WEBVTT 00:00:00.001 --> 00:00:02.580 [upbeat music] 00:00:02.580 --> 00:00:07.720 - Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons Podcast. 00:00:07.720 --> 00:00:09.240 This is where you can find audio 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:11.480 from Sunday morning messages and more. 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:12.760 Make sure you're subscribed 00:00:12.760 --> 00:00:14.680 so that you don't miss future episodes 00:00:14.680 --> 00:00:15.920 and thanks for listening. 00:00:15.920 --> 00:00:18.500 [upbeat music] 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:22.660 - Well, good morning. 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:24.400 If you have your Bible, and I hope you do, 00:00:24.400 --> 00:00:29.400 I wanna invite you to join us in Matthew chapter six. 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:31.240 As you turn there, I wanna share with you 00:00:31.240 --> 00:00:36.040 an opportunity for you to be praying over this next month. 00:00:36.040 --> 00:00:39.320 We have a couple in our church, Tim and Maggie Rice, 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:42.000 who will be departing this week 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:45.240 to head for the next month onto the mission field 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:47.400 with the IMB to head to Thailand. 00:00:47.400 --> 00:00:50.520 And so I wanna make sure that you are praying for them 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.440 and for what their ministry that they're gonna be doing, 00:00:53.440 --> 00:00:55.800 the people that they're gonna be interacting with, 00:00:55.800 --> 00:00:58.800 their opportunities that they have to share the gospel, 00:00:58.800 --> 00:01:01.320 but also if you've never traveled 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:04.320 and then traveled abroad or traveled in other climates, 00:01:04.320 --> 00:01:06.920 just the wear and tear that that does on your body 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:08.880 and all the things that are going on with that. 00:01:08.880 --> 00:01:12.080 And so just continue to be in prayer for Tim and Maggie 00:01:12.080 --> 00:01:16.920 as they go to serve for a month on the mission field. 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:20.940 What an admirable calling to go and to do that. 00:01:20.940 --> 00:01:24.240 And we thank them for hearing, for listening, 00:01:24.240 --> 00:01:25.640 and for most importantly, 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:29.360 obeying God's call on their life to go. 00:01:29.360 --> 00:01:31.760 I wanna echo what Pastor Dave said 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:33.480 about our discipleship studies. 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:35.840 There's some really good ones that we're offering. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:36.880 They're really good every time. 00:01:36.880 --> 00:01:39.120 Some one that we're excited about though as well, 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.640 and would love for you to join in that. 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:44.700 This is that kind of time of year as school starting back. 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:46.160 I hope all of us who are, 00:01:46.160 --> 00:01:47.400 heard those who are not in school, 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:48.240 we're even thinking, man, 00:01:48.240 --> 00:01:51.200 maybe this is a new time for me in pattern of life, 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:52.880 especially with the discipleship. 00:01:52.880 --> 00:01:55.600 So whether that's a study on Sunday morning, 00:01:55.600 --> 00:01:57.520 whether that's get involved with a small group, 00:01:57.520 --> 00:01:59.580 a men's group, a women's group, whatever it is, 00:01:59.580 --> 00:02:02.640 we wanna encourage you to take that next step of obedience 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.160 of what Christ has called us to do 00:02:04.160 --> 00:02:06.360 so we can grow as his disciples 00:02:06.360 --> 00:02:10.040 and share the gospel where he has for us. 00:02:10.040 --> 00:02:11.640 Well, I wanna share just briefly, 00:02:11.640 --> 00:02:15.000 this isn't the official summary of the week, 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.380 but you will get one of those at a later time 00:02:17.380 --> 00:02:19.040 about our student ministry. 00:02:19.040 --> 00:02:20.980 But this builds into what I'm gonna be talking about 00:02:20.980 --> 00:02:21.820 this morning. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:24.040 Our student ministry, 00:02:24.040 --> 00:02:29.520 I think it was roughly like 62 of us left Lexington 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:31.200 and went up to Black Mountain Children's Home 00:02:31.200 --> 00:02:33.760 and served there over the last week. 00:02:33.760 --> 00:02:36.280 I had the privilege and the honor 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:38.640 to serve as a part of the kitchen crew 00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:41.120 alongside my wife and Trisha Evans. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.440 And here's what I would like to say about this trip. 00:02:43.440 --> 00:02:44.720 It was great. 00:02:44.720 --> 00:02:46.240 It was wonderful. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:47.640 It was exciting. 00:02:47.640 --> 00:02:51.000 God did a lot of things and I'm exhausted, right? 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:54.480 But all of those things rolled up into one, 00:02:54.480 --> 00:02:56.360 a wonderful, wonderful time. 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:59.640 Erin and I, we got home yesterday about 1230. 00:02:59.640 --> 00:03:02.320 We had laundry to start doing things, 00:03:02.320 --> 00:03:04.160 to start taking care of. 00:03:04.160 --> 00:03:08.440 And then she said, "Let's change the sheets on our bed." 00:03:08.440 --> 00:03:11.320 I said, "Okay." 00:03:11.320 --> 00:03:12.520 It's about four o'clock. 00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:15.880 I took those old dirty sheets off, 00:03:15.880 --> 00:03:17.920 took that old comforter off, 00:03:17.920 --> 00:03:20.320 threw it in the pile to be washed, 00:03:20.320 --> 00:03:23.880 grabbed those new sheets, that new comforter. 00:03:23.880 --> 00:03:25.680 And I looked at her and I said, 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:28.800 "I know it's four o'clock, but I'm going to bed." 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:32.160 And I'm out, right? 00:03:32.160 --> 00:03:34.480 Out, out, till about 630, woke up, 00:03:34.480 --> 00:03:37.440 grabbed some goldfish and a granola bar, 00:03:37.440 --> 00:03:40.440 and then slept again until 430 this morning, all right? 00:03:40.440 --> 00:03:42.120 Well, here's what happened to me. 00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:43.800 Here's the part of the trip that I wanna share. 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:45.400 You'll hear all about what God did. 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:48.520 This kind of brings us into, I think, something cool 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:51.920 in my kind of silliness of things that I do. 00:03:51.920 --> 00:03:55.280 Before I left, I knew that I had to come back 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:56.320 and preach on Sunday morning, 00:03:56.320 --> 00:03:59.440 so I went and got all of my stuff, all my supplies, 00:03:59.440 --> 00:04:01.360 all the things that I needed to do, 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:03.360 and I glanced at the teaching calendar 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.680 and was excited because the teaching calendar 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:10.680 had me teaching the prodigal son, is what I read. 