SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Emmanuel.
SPEAKER_00: It's a real pleasure to be here with my wife, Florence.
SPEAKER_00: She's seated here with our U.S.
SPEAKER_00: Executive Director, Alan Hotchkiss, is must be somewhere in the crowd here.
SPEAKER_00: And we are grateful to always come back to Emmanuel.
SPEAKER_00: I want to thank you, Emmanuel.
SPEAKER_00: I want to thank your pastors, your elders, all the church members in this place for the last 24 years of partnership.
SPEAKER_00: I remember arriving in Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER_00: as a younger person on my way to go to Mount Noma Seminary in the year 2000.
SPEAKER_00: And when I arrived here, I was welcomed in a very special way, partly because I developed a relationship with Pastor Steve, who found me in Uganda and became one of my sponsors to go to seminary.
SPEAKER_00: And quickly, the Lord led us to start a ministry in Rwanda, which was in many ways helped by Matty Granger, one of your elders here, to get us started in Rwanda.
SPEAKER_00: That was the time when Rwanda just came out of a terrible genocide that took nearly a million people in 90 days.
SPEAKER_00: And God called us, just like in Nehemiah, to get back into the same environment to rebuild the nation.
SPEAKER_00: And for the last 24 years, in a big way.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to say, in a big way, Emmanuel has supported me and my wife and African New Life Ministries from sponsoring the first children.
SPEAKER_00: Remember one time stepping into a Sunday school class, and someone said, I'm going to sponsor 17 children in one day.
SPEAKER_00: Build rigors.
SPEAKER_00: I'll never forget that.
SPEAKER_00: And the testimonies after testimonies of so many people that have sponsored children here have impacted our lives.
SPEAKER_00: The building of the hospital because of your doctors here.
SPEAKER_00: And now Africa College of Theology.
SPEAKER_00: God continues to change your Rwanda, keep praying, and we'll keep doing the work of God.
SPEAKER_00: So I come to say thank you very much.
SPEAKER_00: Today I want to bring a word that I believe in.
SPEAKER_00: Letting go of worry and trusting in God's plan.
SPEAKER_00: I am learning continually to trust in the words of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And whatever Christ said, I want to declare it again that it's reliable, it's truth.
SPEAKER_00: When you trust the words of Christ, they produce faith in your heart for every day living.
SPEAKER_00: In the book of Luke, chapter 22, Jesus Christ said some beautiful words about being anxious.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to his disciples, therefore I tell you, don't be anxious about your life, what you eat, or what you uh what you eat, know about your body, what you will put on.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 23 he said, Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
SPEAKER_00: And then verse 24 he said, Consider the ravens, they neither sow or reap.
SPEAKER_00: They have neither store storehouse or barn, yet God feeds them.
SPEAKER_00: Of how much more valuable are you than the birds?
SPEAKER_00: And then to our text, he said, Who of you, who of you by worrying, can add a single hour to your life?
SPEAKER_00: Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
SPEAKER_00: Today we want to come to trust the words of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We want to come to trust the plan of God and listen to what the word of Christ says.
SPEAKER_00: Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to your life?
SPEAKER_00: Let's not talk about the hour.
SPEAKER_00: Who can add 30 minutes to his life?
SPEAKER_00: Who can add 10 minutes to his life?
SPEAKER_00: We don't have what it takes.
SPEAKER_00: Life is a gift from God every day.
SPEAKER_00: Many times when I pray, I thank God for the gift of life.
SPEAKER_00: And when God gives us the gift of life, I have good news for you that He takes care of us.
SPEAKER_00: And we need to learn to trust God's plan.
SPEAKER_00: Because our God is faithful.
SPEAKER_00: For the last 24 years, we have trusted the planning of God, and God has been so faithful.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we all have so many things to worry about.
SPEAKER_00: We worry about our children when they are little.
SPEAKER_00: We even worry more when they become teenagers.
SPEAKER_00: We get worse when they start their own families.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we worry about finances before we start to work.
SPEAKER_00: We worry about finances when we start working.
SPEAKER_00: We worry about finances when we retire, when we are about to retire.
SPEAKER_00: We worry all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you so many things to worry about: money, relations, marriage, children.
SPEAKER_00: But this is the problem of being anxious and worried.
SPEAKER_00: The problem is that worry will not change your circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: You're just burning empty calories.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ said, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?
SPEAKER_00: You can do nothing about your life.
SPEAKER_00: Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
SPEAKER_00: In other words, worry does not provide creativity, doesn't bring change, and it doesn't help us control the future because the future is in the hands of God.
SPEAKER_00: Someone said, Don't worry about something.
SPEAKER_00: To worry about something you cannot change.
SPEAKER_00: He said, That is stupid.
