Finding Freedom from Worry Through Kingdom Living.

We are excited to be with you again this beautiful Sunday morning with the sunshine coming in. We are almost finished going through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and we'll be moving on next week to 7. If you have your Bibles, you can pull it open to Matthew chapter 6. If not, the text will be on the screen today.

Just if you're picking up with us today, the Sermon on the Mount is where Jesus, after he goes into, he was baptized, then he goes into the wilderness where he's fasting for 40 days and he comes out and he gathers his disciples on this mountaintop. It's now referred to as the Mount of Beatitudes. These are the things that he gives to them. These are the words that he's speaking to them.

Today, although Jesus is not face to face, we have his Holy Spirit here with us. We are in a position of saying, what does it look like for us to lean in closely and say, if these were the words that Jesus was speaking to those that were following him, then these are words that we need to hear, that we need to listen to, and we need to obey, and we need to live out.

Today's passage is Matthew 6, starting in verse 25:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes. Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life. And why do you worry about clothes. See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith. So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear. For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word that is alive, your word that is active. Your word that even though it was written and first spoken to people long ago, it still applies to our life. There are things that we can hear from this. There are ways that you want to draw us closer to you. God, I just pray for these next few moments as we look at the words that you spoke to your disciples. Jesus, will you speak to our hearts. Would you heal us through these words. Would you cleanse us through these words. Would you draw us closer to you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Worry is a false prophet

This passage is titled Do Not Worry. You might be reading in a different translation where this word is do not be anxious. Do not worry. Do not be anxious. As we move through this text, what we're going to see is that Jesus doesn't dismiss our worry, but rather he welcomes it and he reframes it.

What do we do with that. Well, we need to learn what does it look like for us to stop that spiral of worry and to do what Jesus said instead and seek first his kingdom. Even as I say this, I just want to invite you to take a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Because whenever we talk about worry or fear and anxiety, it can be overwhelming to just be like, stop it. What does that mean. How do I just stop it. Like if I am stuck and I'm in these spirals of fear and anxiety, this is no easy thing to just say, stop it.

But Jesus does so much more than just saying, stop worrying. He then gives us what to do instead and says, seek first my kingdom.

An optional title to this message that I had as we read through it is I kept hearing in my head, be like the birds, be like the birds. So if you want to write an optional takeaway, be like the birds is it. If you walk away this week and you're like, what did they talk about at that church you went to. Be like the birds. The birds of the air that are just eating what is coming their way. The birds of the air that are not worrying. They're just flying free. Be like the birds.

I want to start today by talking about this word worry. Worry is a specific word in the Greek that's used several other times in the New Testament. It's used in Luke 10:41, when Jesus is addressing Martha in the story with Mary and Martha. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus, and Martha is running around the house serving and doing all these things. She comes to Jesus frustrated, and Jesus says, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is important. He's saying, you're worried about this, but there's only one thing that's important.

We also see this word worry in Philippians 4:6, where it says:

Do not be anxious about anything. Put in everything with prayer and petition, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6

So that's another time you see the same Greek word throughout the New Testament. And then in 1 Peter 5:7, it says:

Cast all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

Sometimes it might say, cast all your cares for he cares about you. We see the same word several times. I want us to think about this because this is going to help us shape what Jesus is talking about as a whole throughout this passage. Even as we read this again, you can say, don't be anxious, that is a hard thing to do. But what is he telling them to not be anxious about. To not worry about what you eat, what you drink, what you wear.

Now, contextually, at this time in the New Testament, those were all ways that you were provided for. That's what sustained you. Contextually today, that's the same thing, right. We need provision. We need things like money to pay for our bills, and we need food to keep us alive. He's not saying, don't care what you wear like it doesn't matter if you're perfectly in trend and fashionable or not. He's talking about like, you don't have to worry if you're going to have money to buy clothes and to provide for yourself. Be like the birds, live and trust that you will.

