Hurried, Worried, Buried (How to Overcome Fear, Worry, and Anxiety)

let's pray together father we are so thankful because of the cross because of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ our place that we can speak to you now as father and our Father who is in heaven is in control of our lives because there's a lot of things Lord as you know that stress us out that caused anxiety that caused fear and that caused worry so now as we look at the words of Jesus and how to deal with our worry would you speak to us and help us to walk out of here with greater trust in you we ask this in jesus name amen you can be seated hello everybody let's grab our Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 6 and the title of my message today is hurried worry Barry subtitle how to overcome fear worry and anxiety I want to mention the next Sunday I'm going to be speaking on the non-believers favorite verse guess what it is no it's not John 3:16 now the non-believers favorite verse is found in matthew chapter 7 and the root and the verse is judge not lest you be judged they love to quote that don't they usually when you're making them a little bit uncomfortable and they'll come back with that first so let's find out what that verse actually means in its original context are we as Christians to make judgments and if so how do we judge what are we to judge what are we not to judge find out more in our next time here but we're looking at the topic of dealing with our fear worry and anxiety you know when I was in Australia a number of years ago for one of our Crusades I noticed they have an expression there I really like you'll be talking to an Aussie that's what they call themselves and I'll summit question--and and they'll say that's not a knife this year's a knife no that's Crocodile Dundee sorry but no you'll say us for you know how do I get to this place or or whatever you need they'll answer you they're very friendly and then they'll usually say this no worries mate right you go right on over there and ain't no worries mate I like that that's good theologically no worries mate it it's theologically sound because we do have a lot of worries don't we a lot of things that weigh us down a lot of things that concern us a lot of things that cause us anxiety we worry about what we're going to eat we what we worry about what we're going to wear we worry about what we're going to live we worry about our employment we worry about our family we worry about just about everything we worry when things are going good because we're concerned when they're going to go bad and then when they're bad we worry about if they'll ever be good again how many of you would classify yourself as a worry wart raise your hand up okay how many of you don't really have a big problem with worrying raise your hand if you will by the time I'm done preaching not good I think of that great theologian Charlie Brown who made this statement about worry quote I've developed a new philosophy I only dread one day at a time end quote with another great theologian Alfred E Newman remembering him from the cover of Mad Magazine what was his slogan what me worry so let me quote now real theologian dr. Martin lloyd-jones who said this quote the result of worrying about the future is that you yourself in the present end quote but yet there's so many things happening in our world today that can cause us to worry the war on terrorism is far from over it rages on we have a terrorist army the likes of which we have never seen before that call themselves Isis we have this new disease in our country that wasn't supposed to spread called Ebola we have rogue nations like North Korea and Iran arming themselves with nuclear capabilities and then there's our economy that isn't as strong as it could be and then there are personal problems there's problems at your job problems with your family problems with your help life is just filled with so many worries and there's a lot of things that do concern is a studies have been done among Americans and they've asked them what they worry about the most and it's a predictable things but middle-aged Americans were small worry most about their finances they also worry about being audited by the IRS maybe there's a connection there a growing concern today among many as a fear of being hacked that someone would get your personal credit card information or that your smartphone or computer would be stolen and then there was an article that was on a while back about a bunch of celebrities that were upset because their smartphones have been hacked and now photos of these people are on the internet and they're naked and I have a thought about that don't take pictures of yourself naked ever and that pretty much solves our for good right but among the studies have been done and people are asked what they worry about the most usually at the top of the list is my appearance that's amazing hey I don't care if I lose my house right died in a nuclear blast how do I look in this outfit or for some how do I look without an outfit usually on the list of fears or worries is the fear of speaking publicly in fact the fear of speaking publicly is usually higher than the fear of dying can you imagine that okay you can die right now or give a short speech kill me how many of you have a fear of public speaking raise your hand if you have a fear okay could you come up here right now no seriously would you know oh I wouldn't do that she's like there's an old fable that's told about the dangers of worry as the story goes death was walking toward a city one morning and a man stopped death and said where are you going that's that I'm going into that city to take a hundred people that's horrible the man said hey death responds that's what I do so the man ran a hit of death to warn