Sermon Tone Analysis

*#13 Don’t Worry – “Life According to Jesus” - Matthew 6:25-34*

February 8th 2009 - Northern Peaks Christian Fellowship

 

An elderly woman went to the local pet store and bought a parrot to keep her company but she returned it the next day.

"This bird doesn’t talk," she told the owner.

"Does he have a mirror in his cage?" he asked.

"Parrots love mirrors.

They see their reflection and start a conversation."

So the woman bought a mirror and left.

\\ \\ The next day she returned; the bird still wasn’t talking.

"How about a ladder?

Parrots love ladders.

A happy parrot is a talkative parrot."

The woman bought a ladder and left.

\\ \\ But the next day, she was back.

"Does your parrot have a swing?

No? Well, that’s the problem.

Once he starts swinging, he’ll talk up a storm."

The woman reluctantly bought a swing and left.

Then she walked into the store the next day, her countenance had changed.

"The parrot died," she said.

The pet store owner was shocked.

\\ \\ "I’m so sorry.

Tell me, did he ever say a word?"

 

"Yes, right before he died," the woman replied.

"In a weak voice, he asked me, ’Don’t they sell any bird food at the pet store?’"  \\ \\ YOU KNOW SOMETIMES WE GET SO WORKED UP ABOUT THINGS THAT WE FORGET THE BASICS… SO THIS MORNING WE ARE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT ONE OF THE BASIC COMMANDS OF JESUS…

 

*DO NOT WORRY…* AND IN THAT WHAT WE ARE REALLY TALKING ABOUT IS FAITH.

We have been exploring “Life According to Jesus” in John 15:10 Jesus said… \\ /“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”/

We want to be a people who abide in the love of Christ… that is where I want to live… and Jesus said that in order to live in the love of Christ we must obey his commands…

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*So if we want to live in the love of Christ we must live “life according to Jesus”*

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*SO this morning we are exploring Jesus’ command “ DO NOT WORRY”*

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*Let’s begin by look at our passage for this morning….

If you have a Bible turn to Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV) \\ \\ *

*I know I have referenced this passage many times… It is one of my favorite passages in all of scripture.…

Jesus Said*

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25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, 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: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

28 And why are you anxious about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

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*This passage starts off in verse 25 with a THEREFORE… So this passage is tied back to the previous thought... *

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*What was Jesus talking about in Verse 19-24… MONEY.

Money is the cause of a lot of worry… Isn’t it… WE know that money causes a lot of worry… it is one of the leading causes for divorce in the United States.*

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If you have been following the news you know that the Senate is voting on a $827 billion dollar spending bill in an attempt to stimulate the economy.

Why, because the world is worried about money… or better yet the world has put its faith in money instead of God… but money is not the only cause of worry is it?

*So as we begin this morning let’s start by trying to understand what worry is: \\ \\ *

The Greek word for worry means to be anxious, to be troubled with care or to be agitated.

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To worry means to have obsessive thoughts about events~/situations beyond our control that took place in the past or may take place in the future… \\ \\

Worry is motivated by our attempt to control our circumstances, and usual comes when we try to control things that are outside of our control… for instance, flying cause’s great anxiety for some folks because once on the plane everything is outside of their control.

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Worry tends to increases the more our lives feel out of control

\\ Worry left unchecked can control our lives, limit our activities, negatively impact our relationship with God and with others.

So worry is unhealthy at many levels, is rooted in fear and is ultimately caused by a lack of faith in God… \\ \\

*Worry is a selfish emotion that keeps us focused inward instead of being focused outward and on the Kingdom of God! \\ \\ *

/Dr.

Charles Mayo, of the famous Mayo Clinic, wrote//, “Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands and the whole nervous system.

I have never met a man or known a man to die of overwork, but I have known a lot who died of worry.”/

/ /

The Bible tells us that worry is unhealthy spiritually, emotionally, and physically… That worry effect our bodies in a tangible way… \\ \\

*SO… What do you worry about?

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How many of you have lost sleep this past week over one of these issues?

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·         Family Problems

·         Personal Finances

·         The Economy

·         Issues of faith

·         Failures from the past

·         Guilt and shame over sin

·         Health issues

 

You can fill in the blank…

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*Did you know what an average person’s anxiety is focused on : \\ *40% -- on things that will never happen  \\ 30% -- on things in the past that can’t be changed  \\ 12% -- on criticism by others, mostly untrue  \\ 10% -- on health, which gets worse with stress  \\ 8% -- on real problems that will actually be faced \\ \\ That means /of all the things most people worry/ about only 8% are actually problems that will have to be dealt with.

*In other words, only 8 out of 100 worries that you have are genuine in nature.

*

 

That reminds me of a story I read about one of the astronauts who walked on the moon… He was being interviewed by a news reporter and was asked, *"What did you think about as you stood on the moon and looked back at the earth?"*

Think about all the things that must be going through your mind… to catch a small glimpse of the universe from that perspective… Do you know what he said?

The astronaut replied, (as he gazed at the trip back to earth)" *I remembered how the spacecraft was built by the lowest bidder."

\\ * \\ Isn’t this the way we think?

Isn’t this the way we truly are at times?

We are far more likely to live out of fear than to live by faith and that is why Jesus in his teachings often ties worry and anxiety to a lack of faith in God…

 

 

 

I think worry might be the one sin that Christians commit more frequently than any other and *yes worry is a sin…*

 

 

 

In our passage this morning Jesus gives us *FOUR REASONS WHY WORRYING IS WRONG.

\\ * \\ *1.

WORRYING IS SINFUL* \\ Jesus has told us not worry… and to disobey His command is sinful

 

*Verse 25 *-  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life

 

*1 Corinthians 7:32 (ESV) \\ *32 I want you to be free from anxieties.

*Luke 21:34 (ESV) \\ *34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

*Philippians 4:6 (ESV) \\ *6 do not be anxious about anything,

 

*Luke 8:14 (ESV) \\ *14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

Jesus says that worry or the cares of this world is one of things that causes new believers to lose their salvation… Worry is dangerous for a believer.

It can rob not just our joy but our salvation, that is why Jesus “DO NOT WORRY”

 

When you worry, you stop trusting God and start trying to take control of your life,

Being a Christian means that you trust Jesus as the Lord of your life… Romans 10:9&10… which means you give up control to God…

 

When we worry it means we have stopped trusting in Jesus as Lord 

 

*When you worry it is as if you are saying to God I don’t trust you with the outcome of my life so I’m going to take over now…*

 

The second reason worry is wrong is because

*2.

WORRY IS A RESULT OF A LACK OF FAITH *

\\ If God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the fields, will He not provide for you?

God is your Heavenly Father.

God loves you enough to send His Son to the cross for to pay the price for your sin… He cares about you that much!