SPEAKER_00: Change it.
SPEAKER_00: Either way, do not worry.
SPEAKER_00: You know, another problem with worrying is that worrying damages our faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: It actually damages our faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: Worrying is a demonstration that we don't trust the words of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And it damages our view of God.
SPEAKER_00: Our God is a good God.
SPEAKER_00: According to scriptures, our God is a good God.
SPEAKER_00: I want to have a good view of God.
SPEAKER_00: I want to look at God as a good God.
SPEAKER_00: In spite of what you are going through, in spite of what I am going through.
SPEAKER_00: One thing I know, God is God.
SPEAKER_00: In Psalms 91, verse 45, he says, He will cover you with his feathers.
SPEAKER_00: Under his wings you will find refuge.
SPEAKER_00: His faithfulness will be your shield and your rapant.
SPEAKER_00: You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.
SPEAKER_00: I put my faith in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I put my faith in God because in all circumstances, in all situations, in the middle of pain and loss and challenges and uncertainty and things I cannot interpret, and situations I can't interpret.
SPEAKER_00: One thing I know God promises to cover me in his feathers.
SPEAKER_00: To find refuge in his wings.
SPEAKER_00: And our God is a faithful God.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to be very careful not to damage my view of God, not to damage my faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: Because the more you get worried, the more you damage yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And as you damage yourself, it distorts how you look at God, how you view God, and that affects your faith.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, worrying is not good.
SPEAKER_00: It actually is harmful.
SPEAKER_00: It destroys our own bodies, it destroys us in, inside, and out.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can see someone who is going through a worrisome moment.
SPEAKER_00: I remember when we were going through COVID, everybody could see that on my eyes.
SPEAKER_00: The first few weeks of COVID messed me up.
SPEAKER_00: They messed me up because in the twinkling of an eye, all airports were closed, doors were being closed, and we are taking care of 11,000 children, 500 workers everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: We had just launched the hospital.
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine launching a hospital in the middle of COVID?
SPEAKER_00: And you have a payroll to cover.
SPEAKER_00: And in a twinkling of an eye, all our communities are separated from each other.
SPEAKER_00: I remember being worried and anxious and concerned.
SPEAKER_00: And I came back to trust the words of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I will heal.
SPEAKER_00: And through the two, three years of COVID, I always went back to those words.
SPEAKER_00: I'm trusting you, God, who protects.
SPEAKER_00: I'm trusting you, God, who provides.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm trusting you, God, who heals.
SPEAKER_00: And it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00: Throughout COVID, God provided, and God did amazing things.
SPEAKER_00: And as a result, I became more healthier in COVID than regular days by trusting in God.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, we need to learn to cast our worries to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has spoken to us.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, I need to learn to trust my worries to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: My cares to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Worries and anxieties will never stop to come.
SPEAKER_00: They will always come.
SPEAKER_00: Life is like that.
SPEAKER_00: But how do you cast your worries to Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Number one, this is how you trust in God's sovereign goodness over your wormsome life.
SPEAKER_00: I trust in God's sovereign goodness.
SPEAKER_00: God is sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing that will ever happen in your life without his permission.
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, even demons and devils and spirits and all the evil forces, there is nothing they can ever do to you without the permission of our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Our God is sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: The sovereignty of God gives me a sense of comfort that God has a plan for my life.
SPEAKER_00: Because in the sovereignty of my God, there lies the plan of God for all of us.
SPEAKER_00: That's why in the book of Isaiah, chapter 46, the Bible says, Remember the former things, those of long ago.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, I am God and there is no other.
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, I'm so happy that is God and you are not God.
SPEAKER_00: I am so happy that is God that the leaders of the nations are not gods.
SPEAKER_00: I am so happy that is God that the kings of the earth are not God.
SPEAKER_00: Our God says, I am God and there is no other.
SPEAKER_00: We come to trust in our God who is unchangeable.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, I am God, and there is none like me.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, I make the no, I make known the end from the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: From ancient times, what is still to come, I say, my purpose will stand, and I'll do all that I please.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when I listen to that verse into my ears, into my brain, into my heart, I go to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what's happening around, I go to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what is on television and the news going on, I go to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what the the scare outside there, I go to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I know God is in charge, because I know God is sovereign, because I know God knows how tomorrow is gonna look like He is God and there is no other one.
SPEAKER_00: He is in charge, he has not created this earth and created us to just abandon us.
SPEAKER_00: He is a God who is with us, and he says his purpose will always stand from one generation to another generation.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, how do I submit uh my cares to Christ?
SPEAKER_00: I submit by following the Good Shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: You follow, you follow.
SPEAKER_00: He knows how to lead you to where you are supposed to go.
