19 September 2021 – Sermon: Why Are You Worried?

a reading from matthew chapter 6 verses 24 to 34 no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other you cannot serve god and mammon 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 godzilla closed 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 for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things 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 this is the word of the lord thanks be to god morning friends it's wonderful to be here to share with you the word of god and i'm looking to god for a word of season for you shall we go to him in prayer heavenly father i just thank you that your word is ever so enduring and i just want to pray and claim your promise right now that wherever your word is being proclaimed it will not return to you void without accomplishing that for which your purpose and so lord do it today for us as you have said in jesus name we pray amen amen well the title of my sermon today is why are you worried now many of you may have heard this by word on the lips of many 21st century christians today it goes like this why trust when you can worry and well as soon as they utter that word they suddenly realize that maybe there's something wrong and so they try to hide their worry by replacing that word worry with other labels like concerned troubled bordered disturbed now regardless of the term used worry saps your energy destroys your joy blows your vision curtails your spiritual growth and you know what aggravates your physical ailment and unfortunately it is also contagious easily cut and stressfully experienced that is why in our scripture text today jesus commands us three times do not worry now jesus isn't saying don't be concerned for your life or the life of others or don't take proper precautions for your life and the lives of others no what he's saying is this don't be worried about it that you focus so much on what might happen in the future that you miss the opportunities and care to what the responsibilities you have today and so i think it's only right at this very outset to clarify what worry is what worry is and is not let me start first with what worry is not worry if you want to put it in your note now worry is not the same as concern now when you are concerned you take prudent and wide sections and you pray in a way that you are genuinely dependent on god but when you worry you think and act as though everything is up to you and all are always completely out of control and you pray desperately now when you are concerned you acknowledge that something needs careful thought but when you worry you are given to consuming alarm panic or dread the life application study bible adds this concern moves you to action worry immobilizes you planning for tomorrow is time well spent worry about tomorrow is time wasted and so you see that's a marked difference between the two worry is not the same as concern but i also want to add that the answer to worry is not under concern or be laid back you know sometimes when you read in the text that we look at the birds in the air and you know god takes care of them you know and provides for them and we tend to think that we can now afford to be laid back and do nothing well may i remind you that even though god does provide for the birds with food the birds have to actively go for golf out to get it as well so on the other hand yet on the other hand working extremely hard could also be a symptom that we are chronologically sorry we are chronically worried even though we may have a steady stream of income coming in you know what we still work like mad why because we are excessively anxious about the future now so we need to avoid both extremes being laid back and being a chronic worker so worry is not the same as concern what then is worry you know the greek word used here in our textbook worry consists of two words marisol which means to divide and noah's means the mind so literally worry means a divided mind and in the bible that greek word is translated as worry anxiety or care now it's hard to concentrate doing something well when your mind is divided right you can't really have a divided mind and be skillful in administrating health care for example or if you're starting a business you need to focus and you can't have a divided mind now when we have two minds about doing something you know what we'll end up in effective same with the christian mind that's divided one that is beset with worry see we need to realize that worry is really a deep spiritual issue one if not properly handled can paralyze our spiritual growth why so because if you look at the broader context of this matthew 6 passage that we are talking about worry is really about a divided loyalty between god's kingdom and your own jesus talks about our excessive worry over our physical needs food drink clothing at the expense of pursuing god's kingdom his purposes his values and priorities in our lives so to put it simply then worry is over concern about something other than the kingdom of god that's what worry is yes and over concerned about something other than the kingdom of god why is worry such a problem that jesus commands us three times in this text do not worry let me give you three problems with worry first would you write this in your note worry leads to selfish decisions about your life jesus in matthew 6 25 says this therefore i tell you do not be anxious about your life what you will eat or what you would drink know about your body what you will put on you know at the end of the day my worries my anxieties are all about me my woe my desires my longings worry is me centered so the worry that jesus talks about here knows nothing of self-sacrifice nothing about laying down one's rights for the good of others nothing of humility it's all about me and my wants you need some evidence well you can say you may say to yourself i must have a certain lifestyle and you're thinking i need to be able to vacation the way i want live in a nicer neighborhood have my kids attend the top school enjoy country club amenities and life