Let me just say, on behalf of Bo and Brian and myself, when it comes to the finances, please direct all questions to either Brad or Russ.
That was a paid-for announcement by the other elders.
We're totally comfortable with you taking all of that to those two guys.
I have to say, I have such an appreciation for what Russ does on Sunday mornings.
This has been a fun week.
I mean, even just the technology and the wiring and all of it, it's it's impressive and something I never want to do again.
Just kidding.
You know, I'm gonna do this.
I I we had a guest uh pastor one time that spoke in our church and he took his watch off, even though there's a nice big clock right there, and he said, I'm gonna lay that right there.
For those of you who are nervous about time, I'm not gonna look at it, but it's gonna make you feel better thinking that I might look at it.
He said, My real call for when we've gone too long is when all the nursery workers start running this way, going, What's wrong?
Why aren't why are they still in there?
So I promise I won't uh I won't take it that long.
Um we moved here three years ago from Savannah, and we went to a um a church there that uh was right in the heart of downtown.
If any of you have seen the movie Forest Gump, if you remember the steeple where the feather comes down in that movie, that was the uh steeple of the independent Presbyterian Church where we went to church.
And um didn't get to speak from the pulpit there very often, but every usually once a year we would have I would have to give a uh a stewardship talk from the pulpit.
And it was really interesting when you walk in this old sanctuary built in the 1800s, um, it's an elevated pulpit in the very center of the church, communicating the centrality of God's word, and that it's elevated and high above.
But the most interesting thing about that is that as you get into that pulpit, you have to go behind, you actually can't even see it.
You enter from a back hall, and there's these stairs, this stairwell that leads up to the top.
And it's quite an intimidating thing once you get up there and realize, wow, you're up here, you see all these people down here.
But it's so interesting that there's a plaque right above your head before you take the last step.
And it says, that they may see Jesus.
And it was so cool because even though I was just talking about stewardship or whatever, I thought, man, that's powerful.
That every Sunday, before our ministers get up, that's what they see before they walk into that pulpit.
So let me pray for us this morning.
Father God, we are so grateful to have you as our Father.
We are thankful, Lord God, that you give us peace.
Father God, that in a world of uncertainty and crazy times, Lord God, we are not called to worry.
As a matter of fact, you command us not to.
Father, for you teach us in your word that you are bigger than all of our cares and concerns, and that you, Lord God, are in complete and total control.
Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ this morning that you would give them eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts and minds to understand what you have for them.
And finally, Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
So we're going to talk this morning about a subject that, quite frankly, I feel very accustomed to, one that I know quite a bit about, but from the wrong perspective of it, and that is the topic of worry.
And what does Christ teach us in the Sermon on the Mount about worry?
I have to tell you, it was so interesting as I was doing research this week.
If you ever want to see how prevalent this issue is for Christians, just go out and Google anxiety and Christians.
And man, you will get taken to pages uh beyond your belief as far as what's out there.
Um it's very prevalent that we know that as Christians we do struggle uh with worry.
But yet Christ is very clear in the passage that you heard Russ read.
And so we're gonna get into the text, but before we get there, I want to talk a little bit just around the perspective of some other godly men around this issue.
Um, interestingly enough, Billy Graham issued this quote in one of his uh evangelism conferences where he said, historians will call our era the age of anxiety.
Then he defined it as anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in or on anything short of God and his will for us.
Interesting thing about that was Billy Graham made that quote in 1965.
Who would have thought that 50 plus years later you could still say the exact same thing about this era, right?
Even Friday night, just watching the TV and seeing what happened in Paris, right?
Definitely anxiousness comes over us when we think that there are people in the world seeking to kill other people.
John Piper, as he has preached on this same text, said, I feel like I am actually a professional at worrying.
He said, if I were honest with myself, I hear of people who go to bed every night anxious.
He said, I do not struggle with that at all.
I sleep and then I wake up totally anxious every single day.
And he said, the only thing that that forces me to do is to realize that I have to start each morning reframing my head away from my natural tendency to think about all the problems, issues, stresses that I have to handle and that I have to face.
And he says it's because of that that I know my greatest need is to get in God's word so that I can be of his mind and have his reference on all those things that I will face.
So I too, with uh John Piper, um, can say that I understand worry.
When John spoke on the same passage, he led it off by saying that God does not secure his kingship by keeping his people anxious or worried, but rather the aim of his kingship is to free us from all anxiety, worry, and all fear.
Now you know there were times in kings and kingdoms where the kings wanted the people to live in fear because they believed that would keep them loyal.
If they were worried about where they were going to get their next meal, if they were worried about where they how they were gonna raise their children and be kept safe, it was all in the king's control in their mind.