everyone he could so evening fell and that men meant death again and the man said I thought you were only going to take a hundred people why did a thousand people die death responded I kept my word I took only a hundred people worried took the rest that's all life can be where he can get us if you know that 75 to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are stress-related complaints or disorder disorders know this most of what we worry about never actually happens dr. Walter Calvert reported a survey on Roy that indicated only 8% of the things people worried about were legitimate matters of concern and the other 92% were either imaginary or never happen so here's the question how can we overcome fear and worry well the Bible has something to say about this in Christ Himself addresses this topic here in the Sermon on the Mount now we're in a series that we're calling God came there it's a chronicle chronological look at the life of Christ from all four Gospels but we've sort of parked our Bible bus as Jay Vernon McGee would call it temporarily in the parking lot of the Sermon on the Mount just to take in these amazing teachings from our Lord and we've seen with Christ as I say about a lot of topics and now we'll see what he has to say about worry Matthew chapter 6 verse 25 Jesus says therefore I say to you do not worry about your life what you will eat who will drink nor about your body what you put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing look at the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap or gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feeds them are you not more valuable than them 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 yet I say that Solomon and all of 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 clothe you oh you of little faith therefore do not worry saying what shall we eat what shall we drink or what are we going to wear for after these things that Gentiles seek for your heavenly father's knows that you need these things and here's the most important verse in fact I'd like us all to read it together Matthew 6:33 let's read it but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you every believer should commit that verse in particular to memory point number 1 the believers should not worry now Jesus is not saying that the believer should not be concerned about the necessities of life he's not saying that we should not think about them or plan for the future the Bible encourages us to work hard to save our money and so forth but what he is saying is that we should not worry about these things verse 25 do not worry about your life another translation could go as follows don't have anxiety about the issues of life the word that is used here indicates something that divides separates or distracts us actually the word worried from the Old English word means to choke it chokes you out you know the other day I was playing with some of my grandkids and they started choking me they thought that was very in teenee and then they kind of took it up a few notches and then they're jumping on my back and grabbing me from behind and I said okay kids let's back off a little bit you're hurting papa and so they came back a few days later and what a mess can we choke you again Popeye in great form of entertainment choking your grandfather that's what worry does to us it chokes us it cuts us off in the Greek this command of Christ and not be anxious includes the idea of stopping what has already been done effectively Jesus is saying stop worrying about your life stop it you've been doing it up to this point and you need to stop doing it but interestingly we sort of elevate worry as a virtue well because I care I worry when a second is worried a virtue I don't think it is at all in fact I think worry can be a sin I'm not saying all worried as a sin but I'm saying it can be a sin and I will readily admit it's a sin I've committed I have worried about things unnecessarily I've fretted and been filled with anxiety just like you've been and why is it a sin potentially because it's a lot of trust in God I'm really saying well God isn't in control God is not taking care of me in this situation I'm not trusting and the Providence of God if you're a real Christian and you believe the Bible you will know there's God is in control of all circumstances that surround your life and there are no accidents in the life of the Christian that's an important thing to know but yet we'll worry about a lot of things in life and here's a problem with worry worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow it empties today of its strength worry is interesting in trouble before it's due I mean here's an illustration of a guy who could have worried but did not his name was Daniel Daniel the prophet remember him and you all know the story of how he was thrown into the Lions Den so I won't go into it but his enemies hatched a plot to have him killed because they wanted him out of the way they were jealous of his power and influence with the king so the king unwittingly signed into law a decree that no man could pray to any God but the true God and because Danny was a man of Prayer he ends up in a den of lions so he's going to die no question about it another way I just read an article in the paper about a man in a Russian zoo I guess he thought he was some kind of a modern Daniel he decided to climb into the den of the lioness in the Kyiv zoo and he screamed out God will save me if he exists well God exists but he didn't save this crazy guy and the lion killed him immediately there's a difference between trusting the Lord and testing the Lord Daniel was not testing the Lord he was put into a lion's den because of his faithfulness to God and what's fascinating about this story is the king