Kingdom First
Notes
Transcript
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Intro
A couple weeks back we saw Jesus begin to define what it means to be a disciple of Christ. What does it mean to be a Christian?
He started by giving His disciples a role and an identity. “You are the light of the world.”
He gave them a purpose, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify Your Father who is in heaven.”
He pointed them to the fundamentals. “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
For the past couple weeks we’ve really been addressing the fundamentals that is righteousness itself.
We’ve addressed the heart of righteousness.
We’ve addressed the motivation for righteousness.
And this morning we add to that the freedom to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
If you weren’t here with us those couple weeks ago I recalled how even kids basketball addresses those three simple categories from the very beginning.
When I was very young I started to learn my role on the court as a new basketball player.
I started to learn my purpose beyond putting the ball in the net.
And perhaps most importantly I was taught the fundamentals.
The thing is fundamentals aren’t just for the little kids.
I had a truly excellent coach in high school, and he was all about the fundamentals. Every year at our first practice it was back to the fundamentals. We got used to it. We knew we were going to be hurting at the end of practice that first week of the basketball season, because fitness was essential to everything else. We’d been playing basketball together for 10 years at that point (it didn’t matter) we’d always go back to the fundamentals. The thing about developing the fundamentals and fitness in basketball is the team needs to trust the coach. When you’ve done your 5th set of down and backs some may start to wonder, “Why this is necessary?” “Coach just wants us to suffer.” A few guys start cutting corners, and then a few more start to complain a little bit. When trust in the coach starts to erode, guys start looking out for themselves and lose sight of the value of the fundamentals.
On the other hand those seniors who know the value of the fundamentals. They’ve seen coach lead the team to some big wins. There’s a lot of trust there. There’s no anxiety there even when their legs are on fire from doing shuffles all afternoon. Even after doing free throw after free throw there’s an assurance and a trust there that knows, coach values this team and wants to see us win! Coach knows what we need. Coach isn’t here to shame us he’s here to see us grow.
As Jesus continues his teaching on the fundamentals of discipleship He gets to that key item. Trust God with your well-being. If we can’t trust God and we’re caught up in worry and anxiety fending for ourselves, it’s unlikely we’ll effectively seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
If we are to be faithful with the fundamentals of the kingdom and righteousness we must be ready to trust God with our well-being.
If we are to be faithful with the fundamentals of the kingdom and righteousness we must be ready to trust God with our well-being.
(3) Confessions to help us trust the Lord and (1) call to action.
Confession: Our God gives us worth.
Confession: Our God clothes our shame.
Confession: Our God knows our needs
Call: Seek First His Kingdom
Before Jesus gets to the truths we ought to believe in, he starts with the problem itself - that issue of the heart that undermines our ability to be faithful with the fundamentals of the kingdom and righteousness: Worry
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
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Jesus has just laid out the two paths the disciples have before them: The service of God for a greater reward in heaven or the service of wealth for their reward now. Now, as much as Jesus calls His disciples to seek that greater reward in heaven, He doesn’t leave them without the assurance that they will be cared for. He doesn’t leave them without the comfort they’ll be sustained until they find their reward. He moves to comfort them and assure them that they ought not worry about their basic needs being met. They have all the means and the freedom to invest in that greater unseen reward, but it requires a view of life that the world may never understand.
Jesus identifies the obvious. For so many life boils down to satisfying our hunger and thirst and sheltering our bodies. You might put that in two larger categories: Provision and Protection. Sustenance and security. In our day and age we may not think often about where our next meal is going to come from, but there’s plenty of concern around other basic provisions.
How am I going to pay for gas?
How am I going to get the car fixed?
How am I going to pay for medication?
How are we going to get the house fixed?
There are numerous basic needs that may not be our daily meals, but they’re basic provisions that are a apart of our every day lives.
On top of that there are basic protections and securities we maintain in our day.
We might not worry about what we’re going to wear tomorrow, but back then someone’s cloak was their protection against the elements. It provided them the security that they weren’t going to be cold that night. Most people back then didn’t have the full closets we do today.
In spite of that, today we still have numerous forms of protection that we look to for security.
That may be insurance: Do we have the insurance to protect us in the event of an accident? We even talk about insurance with terms like “coverage”.
Do we have the home security to protect us against an intruder?
Do we have the money saved up for a rainy day or a medical emergency?
