed, and to this union was born a daughter, Lily. When Lily was four years old, they decided one day to enjoy the sunny beach at Long Island Sound, New York. While eating their picnic lunch, there was a sudden cry for help from a boy drowning at sea. Mr. Steed immediately charged into the water, but as often happens, the struggling boy pulled his rescuer under with him, and they both drowned. In the ensuing days, Louisa struggled with God over why this had happened. Flowing out of her pain, and from deep in her soul came the meaningful truth she penned for this hymn. Louisa and her daughter went on to serve admissions in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, even through ill health. After she died in 1917, her hymn lived on in the hearts and voices of those she faithfully served. It continues today to point us to faith in God and trust in his plan, even in life's most difficult times.

Tom 28:55

Tony Evans, a pastor in Texas, tells of a time when he and his wife were on a cruise to Alaska, and on their way back, they hit a horrific storm. The waves were forty feet high, and the huge vessel was being tossed around like a rowboat. It was a terrifying scenario. And Tony Evans says, My wife was upset because the captain knew they were going into the storm, and she wondered why would he leave where they were, where they were safe, and the sea was calm, to go where they needed to be when his instrumentation told him that they would have to go through a storm. So Tony's wife decided to get on the telephone and give the captain a piece of her mind. So she picked up the phone and said to the operator. The operator said, I'm sorry, the captain is on the bridge, and we can't speak to you now. Well said, Mrs. Evans, I don't understand. Why if you knew we were going into the storm? We would go anyway. I will relay that to the captain. I'm sorry, he can't speak to you right now. Five minutes later, the phone rang. It was the same operator. She said, I just want to let you know that I told the captain what you said, and he asked me to relay a message to you. And the message is this please go to sleep. I'm awake on the bridge, and there's no need for both of us to be awake. I sometimes wonder if in the midst of our worry, God doesn't want to say that to us. I'm awake on the bridge of your life, and there's no need for both of us to be awake. Isn't that a good reminder? You need to know that your Father in heaven is on the bridge of your life looking for your safe passage.

Tom 30:43

Travis Green testifies to the truth with Made a Way.

Tom 33:42

What are we to do with worry? Jesus says our worry is unnecessary because God cares for you and for me. But he also says that worry is unproductive. So we read in Matthew chapter 6, verse 27, Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? In other words, worry is unproductive. It doesn't help your situation. It accomplishes nothing. Jesus reinforces this point in verse 34, saying, Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. Indeed, how many times have you worried about an event that never happened? Abraham Lincoln tells of the days when he was a lawyer and had to travel from town to town when the courts were being held. One night it happened that he met a method of a circuit writer at the end. And the preacher said, Absolutely. I discovered that there was one secret about the forge river, which I never failed to keep in mind. I never crossed it until I reached it. How many times have you crossed the proverbial forage river while you were yet miles away from it? And by the time you arrived at the edge of the river, you discovered that a drought had come along and right up the river. There are many things about tomorrow that I don't seem to understand. But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand. I know who holds tomorrow.

Tom 39:38

But can I encourage you? Many of you listening today get your drinking water from a geographical wonder called the Oak Ridges Maraine. It's a ridge of land that extends 200 kilometers from Niagara on the west to the Trent River on the east. Do you think that this pandemic has caused that supply of water to stop? No. No matter how gloomy our times are, the water from that moraine continues to flow. So it is with God's goodness and his provision and care for you. The supply of his care is not determined by the circumstances you face. He is above it all, and he continues to care for you. John Buller brings us to the feet of the Lord of everything.

Tom 43:49

It's unproductive. Don't cross the river until you get to it. And then this do you know that fish never get upset when it rains? A fish never says it's getting real wet out here. What do we do with worry? Allow it to drive you deeper in your trust of Jesus Christ, your Savior and Lord. Jesus said, Do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Let's pray along with Francesca Battistelli and lead me to the cross.

Brian 45:15

What a blessing this has been on Hope Today Thank you for joining us we look forward to being with you again next time won't you join us? Hope Today is produced at Straight Path Studios and is provided to you by your friends. Until next time, please remember that God cares deeply for you.