himself could not reverse the law he ignorantly set into place yet that King spent the night worrying and Daniel spent the night sleeping like a baby the guy in the lion's den had a good night's sleep the guy in the palace did not and that's how it is when you're walking right with God you can just kick back and rest in him the Bible even says he gives his beloved sleep and I bet he used one of those lions as a pillow I'm sure a lion would be really comfortable to lay on if it wasn't all that hungry in the moment the Bible tells us we should cast all of our care upon him for he cares for us that's first Peter 5:7 and the word that is used there for care is the same used here in the Sermon on the Mount and the idea of casting is throw something it'd be like you're carrying a bunch of extra weight maybe you just got off the plane and you had a lot of carry-on stuff you had your backpack in your and your slepping along your roll roller bag any of another briefcase or whatever and and a friend says hey man let me take that load gladly thank you buddy and he takes that load off of you that's what this is saying take your worries and throw them God throw them on Christ I like what Martin Luther said he said quote pray and let God worry see God's not going to worry so pray and that's really the secret in Philippians that says don't worry about anything but pray about everything and the peace of God that passes all human understanding will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus so turn your worries into prayers the next time you're gripped with fear don't worry what if this happens what if that happens turn it into a prayer boom straight they have an Lord I don't know but I trust you and you're in control and I commit this to you right now and so we need to be looking to the Lord in this way and letting him give us his peace and look Jesus says check out the birds and check out the flower so here's Christ giving the Sermon on the Mount where did he give it he gave it in the region of Galilee there so all around him were birds chirping away and beautiful wildflowers growing so he draws on the background to make his point in verse 26 he says look at the birds in other words look at what's in front of your eyes have you ever seen a stressed-out bird and birds wake up every morning they're just singing away they're just happy you know and no bird has ever been promised eternal life no bird has ever been given the hope of heaven yet they sing away every day now Jesus is not seeing the bird sit by idly and wait for the food to come to him no they take action we have a little bird feeder in our backyard that I bought and I fill it with birdseed and those birds know there's going to be breakfast there and they cruise in and they're eating the seed and and then there are those little hummingbirds now I love those birds that you need don't ever give a hummingbird coffee what would happen you know they're just so full of energy you know and beautiful little creature but they know the food is there they have to go get the food for themselves that they get the seeds off the ground or the vegetation or hang out at McDonald's or in-n-out burger and wait for the first Friday hit the ground that's how they're going to do it and of course then there's a seagull which i've denigrated on a regular basis I may be denigrating seagulls now even more than cats but I've not received any letters from seagull lovers there's probably some out there hobbits deagles you know they had their thieves they steal your food and I've said this many times yet I went to the beach the other day with my wife and and my son Jonathan and his wife Britney and three of her grandchildren Riley Allie and a little Christopher and on the way down I bought a fish burrito and I had it in a bag and I left it there and we went walking down the beach and I came back and the seagulls were attacking our camp I thought I can't believe it I left a dish burrito for them and I was so mad I was cursing the seagulls I was in using profanity more like a kind of a biblical curse in a way on them why did I leave this burrito and and then I was adjusting my talent oh there's the burrito so they hadn't taken it at all so I had falsely charged the seagulls i dint agree to them and we hugged it out it's very awkward hugging seagulls they they're not all that affectionate plus they know what I've been saying about them for years so so there's the birds the birds don't get stressed out the birds have their food and then there's flowers Jesus has verse 28 and 29 why do you worry about clothing look at the lilies of the field how they grow they neither toil nor spin and by the way when Jesus talked about the lilies he wasn't speaking of what we might call an Easter lily it was more like the wildflowers of Galilee just those beautiful flowers and you'll see them here in California as well but they're especially pretty there in the Galilee region just growing and Jesus is saying hey even Solomon the king and his royal robes was not dressed like one of these beautiful flowers so really now he's talking about the way that you look your appearance and yet we have a culture that's so obsessed with the way that they look we're always wanting to look better our bodies we want to look like those people on the magazine covers the problem is the people on the magazine covers don't even look like the people on the magazine covers you ever heard a Photoshop and airbrushing the things they do to these people those people you see on the covers many times don't even exist in real life but yet with cosmetic surgery today you can almost become anyone I read an article with a title beauty junkies examining the society obsessed with appearance the article says and I quote feel cheated in the looks department with enough