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:12.740 Now, I want you to look at Matthew 6. 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:15.800 That's not there. 00:04:17.720 --> 00:04:19.920 Wednesday, I had a conversation with Josh and Kim Nix. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.520 They're up there serving, I'm serving, 00:04:21.520 --> 00:04:23.320 and Josh is like, "Man, I gotta ask you this question. 00:04:23.320 --> 00:04:24.780 "How do you come on these mission trips 00:04:24.780 --> 00:04:26.480 "and do all of these things, and then you come back 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:28.920 "and you preach on Sunday morning?" 00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:31.380 I said, "Well, Josh, there's always message prep, 00:04:31.380 --> 00:04:32.800 "always things that you need to do." 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:33.960 I said, "But you gotta be smart about that, 00:04:33.960 --> 00:04:36.040 "and you gotta make sure that you're preaching 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:37.220 "off of a passage of scripture 00:04:37.220 --> 00:04:38.240 "that you're really comfortable with, 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:39.400 "that you know really well, 00:04:39.400 --> 00:04:41.500 "that you could honestly preach it with your eyes closed. 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:43.400 "You know it so well." 00:04:43.400 --> 00:04:46.060 I said, "So for me, one of those passages 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:47.880 "is the prodigal son, so I'll be excited 00:04:47.880 --> 00:04:50.140 "to preach the prodigal son on Sunday." 00:04:50.140 --> 00:04:51.740 Now, look back at Matthew 6. 00:04:51.740 --> 00:04:55.220 That's not there. 00:04:55.220 --> 00:04:57.940 Yesterday, sitting there at the table 00:04:57.940 --> 00:05:01.580 before I'm knocked out, I pull up my church app 00:05:01.580 --> 00:05:03.840 for the planning of everything that's going on, 00:05:03.840 --> 00:05:05.740 just to kinda see the flow, see who's singing, 00:05:05.740 --> 00:05:07.380 see the song, see all the stuff that's there. 00:05:07.380 --> 00:05:10.020 I like to do that just to kinda get my brain set 00:05:10.020 --> 00:05:11.580 on everything that's happening. 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:16.880 And on the top bar, it gives the passage of scripture. 00:05:16.880 --> 00:05:20.200 And I looked at that top bar, 00:05:20.200 --> 00:05:22.200 thinking that it would say prodigal son, 00:05:22.200 --> 00:05:25.400 and it said anxiety. 00:05:25.400 --> 00:05:29.740 And looks at me, she's like, "What's going on?" 00:05:29.740 --> 00:05:31.180 I was like, "You know how this week, 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:34.060 "I've been prepping and ready to do the prodigal son?" 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:35.620 She said, "Yeah." 00:05:35.620 --> 00:05:38.960 I said, "Well, I'm talking about anxiety, 00:05:38.960 --> 00:05:40.840 "and I just realized that. 00:05:40.840 --> 00:05:44.720 "So right now, I'm wrestling with anxiety, right? 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:46.880 "As we prepare to do this." 00:05:46.880 --> 00:05:49.560 But here's what's gonna happen. 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:52.560 Here's one that kinda connects you in with this. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:54.520 Joel and I did something different 00:05:54.520 --> 00:05:56.940 with our lesson time at Black Mountain this year, 00:05:56.940 --> 00:05:59.100 and it went over wonderful. 00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:00.960 It was fantastic. 00:06:00.960 --> 00:06:04.340 We sat down with five students in our student ministry, 00:06:04.340 --> 00:06:07.080 and just said to 'em, "Hey, you know how one of the adults 00:06:07.080 --> 00:06:09.480 "always prepares a lesson to kinda lead the group 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:10.320 "at the end of the night? 00:06:10.320 --> 00:06:12.000 "So here's what we'd like to do. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:15.700 "We would like for you, we're gonna come alongside you, 00:06:15.700 --> 00:06:18.160 "we're gonna work with you with this. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:19.500 "We're gonna give you the resources, 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:21.040 "and the time, and the prayer 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:23.540 "that you're gonna need to come alongside you. 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:25.600 "But we would like for you to lead those lessons." 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:30.200 And these five students, Ella Van Ham, Emma Bradbury, 00:06:30.200 --> 00:06:34.360 Avery Bush, Grayson Bradbury, and Micah Hood, 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:36.640 just for a couple months, worked, and worked, 00:06:36.640 --> 00:06:37.840 and worked, and worked, and worked, 00:06:37.840 --> 00:06:39.600 and came up with these lessons. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.160 They came up with small group discussion guides 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:43.480 to go along with those lessons, 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:44.800 and that's what the week was. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:48.280 And I tell you, man, those teenagers leading other teenagers 00:06:48.280 --> 00:06:50.440 to talk about the Lord, and what that looked like 00:06:50.440 --> 00:06:52.680 to teach from God's word, was just better 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:55.760 than any of us could ever possibly imagine. 00:06:55.760 --> 00:06:59.120 And so, yesterday I worked for a little bit, 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:02.140 and then I got up super early this morning, 00:07:02.140 --> 00:07:04.400 and started diving into God's work. 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:06.960 And here's why I tell you all of the foolishness 00:07:06.960 --> 00:07:09.160 of me forgetting things, of where I'm at 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:10.480 in this message series. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.240 As I begin to work through this passage of scripture, 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:16.240 I begin to draw from so many different things 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:17.500 that God was teaching me. 00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:19.840 But overwhelmingly, it seemed like it came back 00:07:19.840 --> 00:07:21.280 over, and over, and over again to, 00:07:21.280 --> 00:07:23.120 man, Ella said this, let me throw this in here. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:24.960 Man, Emma said this, let me throw this in there. 00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:26.420 Man, look at what Avery brought out. 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:27.440 I wanna connect that here. 00:07:27.440 --> 00:07:29.460 Micah, and Grayson, and all of those. 00:07:29.460 --> 00:07:31.440 So if you're a student that was on the trip, 00:07:31.440 --> 00:07:32.880 I think one of the cool things is, 00:07:32.880 --> 00:07:36.000 is you're gonna see the narrative of what God's teaching, 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:37.840 and how it threads it through. 00:07:37.840 --> 00:07:40.280 And if you're one of us that are adults, 00:07:40.280 --> 00:07:41.720 and just think that, man, these students 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:43.400 are just people that need to be taught, 00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:45.440 and these people that need to be instructed, 00:07:45.440 --> 00:07:47.440 what's really cool is when you can sit back, 00:07:47.440 --> 00:07:49.760 and you can hear God's truth as God's truth, 00:07:49.760 --> 00:07:51.560 and watch them teach and what they're gonna do. 