Jesus’ opening line isn’t just about food and clothes, it’s an invitation to His disciples to the look at the provisions and protections they look to for ordinary life, but he doesn’t stop there. The point here is there’s more to life than our provisions and protection.
Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Isn’t life more than what we consume to sustain life and more than what we set up to secure our well-being?
Right from the beginning we need to ask ourselves a question. How do we view our lives? Specifically, “Is it just us working to secure our provision and protection or is God in it?” “Does our view of life and all of its needs include a faith in our Creator God who has redeemed us by the blood of His son?”
As Jesus defines a disciples view of life you’ll see he doesn’t eliminate the need for sustenance and security, but God becomes intimately involved. God is the object of the disciples of faith. God is the trust of the Christian even in the ordinary needs of life.
You’ll notice God is not present in Jesus’ introduction. A life without faith in God is lacking something in life itself and that’s where worry begins. That’s where storing up treasures on earth begins. That’s where seeking an earthly reward and earthly security begins. It begins in a heart that intentionally or unintentionally removes God from the basic needs of our lives.
Confession: Our God gives us worth.
Confession: Our God gives us worth.
So where does Jesus begin to point His disciples to their worth of their life? He begins with creation.
26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
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Jesus goes back to the beginning of life itself. You’ll see throughout this text Jesus continually refer back to themes from the creation narrative and the fall, and I believe that’s very intentional. We’ll see that drawn out as we go. For now let’s start with the birds of the air. One of the first animals God created, and that’s the point. God created it. God said it was good! God said it has worth and value. Consistent with the worth and value he gave even the birds of the air he fed them. He filled the earth with good food for the birds to eat. They’re not left to fend for themselves.
We currently have two birds nests on our property. The boys and I have been carefully keeping tabs on how the eggs are doing. We have two little homesteads on our property and I have yet to see them start a garden. “They do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, because God still sustains His creation.” There’s a small yet biblical testament to God’s care for His creation even in my own backyard.
Jesus’ point here of course is the worth of those made in His image, but not only that - the worth of those who’ve been created by Christ, those who would be redeemed by Christ, and equipped to look like Christ as coheirs with Him. Jesus points them to their Father. He’s appealing to both their Creator God as well as their position of sonship. You were created in the image of God, are you not worth much more than they? You come to your Creator as a son to His loving Father, are you not worth much more than they?
If we are to overcome worry we must reckon with our worth.
Which begs the question, “Where do we find our worth?”
Have you ever noticed that when we place our worth in things that fade we tend to be more worried?
If we find our worth in our relationships very often that can provide a sense of security and provision until that person proves they’re not God. They let us down. They sin against us, and all of a sudden worry and anxiety run rampant because that was where our worth was found. That’s not to say we shouldn’t seek out God-honoring relationships but that’s not where we find our worth.
If we find our worth in our work and very often that can feel life-giving. It can provide a sense of security and provision until life happens and we’re let go. Worry and anxiety settle in and not just because an income source is lost, but because that was where our value as a person was found.
As life goes on we leave various seasons behind that provided a great sense of worth to us: we’re no longer in sports, we’re no longer in school, our kids move out of the house, we leave behind a career in retirement. Whatever the season of life we’re in, there are moments when we may be called to leave behind some good things, and if that good thing was a source of worth for us we can fall into a new season of worry and anxiety. By extension we can fall into a new season of searching for our worth and well-being rather than seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
For my brothers and sisters here this morning, whether you’re in the depths of worry and anxiety or the heights of joy and the Lord’s provision. Let’s not so easily forget the extraordinary worth we have in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Three simple reminders regarding our worth:
We were made by Christ.
We were redeemed by Christ.
We were made for Christ.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
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21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
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Let’s not fall into the world’s idea of the “self-made man or woman”. Let’s not fall for the temptation that Adam and Eve fell for in the garden. “You will be like God, you just need to provide for yourself.” The world and the devil would have us forget the fact that God called us “very good” Forget the fact that God created us in His image and called us blessed, Forget the fact that God has provided for us an abundance in the garden, but that’s not enough. There’s a greater worth for you if you simply take your provision into your own hands. “You can be like God.” That’s the way the world think.
No, we must resist that temptation as Christ did. “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
What has God said about me?
4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
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“Crowned with glory and majesty” That’s what God says about us. Let’s not stop there:
We were made by Christ, but we were also redeemed by Christ. There’s worth in the blood of Christ which paid our debts and bought us.
When you want to know what something is worth, you might ask someone, “What did you pay for it?”
