The Way of the King - Seek First the Kingdom of God

INTRODUCTION

WELCOME

Good Morning - Release the Kids

Matthew 6:19

REVIEW - “Gardener of Our Heart”

CONNECTION: Our Garden

BREAKDOWN

(Beatitudes) - Purchases Our Heart

(But I say…) - Exposes Our Heart

(Your Father…) - Positions Our Heart

Question: “On the stage of life, for whom do you perform?”

Son or Actor?

(Seek God First…) - Produces in Our Heart

In whom or what do you treasure and trust?

In your heart, will you surrender to fear or faith?

QUESTION

Last Week - On the stage of life, for whom do you perform

RECITE

(One who had authority) - Jesus is Our Foundation

Do not lay up for yourself...

The eye is the lamp

No one can serve two masters

Therefore, I tell you...

Do not be anxious about your life

Is not life more than food...

Look at the birds in the air...

Which of you by being anxious --- add a single hour

And why are you anxious about clothing

Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow....

even Solomon is all his glory...

But if God so clothes the grass of the field...

Oh you of little faith.

Therefore, do not be anxious, saying...

What shall we eat, drink wear.

For the Gentile seek after these things

Your heavenly Father know that you need them all.

But seek first the Kingdom of God

And these things will be added to you

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow

For tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Sufficient for the day is it’s own trouble.

PRAY

IN WHOM/WHAT DO YOU TREASURE AND TRUST?

TREASURE

Treasure on Earth vs Treasure in Heaven

Vapor - Treasures on earth

Glitter, Shiny - fade away

Think about your last car or phone - how you felt about it when you first got it and how you felt about it once you were ready to move on to the next thing.

Certainty that the things on earth are fleeting

Eternal - Treasures in Heaven

Certainty that things in heaven are eternal.

Commanded to lay up treasures - pursuing things of value is not the problem but settling for lesser things is foolishness.

Treasure

The problem is not that we value something but that we value the wrong thing

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The heart is the central place in a person.

Man’s entire mental and moral activity

Rational and emotional elements.

“Do no treasure (storehouses) up treasures (valuables) ...

somebody exactly does this mean it and how do we live it out? We see this in the next two illustrations

EYE

“The eye is the lamp of the body...”

WINDOW (General)

Imagine your eye is a window and God in all his glory is standing outside the window

Healthy - focus, undistorted view of God, allowing his light into the room of your heart.

Bad - distorted, marred, but lesser affections, the light is stopped from entering the room.

Are you eyes focused on Jesus or lesser things.

GENEROSITY (Possible)

Healthy - can also mean generous

Bad - stingy

Some have concluded that this is similar to Jewish sayings that indicate that:

A heart whose hope is in Jesus is generous

A heart whose hope is in money is stingy

Raising support - we saw this truth in people generosity toward us.

MASTER

Who will you serve?

God or Money?

You can’t serve both.

illustration

Independence and self-reliance

Hard work and competition

IN WHO DO YOU TRUST

God or Money

Choose the side of the room

ANXIOUS HEART vs. FAITH-FILLED HEART

THERFORE

This is in response to the preceding verses

THE DISCIPLES

Understanding the original audience

They left their jobs and may be been concerned that they may have been anxious about their future.

ANXIETY vs ANXIOUSNESS

Difference between Anxiousness (being addressed here) and anxiety or anxiety attacks.

I want to make sure that we understand this distinction because

I desire conviction and transformation

Don’t desire condemnation for those who suffer from Anxiety or panic attacks

Anxiousness

Situational, Proportional, & Passes

Anxiety

Continual, Unproportional to situation, continues and unrelated to a specific situation

Medical - Amygdala in the brain triggers our fight or flight response, Autonomic Nervous System governs our breathing, and heart rate.

A panic attack can be psychological or physiological issue and needs a doctor’s care and prayer.

Anxiousness is a heart issue - this needs a savior to whom we surrender.

DAIL BREAD (Food, Drink, and Clothing)

Life is More Than Food - “Birds of the air...”

The Body more than Clothes - “Lilies of the Field...”

LOOK… BIRDS

Neither sow, nor reap - NOR GATHER INTO BARNS

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth

Are you not more valueable than them And God feeds them

God will take care of you

Anxiousness with not improve your life...

What doe

CONSIDER… LILIES OF THE FIELD

No toil, no spinning

They are beautiful clothing for grass that is here today and gone tomorrow.

Therefore - don’t be anxious, saying...

“your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”

Many words, father knows what you need before you ask

God will take care of you.

FAITH vs. FEAR

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness...”

You can fearfully worry and not change anything or you can faithfullly trust you Heavenly Father and lay up for yourselves eternal treasures in heaven.

If you seek money and treasure on earth

get height the money or treasure, not God homely

if you seek God then you get garden in all else will be added to you

TROUBLE

Sufficient for today is its own trouble

God is not promising a life of ease or prosperity. There will be hard daysn hungry Knigts. He's not promising over stocked pantry walk in closet full of the newest designer clothes.

The apostle Paul

God is a good father and he knows what you need. Trust in him, treasure this word and all these things he will take care of. Your anxiousness will have no impact

for today is its own trouble

CONCLUSION

TREASURE

oh you of little faith

affections:

in whom or what do you trust

in whom or what do you treasure

Al-Mahir

Jesus & Mohammad

Accepted by God and rejected by your family or accepted by your family and rejected by God.

Bashira

In April Bishara was readying his bible when his family caught him and disowned him. He said, “Even if you kill me, I will die a Christian.”

Parent had him kidnapped tp be killed - left for dead in the middle of the Sahara desert

Last week: Mom was sick and seemed to be dying, Bishara went a prayed for her, and read the Bible to her, she felt a cool hand on her chest and a voice saying, be healed - she believed in Jesus

Just a few days ago his uncle had a dream and trusted in Jesus

TRUST

Oh you of little faith, with much or little.

Faith-filled or Fearful

When you think about the future, what emotions are stirred in your heart. Are you fearful about provisions? How do you imagine God's attitude toward you?

When you think about the future, what emtoions are stirred in your heart. Are you fearful about provisions? How do you imagine God's attitude toward you?

PRAYER

many words…

FAITH

give us today our daily bread…