But our king defines his kingship by having us trust in him completely, knowing that we have no reason for fear or worry.
So, what is the definition of worry?
If we look in the Webster dictionary, worry defined, it's defined as worry is a mental distress or agitation resulting from concern, usually from something impending or anticipated, synonymous with the word anxiety.
So, as I said, there's lots of literature out there, but I wanted to just share with you some thoughts that John MacArthur, in an article he wrote called The Worried Christian.
We all have to admit that worry is a common temptation in life.
For many, it is a favorite pastime.
America, the most affluent society in the world, is also the most worry-filled society in the world.
That is, if spending on security, mental illness, and intoxicants are any indication.
Americans worry, and worry is a sin.
It is neither insignificant nor inconsequential.
And for the Christian, it is absolutely contrary to faith in Christ.
If you worry, what kind of faith do you manifest?
Little faith, according to Jesus in Matthew 6, 30.
Now, if you are a child of God, by definition you have a heavenly father.
To act like you don't, nervously asking, what shall I eat?
What shall I drink?
With what shall I clothe myself?
Is to act like an unbeliever in God's eyes.
Verses 31 and 32.
Think about it this way.
Christians who worry believe God can redeem them, break the shackles of Satan, take them from hell to heaven, put them into his kingdom, give them eternal life, but just don't think he can get them through the next couple of days.
That is pretty ridiculous, isn't it?
That we believe God for the greater gift and then stumble and not believe him for the lesser one reveals an embarrassing lack of faith.
So let's talk for a second about the condition of worry.
And the sources, all of us, if you think about it, even from a very young age, our children in the nursery, when can we see worry and anxiety come upon them?
Generally, it's most often found when they think they're alone, right?
They can't find mom or dad because they desire protection, they desire security, they desire comfort, right?
So even as a child, small children can experience this worry.
Then let's take it up to the time you're a youth, middle school and high school.
What do you worry about?
Acceptance.
The praise of men, right?
Then as we move into adulthood, we still have all those same desires that can make us nervous, right?
We want to protect our family.
We want to keep them safe.
We want our job to be secure.
We want to be able to financially provide for them.
So throughout this entire spectrum of life, it only gets bigger.
But we still have the same natural tendencies for things and areas where we can get insecure, and if left to our natural devices, we'll worry and stress and get anxious over these issues.
And it may be money, maybe your health, maybe that you're working out so hard to remain fit so that you don't get overcome by a health issue.
Maybe your profession, your career, worrying about raising your kids, right?
The options are endless in terms of the things that we can stress and have anxiety over.
So when we worry, what's the condition of our mind?
And we're going to talk about this as we look at the text too.
But you think about the times when you are the most stressed out and the most anxious.
Where is your focus at that point in time?
Generally it's on you, right?
You're not thinking of the power of the God that put the stars, the sun, the moon into space, but you're thinking about right here.
In Psalm 73, just for a little perspective, Psalm 73, verses 14 through 17, all day long I have been plagued.
I have been punished every morning.
If I had said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed your children.
Then listen to this.
When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me.
Until I entered the sanctuary of God.
Then I understood their final destiny.
The point in verse 17 of that psalm is that we are reordered when we are in the presence of God.
So when we refocus away from us and focus back on Him and what He has done, then we're reordered in our mind, in our perceptions, and in the way we view things.
So let's look into the text now at Matthew 6, 25 through 34.
The great thing about this text is if you want to know the main message, it's pretty clear, right?
Because you can look in verse 25.
Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink.
Then let's look in verse 31.
So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?
And then look in verse 34.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow.
Right?
So if any of you were like me and in high school you didn't necessarily want to have to read the whole book and you went to go get the Cliff Notes version.
I think the Cliff Notes message here is this do not worry, right?
That's clearly what Christ is teaching here in the Sermon on the Mount, is that we are not to worry.
So let's dig a little deeper into the passages to see exactly where the worry comes from and what the message for us is.
So the commentators on this particular passage basically are all seeming to say the same thing, that there's four weighty arguments that Jesus gives here against worry and anxiety.
So in verse 25, therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Well, concern over worldly goods is foolish.
And it's foolish because life itself is more important, right?
So one of the messages that comes through this passage is if we are so focused on our life and our needs, what are we not focused on?
The kingdom of God and his greatness to supply us those needs.
Right?
So in verse 26, look at the birds of the air.
They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?
So God will take care of his own.
And if he takes care of those birds, how much more so is he going to take care of you?
The third point is expressed in verse 27, and I love this one.
Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life?
So, what's the message?
Anxiety is actually useless, it accomplishes nothing.
Right?