“Hey nice car. What did you get it for?”
One essential part of us overcoming worry and anxiety is remembering the price that was paid for us.
18… you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
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Surely our Father who was willing to send His only son to die for us.. is willing to attend to our most basic needs.
Which leads us to the worthy calling we were redeemed for.
Peter goes on in his letter:
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
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God has not made us, His church, into a holy nation and a royal priesthood so that we might fend for ourselves at the end of the day to provision ourselves with life’s basic needs. Those entrusted with the worthy task of proclaiming the excellencies of God will indeed be sustained by the grace of God.
By way of reminder none of these aspects of our worth in Christ will ever fade away. They will never change. There’s no day in which we stop being created in His image. Being redeemed by the blood of Christ is not a season which fades away. There’s no getting fired from the worthy calling we’ve been called to.
Might we find our worth in Christ and in that put away our worry.
There’s no amount of worry that can add anything to our lives, but it is Christ who give us eternal life and life abundant.
...
The second truth we confess in combatting worry:
Confession: Our God clothes our shame.
Confession: Our God clothes our shame.
28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
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On the surface I believe there’s a simple truth, but with a closer look I believe we’ll see a deeper gospel truth in Jesus’ words.
Jesus again goes back to creation. We don’t even have to look at living creatures we can just look at the flowers and see God’s faithfulness. A flower by it’s nature is clothed with a beauty it did not choose or work for. There were no long hours of labor invested in the beauty of it’s petals. In fact that simple flower was completely dependent on God to send the rain. Completely dependent on God to give it it’s beautiful appearance.
The point really comes in the comparison: not even Solomon, the finest of Israel’s kings, could clothe himself like one of these. With all His wealth, with all of his earthly treasures, with all of His power, he could not attain the glory which God gave to that simple flower.
There’s a God-given glory that no man can manufacture. There’s an honor that God gives that no amount of toil can attain.
How many in the world live without any view of God and simply continue in toil and labor seeking to preserve themselves? Jesus is saying it’s unnatural for God’s creation to not live in dependence upon Him. That dependence isn’t only left for the flowers of the field it’s expected of us - especially us who are made in His image.
Jesus makes the point clearly.
30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
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If God gives the time to clothe that spring flower with such beauty and glory for such a short time, will He not ensure you too are clothed - you who are made in His image. There’s a call to examine our faith here. Who are we trusting to preserve us? Are we toiling and striving in worry to make sure we’re protected from the elements at the end of the day or are we living in faith as God’s creation. Trusting that He will provide for His own.
We could move on at this point if we wanted, but I believe we need to see God’s faithfulness here as more than just protection against the elements in the form of clothing.
This whole passage appeals to creation, and I don’t think we can overlook the numerous other references to the creation narrative.
Who were the first to worry about clothing?
Who were the first to toil and stitch for themselves clothing?
Who were the first to be clothed by God?
The worry about clothing in the greater biblical narrative is not simply about shelter from the elements it’s about shelter from God. It’s about sin and shame before holy God. Clothing exists because we have fallen short of the glory of God. Ever since mankind has been trying to toil and strive against the curse of sin to restore ourselves to that former glory but not even Solomon could attain it.
When Jesus asks, “why are you worried about clothing?”
I don’t believe it’s inappropriate for us to ask the deeper question. “Why are you worried about being ashamed?” “Why are you worrying about being exposed?”
Exposed to the elements maybe. That may be reason to worry.
How about exposed to our peers? Now there’s a source of worry! What if they find out who I really am? What if they find out what I did? It’s a human behavior that goes all the way back to the garden we just live out with one another. We work hard and labor to cover ourselves just like Adam and Eve. If we feel that we can’t put on a good enough facade (“this facade looks more like fig leaves than Solomon’s splendor”) we just hide so that people will never get to see us for who we are. We hide to try to avoid the shame of being less than glorious.
Some people do hide in fear, and others put on a grand display with the same fear. It’s a man-made glory that man might respect, but in truth it is no greater than the glory found in the flowers of the fields.
If people really understood who they were as men and women created in the image of God they would realize their man-made glory before men is really an effort to preserve themselves from God. The same work of preservation Adam and Eve attempted in the garden.
Fear of being exposed, fear of shame is the result of sin against a holy God. That’s the bedrock here. I believe that’s the root here of this whole argument, and that’s where the good news comes in. For those who may disqualify themselves from the comfort Jesus provides because of some sin in their past, I believe Jesus addresses it directly.
