Who’s the Boss
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Trusting the Boss: Living for God's Glory in All We Do
Trusting the Boss: Living for God's Glory in All We Do
Bible Passage: Matthew 6:24–34
Bible Passage: Matthew 6:24–34
Summary: In this passage, Jesus teaches about the importance of prioritizing our relationship with God over worldly concerns, emphasizing that we cannot serve both God and money. He encourages us to trust in God's provision and to seek His kingdom first, assuring us that all our needs will be met.
Application: Christians can and MUSt understand the importance of surrendering control of their lives to God, especially in their vocations. It can free them from the anxiety of everyday worries and instill confidence in God's providence, encouraging them to align their work with His glory.
Teaching: The key teaching is that God desires our whole heart, and serving Him is not just a component of our lives but the very foundation upon which every action should be built. It teaches that true freedom and purpose come from fully trusting God and putting Him first.
How this passage could point to Christ: Christ fulfills our need for provision and security. As we seek His kingdom, we look to Jesus, who is ultimately our source of hope and sustenance, showing that all of Scripture points to Him as the one who provides for our needs both physically and spiritually.
Big Idea: When we allow God to be the boss of our lives, surrendering our anxieties and committing all our actions to Him, we find peace and purpose that surpasses worldly concerns.
Recommended Study: As you prepare this sermon using Logos, consider examining the original Greek language to understand the nuances of 'serve' in Matthew 6:24. Explore commentaries that address first-century agricultural society and how Jesus’ teachings on worry were relevant to His audience. Studying these contexts can also highlight practical applications for modern vocational life.
Opening Passage:
“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not 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. Are you not of more value than they?
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of 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 was not clothed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’
For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
A Focus on the Biblical Failure of Solomon:
Solomon is the POSTOR CHILD of FAILURE:
Solomon is the POSTOR CHILD of FAILURE:
On the evidence of two or three witnesses the death sentence shall be executed; a person must not be put to death on the evidence of only one witness.
The hands of the witnesses shall be the first raised against the person to execute the death penalty and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
“If a judicial decision is too difficult for you to make between one kind of bloodshed and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another—any such matters of dispute in your towns—then you shall immediately go up to the place that the Lord your God will choose,
where you shall consult with the Levitical priests and the judge who is in office in those days; they shall announce to you the decision in the case.
Carry out exactly the decision that they announce to you from the place that the Lord will choose, diligently observing everything they instruct you.
You must carry out the law that they interpret for you or the ruling that they announce to you; do not turn aside from the decision that they announce to you, either to the right or to the left.
As for anyone who presumes to disobey the priest appointed to minister there to the Lord your God or the judge, that person shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
All the people will hear and be afraid and will not act presumptuously again.
“When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’
you may indeed set over you a king whom the Lord your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community.
Even so, he must not acquire many horses for himself or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You must never return that way again.’
And he must not acquire many wives for himself or else his heart will turn away; also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself.
Solomon, Granted With Wisdom Decided to Treat God’s Law with NO Regard
Solomon, Granted With Wisdom Decided to Treat God’s Law with NO Regard
Solomon gathered together chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamores of the Shephelah.
Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders received them from Kue at a price.
A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty, so through the king’s traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the Israelites, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart.
Illustration:
Imagine a life where you get to the pearly gates and God asks, "What did you do with your time on Earth?" You might reply, "I worked hard for a paycheck!" And God chuckles, saying, "Did you not know you were meant for so much more?" Living for God means investing in people, love, and service—not just building a bank account. It’s a humorous reminder that we are called to live for what truly matters in eternity.
Quotation
Enjoy the blessings of God now and thank Him for all of them.” Don’t plan to live—start living now. Be satisfied with what He gives you and use it all for His glory.
Warren W. Wiersbe
Point 1
Jesus Said to Follow the Two Greatest Commandment. Love the Lord your God, and Your Neighbor…. That is the Point of Life NOT How we spent it making a living.
It is Impossible to Love Someone to Whom you CONSTANT Compare yourself To. ie. The Smiths down the street.
It is Impossible to Love Someone to Whom you CONSTANT Compare yourself To. ie. The Smiths down the street.
Peace come from Serving THE ONE Perfect Master
Peace come from Serving THE ONE Perfect Master
“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Application angles (make it real)
Work: “Is my job where I serve God, or where I seek identity?”
Money: “Am I using money as a tool, or trusting it as a savior?”