money you can nip and tuck your way to a whole new you you can redo your teeth plump your lips reshape your nose reduce your thighs medicine allows us to enhance cheekbones shorten toes to fit into designer stilettos I've never heard about that before I proved a chin increase breast size and freeze the forehead so wrinkles no longer appear there end quote by the way I've tried all of this it doesn't work that well I'm kidding okay but you know you look at these famous people the beautiful people you see if only I could be like one of them really careful what you wish for I just read an interview that Jennifer Lopez did she has a new book out I think it's called true love and in the article it says Jennifer Lopez finally admits her diva weighs an enormous entourage could have hurt her famous romances the singer blamed the failure of her relationships with Ben Affleck and husband Marc Anthony partly on her omnipresent army of handlers of hair and makeup stylists a JLo travels with her manager a cadre of stylist and handlers as well as her trainers and she admits now she's in therapy trying to find answers hey Jenny from the block you don't need a therapist you need Jesus Christ he has the answers you're looking for it's a good thing to want to look your best on the outside but don't neglect your soul you know you can have a chiseled body and a dying soul and the Bible even addresses that really addressing women first Peter 3 this is so relevant for today he says what matters is not your outward appearance the styling of your hair the jewelry you wear the cut of your clothes it's your inner disposition so cultivate inner beauty the gentle gracious kind that God delights in but there is a place for staying in shape because I don't want you to misunderstand me oh yeah it doesn't matter just let yourself go I want to be obese for God no you're going too far the other way I exercise regularly I'm up to a hundred crunches a day pretty good Nestle's crunches you should try them through very good you know it's funny there are people that will break all the rules and live long lives and then people that will be so careful about their diet and their exercise regimen and so forth and they'll die on the tennis court or die in a jog and then there's that guy of that girl that never cared at all and they'll live these long lives and here's what Jesus is saying which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature here would be a better translation of that and what it really means who of you by worrying can add one day to your life see God determines the date of your birth and the date of your death you have everything to say about that little dash in the middle and what you do with it but you cannot linked in your life only God determines how long a man or a woman will live I watched a show on TV years ago about a guy that made it past 100 they saved it for the end of the program you know they keep teasing me with that one piece you want to see it it's at the very end men who live past a hundred years old reveals a secret I thought I want to know a secret so I waited at the end of this program and the guys secret how he got past 100 eat a hot dog every day absolute truth took him into the supermarket showed him the hotdogs e-bot they weren't even the more Hebrew national there with that cheap Khan you know with rat tails and them those the ones that taste really good there is a balance here first Timothy 4:8 says physical exercise has some value but spiritual exercise is much more important it promises a reward in this life in the next this is true and everyone should accept it alright now number two worry doesn't make your life longer it just makes it more miserable already mentioned that this phrase means stature who've you can add one cubit to his stature means you cannot lengthen your life some 90 says we spend our days and our lives like a tail that's told so Lord teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom next point and probably the most important point because here now Jesus gives us the secret to living a worry-free life instead of worry put God in his will first in your life instead of worrying put God in his will first in your life again verse 33 but seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you what does that mean the greek word translated first means first in the line of more than one option options rather you see there are many options i can seek to live for a life i can live for my physical appearance i can live for a successful career i can live for having pleasures i can live for a lot of things but here's what jesus is saying and a number of options put god in the number one position seek first the kingdom of god if you want to live free of worry and anxiety and fear put god's kingdom before everything else seek it first you say well what does that mean okay let's take your career the business that you happen to be in ask yourself this question is this career choice this line of work that I'm doing really for God's glory in other words am i seeking God first and what I'm doing you say well Greg you're a pastor I mean that's your job it's easy for you to seek God first but you see my job is different than yours and I work in the real world with real people okay I understand what you're saying but here's what your goal should be to honor God and everything that you do and I don't care what you do and if you can't honor God on what you do get in your job and here's what you have to ask yourself as I'm doing this thing what is my goal if your goal is merely to make money no matter what it takes you've got the wrong goal friend your goal should be to honor God give honest work in our personal integrity and a good testimony in the workplace I know Christians who've been successful in business but