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:53.680 So I tell you the foolishness that a man 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:55.800 forgot what Bible passage he was supposed 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:57.040 to preach out of, right? 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.840 Carried all the wrong resources, all the wrong things, 00:07:59.840 --> 00:08:02.160 did all the wrong stuff, so that God could work 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:03.520 and move on what God wants to do this morning. 00:08:03.520 --> 00:08:06.640 So I'm excited, ironically enough, 00:08:06.640 --> 00:08:09.840 to talk about anxiety this morning, all right? 00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:11.320 So with that said, let's get started. 00:08:11.320 --> 00:08:13.860 Matthew 6, I wanna start reading in verse 25. 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:20.000 "Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:23.640 "what you will eat or what you will drink, 00:08:23.640 --> 00:08:25.840 "nor about your body. 00:08:25.840 --> 00:08:30.160 "What you will put on is not life more than food, 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:32.640 "and the body more than clothing. 00:08:32.640 --> 00:08:34.720 "Look at the birds of the air. 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:38.400 "They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, 00:08:38.400 --> 00:08:41.640 "and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 00:08:41.640 --> 00:08:44.560 "Are you not of more value than they? 00:08:44.560 --> 00:08:47.240 "In which of you, being anxious, 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:51.520 "can add a single hour to his span of life? 00:08:51.520 --> 00:08:54.440 "And why are you anxious about clothing? 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:57.880 "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. 00:08:57.880 --> 00:08:59.960 "They neither toil nor spin. 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:04.960 "Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:08.000 "was not arrayed like one of these. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.060 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, 00:09:11.060 --> 00:09:16.000 "which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.580 "will he not much more clothe you? 00:09:18.580 --> 00:09:21.520 "Oh, you of little faith. 00:09:21.520 --> 00:09:24.340 "Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, 00:09:24.340 --> 00:09:27.720 "'What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:29.640 "'or what shall we wear?' 00:09:29.640 --> 00:09:34.480 "For the Gentiles seek after all these things, 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:38.440 "and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:42.660 "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 00:09:42.660 --> 00:09:47.160 "and all these things will be added to you. 00:09:47.160 --> 00:09:50.420 "Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, 00:09:50.420 --> 00:09:54.740 "for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 00:09:54.740 --> 00:09:59.520 "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:02.840 This is something that you've probably heard 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:06.120 many, many times if you've come to church. 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:11.120 It's a topic that's very prevalent in our culture today, 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:16.360 and it is a topic that I would think is very prevalent 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:18.160 in Jesus' culture then. 00:10:18.160 --> 00:10:19.000 Why? 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:20.120 Because Jesus talked about it. 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:24.200 Just as we, anxiety and mental health 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:28.080 is something that we feel is a hot topic issue 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:29.920 in our culture in which we live, 00:10:29.920 --> 00:10:33.600 obviously it was in Jesus' day as well. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:35.680 In the context of what we see here, 00:10:35.680 --> 00:10:37.640 Jesus is giving the Sermon on the Mount, 00:10:37.640 --> 00:10:39.920 and sandwiched right here in the middle 00:10:39.920 --> 00:10:43.280 between Jesus teaching on laying up treasures 00:10:43.280 --> 00:10:46.720 and judging others, we find this passage 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:48.960 just nestled right in there. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:52.040 We find that Jesus adds this to this group of people 00:10:52.040 --> 00:10:56.560 that have gathered to hear these words from this man, 00:10:56.560 --> 00:10:57.800 and Jesus shares them. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:02.720 I have a feeling very, very while on the surface, 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:07.720 simplistic verses, words, very complicated 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:12.880 when we dive into them and begin to try to understand them 00:11:12.880 --> 00:11:17.640 and even oftentimes place them into our lives. 00:11:17.640 --> 00:11:20.360 But I want us to notice just a handful of things 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:23.120 with not only what Jesus says, 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:27.660 but how Jesus teaches this passage of Scripture 00:11:27.660 --> 00:11:29.040 that we just read. 00:11:29.040 --> 00:11:32.800 How Jesus works through this with a group of people 00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:36.400 who are oppressed, with a group of people, 00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:39.280 some who have maybe been enslaved, 00:11:39.280 --> 00:11:42.920 a group of people who would have experienced loss, 00:11:42.920 --> 00:11:45.520 a group of people who are going through 00:11:45.520 --> 00:11:47.160 financial difficulties. 00:11:47.160 --> 00:11:52.160 Anybody else in here can kind of relate to where they are. 00:11:52.160 --> 00:11:56.920 To look at what he says. 00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:00.780 First thing that Jesus says that I want us to notice 00:12:00.780 --> 00:12:03.620 is he gives a command. 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:08.060 Jesus begins by giving a command. 00:12:08.060 --> 00:12:11.740 Look at verse 25, very first part. 00:12:11.740 --> 00:12:16.740 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:23.920 That's a command from God to us. 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:29.440 Do not be anxious. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:33.580 Now some of you may have heard that and nodded in the greed. 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:35.980 Some of you may have heard that 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.380 and what registered in your spirit 00:12:38.380 --> 00:12:40.220 was easier said than done. 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:45.220 Two disclaimers I want to give in this. 00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:49.700 Number one, I wish, I wish that this message 00:12:49.700 --> 00:12:53.900 for those of you who struggle with anxiety in this, 00:12:53.900 --> 00:12:57.620 I wish that I could somehow package up 00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:00.480 and give you like a five step lesson 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.380 for how to remove that from your life. 00:13:03.380 --> 00:13:04.260 I wish I could. 00:13:04.260 --> 00:13:07.540 If I could, I would. 