WEBVTT 00:00:05.220 --> 00:00:07.700 Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of 00:00:07.700 --> 00:00:11.720 Trinity Sermons. Are you worried? There is lots 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:14.220 in the world to be worried about right now, from 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:18.059 natural disasters, to wars, to our money, to 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:21.000 our relationships falling apart. We all worry. 00:00:21.579 --> 00:00:24.660 But what does Jesus have to say to us in that 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:28.019 worry? How does he offer us comfort and guidance 00:00:28.019 --> 00:00:30.039 to make it through? That's what we're going to 00:00:30.039 --> 00:00:36.439 be looking at in today's sermon. Today's reading 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:39.740 is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 00:00:39.740 --> 00:00:44.479 19 to 34. Do not store up for yourselves treasures 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:48.039 on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:51.179 where thieves break in and steal. But store up 00:00:51.179 --> 00:00:53.899 for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths 00:00:53.899 --> 00:00:56.240 and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:59.259 do not break in and steal. For where your treasure 00:00:59.259 --> 00:01:04.079 is, there your heart will also be. The eye is 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:07.159 the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, 00:01:07.340 --> 00:01:10.620 your whole body will be full of light. But if 00:01:10.620 --> 00:01:13.420 your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:17.040 be full of darkness. If then the light within 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:19.859 you is darkness, how great is that darkness? 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.659 No one can serve two masters. Either you will 00:01:24.659 --> 00:01:27.400 hate the one and love the other, or you will 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:29.859 be devoted to the one and despise the other. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.959 You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:37.180 I tell you, Do not worry about your life and 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:40.140 what you will eat or drink, or about your body 00:01:40.140 --> 00:01:43.459 and what you will wear. Is not life more than 00:01:43.459 --> 00:01:46.780 food, and the body more than clothes? Look at 00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:49.640 the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:52.719 or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.239 Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.540 than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:03.640 hour to your life? And why do you worry about 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:07.280 clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow? 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:11.539 They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that 00:02:11.539 --> 00:02:15.919 not even Solomon, in all his splendor, was dressed 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:19.139 like one of these. If that is how God clothes 00:02:19.139 --> 00:02:22.259 the grass of the field, which is here today and 00:02:22.259 --> 00:02:25.280 tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:30.219 much more clothe you, you of little faith? So 00:02:30.219 --> 00:02:33.500 do not worry, saying, what shall we eat or what 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:36.810 shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the 00:02:36.810 --> 00:02:39.930 pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly 00:02:39.930 --> 00:02:43.770 Father knows that you need them. But seek first 00:02:43.770 --> 00:02:47.050 his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these 00:02:47.050 --> 00:02:50.030 things will be given to you as well. Therefore, 00:02:50.169 --> 00:02:53.289 do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will 00:02:53.289 --> 00:02:56.530 worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble 00:02:56.530 --> 00:03:00.710 of its own. The word of the Lord. There are some 00:03:00.710 --> 00:03:05.120 people who do not worry at all. You know, in 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.719 fact, we have to take their blood pressure just 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:12.740 to see if they're alive. In fact, the rest of 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:18.729 us, we worry why they're not worried. And on 00:03:18.729 --> 00:03:20.750 the other hand, there are others of us who worry 00:03:20.750 --> 00:03:23.590 about just about everything. In fact, we have 00:03:23.590 --> 00:03:25.270 worries and worries and worries, and we even 00:03:25.270 --> 00:03:28.069 have backup worries, just in case we don't need 00:03:28.069 --> 00:03:31.449 to worry about these things anymore. And then 00:03:31.449 --> 00:03:34.770 there's the rest of us who are somewhere in the 00:03:34.770 --> 00:03:36.990 middle of all that, you know, that we kind of 00:03:36.990 --> 00:03:39.810 worry and we kind of don't worry. So what I want 00:03:39.810 --> 00:03:42.050 to do this morning to get started is I want to 00:03:42.050 --> 00:03:45.650 ask you three questions, okay? And you can answer 00:03:45.650 --> 00:03:50.120 these questions by a show of hands. Just to let 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:52.280 us know where you're at. So here's the first 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:58.680 question. Who of you, by worrying, can add a 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:04.840 single hour to your life? Show of hands. Okay, 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:10.360 good. Second question is this. Who of you, by 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:14.199 worrying, may have actually subtracted hours 00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:18.709 or days from your life? Show of hands. Okay, 00:04:18.750 --> 00:04:23.490 okay. And the third question would be this. Who 00:04:23.490 --> 00:04:27.269 of you, by worrying, have somehow managed to 00:04:27.269 --> 00:04:31.689 improve the quality of your life? No. Okay, it's 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:33.709 kind of what I thought. So let's just recap. 