Monday, September 2, 2013
Don't Worry! Part 11 of 31
TEXT: "Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:25-34).
IDEA: To overcome worry we need to see the faithlessness of it.
PURPOSE: To help listeners realize why worry is a lack of faith.
According to Jesus' preaching in the Sermon on the Mount, to get over worry we need to realize how useless it is and how faithless it is.
I. Secular books give us suggestions on how to handle worry.
Start an exercise program.
Practice better time management.
Get involved with a group therapy program where we can talk about what worries us.
Do these have any value?
II. Ultimately we defeat worry by believing that our Father in heaven can be trusted.
God places more value on us with our limitations and imperfections than upon birds with their beauty.
He has the power to do what His love directs.
Conclusion:
The God of suns and stars and planets knows you personally and cares for you. The God of the immensity of the universe knows us individually just as He knows each flower that grows in the field and cares about it.