you know what you're bought into the american dream which is founded in earthly treasure and then sometimes in the pursuit of that dream we strive and we spend even beyond our means and then you say i'm now worried about how i'm going to pay the loan you know what you're not seeking god in state you're staying up late at night trying to figure out how you can make things work you worry because of your refusal to trust god because of your own self-will to find the answers your own way through your own network through your own means this is a me centered attitude too so worry leads to selfish decisions about your life that's the first problem with worry the second is this would you write in your note worry is unbecoming you know if you are a christian it is inconsistent to your profession of faith in god because worry is a symptom of how unbelievers act verse 32 tells us for the gentiles seek after all these things jesus is saying that the lives of those who couldn't care less about god are dominated by earthly treasure and therefore worry when you and i worry about our jobs our health our money our mortgages and our kids schools our cars and our houses our clothes you know we're acting unbecomingly like the world and unlike christ and so when the unbeliever look at us to see no difference you are christian i'm not christian but we worry about the same things now please don't get me wrong i'm not saying that our jobs our health our money our kids and all that are not important what i'm saying is this to be dominated by worry about these things is to essentially show that our ultimate hope is not in a loving caring heavenly father but in the things of this world have you forgotten who your heavenly father is let me ask you a question do your children worry about their next meal no right they don't worry if they're going to have clothes a bait or something to drink either that never crosses their mind why because they know that you their father will be there to provide for them likewise we don't have to worry about the essentials of life because the one who gave us our very existence is the one who will provide what is needed to sustain and support our life and our body and yet how often we feel to believe that god will provide for us and that's why jesus describes warriors this way in verse 30 all you of little faith you know we have all kinds of super this and super that like supermarket super salad super bowl superman but when it comes to god we often forg we have often forgotten we have a super big father who has super mega resources to meet our needs or how often we act like everyone else who is without god in their lives we forget that our father is the god of so much more so the first problem we worry is that it leads to selfish decisions about your life the second problem with worry is that it is unbecoming of a believer in christ the third and last problem with worry that i want to share with you this morning is this would you write in your note worry is useless you know the university of wisconsin some years ago compiled the statistics about worry they go like this forty percent of what we worry about never comes to pass thirty percent of what we worry about uh about is in the past and can be changed ten percent of petty worries like what color of t-shirts should i wear what kind of shoes should i uh should i wear when i go out so 40 30 10 that's about 80 gone already now 12 of what we worry about relates to health and you know what that's both funny and sad why because researchers have proven that worry actually makes your health worse not better and yet we worry about that so much eight percent of worry is legitimate legitimate but even then you know what your worry about it won't change it i think your worry will not make the loan go through don't worry will not get rid of that cancel your worry will not take away the coronal virus so jesus knows worry is going to be unproductive and that's why he says it loud and clear in verse 27 of our attacks and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life well if worry has some kind of paycheck um well then maybe it makes sense but no the words just tells us that you can't live any longer by worrying in fact from a health perspective with all those mental stress that come with worry you may actually end up living shorter or are you thinking that if you worry about something long enough the bad thing that you're worried about it's not going to come to pass is how it works certainly not that's why in short jesus is trying to tell us in that 27 verse of matthew 6 your worry is useless don't waste your time on it okay so the problem will worry is that it leads you to selfish decisions about yourself it's unbecoming of an unbeliever and it's utterly useless how then can we overcome or defeat worry may i suggest a three-step approach first recognize worry is idolatry and the solution is repentance you see our worries are predominantly about physical things or things in this world and when we put excessive importance on such things to the point where we are distracted from more important things you know what it only proves one thing that our hearts are really on earthly things and our treasure isn't in heaven that's why jesus was spot on when he says in the same sixth chapter of matthew in verse 21 for where your treasure is there your heart will be also so our hearts treasure is on earth not in heaven and that's why the real essence of worry is a deeply spiritual one it has to do with our heart's loyalty which is divided between god's kingdom and your own so our worries reveal where our heart is and when we are overly anxious about the things of this life it demonstrates that we are serving a master other than god we have somehow allowed the things of the world to replace god in our lives hence worry expresses idolatry in our hearts why because worry is the result of over loving something more than god we have allowed our preoccupation about the future situations and material things to be more important than thinking and acting god's way so my searching question is what things are