00:04:33.970 --> 00:04:37.009 So we know that worrying won't extend our life. 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:41.480 That in fact, worrying probably shrinks the length 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:44.759 of our life. And that worrying doesn't add anything 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.779 to the quality of our life. So then the question, 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:52.459 of course, is why on earth would we worry? So 00:04:52.459 --> 00:04:56.639 as your priest, as your pastor, let me just say 00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:01.610 this to you. Stop it. Okay, Libby, you can come 00:05:01.610 --> 00:05:04.930 back up. We're done. That's it for today's sermon. 00:05:05.029 --> 00:05:06.449 We're going to move on with the rest of the service. 00:05:06.790 --> 00:05:10.529 No. Fortunately, we can't do it just like that 00:05:10.529 --> 00:05:14.329 because actually we know that worrying and the 00:05:14.329 --> 00:05:17.170 command that Jesus gives us not to worry is one 00:05:17.170 --> 00:05:20.230 of the hardest commandments in the entire Bible 00:05:20.230 --> 00:05:24.410 to obey. I think that we feel we have this responsibility 00:05:24.410 --> 00:05:29.149 to worry. That if we're not worrying, then somehow 00:05:29.149 --> 00:05:31.449 we're not... paying attention we're not paying 00:05:31.449 --> 00:05:34.670 attention to the 24 7 news cycle out there we're 00:05:34.670 --> 00:05:38.259 not paying attention to those social media fear 00:05:38.259 --> 00:05:41.019 loops, that we're not paying attention to the 00:05:41.019 --> 00:05:44.800 economic uncertainty. And so we are under constant 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:47.980 pressure to plan. We're under constant pressure 00:05:47.980 --> 00:05:51.519 to predict our lives. And we want to control 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.839 things. And we think that if somehow by stressing 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.139 enough and by worrying enough, we might actually 00:05:57.139 --> 00:06:00.600 be able to control the future somehow and prevent 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:05.439 bad things from happening. But of course, we 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:08.699 know that's not true. In fact, if you were to 00:06:08.699 --> 00:06:11.660 look at the definition of worry, the word worry 00:06:11.660 --> 00:06:14.819 comes from an English word which means to choke 00:06:14.819 --> 00:06:20.000 or to strangle, which means that worry is like 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.980 an assassin who sneaks up behind you and puts 00:06:23.980 --> 00:06:27.480 you in a headlock and slowly drains the life 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:31.420 out of you. In Greek, the Greek word for worry 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:34.680 is this word merom nao. And that has a slightly 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:37.759 different meaning. It means to be pulled into 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.129 directions. And that makes sense because... People 00:06:41.129 --> 00:06:44.170 who worry, on the one hand, our hearts and minds 00:06:44.170 --> 00:06:46.269 are pulled toward God, wanting to trust God. 00:06:46.410 --> 00:06:48.889 But on the other hand, we're also pulled toward, 00:06:49.029 --> 00:06:51.529 what if this happens? What if that happens? What 00:06:51.529 --> 00:06:54.389 about next week? What about next year? And that 00:06:54.389 --> 00:06:56.750 is why people who worry are often, I think, so 00:06:56.750 --> 00:07:00.250 very distracted. It's because part of their mind 00:07:00.250 --> 00:07:03.670 is over here, and the other part of their mind... 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:08.240 is a million miles away, thinking about something 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:11.139 that might happen in the future. Divided minds, 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:17.509 fragmented hearts. So, we're in... The middle 00:07:17.509 --> 00:07:19.170 of this teaching series called Summer on the 00:07:19.170 --> 00:07:20.930 Mount, where we're looking at Jesus' amazing 00:07:20.930 --> 00:07:23.790 teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. It's found 00:07:23.790 --> 00:07:28.310 in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And Jesus talks about 00:07:28.310 --> 00:07:31.550 and teaches us so much in that really condensed 00:07:31.550 --> 00:07:33.870 piece of teaching. He talks about marriage and 00:07:33.870 --> 00:07:37.170 forgiveness and prayer and love and money and 00:07:37.170 --> 00:07:39.550 all these things. And today, Jesus is going to 00:07:39.550 --> 00:07:43.189 talk to us about worry. And so I want to invite 00:07:43.189 --> 00:07:44.970 you, if you want to follow along, we're basically 00:07:44.970 --> 00:07:47.379 just going to go through that. passage on worry. 00:07:47.500 --> 00:07:51.379 It starts in Matthew chapter 6, verse 25. If 00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:53.000 you have a Bible, you can open it up. If you 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:55.639 want to use your phone, you can turn it on. Because 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:57.639 we're just going to go through what Jesus says 00:07:57.639 --> 00:07:59.860 there. I just got back from a week's vacation 00:07:59.860 --> 00:08:02.620 where I didn't have a worry in the world. And 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:05.360 I was thinking about worry. I was thinking about 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:07.540 this message today. And I was doing some reading 00:08:07.540 --> 00:08:10.259 of Jesus' words. I was reading everything from 00:08:10.259 --> 00:08:14.319 John Stott to Rick Warren to Martin Lloyd Jones. 