Time/attention: “My calendar shows my master. My phone shows my master.”
Approval: “Some people don’t serve wealth; they serve respectability—same slavery, different chain.”
Diagnostic questions (ask, then pause)
“What do you sacrifice for when pressure hits—sleep, integrity, family, worship?”
“What loss would make you feel like life isn’t worth living?”
“What do you fear being without: money, control, comfort, reputation?”
Practical teaching steps (give them handles)
Practical teaching steps (give them handles)
Name the rival master (out loud, privately).“Lord, the thing I’m tempted to obey most is: ____.”
Choose one obedience point this week.Examples: tell the truth at work, stop the shady shortcut, return what isn’t yours, apologize, honor Sabbath, decline an overtime pattern that’s eating your family.
Reframe vocation as stewardship, not ownership.Phrase: “My paycheck is not my provider; God is my provider. My job is one of His channels.”
Set a “master check” for decisions:
“Does this decision increase my love for God and neighbor?”
“Or does it deepen my dependence on wealth/security?”
Concrete challenge for Sunday
Concrete challenge for Sunday
“Two Masters Inventory” (2 minutes):“Circle what you think about most: money / future / reputation / comfort / God’s kingdom. Now circle what you pray about most. If those circles don’t match, that’s your battlefield.”
Point 2:
YOU ARE NOT AN ORPHAN
YOU ARE NOT AN ORPHAN
Being “Narrow Minded” is NOT always a BAD THING.
Being “Narrow Minded” is NOT always a BAD THING.
In fact: “The Gate of Narrow” — Jesus
In fact: “The Gate of Narrow” — Jesus
2. Trusting Divine Provision
2. Trusting Divine Provision
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not 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. Are you not of more value than they?
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of 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 was not clothed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Application angles
Worry is not humility; it’s attempted control.
Worry is often rehearsing pain without grace.
Jesus isn’t praising laziness (birds still gather food); He’s attacking panic-driven living.
Practical teaching steps (replace worry with practices)
Teach the difference: responsibility vs. anxiety
Responsibility: “I can act today.”
Anxiety: “I must control tomorrow.”
Worry-to-Prayer conversion practice (daily, 60 seconds)
Write one worry.
Pray: “Father, You already know I need this. I receive Your care.”
Ask: “What is one faithful action I can take today?”
“Birds & Lilies” attention reset
Tell them to look at one ordinary sign of God’s care daily (birdsong, a tree, a meal, a friend’s kindness).
Then say: “If He does that for grass, He hasn’t forgotten you.”
Simple budgeting as discipleship
Not “money tips,” but worship:
Give first (a chosen percent)
Save next (even small)
Live on the rest This trains the heart: “I am not owned by fear.”
Anxiety confession
“Lord, I confess I’ve been acting like an orphan.”
Mini-illustration you can use
“Worry is like sitting in a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t take you anywhere.”
Sunday “this week” assignment
One worry fast: pick one repeating worry and say, “I will not rehearse it without praying it.” Every time it returns—short prayer, one faithful action, release.
Point 3
You Give Up your PEACE, when you Constant Pursue “A PIECE”
You Give Up your PEACE, when you Constant Pursue “A PIECE”
Seeking Eternal Peace
Seeking Eternal Peace
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’
For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Application angles
“Gentiles seek these things” isn’t an insult; it’s a description of life without a Father.
“Seek first” doesn’t mean seek only; it means seek most.
Anxiety shrinks life to survival; the Kingdom expands life to meaning.
Practical teaching steps (Kingdom-first habits)
Start the day with first things (5 minutes)
“Father, what does Your kingdom look like in my work today?”
“Who can I bless?”
“Where must I obey promptly?”
Kingdom filter for work
Excellence: “I work as service to God and neighbor.”
Integrity: “No hidden compromises.”
Love: “People over profit.”
Witness: “I don’t have to be loud; I have to be faithful.”
“Today only” discipline
Make them repeat: “I can’t carry tomorrow’s load with today’s strength.”
Practice: Each night, write:
1 gratitude
1 lesson
1 “tomorrow I release to God”
Replace “What if?” with “Even if.”
“Even if I lose… God remains, God provides, God leads.”
One Kingdom act per day
Encourage a simple rhythm:
Pray for one person
Serve one person
Give something away
Speak one encouraging word
Close-the-sermon call to action
Your peace isn’t found in having enough saved up—it’s found in having God as Father and King. When He’s the Boss, you can face today with courage.