I want to talk about this because this word worry in the Greek translates to this idea of the thing that you are caring about, the thing that you are giving attention to. This word is not inherently bad, but it's more so what are you worrying about. It's interesting because it's not the same word, but it's closely similar to the word that we see in Greek for worship, which is to adore or to give attention to, to honor. It's so close that it can often be mistaken. Often we get so stuck in the spiral of worrying about the things that Jesus is saying are temporary rather than worshiping Jesus who's saying, these are the things that are eternal, my kingdom. This is what you should be thinking about and paying attention to.

We are always going to be giving attention and adoration to something. Is it going to be our spiraling thoughts of fear or is it going to be Jesus and his kingdom.

Worry is a false prophet. I use this language intentionally because this text says, is it not life more than food and the body more than clothes. Worry is promising us, well, if you just had these things, then you'll be good. If you just had what you think is going to change everything, like you're going to be good. But it's a false prophet. Worry is predicting the worst and continues to preach a gospel of scarcity to us. Worry keeps us stuck in this thinking that we don't have enough. It's always going to want our attention to go to the things that we can't control. Worry is going to promise control, but it's going to deliver chaos time and time again.

We get stuck in these spirals of thoughts and worries and fear when Jesus is saying, that's not going to add a day to your life. If anything, it's going to take a day from your life because you're stuck in the spiral of worry and fear. So much of it is we are looking to control things. Part of our trust and our follow of Jesus is learning to surrender to his plan and his ways and learning to live in this life that says I may not know what comes tomorrow but I'm going to keep walking in faith, walking in what I cannot always see. God is the one that is in control. God is the one that is intentional.

I want to go back and read to you Psalms 104, because a lot of this text here in this passage is pulling from language that the disciples would probably have known at that time because they would have studied the Old Testament. When Jesus is using this picture of like the birds and the lilies, this would have been familiar language to them.

How many are your works, Lord. In wisdom, you made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with your creatures beyond number. Living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro. The living thing which you formed to frolic there. All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them and they gather it up. When you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified. When you take away their breath they die and return to the dust. When you send your spirit they are created and you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in his works. He who looks at the earth and it trembles. Who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him as I rejoice in the Lord. But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord.

Psalm 104:24-35

I love this psalm and the way that the psalmist is writing it here. Even in how the psalmist is modeling for us what Jesus is saying. Like, don't worry about tomorrow, but instead seek the kingdom. Don't give attention to the fear and the worry and the trying to control, but instead give your attention and your adoration to the Lord and his creation. That's how this is ending. These words here are so intentional, saying they're satisfied with good things. Like God will continue to provide and satisfy our souls. This posture of saying, how do we continue to worship and return to a place of worship time and time again.

God's provision is personal

Not only is God pointing in this text and Jesus speaking to his disciples in Matthew, saying like, you don't have to worry, which is really hard for us to comprehend, but he's talking about how he's going to provide in such a personal way. He says not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. God dresses them with such intentionality and such care.

If God shows that kind of attention to grass, how much more do you think he shows that kind of attention to those of us that are made in his image. This is the God that we serve, that he cares so deeply, so personally, and so intentionally for each and every one of us today. Even this morning, there's a group of us that we pray before the service starts. As we're praying for all of you and we're praying for this time, we're praying over this text and truly believing, like God wants to speak to us. He wants to draw us in. There's going to be different things today that you're just drawn to. Don't look away from that, but say, God, what are you saying to me. What are you speaking to me through this. He is personal.

The story behind my flowers is when I moved in two years ago this was the first place that I purchased. Before this I had been renting for years moving every year. It was finally like I get to plant my own flowers. I get to choose. What did I do. I went to my mom's yard and I stole all of her flowers and I planted them in mine. These were so much smaller two years ago. Even like a month ago you walk outside and it's just dead. I will admit, I did a terrible job. If you know anything about gardening, like you're supposed to clean up your flowers and your garden beds from the year before in order to get the soil ready. Yeah, we didn't do that this year.