00:08:14.579 --> 00:08:17.050 And I think that after all that, I want to share 00:08:17.050 --> 00:08:19.230 with you some of what I've learned. I think five 00:08:19.230 --> 00:08:22.709 reasons here why Jesus says we shouldn't worry, 00:08:22.870 --> 00:08:26.930 and then three other things that we can do instead. 00:08:27.290 --> 00:08:29.509 And I just want to remind you that in order to 00:08:29.509 --> 00:08:33.129 help you follow along, we've created some sermon 00:08:33.129 --> 00:08:35.289 notes, and whether you're here in person, you've 00:08:35.289 --> 00:08:37.370 got these paper sermon notes, but we've actually 00:08:37.370 --> 00:08:40.620 now started creating fillable sermon notes through 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:42.779 our church app. So if you're watching online, 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:46.399 you can just go to the church center app. You 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:48.120 can click on the three buttons in the bottom 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:50.919 right corner, and then you can see the sermon 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:54.740 notes are available up there. So anyways, here 00:08:54.740 --> 00:08:57.500 is the first reason why Jesus tells us not to 00:08:57.500 --> 00:09:00.899 worry. Simply this, it's not worth it. It's not 00:09:00.899 --> 00:09:04.620 worth it. Jesus says that most of our worry is 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:08.490 misplaced. and that we are worrying about the 00:09:08.490 --> 00:09:11.549 wrong kinds of things. It's just not worth it. 00:09:11.590 --> 00:09:13.669 Many of you have heard about that study from 00:09:13.669 --> 00:09:15.870 the University of Cincinnati that said something 00:09:15.870 --> 00:09:19.129 like 85 % of the things that we worry about never, 00:09:19.309 --> 00:09:23.139 ever happen. And the other 15 % of the things 00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:24.919 we worry about, even though they may come to 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:28.279 pass, the consequences and the results of those 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:33.480 outcomes are not nearly as bad as we thought 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:37.840 they would be. Worry is literally not worth your 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.870 time. It is not worth your energy. And that is 00:09:41.870 --> 00:09:44.289 why Jesus says, therefore, I tell you, do not 00:09:44.289 --> 00:09:46.309 worry about your life, what you're going to eat 00:09:46.309 --> 00:09:48.409 or drink or about your body and what you will 00:09:48.409 --> 00:09:51.110 wear. And this is important. Is not life more 00:09:51.110 --> 00:09:56.399 important than food? And the body, more important 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:58.019 than clothes. I think you should circle those 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:01.659 words. More important. More important. Jesus 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:03.759 is saying there are so many things that we obsess 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:05.799 about. So many things that we worry about that 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:08.500 simply aren't worth it. They're not that important. 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:14.429 There are more important things in life. And 00:10:14.429 --> 00:10:16.529 he goes on and he gives a couple of examples. 00:10:16.710 --> 00:10:18.889 He talks about what we eat and what we wear. 00:10:19.029 --> 00:10:20.610 And I want you to know that when Jesus taught 00:10:20.610 --> 00:10:23.889 his first audience 2 ,000 years ago, many of 00:10:23.889 --> 00:10:25.429 them did not know where their next meal was going 00:10:25.429 --> 00:10:29.269 to come from. Or certainly next week's meal was 00:10:29.269 --> 00:10:31.009 going to come from. And many of them maybe only 00:10:31.009 --> 00:10:35.549 owned one garment or two, maybe. And so if Jesus 00:10:35.549 --> 00:10:37.730 is going to tell people like that, don't worry 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:40.830 about food. And don't worry about what you're 00:10:40.830 --> 00:10:44.320 going to wear. What would he say to people like 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:49.399 us today? We, who open up our fridge and we worry, 00:10:49.580 --> 00:10:54.179 oh, should I eat this hummus now? Or should I 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:55.559 eat it tomorrow? Well, if I eat it tomorrow, 00:10:55.659 --> 00:10:59.980 I might not. Might go bad by tomorrow. We have 00:10:59.980 --> 00:11:02.740 a full fridge. Or we walk into our closets and 00:11:02.740 --> 00:11:04.820 we look at all our clothes and we think, oh, 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:06.440 geez, I have nothing to wear. If I wear this, 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:09.000 somebody might remember that I wore this two 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.440 weeks ago. And what would they think if that 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:15.279 were to happen? We are not hungry people. We 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:17.700 are not starving people. And we are not naked 00:11:17.700 --> 00:11:21.690 people. And yet we... are still very, very anxious 00:11:21.690 --> 00:11:24.230 about even little things like these. Now, Jesus 00:11:24.230 --> 00:11:27.230 has nothing against food or clothing or your 00:11:27.230 --> 00:11:31.690 body. Jesus created our bodies. But what he's 00:11:31.690 --> 00:11:35.309 saying is, it is not worth worrying about things 00:11:35.309 --> 00:11:39.370 like this. Because in the kingdom of God, you 00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:42.769 are not what you eat. In the kingdom of God, 00:11:42.769 --> 00:11:48.009 you are not what you wear. You are not even just 00:11:48.009 --> 00:11:51.240 a body. In the kingdom of God. In the kingdom 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:54.519 of God, you're not measured by your pantry or 00:11:54.519 --> 00:11:56.919 your refrigerator. You're not measured by your 00:11:56.919 --> 