have a bad reputation because they cut corners or don't do the job right and when the day is done you want to have a good name and a good reputation proverbs 22 says choose a good reputation over great riches for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold now here's how it works there are people in life that to cut corners there are people in life that cheat on the test and pass the exam when you want to study harder there are people in life that lie on their resume and get the position you were hoping to give there are people in life that flatter the boss and move up that ladder a little more quickly than you do there are people in life that do it the wrong way and you say you see it doesn't work I'll just hold on buckaroo because I'm going to tell you something and this is based on Scripture if you live a godly life and you live an honest life and you have integrity and you work hard God's going to bless you for it now there will be times that others seem to be doing better than you but just wait on wait a while and see how it plays out because the Bible says a person will reap what they sell a little bit like The Tortoise and the hare you're the door to the dome - do you know just doing your thing walking with the Lord doing it the right way an honest day's work for an honest day's pain and then in time you get that in other position and you are elevated I'm not seeing this will always happen but my point is simply this God will honor it you seek Him first he will take care of you let's see you're a single person seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness as a single you say well I don't understand what you're saying it means that you want God to provide that right person for you you don't want to rush out and just grab someone and end up making the wrong choice and nor do you want to engage in missionary dating you know what that is that's a Christian going out with a non-believer and that doesn't usually end all that well because it's far easier for them to pull you back and it is for you to pull them forward but I could tell you stories of so many girls especially but even guys who've gotten involved with non-believers and how it's resulted in ruin in their spiritual life he's saying well I'll just make sure he's a Christian but understand people will lie to you you know maybe some guy asks you out and you're a nice Christian girl and you say well let me ask you a question are you a Christian and the guy says well why do you ask well because you respond I will only go out with a Christian oh praise the Lord hallelujah even the way he says it's kind of creepy at second he don't just look for a guy or a girl that says they're a Christian look for a man or a woman of God let me take it a step further look for someone that's more spiritual than you are you'll know it from the way that they live put God first you know the Bible tells a great story of how the Lord brought a bride for Isaac his father Abraham sent out his servant Eliezer to find this beautiful woman to bring back to Isaac and Isaac is out in the field praying and waiting on God and that woman has brought into his life I'm not saying you should just stand in the field and wait for your wife to show up or your husband but my point was you see Isaac was seeking God first and in the Lord's timing he brought that right girl listen that girl God has chosen for you you may already know her she may already be a friend she may be at your work she may be sitting next to you in the pew and you haven't been introduced yet I'm going to introduce you right now say know what quick poll how many of you are single raise your hand up you're single you're not married keep your hand up keep it up hold it up no hold it up keep it up now look around now seriously the best place to find that person is in church right but don't be hitting on people at church so how's it going how about a little hug no no seek first the kingdom of God he'll provide that for you listen to this when you seek God in his kingdom first life will find its proper perspective verse 33 all these things shall be added to you what things what did Jesus talk about what I'm gonna eat what I'm going to wear we could expand that where I'm going to live where I'm going to work when I'm going to drive what I'm going to do God is saying I'll take care of all those things if you'll seek me first you know the Lord came to Solomon who was to replace his father as the king of Israel his dad had died and the Lord came to this young boy and said I'll give you whatever you want ask it and I'll give it Wow can you imagine what would you do if God came to you tonight and said I'll give you whatever you want whatever you want you want riches I'll give you riches you want Fame I'll give you pain what is it you want Slyke those Genie stories we always hear right there's a guy walking down the beach and he saw something in the sand he reached on to pick it up and rub the sand up genie appears of course and the genie says Oh master I will grant you one wish the guy says one wish what happened to three wishes genie said you know the whole economy thing it's hard had to cut back downsizing oh one wish the guy thinks about it says you know I've always wanted to see Hawaii but the problem is I have a fear of flying and being on boats it makes me nauseous so I want to see Hawaii so what I want you to do Genie is I want you to give me a bridge from California to Hawaii the genie listen to me like crazy do you know how much work that would be what the cost of that would be getting those pilings that would hold up the bridge down to the depths of the ocean there's no way come up with another wish yeah I said well alright okay here's my wish Genie I've always wanted to understand women Genie pauses for a moment says