00:13:07.540 --> 00:13:10.420 And if I could, I'd be rich. 00:13:10.420 --> 00:13:13.140 But I can't, I can't. 00:13:13.140 --> 00:13:14.620 This is not an easy process. 00:13:14.620 --> 00:13:17.140 This is not an easy, do these five simple things 00:13:17.140 --> 00:13:19.900 and all of this will be gone and you'll worry no more. 00:13:21.780 --> 00:13:24.420 Second thing that I want to say to you 00:13:24.420 --> 00:13:29.420 is I say this as a guy, as a man 00:13:29.420 --> 00:13:34.060 who in the past has struggled with anxiety 00:13:34.060 --> 00:13:39.640 and who still currently in the present aspects of my life 00:13:39.640 --> 00:13:41.980 can see anxiety's ugly head 00:13:41.980 --> 00:13:44.680 begin to raise itself up in my life. 00:13:44.680 --> 00:13:47.240 I've shared this story before. 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:49.820 I'll give you guys the Cliff Notes version of it 00:13:49.820 --> 00:13:51.100 about 15 years ago. 00:13:51.100 --> 00:13:53.260 I was a campus pastor at a church. 00:13:53.260 --> 00:13:55.940 We were a church that did the video stream 00:13:55.940 --> 00:13:57.740 of the message from a different campus. 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:02.740 My job was to go up at the end after the message was given 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:08.100 and give the altar call to share the gospel and to do that. 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:11.220 My other job was before the service, 00:14:11.220 --> 00:14:12.420 as the service was getting started, 00:14:12.420 --> 00:14:16.620 was to do the welcome, very similar to what Dave does. 00:14:16.620 --> 00:14:20.220 And so when I got up there to do the welcome 00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:22.500 during that, something happened, 00:14:22.500 --> 00:14:23.820 not important what took place, 00:14:23.820 --> 00:14:27.140 something happened in the congregation in that moment 00:14:27.140 --> 00:14:32.140 and what it sent me mentally was in a downward spiral. 00:14:32.140 --> 00:14:37.140 I stumbled through the welcome. 00:14:37.140 --> 00:14:40.540 You know, we pastors, we wear these complicated, 00:14:40.540 --> 00:14:42.140 aggravating mic packs. 00:14:42.140 --> 00:14:46.980 On my way of walking off the stage, 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:49.840 I'm yanking this thing off as fast as I can. 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:52.720 I toss it to our youth pastor. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:55.160 I said, "You got the rest of this, I'm out." 00:14:55.160 --> 00:14:57.640 Walked out of the auditorium, 00:14:57.640 --> 00:15:01.100 went back into a classroom with our kids' ministry. 00:15:01.100 --> 00:15:04.800 Said to one of our security team members, 00:15:04.800 --> 00:15:06.160 "Get my wife." 00:15:06.160 --> 00:15:09.740 Went into the room and cried like a baby. 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:16.440 Spent weeks, weeks and months walking through with my wife, 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:22.760 with doctors and with counselors 00:15:22.760 --> 00:15:24.680 as to what brought me to that place 00:15:24.680 --> 00:15:27.100 where I found myself that day. 00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:31.120 So I get it, I get it. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:37.000 But I also have to get that Jesus says, 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:42.120 "Do not be anxious, do not be anxious." 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:45.960 It's a command and Jesus does not give us commands 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:48.200 to ignore but he gives us commands to obey. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:53.520 Second thing I want us to see, 00:15:53.520 --> 00:16:00.200 in this teaching, Jesus asks questions. 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:03.120 This is the what, this is the how. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:07.220 Jesus could have given a lot of statements. 00:16:07.220 --> 00:16:11.280 He could have said, "Here's this truth, this truth, 00:16:11.280 --> 00:16:13.820 "this truth, this truth, this truth." 00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:15.320 When I was meeting with those five students 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:17.600 and talking to them about putting a lesson together 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:19.320 that we're gonna lead, I said, "I want you to do this, 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:20.880 "I want you to think through, 00:16:20.880 --> 00:16:23.400 "you can tell them what to think 00:16:23.400 --> 00:16:26.840 "or you can ask them questions that will get them to think 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:28.920 "in the way that you want them to think." 00:16:28.920 --> 00:16:31.240 That's more powerful than just telling them. 00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:37.480 And what Jesus does here is he asked the audience questions 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:40.840 to get their mind thinking in the way 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:42.880 that Jesus wanted their mind to think. 00:16:42.880 --> 00:16:44.960 Here's a snapshot of just some of them. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:48.800 Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 00:16:48.800 --> 00:16:52.160 Look at the birds of the air. 00:16:52.160 --> 00:16:54.600 Are you not more value than they? 00:16:54.600 --> 00:16:59.280 Which of you, by being anxious, 00:16:59.280 --> 00:17:03.720 can add one single hour to his span of life? 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:07.380 And why are you anxious about clothing? 00:17:07.380 --> 00:17:09.800 What shall we eat? 00:17:09.800 --> 00:17:11.160 What shall we drink? 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:13.440 What shall we wear? 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:17.640 When we take all of those questions and we isolate them, 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:22.600 what we begin to see is that what we are worrying about, 00:17:22.600 --> 00:17:25.320 Jesus is pointing us to the conditions 00:17:25.320 --> 00:17:28.080 of what's in our heart, of what we're struggling with, 00:17:28.080 --> 00:17:31.520 of what the puzzle that he's putting together for us 00:17:31.520 --> 00:17:33.720 of what's there. 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:36.600 Jesus is asking them questions. 00:17:36.600 --> 00:17:38.600 And I wanna ask you this, just for you, 00:17:38.600 --> 00:17:40.600 just to think through. 00:17:40.600 --> 00:17:42.000 Why do you worry? 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:44.820 Why do you worry? 00:17:44.820 --> 00:17:48.000 What causes that anxiety? 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:52.000 What builds that up in your life? 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:54.600 What begins to consume you in those thoughts, 00:17:54.600 --> 00:17:57.400 in those moments when that dark place 00:17:57.400 --> 00:17:58.720 begins to take you in? 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:00.560 And I've been at the bottom of it. 00:18:00.560 --> 00:18:04.160 I've been there. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.880 I know, I get it. 00:18:10.800 --> 00:18:12.240 What takes you there? 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:17.280 Now move past surface answers. 00:18:17.280 --> 00:18:19.840 It's not your job. 00:18:19.840 --> 00:18:22.920 It's more. 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:26.620 It's not that person. 00:18:26.620 --> 00:18:27.540 It's more. 00:18:27.540 --> 00:18:30.560 It's not your money. 00:18:30.560 --> 00:18:31.480 It's more. 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:34.140 What's taking you there? 