“Will he not much more clothe you?”
Did not God in His grace provide a sacrifice for the sin of Adam and Eve that their shame might be covered?
There’s a wonderful gospel picture right there on the heels of Adam and Eve’s egregious failure.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
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God did not need to do that. He could have let them continue in their sin-cursed toil and spinning trying to cover their shame with man-made coverings. But He didn’t. Some kind of animal died that day that God Himself could provide a covering for them. God Himself addressed the shame of man. God Himself clothes the undeserving sinner.
Thousands of years later Israel is still wrestling with the same problems as Adam and Eve. Still in their sin, still in their shame and the prophet Isaiah comes to show them their sin but also to declare the favorable year of the Lord.
Isaiah 61 leads off with these words.
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
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If you’ll bear with me for just a moment:
Jesus reads verse 1 and 2 in the gospel of Luke and says, “This is me!” I’m the anointed one bringing good news. I’m the one coming to bind up the brokenhearted.
Then we get to verse 3 and we see what we’ve already seen in the beatitudes.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
How will they be comforted? They’re going to be clothed by this anointed one in garlands instead of the shame of ashes. They’ll be given a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
The prophet Isaiah is pointing ahead to a Messiah who will once and for all clothe the shame of Israel.
The chapter ends with these 2 amazing verses:
10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.
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See the same comparison their. After Isaiah has described the beauty with which Christ will clothe His saints he comes back to creation again. The simple plants that spring from gardens. The saints will be clothed with righteousness like that of the flowers in the garden for all the world to see.
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I hope it’s clear that in the Jewish mind clothing is more than just clothing. For someone who knows the creation narrative, for those who know the prophets, this language is steeped with God’s work of redemption - God’s work of salvation which Christ has accomplished.
If I may attempt to wrap up this point, “What do we do with our fear of shame?” In moments of worry for our preservation, in moments of worry wondering if we will be put to shame we must respond in faith. Worry is the fruit of unbelief. Jesus makes that pretty clear. “You of little faith. “
We must look to Christ for our assurance. He is the one who took our shame. He was hung naked on a tree taking upon Himself what we deserved that salvation would be accomplished - that we would be no longer worry and hide from God like and Adam, but rather boldly approach the throne of grace clothed in the righteousness of Christ. If God would go to the lengths us of sending His own Son to preserve us from His own wrath surely He will preserve us in the plain things. If God would so clothe us with the righteousness of His own Son and declare us “Holy”, who are we to fear being ashamed before men? Having been clothed with the righteousness of Christ we need not worry.
As Isaiah says elsewhere:
4 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 5 “For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the Lord of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.
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Jesus has addressed life. It’s more than food.
He’s addressed the body: It’s more than clothing.
And then he calls us to this simple confession.
Confession: Our God knows our needs
Confession: Our God knows our needs
31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
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See again the connection between worry and faithlessness. Jesus ties all of these question to a Gentile way of thinking. These are all questions that Gentiles ask. People who have no God and no faith - those who are left to fend for themselves conclude:
there’s no one else going to feed us.
There’s no one else going to provide for us.
No one else is going to clothe and preserve us.
How often those conclusions result in those worrying questions
“What are we going to do?”
And how often that simple questioning turns into faithless action eagerly seeking provision or preservation.
“We could do this...”
“We could do that...”
“We could try this...”
“We could try that...”
So on and so forth.
As Christians our assurance and comfort is not always rooted in what we know. We’ve established two essential things we do know this morning, (1) We have extraordinary worth in Christ (2) We’ve been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Those are essential, but at times there are things we will not know. The great thing about our faith is that what has been revealed to us - what we do know in God’s Word is sufficient to grant us assurance in what we don’t know.
Multiple times in Scripture God’s people were put in positions where they did not know where their next meal was going to come from or how they were going to be preserved from the enemy that may put them to shame.
Israel in the wilderness
Elijah after mount Carmel
David on the run from Saul
Jerusalem with an army of Assyrians at the gates.
You can go on and on. So many times God’s people will be found in positions where they don’t know how they will find provision and preservation, and unfortunately many times they will act like Gentiles.
“What are we going to do?” “Hey, we could do this.”
Saul for example. We’re about to go into battle and we need the Lord’s favor. What are we going to do? “I have an idea, we don’t need Samuel, I’ll do it.”