So if you can't add a single hour to your life, and that's a small thing, spending time worrying is surely not going to help you accomplish the bigger things.
Right?
And then lastly, the fourth point in verse 28 through 32.
And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the lilies of the field grow?
They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon, in all of his splendor, was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you?
O you of little faith.
So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?
Listen to this.
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
So the fourth point here is that as heirs to the inexhaustible riches of the kingdom of God, believers should not worry about earthly details or anything like that.
God knows you have need of these things.
God knows you need them.
He promises to provide them, but when we focus on them and we stress on them and we get anxious over not having them or how we will provide them, it tells us here that we're acting like pagans.
Because honestly, those who don't have the hope of Christ do have reason for anxiety, right?
If you don't have the peace of Christ, if you don't have the surety of his promises, that is reason for anxiety.
So we as Christians are called not to have that.
Philippians 4.19 tells us that, and my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
So what's the solution here?
I think it's pretty clear we have four powerful points that tell us not to worry and why not to worry.
But in this passage, where's the what we are to do, right?
Is there something that he wants us to focus on?
That's in verse 33.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
There's the answer, right?
There's the solution.
The solution is left to our own devices, left to our own power to think that we have to handle it all, we're gonna stress.
But when we realize that instead we should be focusing on Christ and His kingdom and fully embrace the fact that that's where our focus is to be, then all the other areas seem to be smaller in light of how big He is and the promises that He has made.
So that's our solution.
I love one other thing that I wanted to share with you from John MacArthur's topic on this, or writings on this topic.
He said, When you worry, you are choosing to be mastered by your circumstances instead of by the truth of God.
When you catch yourself worrying, go back to Scripture and let God open your eyes again.
Let God's track record in Scripture and in your own life assure you that worry is needless because of God's bounty.
It is senseless because of God's promise.
It is useless because of its impotence to do anything productive, and faithless because it's characteristic of unbelievers.
So three things he mentions there prayer, God's word.
I think most of us know I call this my 4 a.m.
prayer.
So John Piper says he gets up and is anxious.
I sometimes have a 4 a.m.
wake-up call of anxiousness.
In Philippians 4, 6 and 7, I call my 4 a.m.
alarm prayer.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
So, one other thing that I would mention as opposed to going back to God's Word and going to God in prayer.
Um I think I'm gonna hear.
I don't know.
My wife bought me a journal, I think, on our second wedding anniversary.
And this literally dates back to uh, oh, I was wrong, sorry.
Valentine's Day.
Yeah.
Valentine's Day, 2001.
She's not here, she had to leave, so don't share that detail.
And erase that off the recording, please.
Um, so as I was saying, Valentine's Day, 2001, my wife gave me this journal.
And um it was awesome because, and I'm not the world's best journaler, but last year on my birthday, I decided to take a little time and read back through this because I had filled it up.
So it literally covered from 2001 to July of 2014.
Now, the reason I bring this up is because it brought me to tears to read what had happened in the 13 years that spanned in this book.
But what was overwhelming was through a miscarriage, uh, through loss of a father, through closing down a business, through uh changing jobs and multiple times in different ways, uh just the amazing ability where I read how God sustained us and delivered us through every single situation.
And it's because of his faithfulness in the past that I should be able to look forward and hope no matter what the stress is, no matter what the worry is, he's proven to me so many times, so many times, he's got this.
As a matter of fact, it's far better for him to have it than for me to even think I've got it.
Right?
So I say that only to encourage you if you haven't.
This is a great way to capture what God has done in your life.
And for me, it humbles me more and more and more every single time I read through it.
So, what's our conclusion here?
The conclusion is this that God does not want you to be to worry or to be anxious.
I'll close with John 16, 33, because this is a pretty interesting time in Jesus' earthly ministry.
This is his last interaction with the disciples before he goes off and is arrested.
So as he's meeting with his disciples before he goes to pray, he says, uh, well, I'm going to read a little bit up ahead, sorry.
But a time is coming and has come when you will be scattered, each to his own home.
You will leave me all alone.
Yet I am not alone, for my father is with me.
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble, but take heart.
I have overcome the world.
Let us pray.
Father God, thank you so much for your word.
Thank you so much for your Son and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Thank you for your Holy Spirit who abides in us, who guides us, who teaches us, who comforts us.
Father God, thank you, Lord, that we can cast all of our cares upon you because you care for us.
Help us to not be of little faith.
Grow us in our faith, Father.
Help us to seek you and your kingdom first and your righteousness, to focus on you.
Help us, Lord God, not to be swayed by the circumstances of our life and the uncertainty of these times.
May we hold fast to your word.
May we hold fast to you.
Thank you, Heavenly Father.
It's in your name we pray.
Amen.