00:12:02.139 mirror or your wardrobe, right? Is not life more 00:12:02.139 --> 00:12:05.200 important than food? Jesus says, is not life 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:09.120 more important than clothes? You're more than 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:13.639 that. How much stuff are you worrying about right 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:20.259 now that just isn't worth it? life is more important 00:12:20.259 --> 00:12:23.120 than those things. That is the first reason Jesus 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:25.879 says why we should not worry. The second reason 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:29.519 Jesus tells us not to worry is because it's not 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:34.139 how we're made. You've probably heard someone 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:39.480 tell you, hey, I was just a born worrier. I just 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:42.139 came out of the womb and I was a worrier. And 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:43.919 I don't think that's true. I don't think any 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:48.200 of us are really born worriers. Worry is a learned 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:51.139 behavior. It's something that we learn from our 00:12:51.139 --> 00:12:53.299 parents. It's something that we learn from our 00:12:53.299 --> 00:12:56.940 friends or our partner or whatever. In fact, 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:02.159 I came across, oh, I did that thing. It did that 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:04.440 thing where it goes through all my slides to 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:08.220 the very end. Anyways, here it is. We're going 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:11.340 to come back. I came across this study. It was 00:13:11.340 --> 00:13:14.460 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:19.320 It found that children of anxious parents were 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:21.840 significantly more likely to develop anxious 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:24.799 thinking patterns themselves. Why? Because they're 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.320 observing and they're imitating their parents' 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:32.539 responses to stress. is not natural, in other 00:13:32.539 --> 00:13:34.740 words. It's not how we're made. It's not what 00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:36.759 we were designed for. It's something that we 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:40.519 learn throughout life. Now, Jesus actually gave 00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:43.279 an example to prove his point. He does a little 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:48.159 bird watching. Now, I'm no ornithologist, but 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.320 I don't think that birds worry that much. I mean, 00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:54.600 birds, what do they do? They maybe build a nest 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:58.320 once a year. They sing a few songs. They flutter 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:02.080 around, they eat whatever is within arm's reach 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:05.279 of themselves. I have never seen a bird put together 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:09.820 a five -year strategic plan. I have never seen 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:14.820 a bird anxious or worried. I've never seen a 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:18.639 bird go grocery shopping or have to plan meal 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:20.779 preps or budgets. Birds kind of live in this 00:14:20.779 --> 00:14:24.600 all -inclusive resort kind of lifestyle. And 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:28.669 yet... And yet they're always taken care of. 00:14:28.730 --> 00:14:31.149 And then Jesus moves from birdwatching to botany, 00:14:31.190 --> 00:14:33.389 and he starts talking about the flowers that 00:14:33.389 --> 00:14:35.269 are in the field, the grass that is in the field. 00:14:35.330 --> 00:14:38.470 This grass is so beautifully clothed with flowers. 00:14:38.690 --> 00:14:42.269 These flowers only may last six weeks, and then 00:14:42.269 --> 00:14:46.429 they're gone forever. So you see, plants don't 00:14:46.429 --> 00:14:49.419 worry. It's not natural. Animals don't worry. 00:14:49.539 --> 00:14:51.779 Birds don't worry. Now, some of you will say, 00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:55.059 oh, Rob, what about an antelope when it sees 00:14:55.059 --> 00:14:58.059 a lion coming? And that is true. When an antelope 00:14:58.059 --> 00:15:00.240 sees a lion coming, its stress response goes 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:02.299 through the roof. It moves into fight or flight 00:15:02.299 --> 00:15:07.490 mode. But when the lion is gone, The antelope's 00:15:07.490 --> 00:15:10.070 stress returns down to normal. The antelope does 00:15:10.070 --> 00:15:13.350 not sit around thinking, oh, what if the lion 00:15:13.350 --> 00:15:17.110 comes back tomorrow at 3 p .m.? What will I do 00:15:17.110 --> 00:15:20.529 then? The antelopes don't do that. Only humans 00:15:20.529 --> 00:15:27.710 do that, right? It's not natural for us to do 00:15:27.710 --> 00:15:31.230 that. Now, the good news is, therefore, if worry 00:15:31.230 --> 00:15:34.409 is something that we learn, then it's something 00:15:34.409 --> 00:15:37.629 we can unlearn. And that's what Jesus is teaching 00:15:37.629 --> 00:15:39.809 us, that when we enter into the kingdom of God 00:15:39.809 --> 00:15:44.370 and follow him, then the more we trust Jesus 00:15:44.370 --> 00:15:46.529 and the more we trust God, the more we learn 00:15:46.529 --> 00:15:49.669 this kingdom life, the less we will worry. We 00:15:49.669 --> 00:15:54.509 will unlearn our worrying tendencies. Okay, so 00:15:54.509 --> 00:15:57.190 number one, worrying is not worth it. Number 00:15:57.190 --> 00:16:01.649 two, worrying is not how you were made. And number 00:16:01.649 --> 00:16:04.529 three, Jesus tells us that worry is actually 00:16:04.529 --> 00:16:10.389 just, not helpful. Worry doesn't work. Whatever 00:16:10.389 --> 00:16:13.309 you think worrying is going to do, it just doesn't 00:16:13.309 --> 00:16:16.669 work. It is completely unproductive. It changes 00:16:16.669 --> 00:16:21.289 absolutely nothing. You can't worry yourself. 