SPEAKER_00: I learned to follow very early in my life because I had a very vulnerable life.
SPEAKER_00: By age 14, 15, I was caught up in a warfare, and I was a younger person, really a teenager, and during those days, there were so many grenades on the ground, and you had to work with the experts who know where you are going as you run away in times of war, and you had to carefully follow them step by step.
SPEAKER_00: I learned to follow, but let me tell you, there is a better person to follow, and his name is Jesus Christ, because he is a good shepherd, and he leads us well.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says in Psalms 23, which is my favorite psalm throughout the entire Psalms, it says, The Lord is my shepherd, I have all I need.
SPEAKER_00: He lets me rest in green pastures, he leads me beside the peaceful streams, he renews my strength, he guides me along the right path, bringing honor to his name.
SPEAKER_00: Because a good shepherd provides, because a good shepherd protects and defends us from our enemies and from harm.
SPEAKER_00: Because the good shepherd guides us and he leads us when we are confused and we don't know which way to take.
SPEAKER_00: And not only that a good shepherd provides and protects and guides, a good shepherd also corrects us.
SPEAKER_00: Um, he comes along and he corrects our lives.
SPEAKER_00: The amazing thing is that God has promised that he would do all these things in our lives when we trust in him, he will lead us.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I love also Isaiah chapter 41, verse 1, and I'll tell you why.
SPEAKER_00: It says, I'm gonna read it in the living, uh New Living translation, and it says, He'll feed his flock like a shepherd, he'll carry the lambs in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says, holding those close to his heart, he will gently lead the mother sheep where they are young.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I have a mother, my mother is about 82 years.
SPEAKER_00: My mother's gone through so many things in her life.
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, when you meet her, you're gonna think she's uh 90, but she's gone through so many things.
SPEAKER_00: She's been sick much of her life.
SPEAKER_00: And uh my mother worries about me.
SPEAKER_00: She has never been on a plane, she will never be on a plane, she doesn't know the difference between Europe and America, and she she she's a basic mother, and mother worries about me all the time.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, she's still worrying about me up to this day.
SPEAKER_00: But listen to what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_00: He will feed his frock like a shepherd, he will carry the lambs in his hands, and the lambs are the little, are the little sheep, the small sheep is going to carry the small sheep in his hands, holding them close to his heart.
SPEAKER_00: God cares, but listen, he will gently lead the mother sheep with the young.
SPEAKER_00: You know, mothers worry about their children.
SPEAKER_00: They worry, they worry.
SPEAKER_00: My wife calls her children many, many times more than I do.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, sometimes she calls them till they get tired of all the calls.
SPEAKER_00: But the thing is, mothers get worried about their children.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, he says he will gently lead the mother sheep with the young, he will take care of the mother and he will take care of the little ones.
SPEAKER_00: Our God cares, he is a good shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And as I come to the end, I also want to say that make prayer a daily practice in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to put my emphasis there.
SPEAKER_00: How do we cast our cares to Christ?
SPEAKER_00: We make prayer a daily practice.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says in Psalms 55, verse 1 to 17.
SPEAKER_00: Everything, every evening and morning and at noon, I'll pray and cry aloud, and he will hear my voice.
SPEAKER_00: Evening, morning, and at noon, I'll pray and and and and cry aloud, and he will hear my voice in the morning.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, the best antidote towards anxiety is living a life of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Is living a life of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And pray says in the morning, when you wake up, in the evening at noon time, when you surround yourself with the spirit of praying, you actually live a life full of victory.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 says, Don't be anxious about anything, anything, anything, but in every situation by prayer, petitioning, with thanksgiving, make your prayer requests or your requests known to God.
SPEAKER_00: Again, Paul gives us a command and he says, Don't be anxious about anything.
SPEAKER_00: What are you anxious about this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by what?
SPEAKER_00: Prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Speak to God.
SPEAKER_00: Speak to God, make petitions before God, give thanksgiving, present your requests to God so that you can live a peaceful life.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, the greatest peace I want in my life is the peace of my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Is the peace of my heart because I cannot calm down what is in Ukraine.
SPEAKER_00: That's not I have no power to stop it.
SPEAKER_00: I can't stop the coup in Syria that has just happened.
SPEAKER_00: I have no power to stop it.
SPEAKER_00: I can't stop what is happening in Congo right now.
SPEAKER_00: I can't stop what is happening in Somalia.
SPEAKER_00: It's part of the fallen world.
SPEAKER_00: But one thing I can't do, I can stop what is happening in my heart.
SPEAKER_00: I can stop the woe in my mind.
SPEAKER_00: I can Find peace with God through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The way you find peace first and foremost is by surrendering your life to Jesus Christ and making a prayer, asking Him to forgive you your sins so you can find peace with God.
