Do Not Worry...

What a great sermon tonight at Union Baptist Church with Bro. William Burns. He preached on Matthew 6:25-34. Do Not Worry. A simple yet extremely powerful message from Jesus. And perhaps there is no better time than now to heed this instruction. Family, health, terrorrism, the economy- there is more than plenty to worry about for everyone.

Matthew 6:25-34

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 than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ 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? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]? ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ 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—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Think about the lady in the Bible with the issue of blood. She had suffered with this issue for 12 years. According to the book of Mark, she had consulted many doctors about her problem but it had only grown worse. But it wasn't until she heard about Jesus, put her faith in Him and had the courage to go to Him that she was healed. (In those days, she would have been deemed “unclean” and unwelcome in society. But she had faith that if she just touched His cloak she would be healed.) How much better her life would have been if she'd have gone to Jesus first when she needed help.

Mark 5:25-34

“A large crowd followed and pressed around Him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ His disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who touched Me?”’ But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and knelt at His feet, and trembling with fear, told Him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering’”

What can we learn from her:

            1. Jesus honors our faith, however small.

            2. Jesus is approachable in every circumstance.

            3. Jesus has compassion on the needy who come to Him in faith.

4. Jesus sometimes allows circumstances to enter our lives that reduce us to desperation so that we will reach out for Him.

And what we can learn from Matthew 6:25-34:

            1. Depend on God not self
            2. Worry shows a lack of faith in God
            3. Live one day at a time. Don't borrow trouble from tomorrow.
            4. Put your confidence and trust in the Lord.
            5. Our Heavenly Father will take care of us.
            6. Live one day at a time - don't borrow trouble from tomorrow.

So the next time you find yourself worrying about anything at all - big or small -stop and remember the words of Jesus, and ask yourself "What good will it do to worry?" and ask God for help!