00:16:22.419 --> 00:16:25.840 millimeter taller. You can't through worry get 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:28.539 any shorter. You can't through worry lose any 00:16:28.539 --> 00:16:31.960 weight or get any thinner. And Jesus says that 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:34.360 by worrying you can't even add a single day to 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:37.559 your life. Who of you by worrying can add even 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:41.379 a single hour to your life? The answer is nobody. 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:45.820 Nobody. Worrying doesn't add life. It actually 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:50.500 subtracts life. I remember hearing the story 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:53.779 of this guy who was so worried that his house 00:16:53.779 --> 00:16:56.460 was going to be broken into by a burglar. You 00:16:56.460 --> 00:16:59.200 know, for years and years and years, he lay awake 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:01.980 in bed listening to every sound out there. If 00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:05.079 he heard the creak of a door, he would, oh, is 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:07.700 it the burglar? If he heard the wind, he thought 00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:11.430 it was a burglar. He heard a cat yowling. outside. 00:17:11.650 --> 00:17:13.950 He thought it was a burglar, and for years and 00:17:13.950 --> 00:17:16.450 years, he had security systems installed. He 00:17:16.450 --> 00:17:18.990 had doorbell cams. He had a sprinkler system 00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:21.849 installed with a motion detector, whatever, and 00:17:21.849 --> 00:17:27.710 for 20 years, he sat there worrying, and no burglar 00:17:27.710 --> 00:17:33.009 ever came, except finally one day, a burglar 00:17:33.009 --> 00:17:36.750 did come poking around his house, and he ran 00:17:36.750 --> 00:17:41.460 down to confront him, and he said, hey, You're 00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:46.099 late. I've been waiting for you for two decades, 00:17:46.460 --> 00:17:49.599 right? Now, see, you might say, oh, see, he was 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:52.160 right to worry. He was right to worry. The burglar 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:54.319 did eventually show up, but I will tell you this. 00:17:54.460 --> 00:17:58.519 He may have been robbed once by that thief, but 00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:03.059 he was robbed thousands of times by his worry. 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:06.920 When you worry about the past, you cannot change 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:11.470 it. When you worry about the future, You can't 00:18:11.470 --> 00:18:15.470 control it, right? Worry can't change that. It 00:18:15.470 --> 00:18:17.609 can't change that. It only messes up with your 00:18:17.609 --> 00:18:20.289 life right here and now today. That's all it 00:18:20.289 --> 00:18:25.009 does. It's not helpful. It's not useful. It's 00:18:25.009 --> 00:18:28.690 completely unproductive. Now, fourthly, though, 00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:31.009 I think this is perhaps the most important point 00:18:31.009 --> 00:18:34.450 that Jesus makes, in that Jesus says worry is 00:18:34.450 --> 00:18:40.720 just not necessary. Worry is completely unneeded 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:46.319 because God already knows what you need and will 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:50.559 provide for you. I want you just to imagine there's 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:52.720 a little girl sitting here at the breakfast table 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:56.220 and she's sitting there, you know, swinging her 00:18:56.220 --> 00:19:00.539 legs. You know, she's not worrying. She's not 00:19:00.539 --> 00:19:02.500 worrying, oh, I wonder if there's enough food 00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:05.400 in the fridge. She's not sitting there calculating. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.299 the grocery budget. She's not biting her nails 00:19:10.299 --> 00:19:12.759 wondering if mom and dad remembered to pay the 00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:15.019 hydro bill this week, right, or this month. She 00:19:15.019 --> 00:19:17.779 is just sitting there. She's sitting there waiting 00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:21.859 for toast. Mom's going to bring her some toast. 00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:25.740 Now, why? It's because she trusts her parents 00:19:25.740 --> 00:19:30.470 to know what she needs and to provide it. In 00:19:30.470 --> 00:19:32.849 fact, it would be very strange to see a five 00:19:32.849 --> 00:19:35.390 -year -old pacing back and forth wondering, oh 00:19:35.390 --> 00:19:38.109 my gosh, what if the peanut butter is gone? And 00:19:38.109 --> 00:19:40.910 oh goodness, what if we can't afford cereal this 00:19:40.910 --> 00:19:43.829 week? Or what if mom forgot that I actually like 00:19:43.829 --> 00:19:49.289 apple juice or whatever? That is how we treat 00:19:49.289 --> 00:19:55.049 God. You have a father who knows what you need 00:19:55.049 --> 00:20:01.150 before you even ask for it. So you can stop stressing 00:20:01.150 --> 00:20:06.230 and sit down at the table and trust that your 00:20:06.230 --> 00:20:10.609 daily bread is coming. Jesus puts it this way, 00:20:10.650 --> 00:20:15.069 if God cares so wonderfully for the flowers, 00:20:15.349 --> 00:20:19.690 won't he surely care for you, you of little faith? 