00:18:39.040 --> 00:18:40.400 I'm gonna speak for me. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:42.840 I'm not gonna speak for you. 00:18:42.840 --> 00:18:48.440 What got me there 00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:53.320 was a three-letter word called sin. 00:18:53.320 --> 00:18:57.480 What brought me there 00:18:57.480 --> 00:19:01.040 was the unrepentant sin in my life 00:19:01.040 --> 00:19:04.440 that I needed to surrender and turn over to God. 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:08.800 That's what got me to that pit. 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:14.640 That's what gracious professionals helped me walk through. 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:19.280 That's what my wife loved me through. 00:19:19.280 --> 00:19:23.020 And that's what a holy God forgave me through. 00:19:23.020 --> 00:19:26.140 Maybe it's control. 00:19:26.140 --> 00:19:28.280 Maybe it's comfort. 00:19:28.280 --> 00:19:31.520 Maybe it's a response to laziness. 00:19:31.520 --> 00:19:34.360 Maybe it's a desire to know all. 00:19:34.360 --> 00:19:36.360 I don't know. 00:19:37.280 --> 00:19:40.120 I don't know for you what it is. 00:19:40.120 --> 00:19:42.280 But what is it? 00:19:42.280 --> 00:19:46.840 The next thing that Jesus does 00:19:46.840 --> 00:19:50.260 is Jesus draws comparisons. 00:19:50.260 --> 00:19:53.640 Jesus draws comparisons. 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:54.780 One of the things that I love 00:19:54.780 --> 00:19:56.480 about going up to Black Mountain 00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:59.880 is I love being in nature. 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:01.440 I love being in nature. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:03.000 I'm still upset, right? 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:05.800 I think everyone there has seen a bear 00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:08.040 except for me, right? 00:20:08.040 --> 00:20:09.800 It's like, did you see the bear today? 00:20:09.800 --> 00:20:12.400 Like, no, I didn't, all right? 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:13.560 Well, how did you not see it? 00:20:13.560 --> 00:20:14.960 Everybody else saw it. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:16.760 'Cause I was fixing your eggs, all right? 00:20:16.760 --> 00:20:18.240 That's why I didn't see it. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:20.560 I love nature. 00:20:20.560 --> 00:20:22.720 I love when we go whitewater rafting. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:24.280 I love being out there. 00:20:24.280 --> 00:20:26.920 I love the way that it smells. 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:28.320 Aaron and I went up there early. 00:20:28.320 --> 00:20:30.280 We went and sat on the porch that first night 00:20:30.280 --> 00:20:33.680 before the chaos got there the next day. 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:36.040 And we just looked over and we watched 00:20:36.040 --> 00:20:37.380 a rainstorm come in. 00:20:37.380 --> 00:20:40.240 We watched the mountains literally disappear 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:41.080 due to the rain. 00:20:41.080 --> 00:20:42.080 It was gorgeous. 00:20:42.080 --> 00:20:42.920 It was beautiful. 00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:44.480 I love nature. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.920 And Jesus takes two comparisons from nature. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.280 He talks about birds and he talks about lilies. 00:20:50.280 --> 00:20:52.300 And with the birds, he says, 00:20:52.300 --> 00:20:54.500 "Look at the birds of the air. 00:20:54.500 --> 00:20:57.840 "They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, 00:20:57.840 --> 00:21:00.720 "and yet your heavenly Father feeds them." 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:02.560 And then he says this, 00:21:02.560 --> 00:21:04.780 "Are you not of more value than they?" 00:21:04.780 --> 00:21:09.120 He talks about the lilies. 00:21:09.120 --> 00:21:13.840 He says, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. 00:21:13.840 --> 00:21:15.700 "They neither toil nor spin, 00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:18.420 "yet I tell you, even Solomon in all of his glory 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:20.760 "was not arrayed like one of these. 00:21:20.760 --> 00:21:22.880 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:27.060 "which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, 00:21:27.060 --> 00:21:29.400 "will he not much more clothe you? 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:31.220 "Oh, you of little faith." 00:21:32.280 --> 00:21:34.880 As much as you and I love nature, God loves it more. 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:38.040 As much as you and I go out and appreciate 00:21:38.040 --> 00:21:39.520 all of the things that are there, God does. 00:21:39.520 --> 00:21:41.200 God created it. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.180 God created the flowers. 00:21:43.180 --> 00:21:44.840 God created the birds. 00:21:44.840 --> 00:21:47.940 God's sovereign over all of it. 00:21:47.940 --> 00:21:50.120 But here's the thing. 00:21:50.120 --> 00:21:53.600 Here's the thing, as beautiful as the birds can be, 00:21:53.600 --> 00:21:57.800 as beautiful as the flowers can bloom, 00:21:57.800 --> 00:22:00.920 as beautiful as the landscape 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:05.680 of what we can find at the beach, at the mountains, 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:07.000 and even, you know, some people say 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:09.020 Lexington's not that pretty. 00:22:09.020 --> 00:22:10.640 But I'll say this. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:13.740 Man, those sunsets that we get, 00:22:13.740 --> 00:22:17.040 and I can't believe I'm gonna say this, 00:22:17.040 --> 00:22:19.620 but even in all of it's orange and purple, 00:22:19.620 --> 00:22:23.680 is gorgeous. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:25.160 It's gorgeous, right? 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:27.100 It's gorgeous. 00:22:28.040 --> 00:22:31.500 But not one of those things, 00:22:31.500 --> 00:22:33.540 not one is made in his image. 00:22:33.540 --> 00:22:36.800 And you are, and so am I. 00:22:36.800 --> 00:22:42.720 And not one of those things did God send his son to die for, 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:45.560 but he sent it for you, and he sent it for me. 00:22:45.560 --> 00:22:51.680 God created them all, but God loves you and I more, 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:54.200 extravagantly more. 00:22:55.360 --> 00:22:59.120 I find that when we walk and live 00:22:59.120 --> 00:23:02.000 in the patterns of worry and anxiety, 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:06.000 what we are devaluing is who we are 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.400 in the presence of our creator. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:11.320 And we devalue of who we are, 00:23:11.320 --> 00:23:15.320 and instead of walking in his confidence, 00:23:15.320 --> 00:23:16.500 we walk in our worry. 00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:19.760 Next thing that Jesus does, 00:23:19.760 --> 00:23:22.660 is Jesus draws a line. 00:23:23.600 --> 00:23:28.280 Jesus draws a line very quickly at the end, verse 32. 00:23:28.280 --> 00:23:35.080 He says, "For the Gentiles seek after these things, 00:23:35.080 --> 00:23:41.680 "and your heavenly Father knows that you need them." 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:48.400 One of the things that I want us to get within this, 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:50.460 of who we are as believers. 