that bridge is that two lanes are for now but coming back to Solomon how many of you have heard that joke raise your hand how many whoa whoa whoo how many of you have never heard the joke raise your hand very small minority in others or the few might all right sorry God says they'll give you anything you want Solomon Solomon says I want wisdom to rule your people Lord says as good I'll tell you what buddy I'm gonna give you the wisdom you asked for and because you didn't ask for it I'm going to give you a long life and riches as well see he demonstrated what it meant to seek first the kingdom he didn't seek that stuff he sought God God says you know what I'm gonna bless you for that and really Jesus is dealing with that very topic here in context in Matthew 6 notice that our verses that we read together started with the word therefore therefore I say to you do not worry whenever you read the word therefore in the Bible find out what it's there for it means he's drawing upon what has been previously said what did Jesus say prior to the verses we read we go back to Matthew 6 look at verse 19 do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys if thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also Jesus has not seen that's wrong for you to have stuff effectively he's saying it's wrong when stuff has you in fact it's interesting because this phrase lay something up don't lay up for yourselves means to lay something horizontally as in storing it permanently he's talking not about the men who is saving but the men who is stockpiling he's talking not to the woman who merely has positions excuse me possessions for possessions sake but they have them to flaunt you know some people love to flaunt their stuff don't they they tell you what they paid for everything when you didn't even ask hey you know what it'd be for this you know how much that cost I own this and I own that and I and why do you do that you want to impress people Jesus says don't do that don't lay up treasures in that way but seek first the kingdom listen to this many believers struggle financially today because they have not learned this simple principle of seeking first the kingdom in their giving the Bible tells us as Christians that we are to bring our tithes and our offerings to the Lord by the way those are two separate things every Christian should tithe you say what is it I the tithe is 10% you bring your income to the Lord and give it to him in a regular basis and an offering is above and beyond that we say well I can't afford to do that as far as I'm concerned I can afford not to and I found that when I am faithful am I giving to the Lord he blesses me because I'm seeking first his kingdom and that's exactly the context of this statement in fact over in proverbs 3 we read God saying honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of your produce that's the key for seeking them from the first so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine God saying you take care of this you put me first in all things and I'll take care of you Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 9 if you sow sparingly you'll reap sparingly if you so generously you'll reap generously put God first Jesus says give and it shall be given to you press down shaken together running over with the same measure you give it will be given back to you there's only one time in the Bible God says test me on this put me to the test on this and it's in the last book of the Old Testament the book of Malachi and God says bring the ties into my storehouse says the Lord and watch if I will not open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you won't have room enough to receive it Oh Greg I think you're saying that we should give to get no not at all you're misunderstanding because I've received I should give freely you have received freely give so this is not giving to obligate God this is giving because God has done so much for me and when I do this I lay up for myself a treasure in heaven listen do your given while you're living then you're knowing where it's going you can't take it with you but you can send it on ahead because you know what there isn't afterlife there is a heaven yes there is a Hell too and a lot of us just spin our wheels on life and you could write this on our tombstone hurry worry berry we'd spend our whole life running chasing maybe after a dream we never even realized we're the only nation in the world with a mountain called Rushmore that's why we're so agitated and stressed out instead of channeling your energies into chasing nothingness why don't you instead chase after God and seek God and put God first and you watch how he'll change your circumstances he will your family starting to unravel you are being friction with your wife or your husband kids are rebelling all kinds of troubles to have you put God first have you started praying about that have you been a godly man a godly husband a godly wife put the Lord first and watch what happens same with your single life same with your business same with everything that you do same with your finances you watch how the Lord will bless so many people just throw their lives away I read an article yesterday about Billy Joel remember him he's 65 now Billy certainly had a resurgence of his career in New York City he's doing monthly concerts at the Madison Square Garden they're all sold out in advance and he's making two million dollars per performance ability sold 150 million albums he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 he was a recipient at the Kennedy Center's honors but in this article Billy Joel says he's always felt like he was a failure because he never had love he said you know you just need one love one person out of millions to know and accept and love you for being