00:20:21.309 --> 00:20:27.569 When I find myself worrying about things, it's 00:20:27.569 --> 00:20:30.990 actually a sign, that I am misunderstanding who 00:20:30.990 --> 00:20:36.690 God is. And if I don't understand him, then I'm 00:20:36.690 --> 00:20:38.809 not going to trust him. And if I don't trust 00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:40.990 him, then, of course, I'm going to worry instead. 00:20:41.130 --> 00:20:43.650 So the real question I think we have to ask ourselves 00:20:43.650 --> 00:20:48.069 is not what am I worried about, but it's what 00:20:48.069 --> 00:20:54.269 do I believe God is like? The promise is that 00:20:54.269 --> 00:20:59.440 God knows your needs. And that as his children, 00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:02.880 you don't need to worry. He's not surprised by 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:04.460 your needs or unprepared for your needs. He's 00:21:04.460 --> 00:21:07.960 not stingy when he provides. He's your father. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:10.480 Paul wrote these words. He says, my God shall 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:15.980 supply all your needs. Now, he doesn't say he'll 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:20.480 supply all your greeds. But I think when we think 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:23.299 of things like, will God provide for rent? Will 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:25.599 he provide for my mortgage? Will he provide for 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:29.359 that health expense, that dental bill I didn't 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:34.400 see coming? For those car repairs? If God cares 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:38.640 so wonderfully for flowers, who are just here 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:41.880 today and then they're gone tomorrow, won't he 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:46.400 surely care for you? Oh, you of little faith. 00:21:49.019 --> 00:21:52.480 Fifthly, And finally here, Jesus encourages us 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:56.619 not to worry because when we worry, we are setting 00:21:56.619 --> 00:22:01.759 a bad example. What do I mean? I mean, Christians, 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:04.400 on the one hand, go around and they preach about 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:06.740 this Heavenly Father, this Heavenly Father who 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:09.539 loves us and gives us our daily bread. We would 00:22:09.539 --> 00:22:12.720 tell people, oh, you should trust in God. I trust 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:15.480 in God, da -da -da -da -da. But then when we 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:20.609 go and live lives of worry, we are actually undermining 00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:25.450 our very message. Because we are not trusting 00:22:25.450 --> 00:22:30.410 the God that we claim to follow. And so why would 00:22:30.410 --> 00:22:33.730 anyone else want to follow God? Why would anyone 00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:36.009 else choose to trust God when apparently from 00:22:36.009 --> 00:22:39.579 our own behavior we don't? trust God when we 00:22:39.579 --> 00:22:43.940 are so, so worried. Jesus says, the pagans run 00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:46.640 after all these things. And now pagans are those 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:49.880 who don't believe in God. And so yes, if you're 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:53.299 a pagan, maybe you should be worried, right? 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:56.279 Because if you're out there in that big old world 00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:58.579 by yourself, you're on your own, it's a dog -eat 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:00.579 -dog world, and you've got no one to depend on 00:23:00.579 --> 00:23:03.759 but yourself, yeah, okay. Maybe worry is an appropriate 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.799 response. But Christians, ought to be different. 00:23:08.500 --> 00:23:11.160 We have this Heavenly Father who says, I will 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:16.759 supply all your needs. And that's why R .H. Mounts 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:21.180 writes that worry is practical atheism. And I 00:23:21.180 --> 00:23:23.160 think he's right, that when we worry, we're actually 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:28.119 acting as if a loving God does not exist. We 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:31.660 say we believe, but then we act otherwise, and 00:23:31.660 --> 00:23:35.660 onlookers, can only be left to surmise that we 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:38.200 actually don't really believe in this God that 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:44.380 we proclaim. Take it a step further. Worry isn't 00:23:44.380 --> 00:23:46.980 just about not trusting God. It's actually about 00:23:46.980 --> 00:23:51.920 playing God. See, when you worry, you're assuming 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:55.740 God's job, his responsibility, thinking that 00:23:55.740 --> 00:24:02.289 somehow by worrying, you can control. The uncontrollable. 00:24:02.309 --> 00:24:04.269 I thought only God can do that. No, but I'm going 00:24:04.269 --> 00:24:06.509 to do that, right? So whether it is that we're 00:24:06.509 --> 00:24:09.569 worrying that God won't come through or whether 00:24:09.569 --> 00:24:11.329 it is that we're pretending to be God ourselves, 00:24:11.410 --> 00:24:15.630 all of it undercuts our message. All of it looks 00:24:15.630 --> 00:24:19.690 like unbelief in the eyes of a watching world. 00:24:20.750 --> 00:24:22.950 So there you go. I just spent 15, 20 minutes 00:24:22.950 --> 00:24:25.829 telling you a whole lot of nots. Worry is not 00:24:25.829 --> 00:24:28.269 worth it. It's not how we're made. It's not helpful. 00:24:28.410 --> 00:24:31.109 It's not necessary. It is not a good example. 