It just looks dead. It looks terrible. I'm even thinking like, oh, I'd love to have someone over for dinner outside. But like my yard looks terrible right now. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I just walk outside one day and you're like, whoa, there it is. Like it's coming. The green is coming. It just comes. It comes because at some point it was planted and it was made to bloom at its time.

What's crazy is like even that iris, the purple flower you see there, that's already fallen and kind of looks dead again. Things just kind of come and go. And then the lilacs, they're blooming and blossoming even more. The fragrance as I open my window, it's just glorious right now. I didn't even water them yet this year. They just came. The only thing that I did do is I did go back and I took care of the mess that I left last year. A couple weeks ago, I thought I should probably get all the dead things away from the new life that's coming and so I went back and I cleaned it up. Now they continue to bloom and I will water them to keep them alive.

I share this with you today because at some point they were planted and what was planted took root and in its time it blooms and it blossoms. If we continue to stay planted and to stay rooted, if we just be with Jesus, the things that he plants in us, it will bloom. It will blossom. It happens slowly. Then all of a sudden. But here's the thing. Planting is not bad and it's not good. It just is. What you plant will take root and will grow. Then you have to decide, is this what I want to continue to grow in my life.

Sometimes there are things that we did not plant. Part of living in a condo is that I also deal with whatever is planted on the other side of that fence. It usually seeps up and grows and starts to bloom and take root into my gorgeous flowers. So what do I have to do. I have to take it out. I have to weed it. Sometimes in life, there are things and there are thoughts and there are worries and anxieties. Maybe it's something that you planted at some point in your life and you're like, I have to remove it. It might come from somewhere else. Something that somebody else planted in your life. But we still have a responsibility to say, okay, now I'm gonna remove it and I'm gonna get this out so I can go back to being who God created me to be. As I just be with Jesus, as I abide, as I stay planted, as I stay rooted, it's going to blossom and it's going to grow. We go back to that place where we were created to be.

How to overcome worry

How do we do this though. How do we become like the birds. How do we just trust that the provision is going to come and the things are going to come. I want to talk about ways that we can overcome our worry. Verse 32 says:

For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:32-34

I want you to notice here the contrast. It says the pagans run after these things. They run. But then he says, but we are to seek. Seeking is slow. Seeking is a process. The pagans are just running. They're looking for these quick fixes. Jesus is saying, will you seek me right. Will you sow these seeds. Will you continue in seeking me. This is slow. Seeking is slow. Run rushes things. But seeking slows us down and takes us back to this place of worship.

What I love about this is when we look at how worry spirals us inward, thinking that we control things, but worship lifts us upward back to the kingdom. Worry divides our mind, but worship unites us back to being with Christ.

What does this look like. How do we stop the spiral. We don't just say, stop it. That's not it. If you've been around here, you know I don't think it's like therapy versus theology or anything like that. It's like all good therapeutic practices and things that we know now about the brain and psychology. It's all rooted here in scripture. This is where it comes from. We see this even here where Jesus is doing something that now therapists use in practice, talking about stopping your thoughts and reframing it and redirecting it. Jesus is the one that's starting these trends here.

He's saying, don't worry, but he doesn't stop there. He says, instead, seek. Instead, worship. Instead, serve. So what do we do when we slow down. We seek the kingdom and his righteousness. We don't just stop thinking about it. But we need to take time to then follow those thoughts and let our thoughts lead us back to Jesus.

If you're taking notes today, I want you to think about what are the anxieties that you have. What are the worries. What are the things that get you stuck in spirals. And what does it look like for you to then let those thoughts lead you back to Jesus. To say, okay, what is this thought telling me about what my heart believes right now.

Sometimes you just have to put a boundary in your brain and just be like, you know, that one's just gotta go and it has to be gone. Sometimes you have to look and you have to lean in and say, okay, what is this telling me about the way that I view God right now. What is this telling me about the things that I need to be healed from in this moment. What are my thoughts telling me about where I am at and what I am planted in, in this moment.