you over loving more than god those are your idols and you know what idolatry has always been a huge problem with the children of israel and you'll read in the old testament again and again how god had to discipline them because of that even if that meant sending them away into exile i don't have time to read all that but you can take down the scripture text second kings chapter 17 verses 7 to 23 to read it for yourself second kings 17 verses 7 to 23 the solution to idolatry repentance jesus has made it very clear in verse 24 of our text today that you cannot surmountaneously serve god and mammon which is a mammon it is a new testament expression to mean to refer to material wealth which some people worship as a god well today an idol can be anything that replaces god as our master and so the warrior needs to repent of his false master his false gods fought securities and renews his faith in jesus christ his rightful master so when we turn away from our idols and confess our sins we can lay hold of a beautiful freedom promise from god in 1st john verse 9 which says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness forgiveness from god enables us to start afresh on a new path because the hurdle that's been hindering or blocking your relationship with god created by your idolatry is now removed and you regain peace with god how to defeat worry recognize worry as idolatry and the solution is repentance that's the first step the second step is this instead of pursuing a mean-centered lifestyle pursue god and his priorities let me talk about the priorities beat first matthew 6 34 reminds us but seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you is even there is something in our life that we consider more important or valuable over lesser things that usually causes us not to be concerned with the lesser things for instance if the radio in your car is broken and you also have a broken transmission which will you be more concerned about first the transmission right or if you are going for a buffet you don't eat all the rice right because your salmon or your steak is coming is on the way and you want to reserve room in your tummy for it what you value more than causes you not to be concerned with lesser things now look again at how jesus started his teaching in verse 25 he says do not be anxious 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 see jesus is telling us that there's more to life than food drink or clothing now jesus didn't say that these things don't matter he didn't say not to be concerned about those things he didn't say don't work for those things what jesus is saying is that life is more than these things so there is something greater than these things and there is something else that should be really consuming our attention and then jesus goes on to tell us what that greater thing is god is greater seek first the kingdom of god you know when you seek god and his ways first these other things will work out and that's why in verse 33 jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of god this is all these things which you worry about will be added to you so straighten out your priorities and everything else will fall into place recalibrate and refocus your life that is much more valuable now i want you to remember the context in which jesus is speaking here verses 31 to 32 says therefore do not be anxious saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the gentiles seek after these things now who are the gentiles well they are the non-jewish and during the time of jesus they were considered godless people who do not know the lord and jesus says that the godless people put their priorities on these things but you shouldn't godless people focus all the attention on earthly things because that's all they know as their treasure they don't know the greater treasure they don't know that faith is greater than food they don't know that charity is greater than clothing they don't know that grace is greater than game they don't know that love is greater than luxury they don't know that the blessings of god and god himself far outweigh the things of this world so they are focused on things but as followers of jesus we should be focused on god and god knows what we need seek him first see your life is more than the things of this world john stockt known worldwide as a preacher even evangelists and theologians once wrote this he says worry betrays a false view of human beings as if they were only bodies to be fed watered clothed and housed and human life as if it were merely a physiological mechanism needing to be protected lubricated and filled so you think worry tends to degrade us and make us far more helpless than the birds of the air and the flowers of the field god is greater than the material things of this world and you are much more valuable to him than the birds of the air and the flowers of the film so when you put god first he can be trusted to provide for all your needs the question is can you trust him you see trust is irrational it is relational how much trust god really depends on your relationship with him we trust people we know because of our relationship with them right so likewise you need to be building up your relationship with god how you need to know what he has said his promises that he's so faithfully kids you need to be filling up a trust account just as you you do like putting up a site you know your money for into a fixed deposit account you need to be building up a trust account with god how by remembering what he has already done for you so that when things are bad you had something to draw on you know at the end of the year each year i i always spend some time just to reflect back and just write down some of the things that you know god has done in my life and really journey it down write it down so that in times when i feel sad or down i can go back to that treasure box or that journey and look at god's faithfulness and be encouraged by that god is faithful and he has done many many things to every one of you so when we have a right relationship with god we will hear his