00:24:31.309 --> 00:24:33.529 But the Sermon on the Mount is not about the 00:24:33.529 --> 00:24:37.210 nots. It's not all about the don'ts. It is about 00:24:37.210 --> 00:24:39.750 the do's. It is about the yeses. It is about 00:24:39.750 --> 00:24:44.470 how we do live in God's kingdom. So just as we 00:24:44.470 --> 00:24:47.710 close, let's move a little further in that passage 00:24:47.710 --> 00:24:50.799 from the don'ts to the do's. And from the nots 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:55.059 to the oughts. And let's see how we can resist 00:24:55.059 --> 00:25:00.359 the stranglehold of worry. Here Jesus tells us. 00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:05.960 According to Jesus, peace comes. From putting 00:25:05.960 --> 00:25:08.880 God first. Now remember what the definition of 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:12.119 worry was. It was to have a divided mind. Kind 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:14.339 of over here with God. Kind of over here worrying 00:25:14.339 --> 00:25:18.700 about these situations. But Jesus says that therefore 00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:22.380 the solution is to undivide your mind. To focus 00:25:22.380 --> 00:25:26.339 your mind just on God. And to put God first. 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:28.819 That's how you avoid worry. Right? That's why 00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:32.599 he says seek first the kingdom of God. And his 00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:36.180 righteousness. And all these. things will be 00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:40.039 given to you. Worry is like this warning light 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:42.660 on your dashboard. Warning, warning, warning. 00:25:42.839 --> 00:25:45.839 It is telling you something is off. It's telling 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:48.640 you you have prioritized some other thing in 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:51.700 your life ahead of God. Something else has crept 00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:54.400 into first place for you. Something other than 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:56.720 God. Could be a relationship. Could be a job. 00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:58.720 Could be finances. Could be your health. Could 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:02.319 be parenting. Anything. Whenever and wherever 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:08.910 God is not first, that area will become an area 00:26:08.910 --> 00:26:13.710 of worry for you. So the solution is to put God 00:26:13.710 --> 00:26:16.789 back in first place. And when you do that, when 00:26:16.789 --> 00:26:20.769 you seek the kingdom of God first, life gets 00:26:20.769 --> 00:26:23.809 simpler. Life may not get easier, but it gets 00:26:23.809 --> 00:26:27.470 simpler because now your trust is anchored in 00:26:27.470 --> 00:26:31.069 one person, and that one is someone who will 00:26:31.069 --> 00:26:35.619 provide. always for you. That's why at some point 00:26:35.619 --> 00:26:38.599 in your life, every person has to decide, what 00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:41.920 am I going to live for? What is that one thing 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:44.640 that I'm going to live for? And the way that 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:47.539 you answer that question will determine a whole 00:26:47.539 --> 00:26:52.099 lot about how much you worry in life. And I just 00:26:52.099 --> 00:26:54.880 want to say, if you've never even done this before, 00:26:54.980 --> 00:26:57.220 you could just pray even a simple prayer today 00:26:57.220 --> 00:27:02.369 just to say, Jesus, Take it all. Take my past. 00:27:02.410 --> 00:27:06.289 Take my present. Take my future. Take my worries 00:27:06.289 --> 00:27:08.670 and my problems and my finances and my health 00:27:08.670 --> 00:27:11.730 and my relationships. I give it all to you, and 00:27:11.730 --> 00:27:17.970 I want you to be first in my life. The second 00:27:17.970 --> 00:27:20.930 way Jesus tells us to break free of this thing 00:27:20.930 --> 00:27:25.160 called worry. It's just to take life one day 00:27:25.160 --> 00:27:27.980 at a time. Look at what he says. He says, therefore, 00:27:28.039 --> 00:27:30.400 do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow is 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:32.920 going to worry about itself. Each day has enough 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:36.579 trouble of its own. I was thinking about a way 00:27:36.579 --> 00:27:39.440 to explain this. And we like to shop at No Frills 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:42.720 in our house. And No Frills sells these amazing, 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:47.759 very durable big bags that hold so many groceries. 00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:49.880 And so often when I go into the store, I'll take 00:27:49.880 --> 00:27:52.609 three or four of these with me. But because they 00:27:52.609 --> 00:27:55.549 hold so much, when it comes to the checkout, 00:27:55.650 --> 00:27:58.750 I usually just fill one so, so, so full. And 00:27:58.750 --> 00:28:01.809 then I have all these empty bags. And then I'm 00:28:01.809 --> 00:28:04.029 like haul. They call them haulers, by the way. 00:28:04.069 --> 00:28:07.289 I'm hauling this thing to the car. I could put 00:28:07.289 --> 00:28:10.029 my back out. The bag could rip. The food could 00:28:10.029 --> 00:28:14.089 fall and be destroyed. And that is exactly what 00:28:14.089 --> 00:28:19.630 we do when we carry the weight of tomorrow before 00:28:19.630 --> 00:28:22.779 it comes. When we carry the weight of yesterday 00:28:22.779 --> 00:28:27.180 rather than just today, right? Every day has 00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:30.059 its own set of challenges. So just put the things 00:28:30.059 --> 00:28:34.680 for today in the bag for today. Don't, you know, 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:37.799 stuff all of yesterday's problems into that bag 00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:40.259 too. Don't stuff all of tomorrow's problems into 00:28:40.259 --> 00:28:43.859 that bag as well. You can't bear that weight. 