well just the way you are don't go change in matter that's on some new fashion so don't change the color of your hair he's had three tortured marriages I love you just the way you are now again stopping three tortured marriages and here's this conclusion and when I read the conclusion that Billy Joel came to it sounds like something Solomon said here's his conclusion he says you can have all the money in the world you can have mansions you can have properties you can have yacht you can have limousines and you can have motorcycles but without love it doesn't mean a thing in quote how take it a step further for you Billy without Jesus it doesn't mean a thing that's what he needs that's what we need it's Jesus we need because then we have hope in this life on the life to come put God first seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you and you'll be able to say with the Apostle Paul to live is Christ and to die is gain see if you save for me to live as money then for you to die is to leave it all behind because you are gonna leave it all behind if you say for me to live is Fame then for you to die is to be forgotten if you say for me to live is power then for you to die is to lose it all but if you will say for me to live is Christ and you can say that die is gain now understand Christians don't walk around hoping they'll die hope I die today that would be so awesome some may but there where we love life I think we love life more than anyone but we know who controls life and we know who gives life we know who takes life and we just leave that in God's hands you know if I lived ten years twenty years thirty years that's up to the Lord but I'm going to enjoy this day and I'm going to put God first and all that I say and do and seek to honor him and when that day comes or he calls me home I'm going straight to heaven because I put my faith in Jesus Christ that's the hope of the Christian and I ask you now do you have that hope do you know with absolute certainty and if you were to die you would go to heaven and if you don't let's get that settled right now there has to come a moment in every man's life every woman's life where they say god I'm sorry for my sin and I believe that your son Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and shed his blood for me and I believe he rose again from the dead and now I want Jesus Christ to live in my heart and life as my savior and Lord and I want to follow him it's not just some little prayer you're praying just going your merry way in life and forget about God then reconnect with them later on no this is a whole change of life but at the same time it's a relationship with you do you have it Jesus says he's ends of the Dorney knocks in up we'll hear his voice and open the door he will come in he can come into your life right now he's just a prayer away in a moment we're going to bow our heads and pray and I'm going to give you an opportunity to get right with God so if you want Christ to come into your life to be your Savior and your Lord respond to this invitation as we pray now let's all bow our heads if you would please father we've heard your word we know it's true and now I pray for those that don't know you those that are here those that are watching listening lord help them see their need for Jesus Christ and help them to come to you we pray now while the heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying how many of you would say today Gregg pray for me I want Jesus Christ to come into my life I want him to forgive me of my sin I want to know a certainty than when I died I will go to heaven I'm ready to say yes to Jesus right now if that's your desire wherever you are I want you to lift your hand up and I'm gonna pray for you you want Christ to come into your life raise your hand up I'll pray for you God bless you god bless you even if I can't see you you're watching a screen that's fine God sees you just raise your hand up a little step of faith yes I want gone on my life wherever you are let me pray for you this can be the moment where your life changes anybody else god bless you now I'm going to ask every one of you that have raised your hand if you would please to stand to your feet and I'm going to lead you in a prayer of commitment of Christ again if you raise your again just stand up even if you didn't raise your hand you want Jesus Christ to come into your life you want to go to heaven when you die you want your sin forgiven today stand up let me lead you in this prayer wherever you are just stand to your feet god bless you that are standing you're not the only one by the way stand up god bless you maybe you're watching the screen somewhere stand up right where you are I'm going to lead you in this same prayer this is between you and God one more moment you want to make this commitment or recommitment a Christ stand to your feet if you would god bless you god bless all of you that are standing and as I pray this prayer I want you to pray it out loud after me this is where you're asking God to forgive you of your sin and you're committing your life to Jesus again as I pray pray this out loud after me pray this now Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you're a savior and I know you love me and I choose to follow you from this moment forward be my god and my friend be my Savior and my lord thank you for calling me and accepting me in Jesus name I pray amen amen god bless all of you that prayed that prayer you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 158,472

Rating: 4.7977433 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, greg, laurie, hurry, worry, buried, fear, anxiety, Gospel Of Matthew (Religious Text), God Came Near

Id: jtQ-bp_eaYE

Length: 46min 59sec (2819 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 10 2014