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:54.320 We are going into, 00:23:54.320 --> 00:23:59.260 buddy of mine posted on social media yesterday, 00:23:59.260 --> 00:24:04.340 all the crazy starting to happen. 00:24:04.340 --> 00:24:06.740 And here's the truth. 00:24:06.740 --> 00:24:09.800 Here's truth from the Bible. 00:24:09.800 --> 00:24:14.000 It's not that all the crazy's starting to happen, 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:15.800 it's all the crazy's been happening. 00:24:15.800 --> 00:24:19.760 And all the crazy's gonna continue to happen. 00:24:19.760 --> 00:24:22.840 And it's been happening since the fall in Genesis. 00:24:22.840 --> 00:24:24.420 And today is not new. 00:24:24.420 --> 00:24:28.640 What we are experiencing, what we live in, 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:33.040 is not uncommon to the history of mankind. 00:24:33.040 --> 00:24:42.280 But we're called to be different. 00:24:42.280 --> 00:24:49.020 We're called to not be like the depravity 00:24:50.020 --> 00:24:51.100 of the world. 00:24:51.100 --> 00:24:57.180 That you and I are called to be like Christ, 00:24:57.180 --> 00:25:02.540 and growing to be more like Christ. 00:25:02.540 --> 00:25:07.100 You see, 'cause in creation there's this beautiful aspect 00:25:07.100 --> 00:25:09.220 that's the commonality of humanity. 00:25:09.220 --> 00:25:12.500 That whether you're male or female, 00:25:12.500 --> 00:25:14.220 you know what it's like to bleed. 00:25:14.220 --> 00:25:18.580 Whether you're a Christian or not a Christian, 00:25:18.580 --> 00:25:21.660 you know what it's like to hurt. 00:25:21.660 --> 00:25:24.500 Whether you're a heterosexual or a homosexual, 00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:27.300 you know what it's like to experience loss. 00:25:27.300 --> 00:25:31.700 But there's a beauty within a commonality of humanity 00:25:31.700 --> 00:25:35.740 that draws us together in these unique aspects 00:25:35.740 --> 00:25:38.300 where we all have needs, we all have feelings, 00:25:38.300 --> 00:25:40.980 we all have wants, we all have cares. 00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:45.980 But when we're saved, when it's Christ who redeems us, 00:25:46.860 --> 00:25:50.180 when it's the Holy Spirit who lives in us, we're different. 00:25:50.180 --> 00:25:53.580 Jesus says, "These are the things 00:25:53.580 --> 00:25:56.300 "the Gentiles consume them with." 00:25:56.300 --> 00:25:58.660 But you're supposed to be different. 00:25:58.660 --> 00:26:01.100 In John chapter three, 00:26:01.100 --> 00:26:04.520 there's a story of this man Nicodemus, 00:26:04.520 --> 00:26:07.580 and he comes to Jesus. 00:26:07.580 --> 00:26:11.780 And Jesus tells him, "It's not about just being born, 00:26:11.780 --> 00:26:14.760 "but it's about being born again." 00:26:15.860 --> 00:26:18.740 And now when you and I are born again in Christ, 00:26:18.740 --> 00:26:21.820 the Bible tells us the old is gone, the new has come. 00:26:21.820 --> 00:26:26.820 We're a new creation in who we are. 00:26:26.820 --> 00:26:31.900 We are to be born again, we are to be different. 00:26:31.900 --> 00:26:35.500 And a relationship with Jesus 00:26:35.500 --> 00:26:41.620 calls us to see things different. 00:26:43.340 --> 00:26:46.960 So suffering becomes perseverance. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:51.340 Love becomes unconditional. 00:26:51.340 --> 00:26:55.620 Hope becomes not circumstantial. 00:26:55.620 --> 00:27:01.660 Forgiveness becomes unending in Christ. 00:27:01.660 --> 00:27:08.340 And that's who we're called to be. 00:27:08.340 --> 00:27:13.340 And the list goes on and on and on. 00:27:13.340 --> 00:27:18.500 So here's where it comes to worry and anxiety. 00:27:18.500 --> 00:27:24.960 The world says, "Figure this out. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:28.260 "Fix it. 00:27:28.260 --> 00:27:31.280 "Solve it. 00:27:31.280 --> 00:27:33.620 "Get over it." 00:27:36.820 --> 00:27:39.820 Jesus says, "Surrender it." 00:27:39.820 --> 00:27:44.860 Whatever it is, surrender it. 00:27:44.860 --> 00:27:47.100 It's your sin, surrender it. 00:27:47.100 --> 00:27:49.100 It's your control, surrender it. 00:27:49.100 --> 00:27:51.060 It's your loss, surrender it. 00:27:51.060 --> 00:27:52.780 It's your expectations, surrender. 00:27:52.780 --> 00:27:54.620 Whatever it is, surrender it. 00:27:54.620 --> 00:27:56.360 Well, but I surrendered it yesterday. 00:27:56.360 --> 00:27:58.020 Well, surrender it again today. 00:27:58.020 --> 00:27:59.420 And then surrender it this afternoon 00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:00.500 and surrender it tonight 00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:03.020 and surrender it again in a minute or two. 00:28:03.020 --> 00:28:04.700 And surrender it over and over and over 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:06.380 and over and over again. 00:28:06.380 --> 00:28:08.580 I don't know about you, but I don't just confess my sins 00:28:08.580 --> 00:28:10.400 the day that Jesus saved me. 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:15.220 I don't just tell my wife I love her at our wedding. 00:28:15.220 --> 00:28:18.220 And there are things that we do over and over 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:20.140 and over and over and over, 00:28:20.140 --> 00:28:22.260 so we surrender it over and over and over. 00:28:22.260 --> 00:28:26.340 And so finally, and this is what we'll close with, 00:28:26.340 --> 00:28:27.860 Jesus gives a challenge. 00:28:27.860 --> 00:28:30.020 Jesus gives a challenge. 00:28:30.020 --> 00:28:34.700 I think the heart of this passage of Scripture 00:28:34.700 --> 00:28:38.460 is found in verse 33, and I'll read verse 33 and 34 to you. 00:28:38.460 --> 00:28:44.880 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:48.740 and all these things will be added to you. 00:28:48.740 --> 00:28:51.020 Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, 00:28:51.020 --> 00:28:54.860 for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 00:28:54.860 --> 00:28:58.140 Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 00:28:58.140 --> 00:29:01.420 What does that mean? 00:29:01.420 --> 00:29:04.020 Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness. 00:29:05.020 --> 00:29:08.700 I told you, I don't have the five simple steps 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:10.940 to never worry again. 00:29:10.940 --> 00:29:15.580 If I ever come up with that, doubt me, okay? 00:29:15.580 --> 00:29:20.540 But I do think some things that God taught me this week 00:29:20.540 --> 00:29:24.300 reminded me and taught me what it meant 00:29:24.300 --> 00:29:27.100 to seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness. 00:29:27.100 --> 00:29:31.960 And that's the challenge that Jesus gives us. 00:29:31.960 --> 00:29:33.460 So number one is this. 00:29:34.140 --> 00:29:35.140 Number one is this. 00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:37.620 Keep your eyes on Jesus. 00:29:37.620 --> 00:29:40.060 Keep your eyes on Jesus. 00:29:40.060 --> 00:29:46.580 Matthew 14 is the story of Jesus walking on the water. 00:29:46.580 --> 00:29:53.140 Peter, God love him, wants to get out there 00:29:53.140 --> 00:29:55.260 and get on it with him, right? 00:29:55.260 --> 00:29:56.820 He does. 00:29:56.820 --> 00:29:59.020 Man, can you imagine that feeling? 00:29:59.020 --> 00:30:00.020 What that was like? 00:30:00.020 --> 00:30:02.180 But the storm was going on. 00:30:03.260 --> 00:30:04.860 Storm was happening all around. 00:30:04.860 --> 00:30:07.900 And Jesus calls Peter out of the boat 00:30:07.900 --> 00:30:09.100 and Peter steps out of the boat 00:30:09.100 --> 00:30:10.580 and Peter's standing there on the water 00:30:10.580 --> 00:30:12.260 and Jesus is standing on the water, 00:30:12.260 --> 00:30:14.300 kind of there in that moment in the storm. 00:30:14.300 --> 00:30:17.100 It's happening and Peter begins to sink. 00:30:17.100 --> 00:30:20.500 Do you know why Peter began to sink? 00:30:20.500 --> 00:30:24.100 Peter began to sink not because the storm was too strong. 