00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:47.619 You can't. The good news is that God gives us 00:28:47.619 --> 00:28:52.000 life. in these 24 -hour packages called days. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:55.200 And of course we've got to plan ahead. Planning 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:58.319 is wise, but don't take yesterday's problems 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:00.259 and put them into here. And don't take tomorrow's 00:29:00.259 --> 00:29:03.180 worries and put them into here. The 24 hours 00:29:03.180 --> 00:29:05.799 in front of you has enough to worry about today. 00:29:06.259 --> 00:29:09.019 And if we spend so much time worrying about yesterday 00:29:09.019 --> 00:29:11.079 and tomorrow, then we're actually going to miss 00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:13.259 out on whatever God is trying to show us today 00:29:13.259 --> 00:29:17.170 anyways. In fact, in a few weeks, Kyla is going 00:29:17.170 --> 00:29:20.470 to preach to us about the Lord's Prayer. And 00:29:20.470 --> 00:29:22.309 what does Jesus teach us in the Lord's Prayer? 00:29:22.390 --> 00:29:27.269 Does he say, give us today our monthly bread? 00:29:28.710 --> 00:29:30.990 Does he say, give us today our weekly bread? 00:29:31.890 --> 00:29:34.589 No, he says, give us today our daily bread. Because 00:29:34.589 --> 00:29:36.849 Jesus wants us to learn to depend on him one 00:29:36.849 --> 00:29:41.150 day at a time. Not a year at a time, a day at 00:29:41.150 --> 00:29:47.410 a time. Finally, after everything Jesus taught 00:29:47.410 --> 00:29:49.869 us about worrying, after saying, hey, live one 00:29:49.869 --> 00:29:51.710 day at a time, seek the kingdom, there's still 00:29:51.710 --> 00:29:55.950 one more reason that we can stop worrying and 00:29:55.950 --> 00:29:58.490 trust him completely. And that's because God 00:29:58.490 --> 00:30:02.190 has so shown us that he is trustworthy. Paul 00:30:02.190 --> 00:30:06.470 says, he who did not spare his own son, but gave 00:30:06.470 --> 00:30:10.490 him up for us all, how will he not also along 00:30:10.490 --> 00:30:15.420 with him? graciously give us all things. Paul 00:30:15.420 --> 00:30:18.099 says it plainly. God has already given you his 00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:21.059 very, very best. He didn't hold back his own 00:30:21.059 --> 00:30:23.299 son. He didn't hold back from the suffering and 00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:26.680 pain of the cross. So why do you think God would 00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:32.819 suddenly get stingy on you now? I mean, Jesus 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:37.380 was the most precious thing to God. So he gave 00:30:37.380 --> 00:30:39.019 you Jesus. Do you think he's now going to forget 00:30:39.019 --> 00:30:44.500 about rent and groceries? Or your next job? The 00:30:44.500 --> 00:30:47.839 cross is the ultimate evidence that God is for 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:49.819 us, not against us, and he will give us what 00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:51.920 we need. I mean, imagine someone gives you a 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:53.759 brand new car. They just give you the keys to 00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:56.200 a brand new car. And as you're getting in, you 00:30:56.200 --> 00:30:58.880 stop and say, wait, wait, am I allowed to use 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:00.839 the air conditioning? Of course you can use the 00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:04.509 air conditioning. car is yours, right? If someone 00:31:04.509 --> 00:31:06.730 gives you the car, they're obviously giving you 00:31:06.730 --> 00:31:08.970 access to everything inside the car. And that's 00:31:08.970 --> 00:31:11.789 what Paul is saying. God already gave you the 00:31:11.789 --> 00:31:14.730 keys to everything in his son, Jesus. Why would 00:31:14.730 --> 00:31:17.769 he suddenly pull back when you ask him for peace 00:31:17.769 --> 00:31:21.430 and provision and direction? John Stott puts 00:31:21.430 --> 00:31:23.730 it this way. This is the logic of heaven. The 00:31:23.730 --> 00:31:27.069 greater gift includes the lesser. If God gave 00:31:27.069 --> 00:31:29.789 us Christ, nothing else we could ask for would 00:31:29.789 --> 00:31:33.410 be beyond his generosity. So when that voice 00:31:33.410 --> 00:31:36.750 of worry starts to rise up in you, here's a question 00:31:36.750 --> 00:31:39.769 to ask. Just remember, has God not already proven 00:31:39.769 --> 00:31:42.509 himself? Look at the cross. Look at the empty 00:31:42.509 --> 00:31:46.509 tomb. Look at Jesus. He's got nothing left to 00:31:46.509 --> 00:31:49.769 prove. And we have every reason to trust him. 00:31:51.089 --> 00:31:53.950 So in the end, worrying isn't so much really 00:31:53.950 --> 00:31:56.170 about what is happening around us. It's actually 00:31:56.170 --> 00:32:01.039 who we believe God is. If we see him as small 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:03.500 and distant and unreliable, we're going to live 00:32:03.500 --> 00:32:07.099 divided lives full of anxiety. But if we believe 00:32:07.099 --> 00:32:09.240 he's our loving father and our daily provider, 00:32:09.240 --> 00:32:12.579 the one who already gave his own son, then we 00:32:12.579 --> 00:32:18.039 can trust in his care and confidence. Trade your 00:32:18.039 --> 00:32:23.220 worries for steady trust. Seek first the kingdom. 00:32:23.640 --> 00:32:28.519 Live one day at a time. And remember, the God... 00:32:28.970 --> 00:32:33.710 gave his best will never fail to give us what 00:32:33.710 --> 00:32:41.250 we need. Thanks be to God. Amen. Thank you for 00:32:41.250 --> 00:32:43.789 listening to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons. 00:32:43.789 --> 00:32:46.730 This sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville 00:32:46.730 --> 00:32:51.109 in Mississauga, Ontario on August 10, 2025.