Other questions to ask are, yeah, who planted this. Is this just a thought from the enemy coming in and trying to kill, steal, and destroy all the new life that God is trying to plant. Then you need to rebuke that in the name of Jesus. Who planted this here. Where is this coming from.

Ask, what am I really afraid of. In this, keep going back to Jesus, comparing the temporary to the eternal. He's saying you don't have to fixate on the temporary things, but instead focus on the eternal. So when you have those anxious thoughts coming in, ask yourself, is this temporary or eternal. Is this something that's going to keep me stuck and spiraling. Or is this something that I can surrender and lead back to seeking the kingdom and worshiping in that type of way.

Personal testimony on anxiety

I share this today and acknowledge that anxiety and worry. It's hard to talk about because for probably almost everybody in this room there's some sort of personal tie to it. Whether you have had seasons where you've been crippled by anxiety. Whether it's something right now that's a part of your story or someone in your life. This is no just small thing to just be like, all right, we stop our anxiety and it's gone. This is a process and this is something that's been a part of my story for as long as I remember.

Even as I talk about it, I usually shock people. But one of the biggest ways that I've struggled with anxiety is with social anxiety, which doesn't always make sense when you're a pastor and you're leading in spaces where you talk to people. But the amount of times that I've been stuck with anxiety attacks, walking into rooms, I've been crippled and stuck in fear.

Throughout my life, I've seen that happen as a result of traumatic things that have happened. My body can't and my brain can't quite catch up and so I'm stuck. I've seen it just happen with the social anxieties and other places where it has kept me just locked down and led to depression. But I've also seen God come through time and time again. I have experienced healing through seasons of medication and doctors that are supporting me. I've experienced healing through a Zoom screen and my incredible therapist on the other side.

All of those are a result of prayer and the miracle of Jesus healing us in unique and powerful ways. There are still areas in my life that I still am waiting for that healing. There are still moments where the anxiety comes again and I find myself stuck in having to walk through and say, is this temporary or is this eternal. I have to walk through those moments of saying, well, how do I regulate and how do I get through this and continue to seek and seek and seek, knowing that we are in this moment of the now and the not yet.

Jesus came and he paid the price for our sins and he died on the cross. When he was raised back to life, that healing is here. Yet he's coming back again. When we are in heaven and when the kingdom is experienced in its fullness, we will have that healing forever. But now we live in this fallen, in this broken world where we are going to continue to have moments of struggle, where anxiety may come and where worry may start to cripple us again.

Worry and anxiety is complex because it's something that's out of our control. That's why we have to remind ourselves over and over again that we serve a God who is in control. We serve a God that wants every single anxious thought that we have to be brought to him and laid at the feet of Jesus. God is a God that works slowly and all of a sudden.

Most of Jesus' life was hidden. The first 30 years, there are like a few references in scripture, but we don't know much about. Then it's like 30 happens. He hits the scene. It's go time. We're reading about now where he's with his disciples and then what we talk about the most is his death and his resurrection. It's like all of a sudden death is defeated. Victory is here. He's raised back to life. This moment. But there were all these years leading up to that. These years of preparation. These years of seeds being planted slowly and then all of a sudden.

As I talk about those flowers, it's slowly and all of a sudden they bloom. All of a sudden they blossom.

I share this today because I think some of us get so stuck and feeling like, well, I'm not healed because I experienced healing for a season, but then I'm struggling again. God works slowly and all of a sudden. Do not negate the healing that has taken place in your life. Celebrate that and continue to pray and petition for more of that healing over your mind, over your body, over your soul. If you don't see the healing that you want yet, just wait. Because oftentimes God's best work is done in the secret. It's hidden. It's things that we can't always see, that we can't always touch, that we can't always fully recognize. And then all of a sudden.