00:30:24.100 --> 00:30:27.340 The storm did not cause him to sink. 00:30:27.340 --> 00:30:31.060 Peter started to sink because he took his eyes off of Jesus 00:30:31.060 --> 00:30:32.560 and he placed it on the storm. 00:30:33.360 --> 00:30:34.920 Here's what I wanna tell you right now. 00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:36.280 Right now you have a storm. 00:30:36.280 --> 00:30:38.060 You have a storm. 00:30:38.060 --> 00:30:40.640 Maybe right now you're dealing with one of those 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:43.520 like little April showers that's going on, right? 00:30:43.520 --> 00:30:45.600 I heard we got some really big thunderstorms 00:30:45.600 --> 00:30:47.040 here this past week. 00:30:47.040 --> 00:30:48.120 Maybe you're in that. 00:30:48.120 --> 00:30:52.760 Or maybe you are right in the middle of 00:30:52.760 --> 00:30:55.080 this will take some generations that are not 00:30:55.080 --> 00:30:57.680 on the trip with me this past week to get this reference. 00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:00.480 But maybe it's like Hurricane Hugo, right? 00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:02.960 In your life right now, right? 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:07.960 Whatever your storm is that you are facing, 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:11.400 your storm is not bigger than your savior. 00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:17.700 You see, what we want God to do is eliminate the storm. 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:22.400 But oftentimes what God wants to do 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:24.080 is walk with us through the storm 00:31:24.080 --> 00:31:27.960 and to build us and to strengthen us. 00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:30.160 And I'm gonna tell you the only way that you get 00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:34.600 through that storm is to keep your eyes on Jesus. 00:31:34.600 --> 00:31:39.600 Number two, trust in God's plan and God's promises. 00:31:39.600 --> 00:31:46.520 John chapter four, Jesus heals a noble man's son. 00:31:46.520 --> 00:31:51.240 The noble man's son is sick, is going to die. 00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:56.140 He comes and he asks Jesus, the noble man comes 00:31:56.140 --> 00:31:59.520 and asks Jesus to come back to his house 00:31:59.520 --> 00:32:03.960 that is some distance away so that he can heal him 00:32:03.960 --> 00:32:05.160 and save his boy. 00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:08.760 The desperation in that. 00:32:08.760 --> 00:32:15.320 And Jesus, instead of going, speaks healing 00:32:15.320 --> 00:32:18.380 and the boy is healed. 00:32:18.380 --> 00:32:20.840 Now here's the thing. 00:32:20.840 --> 00:32:24.680 When the boy was healed, the Bible later tells us 00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:26.840 in that passage of scripture that in the moment 00:32:26.840 --> 00:32:30.120 that Jesus spoke it, that's when he was healed. 00:32:30.120 --> 00:32:34.400 Jesus didn't get a text message. 00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:37.700 He didn't get a phone call or the noble man 00:32:37.700 --> 00:32:40.740 didn't get a text message, didn't get a phone call, 00:32:40.740 --> 00:32:44.220 didn't get a courier, didn't get Morse code. 00:32:44.220 --> 00:32:46.560 I don't know how far else back we can go, right? 00:32:46.560 --> 00:32:53.600 But he left not knowing but believing. 00:32:56.340 --> 00:32:57.800 That's trust. 00:32:57.800 --> 00:33:03.080 What we want God to do is say I trust you 00:33:03.080 --> 00:33:04.360 if you'll show me. 00:33:04.360 --> 00:33:08.160 God, show me the bottle of water and I'll believe 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:10.160 that the bottle of water is there. 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:12.160 And what God says is no, no, no, no, no, 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:15.200 there's a bottle of water, you gotta go get it. 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:17.360 I'm telling you it's there. 00:33:17.360 --> 00:33:20.040 You gotta trust me and you gotta believe me. 00:33:20.040 --> 00:33:21.640 That's trust. 00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:22.600 That's trust. 00:33:22.600 --> 00:33:26.020 Keep your eyes on Jesus. 00:33:26.900 --> 00:33:28.960 Trust in God's plan and promises. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:33.360 Number three, this is gonna cause you 00:33:33.360 --> 00:33:36.500 to get your eyes off of yourself. 00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:41.220 Live on mission to share with others. 00:33:41.220 --> 00:33:46.520 John chapter four, Jesus and the woman at the well, 00:33:46.520 --> 00:33:47.780 the Samaritan woman. 00:33:47.780 --> 00:33:53.680 We see Jesus have this conversation with this lady 00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:56.920 that for multiple, multiple reasons, 00:33:56.920 --> 00:34:01.160 culturally speaking, Jesus should not be having 00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:04.120 not only with her because of her gender, 00:34:04.120 --> 00:34:09.120 her ethnic race, but also because of her sin patterns 00:34:09.120 --> 00:34:11.260 in her life. 00:34:11.260 --> 00:34:13.660 But Jesus does. 00:34:13.660 --> 00:34:16.600 And he talks to her. 00:34:16.600 --> 00:34:22.340 And this beautiful transformation in her life happens. 00:34:23.340 --> 00:34:26.140 He tells her to go from there and sin no more. 00:34:26.140 --> 00:34:30.300 She goes back out into her town, 00:34:30.300 --> 00:34:32.440 the woman who's been ostracized, 00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:35.620 and shares the gospel. 00:34:35.620 --> 00:34:38.880 Tells them who Jesus is. 00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:42.780 And the Bible says that others believed 00:34:42.780 --> 00:34:44.100 because of her testimony. 00:34:44.100 --> 00:34:47.540 Get your eyes off of you. 00:34:47.540 --> 00:34:49.960 Focus on the mission. 00:34:51.420 --> 00:34:52.500 And then lastly, 00:34:52.500 --> 00:34:56.980 live every day, 00:34:56.980 --> 00:34:58.840 every day, 00:34:58.840 --> 00:35:03.140 personally impacted by the gospel. 00:35:03.140 --> 00:35:06.500 You know, the gospel isn't just something 00:35:06.500 --> 00:35:11.260 that we hear and saves us in the moment. 00:35:11.260 --> 00:35:13.980 But the gospel is something that we need to teach 00:35:13.980 --> 00:35:17.540 and preach to ourselves every single day. 00:35:17.540 --> 00:35:21.820 And every day, be impacted by the glorious truth 00:35:21.820 --> 00:35:26.100 that you and I at our core are sinners at war, 00:35:26.100 --> 00:35:28.000 objects of wrath with God, 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:30.260 but God in his kindness and his mercy 00:35:30.260 --> 00:35:32.980 sent Jesus who died on the cross for us, 00:35:32.980 --> 00:35:34.700 who forgives us of our sins, 00:35:34.700 --> 00:35:37.660 who pays the price, and died on that cross, 00:35:37.660 --> 00:35:39.140 and then rose again. 00:35:39.140 --> 00:35:42.180 And as he too rose and walked in new life, 00:35:42.180 --> 00:35:45.600 that you and I will walk in new life one day as well. 00:35:45.600 --> 00:35:47.000 The promise of the hope of that, 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:51.180 and to let that impact every single moment of who we are. 00:35:51.180 --> 00:35:56.180 Let that be the spark of the change that's in us. 00:35:56.180 --> 00:36:01.220 And in Luke 19, it's the story of Jesus with Zacchaeus. 00:36:01.220 --> 00:36:04.460 You know the story of little tax collector Zacchaeus. 00:36:04.460 --> 00:36:07.380 Comes climbing up a tree. 00:36:07.380 --> 00:36:08.940 I'm not gonna sing the song. 00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:13.540 But he was a wee little man, right? 