SPEAKER_00: And then every day, every day you come back to find peace.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, your life can be in control because of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Peter said also in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 7, cast all your anxiety to him, for he does what?
SPEAKER_00: He cares.
SPEAKER_00: Cast all your anxiety to him because he cares.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, cast means to earn the Lord and let it go.
SPEAKER_00: Earn the Lord and let it go.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek word literary means to drop down.
SPEAKER_00: You drop, you earn the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, prayer is an incredible stress reliever.
SPEAKER_00: If we prayed more in the morning, in the evening, in the afternoon, we'd spend more less money with the therapists.
SPEAKER_00: I tell you the truth.
SPEAKER_00: We can unload them and we can cast them back to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now that sounds very simple.
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, life can be simple.
SPEAKER_00: But we complicate it because we carry all the things.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to make it a little bit serious.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna make it a little bit serious with my last point.
SPEAKER_00: My last point says, make long-term plans, but live one day at a time.
SPEAKER_00: So I am not saying don't plan for your life.
SPEAKER_00: No, I am not saying don't have a brain, I'm not saying don't think.
SPEAKER_00: No, you still have to think, but trust in Jesus, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Even in your thinking, trust in Jesus, even in your planning, make long-term plans, but come back and live one day at a time.
SPEAKER_00: One day at a time.
SPEAKER_00: When we start African New Life, I had big plans of a hospital, of children, of churches.
SPEAKER_00: But let me tell you, you cannot live in 20, you cannot live in year 24 without living in year number one.
SPEAKER_00: Someone said, This is today you worried about yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: Look at you today.
SPEAKER_00: This is today you worried about yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what God has done in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 6, 34 says, Don't be anxious about tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: God will take care of your tomorrow too.
SPEAKER_00: Live one day at a time.
SPEAKER_00: Another person said, Do not open your umbrella till the rain begins to rain.
SPEAKER_00: Don't open your umbrella till the rain begins to rain.
SPEAKER_00: Today is the tomorrow you're worried about yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: The future can be overwhelming.
SPEAKER_00: Overwhelming.
SPEAKER_00: When you think about the entire future, it can be overwhelming.
SPEAKER_00: When you think about the next four years, it can be overwhelming.
SPEAKER_00: When you add on the next other four years, it gets overwhelming.
SPEAKER_00: But this is what God has done.
SPEAKER_00: God has put life in 24-hour increments at a time.
SPEAKER_00: We live one day at a time.
SPEAKER_00: That's why the Bible says, give us today our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: Today, our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: Now I know in America you don't pray for the daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: You stack your fridges with food for a week, for a month.
SPEAKER_00: When I was growing up, we actually shopped every day.
SPEAKER_00: Every day we go to shop and eat that day.
SPEAKER_00: And go back to shop and eat that day.
SPEAKER_00: Because you make little money every day, and as you make little money, you go to eat.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, God gives us our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: We can have a long-term plan, but the key to living a peaceful life with yourself is learning to live one day at a time in increments of 24 hours.
SPEAKER_00: Learning to trust Jesus and resting in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: Every day I have to take care of 12 communities in Rwandan all over the country.
SPEAKER_00: 500 workers, 11,000 children, nearly 12 of them.
SPEAKER_00: Bible college.
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, we have directors and leaders over each of those entities.
SPEAKER_00: If I decided to worry about them, man, I would not find peace.
SPEAKER_00: So what do I do?
SPEAKER_00: I pray for them.
SPEAKER_00: One by one.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I pray and say, God, I pray for Kajeyo, I pray for Kayonza, I pray for Kigali, I pray for these pastors, I pray for these communities.
SPEAKER_00: I'm trusting God to take care of them.
SPEAKER_00: And it's powerful that when you trust God, there are things He will fix on your behalf which you can never fix for yourself.
SPEAKER_00: So let us put our trust in Jesus Christ and trust his plan for our lives and live a worry-free life.
SPEAKER_00: God, we come before you.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for this morning.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for every good things you do for us.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You came and you were born.
SPEAKER_00: And you had to go through everything you went through to the cross and to resurrection because you wanted us to have a much better life through the sacrifice you gave on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: May you bless the rest of our moment, even as we come to partake on the Holy Communion.
SPEAKER_00: May you help us be reminded that through your death we are taken care of.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: And now for a parting word from Pastor Jesse Johnson.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER_01: If you're in the Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER_01: area, I would love to see you at Emmanuel Bible Church.
SPEAKER_01: For more information on our church or our current service times, go to IBC.church.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about the Master Seminary and their Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER_01: location, go to tms.edu.
SPEAKER_01: I hope this resource has been a blessing to you and it helps you seek the Lord daily, serve others around you, and share the gospel with boldness.