Keep seeking. Keep worshiping. Keep delighting. Keep being like the birds and living in that trust that the healing is coming as we seek him. I say this knowing this is not an easy, a plus b equals c, no more anxiety. This is a process. But it's worth us pursuing and it's worth us looking at the words of Jesus and thinking, I think he knew something here. I think he's on to something where he's saying, don't focus on what you're going to eat and what you're going to drink. Instead, remember, seek first the kingdom.

I love how verse 33 ends there where it says, and all these things will be added unto you. When we worry and we seek control, we get stuck. But when we seek the kingdom and we surrender to what God is doing, we end up getting everything that we were so worried about. Now, it might not look the way that you expect it to or feel the way that you expect it to, but he promises us, like, everything that we need, we will be provided for. This reminds us again that he knows our needs and he sees us as valuable.

If he pays that much attention to the grass, how much more attention has he paid to you, made in his image, holy, beloved. He doesn't dismiss our worry but he invites us to surrender it, to seek him, to reframe it. He reminds us that Jesus died on the cross and he took on our sin and our shame so that we no longer have to worry whether or not healing or forgiveness is going to come. We can walk confident that it will, even when we're not always seeing it.

I can stand here today in this position of saying I tell you the testimonies of the things that God has healed me from. I also tell you the things that I'm still praying and I'm waiting to see. That's sometimes the tricky part about following Jesus. How do we stay in the space in between. How do we hold space for both. How do we hold space to say we can celebrate and we can still seek at the same time.

Closing invitation

I was studying this passage again these past couple of weeks. I was reminded and just even asked the Lord, like, will you show me and remind me again of the ways that you've changed me. You've healed me. You've forgiven me. You've restored me. I was reminded how two years ago, summer of 2023, I was in a season where I stepped away from all income that I had. I was in this weird season where I felt like the Lord was like, okay, it's time to step away from that. I really felt him inviting me into really truly being all in for this church and this community and this city while knowing that this wasn't going to be something that could pay me or pay the bills, right.

So I was in this spot of like, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I remember the fear and the anxiety when the last paycheck comes in July. I'm like, I don't know what we're going to do. This was right after I purchased my first home. Right after my hot water heater went out and all of these things. You're like, okay, Lord, what are we going to do.

Even then, I remember the fear and the anxiety. Then September comes around and I get a call from someone that I know. He's like, hey, can we meet. It ends up on the spot being like, I have this role. I have this vision for this new kind of ministry to churches here in Madison. Like, will you come join my team. All of a sudden there's a provision.

Now I'm in kind of a similar spot where I have some things coming up in August and I'm still going to be here at the church. I should preface with that. But I'm kind of again, like, okay, Lord, like, what do you, what are you doing. What do you have for me. I realized that this time around, I'm not worried in the way that I used to be. I'm no longer like stuck with the like, God, are you going to come through. Are you going to provide.

But instead, there's like this deep sense in me because of the ways that I've seen him work and provide time and time again that I'm like, I don't really know how we're going to pay the bills or how we're going to get by, but I'm really excited to see God what you're going to do. There's been this shift. I share that like here and now and saying I haven't always felt this way. But in this moment I can honestly say like the Lord has changed and healed this scarcity mentality in my heart. Just saying like I'm excited to be surprised. I'm excited to tell the testimonies of how God comes through in this season where I'm like I don't really know what's happening but I'm seeking and I'm faithful and I'm gonna worship you no matter what and I'm gonna fix my eyes on the eternal and not the temporary. I'm going to try and be like those birds that can just fly around in that freedom and keep being obedient and just being who you've created me to be, trusting that you're going to get me where you need me to go.

Trusting that when I'm hungry, the food's going to fall from the sky. He did that in the Old Testament. He provided manna from heaven. He can do crazy things. So we can either stay stuck in our worry or we can surrender and we can seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added. All of the things that we're so worried about will be added. Will be given.

As we're praying for us today, here's what I want us to do. I want us to take a moment and to think of like where in your life is there a spiral. What are the things that you're worried about and what is that telling you about how you see Jesus right now and what you need Jesus to do.