voice when he speaks to us for instance he we can hear god's voice in philippians 4 verses 6 to 7 saying to us this be anxious for nothing but in everything by pray and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to god and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through christ jesus hearing is a relationship that makes grateful requests to god is ruled by an active peace and gives hope instead of worrying about things that cannot be changed we pour out our hearts to god knowing that he loves us is good and wants to be our all sufficiency so god's peace which guards our hearts and minds in christ jesus brings us to a place of rest which allows us to think rightly again and that's why the next verse philippians 4 8 exalts us this way finally brothers whatever is true whatever is honorable whatever is just whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is commendable if there is any excellence if there is anything worthy of praise think about these things as we discipline our minds to think about these things you know gratitude begins to welcome in our hearts and our minds are free to be used correctly it begins to give us a clear conscience and a clear focus and when there's clarity we begin to act rightly so paul continues in philippians 4 9 whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me put it into practice and the god of peace will be with you so instead of worrying about the future focus your attention and energy into fulfilling today's responsibilities put into practice pauses in other words leave out your theology what you have learned what you believe about god and what he says just leave it out so it all starts with a right relationship with god which leads to right thinking that results in right acting so be intentional in building up your relationship with god get to know what his will is and follow it closely pursue god and his priorities okay one last step i want to share with you how to defeat worry live in the noun jesus in matthew 6 34 says therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself sufficient for the day is its own trouble boy don't you already have enough trouble for the day and i like how moses blessed one of the tribes of israel before his final days on earth we're done he says in deuteronomy 33 verse 25 as your days so shall your strength be can you see in this verse that beautiful matching of the strength with the day when tomorrow's burdens come upon us tomorrow's grace will be there to meet us so don't be overwhelmed with worry about the unknown future and the things that may never happen live one day at a time trust in god every new day let me close with this poem but the lord says to you my name is i am if you live in the past you will be very hurt for i am not there my name is not i was and if you live in the future it will be very hard for my name is not i will be but if you live in the present it is not hard for my name is i am well brothers and sisters in christ i think it's time to pack our bags and exceed from jalan worry worry street let's give our undivided loyalty to seeking first the kingdom of god when your life is centered in christ you'll find all you need may we pray hallelujah you know i just felt as i prepared this summer i just felt that i want to pray for a special group of people before i pray for the rest of the congregation you know i want to address those of you maybe there might be some who are watching this life if you have never invited jesus into your life before but today you heard that god is greater and your life is worth much more than all the things of the world something in your heart is talking you to want to start a relationship with jesus christ i want you to know god loves you he wants to replace your worries your fears with hope and his peace he wants to come into your life to give you just that so if you want to do that i want to give an opportunity to invite jesus into your life by just a simple prayer it's not the words in the prayer that saves us only jesus christ will save us only his power can save us through faith it's not the prayer that saves it's the repentance and the faith in your heart behind the prayer that lays whole of salvation so if you're ready and want to start a relationship with jesus i want you to invite you to follow me in this prayer dear jesus i am it i'm a sinner and i want your forgiveness i accept your death as the penalty for my sins and i recognize that your mercy and your grace is a gift you offer to me because of your great love cleanse me and make me your child by faith i receive you into my heart as savior and lord of my life from now on help me obey you and do your will in jesus name amen friends if you are one of those who have prayed this prayer to invite jesus in your life would like to know get to know who you are if you can you can submit your names to us via the prayer prayer form and we would like to be able to reach out to you to pray for you and perhaps give you some material to get you started and now for the rest of us i would also like to pray shall we go to the lord in prayer once again heavenly father i just want to commit our people to you lord each of them are so precious to you and you love them but all of you also recognize that someone could be under the weight of worry because of all the things that are going around the uncertainties that are around them loren we pray jesus will you lift them up leave them out of their clown their gloom god all strengthen hearts that are despondent this day lord as they reach out to you god may you embrace them once again with your love for god assure them lord that you have made them for a purpose far greater than they have ever known than the more valuable much greater the purpose than the fleeting things of this world and help them draw them close to you lot help them as they reach out to you in jesus precious name amen amen

Channel: WMCKL Wesley Methodist Church Kuala Lumpur

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Id: WNX2IggzGNk

Length: 37min 23sec (2243 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021