00:36:13.540 --> 00:36:14.380 I'm sorry. 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:17.120 (congregation laughing) 00:36:17.120 --> 00:36:18.420 He climbs up that tree, 00:36:18.420 --> 00:36:21.600 and Jesus calls him down, 00:36:21.600 --> 00:36:25.560 a dirty, stinking crook of a man, 00:36:25.560 --> 00:36:28.200 calls him down, 00:36:28.200 --> 00:36:32.200 and then Jesus invites himself into his home, 00:36:32.200 --> 00:36:38.060 just as Jesus invited himself into your heart. 00:36:38.060 --> 00:36:43.080 But for Zacchaeus, it wasn't enough 00:36:44.080 --> 00:36:46.880 that Jesus was coming to his home. 00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:48.920 And for you, and for me, 00:36:48.920 --> 00:36:51.800 it shouldn't be enough that he comes into our heart. 00:36:51.800 --> 00:36:57.960 Zacchaeus says, "Everyone that I've wronged, 00:36:57.960 --> 00:37:01.160 "everyone that I've wronged, 00:37:01.160 --> 00:37:03.500 "not only I'm gonna pay it back, 00:37:03.500 --> 00:37:06.040 "but I'm gonna pay it back fourfold." 00:37:06.040 --> 00:37:06.880 Right? 00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:11.880 The change, the personal impact of what the gospel has. 00:37:12.760 --> 00:37:16.120 You see, for Zacchaeus, it wasn't just enough to be saved, 00:37:16.120 --> 00:37:19.520 to have Jesus, it was to live for him. 00:37:19.520 --> 00:37:23.200 That pits dark. 00:37:23.200 --> 00:37:29.280 If you're there, there is zero judgment, 00:37:29.280 --> 00:37:33.080 there is zero condemnation on for me, 00:37:33.080 --> 00:37:36.840 and brother and sister, I know where you are, 00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:40.660 and I'm praying with you, and I am praying for you. 00:37:41.660 --> 00:37:46.660 But Jesus says, "But seek first the kingdom of God, 00:37:46.660 --> 00:37:55.580 "and his righteousness, and all these things 00:37:55.580 --> 00:37:57.900 "will be added to you." 00:37:57.900 --> 00:38:00.060 Students, 00:38:00.060 --> 00:38:09.140 thank you. 00:38:09.980 --> 00:38:12.860 Thank you for reminding me about Jesus' conversation 00:38:12.860 --> 00:38:14.000 with Nicodemus. 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:16.660 We must be reborn. 00:38:16.660 --> 00:38:22.700 Thank you for reminding me of the story of Jesus and Peter 00:38:22.700 --> 00:38:27.760 walking on the water to keep our eyes focused on him. 00:38:27.760 --> 00:38:33.580 Thank you for the beautiful teaching of Jesus 00:38:33.580 --> 00:38:36.500 and the noble man and the noble man's son. 00:38:36.500 --> 00:38:40.180 And I don't have to know, but I can walk and trust 00:38:40.180 --> 00:38:41.400 in the promises of God. 00:38:41.400 --> 00:38:45.820 Thank you for reminding me of Jesus 00:38:45.820 --> 00:38:49.060 and the woman at the well, and the opportunities 00:38:49.060 --> 00:38:52.300 that we have to share the gospel 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:54.800 and to live on mission for him. 00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:59.620 And thank you for teaching me about a story 00:38:59.620 --> 00:39:02.540 that I've heard thousands of times 00:39:02.540 --> 00:39:05.720 about that little man named Zacchaeus. 00:39:06.720 --> 00:39:10.160 Who came in contact with a great savior, 00:39:10.160 --> 00:39:15.760 the great savior, the only savior in Christ. 00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:22.160 And what it means when we welcome him into our home. 00:39:22.160 --> 00:39:25.480 Would you pray with me? 00:39:25.480 --> 00:39:32.280 God, I thank you for this morning. 00:39:32.280 --> 00:39:33.800 Lord, I thank you for this opportunity 00:39:33.800 --> 00:39:36.080 that we had to gather in here. 00:39:36.080 --> 00:39:41.440 Lord, I thank you that I forgot the Bible passage 00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:43.440 that I was supposed to preach this week. 00:39:43.440 --> 00:39:47.960 I thank you that what I heard continually 00:39:47.960 --> 00:39:54.000 from the mouths of teenagers was the truth of your word. 00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:59.960 Lord, I thank you in the power of your spirit 00:39:59.960 --> 00:40:03.400 how you took that and you wove it together 00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:07.280 into a reminder for all of us 00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:09.880 of what it means to seek first the kingdom of God. 00:40:09.880 --> 00:40:14.220 God, I do pray, I pray for everyone in here. 00:40:14.220 --> 00:40:20.240 Lord, and they're consumed with anxiety and worry. 00:40:20.240 --> 00:40:23.520 Lord, some days they're doing good to get out of bed. 00:40:23.520 --> 00:40:28.240 Lord, they feel like they're in a pit 00:40:28.240 --> 00:40:30.120 that they can't climb out of. 00:40:30.120 --> 00:40:35.180 They feel that where they are, no one understands. 00:40:35.180 --> 00:40:37.760 Or they feel that where they are, 00:40:37.760 --> 00:40:41.640 no one has the appropriate level of compassion for them. 00:40:41.640 --> 00:40:46.560 God, and in some degree, they're correct. 00:40:46.560 --> 00:40:50.880 We don't fully understand, we can't fully know. 00:40:50.880 --> 00:40:54.520 We can't be in someone's mind. 00:40:54.520 --> 00:40:57.440 We can't be in someone's heart. 00:40:57.440 --> 00:41:00.200 We can't know the deep places 00:41:00.200 --> 00:41:04.960 of darkness of which they can wander to. 00:41:04.960 --> 00:41:08.820 But God, remind them that you do. 00:41:08.820 --> 00:41:11.240 You do know. 00:41:11.240 --> 00:41:13.760 You know every thought. 00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:17.720 You know every need. 00:41:17.720 --> 00:41:19.680 You know every struggle that we have, 00:41:19.680 --> 00:41:21.380 regardless if we know it or not. 00:41:24.720 --> 00:41:28.720 And God, you love them. 00:41:28.720 --> 00:41:31.040 You understand them. 00:41:31.040 --> 00:41:34.560 You, God, you sent your son to die for them. 00:41:34.560 --> 00:41:38.920 And God, I just, I pray. 00:41:38.920 --> 00:41:43.520 Let it, God, I pray that maybe we could just 00:41:43.520 --> 00:41:45.080 have that reminder 00:41:45.080 --> 00:41:49.960 that Peter got from you, Lord. 00:41:51.340 --> 00:41:55.980 Like, get your eyes off the water and get it on you. 00:41:55.980 --> 00:42:00.820 And I don't know how long that storm's gonna rage, 00:42:00.820 --> 00:42:04.620 but God, we just gotta keep our eyes on you. 00:42:04.620 --> 00:42:06.500 And you're gonna be faithful 00:42:06.500 --> 00:42:08.500 because you've always been faithful. 00:42:08.500 --> 00:42:10.260 You'll never not be faithful. 00:42:10.260 --> 00:42:12.260 You are faithfulness. 00:42:12.260 --> 00:42:17.340 We break promises, you don't. 00:42:17.340 --> 00:42:19.540 We tell lies, you don't. 00:42:19.540 --> 00:42:22.100 We give false hope, you don't. 00:42:22.100 --> 00:42:24.860 We are imperfect, you're perfect. 00:42:24.860 --> 00:42:34.360 God, I do pray that some of us in here, 00:42:34.360 --> 00:42:39.120 through only the power of your spirit, 00:42:39.120 --> 00:42:42.700 whatever it is that we're carrying, 00:42:42.700 --> 00:42:46.460 whatever it is that we're holding on to, 00:42:46.460 --> 00:42:49.340 they will just lay it down. 00:42:50.300 --> 00:42:51.380 Just lay it down. 00:42:51.380 --> 00:42:55.140 And God, we might have to lay it down 00:42:55.140 --> 00:42:57.340 10 or 10,000 more times, 00:42:57.340 --> 00:42:59.940 but we'll lay it down. 00:42:59.940 --> 00:43:02.120 We'll lay it down. 00:43:06.840 --> 00:43:10.580 - Thanks again for listening. 00:43:10.580 --> 00:43:13.700 And be sure to check back next week for another episode. 00:43:13.700 --> 00:43:17.420 In the meantime, you can visit us at willowridgechurch.org 00:43:17.420 --> 00:43:19.340 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church 00:43:19.340 --> 00:43:20.900 on Facebook, Instagram.