The enemy are at the gates, “What are we going to do?” “I have an idea, we could go ask the Egyptians for help.”
We could go on and on, but I hope the point is clear.
Let’s be aware of those moments when we might be inclined to think with a small faith. Perhaps our faith is little as Jesus says and we’ve put God in a box over there, but today we’re fending for ourselves.
Practically speaking when we come across a crisis - when we find ourselves asking that question, “What are we going to do?” Just stop. Don’t do anything yet. It’s so easy to act in a faithless way. Give time to prayer. This confession here is the preface to the Lord’s prayer. “He knows our needs before we ask.”
Run to Him who we do know!
“Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name.”
“Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Then bring to Him what we don’t know.
“Lord I don’t know where my daily bread is going to come from, would you provide!”
You who give me worth in Christ can and will provide!
You who have taken all my shame will preserve me!
Would You give me all that I need?”
If I could put it this way:
It’s moving from “What are we going to do? Let’s try this.”
to “What is God going to do? Let’s pray.”
Now just for clarity this isn’t a call to be static. “I’m just going to pray for the Lord’s provision and expect manna to appear on my table like He did with the Israelites.” There’s a big difference between a prayerful pursuit and a frantic, worried pursuit. Much like the past couple weeks Jesus is addressing the heart. Don’t worry in unbelief! Don’t worry doesn’t mean don’t work. Even with the manna there was gathering to do. (Work that was not to be done on the Sabbath.) In all that we do as disciples of Christ we work in such a way that God is necessary. And so in all of our faithfulness, we pray and give thanks! Even the hardest working farmer needs God to send the rain.
The conclusion to the passage gets right to that point. With all that God has provided we are called to action. We’re called to faithfulness, not simply to provide for own needs, but to seek the advancement of the kingdom!
Call: Seek First His Kingdom
Call: Seek First His Kingdom
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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Jesus in one sense has already made this point in the Lord’s prayer, but now that he’s addressed the worries of His disciples He comes back to it again.
“Seek first His kingdom.” That’s what we pray for first. “Your kingdom come.”
“and His righteousness” Jesus taught us to pray “Your will be done.”
These are to be our first priority precisely because the rest of our needs have been taken care of by God, and it’s not that God hasn’t provided for the advancement of His kingdom.
It’s not as if God is able to take care of the ordinary things, but for the extraordinary things that’s where God needs our help.
So much of the world’s searching, seeking, and labor go towards places where people presume, “This is where I’m necessary.”
No one else is going to look out for me so I need to.
If nobody else does this or that, who will?
If we don’t take action...
So much is done with this sense of urgency and worry thinking we’re necessary.
I just want us to get a sense of the freedom that rests in this call. In truth we’re instrumental in God’s kingdom advancement, but we are not necessary! And that’s a good thing.
God has provided for all that we need for life and our bodies.
He has provided for all that we need regarding eternal life and our freedom from sin.
He has secured for us an everlasting kingdom and the unfading righteousness of Christ that is ours.
And it’s from that assurance that we do go and seek the harvest. We go to evangelize the lost, we plant churches, we seek the salvation and maturity of our children, we go and make disciples.
It’s from that abundant provision of Christ’s righteousness for us through faith that we press on for the prize of the upward call of God. We strive together day after day to be more mature and more like Christ.
This call to action is unlike any the world will ever know.
We go from a place of provision and promise. We go from a place of assurance and confidence. We go from a foundation of faith in a sure hope.
The world so often takes action from places of lacking and unknowns. From places of fear and doubt having no foundation for themselves but what they can make with their own hands.
That is not the kind of action we’ve been called to.
In the end, there’s no reason to worry about tomorrow if we truly see all that we have in Christ today! And when that worry has been put to rest, we have every reason to be faithful with the fundamentals - faithful with the ordinary kingdom work of seeking the fruits of righteousness, making disciples, and advancing the gospel of Christ. In light of all of the promise and provision Christ has given us, let’s seek first the kingdom.
Let’s Pray.
Ryan and Morgan Pickwick.
Continue to advance the kingdom through their faithful work at Grace Church Antalya.
Thank you for preserving them and protecting them as they seek first the kingdom.
Thank you for the two new members they’ve welcomed at GCA.
Partnerships w/ other churches in the area to plant and advance the gospel.
If you are a member of this church, or a baptized member of another evangelical church in good standing, where you hear the same gospel preached that you hear in this church, then you are welcome to join us at the Lord’s Table.