I want to invite you to take a minute and just think about these words where he says, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, your body, what you will wear. Look at the birds of the air. They do not reap or sow. They don't store away. Remember a couple weeks ago, we thought, like, don't store, don't try and store up all these things. Where moth and rust destroy. But instead, seek the kingdom. Seek the kingdom. Seek the kingdom. The birds aren't storing up.

In Luke 10, be reminded of Martha, where she's concerned about all these other things that are temporary. Jesus is saying, like, will you just look at me. Will you just sit with me. In Philippians 4:6, don't be anxious, don't be worried about anything, but in everything, with prayer and petition, thanksgiving, present your requests to God. In 1 Peter 5:7, cast all your cares upon him, your anxieties, your worries, because he cares for you. Cast it. Throw it. Give it to Jesus.

We talk about here a lot our rule of life which is not as scary as it seems. It's a set of spiritual practices. We're just saying we don't want to just come in here and see each other once every couple weeks, say hi. We want to be committed to practicing the ways of Jesus. So we have at the welcome table a rule of life card which is a set of spiritual practices. We're saying we're not saying we're the best at it. We're not saying we do it every single day, right. But we're saying these are ways that we can try to be like Jesus.

One of them is the prayer of examine, which is a really simple ancient practice. It's saying like, hey, like every day or even a couple times a week, just pause and examine your heart. Examine your worries. Examine your fears. Examine your anxieties. It's a really simple thing where we say, replay your day or your week. Go back and just think about what's been happening. Reflect on it. Start to notice and ask like what was I fixated on. What was I worried about. Then ask like God where were you in that. Reflect on what you're feeling. Reflect on where you've seen God and then to repent. A time to turn back to Jesus and to end in this time of rejoicing. Replay. Reflect. Repent. Rejoice.

It's crazy. Like even that simple practice, what it can do to your heart and your mind and your spirit over time. When you learn to be like, when I'm feeling something rather than just dismissing it, instead being like okay but God where are you in this. What do you want me to hear from this. How can we cast it upon the Lord instead of just dismissing it. Because Jesus doesn't dismiss it. Instead he invites us to reframe it. He doesn't just say stop but he says, instead, will you seek me.

So I want to invite you to stand today and we're just going to close in a few more minutes of worship and prayer. I want to potentially just give you space. Maybe for some of you, it's turning to a person or someone in the room and just saying, hey, will you pray for me. Because I truly believe that God wants to heal our hearts and set us free from being stuck in anxiety.

For some of us today, maybe it's just praying and saying, God, will you heal me. Or God, will you reveal the roots of where I'm at right now. Will you help me to seek you. For some of you, maybe it's saying, okay, I'm going to start practicing this and be more intentional about saying, how do I worship and seek and go slow and pay attention. But just really believe that God is moving slowly and all of a sudden. He doesn't want us to stay stuck. He wants us to seek him.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your words. We thank you, Jesus, that you know us. You know our needs. You know the things that speak to our hearts. God, you know the way that we need food to eat to sustain our bodies. We need a roof over our head to be sleeping and to be safe. We need physical healing. We need all of these things. I thank you that you know that. I thank you that you know each and every one of us here in this room. That you created us in the palm of your hands. That you know the things that keep us up at night. You know the spirals that we're stuck in.

I pray that even right now in Jesus' name, that would just be broken. That it would be gone. That the spirals would stop. That you would make us aware of the temporary things that we are fixating on and you would help us to fix our eyes on you, Jesus. Surrendering to seeking your kingdom first above all else.

Even now God we just invite and welcome, knowing your Holy Spirit's here with us. We welcome your Holy Spirit's presence in this room. Come. Would you show us the spirals we're stuck in. Would you help us to surrender the worry. Would you help us to replace it with this posture and this heart of worship to you Jesus. So we seek you first above all else in this place. Holy Spirit you are welcome here. You are welcome here.