Let's begin with a mighty declaration, My Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
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Scripture Reading Matthew 6:25-34
Do Not Worry
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 than food, and the body more than clothes? 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 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—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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As we go into a time of prayer let us listen to the Staff Songsters of The Salvation Army
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Time Of Prayer
Prayer is how we actively practice believing, believing that God has the whole world in his hands. Prayer is where we let petitions and praises shape our worries into prayers, letting God know our concerns. Prayer is never the last resort of God’s people. It is our first point of action.
I invite you now, just to take some time to pray. Pray for your family and friends. Prayer for your Church. Pray for Woodhouse Salvation Army. Pray for the sick, bereaved, lonely and afraid. Pray for our government and the world with all its hurt. Also pray for yourself Then we will share together in the Lord's Prayer.
Lets share together in the Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
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Before we go to the word, let us sing: Power of Your Love
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Don’t worry about tomorrow
One of the reasons that so many people are so exhausted with life, is that they’re carrying the heavy burden of worry around on their shoulders. I wonder … if you know anyone like that? You can’t enjoy life, you can’t find the rest you so desperately need, when you’re carrying around the worries of the world. You just can’t.
I’ve met people in this world and all they do, all the time, is worry. They worry about this, they worry about that. It doesn’t matter what it is, they worry about it.
And in part that can be a personality trait and even though we’re not all like that, we all do suffer from worry from time to time. I mean by nature I’m an optimist, Mr Positive, it’s just how God made me but to tell you the truth, just between you and me and the gatepost, I worry about things too. It’s part of our human nature.
We’re confronted with something that’s beyond us, something that appears to be overwhelming, something that could well have negative consequences in our lives and here’s what we do. We turn it over and over and over in our heads. We imagine each of the negative consequences that could arise over and over and over.
Can I tell you? That sort of thing just drives you into the ground. It’s like around and around and around we go and from experience I can tell you it is just exhausting. You probably know the feeling because no doubt you’ve been there too.
Today we are thinking about entering into God’s rest. Actually finding a deep rest instead of carrying the weight of the world around on our shoulders. But when we’re worried, there can be no rest. Worrying robs us of God’s rest. That’s why we need to deal with it once and for all.
My hunch is there are a few people today, yes, me included, who need to hear what God has to say about worrying. Listen to Psalm 127 in verse 2:
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil. For God gives sleep to those whom He loves.
Anxious toil. Anxiousness is about worrying, isn’t it? And whatever the one big thing is that each one of us is worrying about in our lives right at this moment, it’s like this dark cloud that hangs over us, that never ever goes away. Please don’t think, that just because I’m here sharing God’s word with you, that I too, don’t have things going on in my life that bring me worry.
So as dumb as worry is in my life and in your life, we still do it sometimes. Jesus knew that, that’s why He had this to say about worrying, this habit that we fall into, this worrying that robs us of the rest and the peace of God that God wants to give us.
Have a listen, I love the way He calls a spade a spade and tells it the way it is and if you need a wake up call, if you need some healing from this habit of worrying have a listen. Perhaps it’s a familiar passage but maybe, just maybe it’s something we need to hear afresh today because when God speaks into our lives through His Spirit and His Word He can bring healing in an instant into something that’s been troubling us a life time.
Matthew chapter 6 beginning at verse 25:
‘Therefore I tell you’, said Jesus, ‘do not worry about your life, about what you’ll eat and drink or about your body or what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them’. ‘Aren’t you worth a lot more than them? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of your life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory wasn’t clothed like one of those.
‘But if God so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the oven will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith. Therefore don’t worry saying, ‘what will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ For it’s the Gentiles who strive for all those things.’
‘And indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all those things but strive first for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all those other things will be given to you as well. So don’t worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will bring worries of its own, today’s trouble is enough for today.’ (Matthew 6:25-34)
The bit here that really hits me between the eyes is verse 27. And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to the span of life. See, it’s blindingly obvious, isn’t it? Worrying about something has a zero positive effect on the problem. Worrying isn’t going to produce a good outcome. In fact worrying actually has a negative impact. It immobilises us. It stops us from using our imagination and our creativity to find a solution. It immobilises us and stops us from doing things that will fix the problem.
Worry is useless and above all it robs us of God’s rest. I truly believe that God wants you and me to understand that today. And I truly believe that His word is going to have a powerful and a mighty impact in your life today. The Lords advice is simple, just give it up. Stop worrying and replace that worry with something else. Focus your mind and your energies and your heart on something else. Verse 33: But strive first for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be given to you as well.
And so that’s what I choose to do when the devil sows the seeds of doubt in my mind. My friend, the devil wants us to worry. He knows that it robs us of the rest and the peace of God. The joy of God, the power of God. And today is a day for us to decide to leave that behind. Today is a day for us to focus our lives on seeking after God and His Kingdom and His goodness. On living our lives out for Him first and foremost. And then His promise is that all the other things that we need will be given to us as well. That’s the promise.
He loves us. He’s our Father. He will give us what we need. He will let us travel through whatever He chooses and one day, one day when we stand before Him none of those things will matter anymore. So don’t worry about tomorrow, just don’t. That’s not my idea. It’s His.
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As we bring our worship to a close, let us declare:
The Saviour sought me and found me, Oh what a wonderful day
he Lord bless thee and keep thee
The Lord make His face to shine upon thee
And be gracious unto thee
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee
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