Sunday Recap On a Tuesday...

On Tuesday's I hope to post some thoughts from the lesson that was previously taught at Merge the Sunday before...

Series: You Say You Want A Revolution
Lesson: The Secret Assassin Of The Church...Worry
Text: Matthew 6:19-34

Some Thoughts:
---There is a secret assassin that plagues the hearts of almost every believer.  This assassin debilitates people causing them to suffer, hoard, live as a fraction of the people they are called to be.  This assassin has been attacking the church relentlessly for thousands and thousands of years.  It has ended marriages, ruined friendships, even caused murder.  If we don't get a handle on this and lean hard into the liberating Word of God then this one issue may very well lead to your demise.  For some revealing this assassin will come as a surprise because it lurks in the shadows almost undetected.  For others this assassin has been with them so long they consider it a part of them.  This assassin that is so dangerous...WORRY.


---What if I told you that worry is only a symptom to a much deeper issue?  What if I told you that you don't have as much of a worry issue as you do a faith one?  


---Starting in verse 19, Jesus begins with a series of decisions we make that when pulled back and seen from a distance reveal how worry is the only emotional response we are leaving ourselves and the peace we are praying for is available by making different choices.  


OVERALL STATEMENT OF VERSES 19-34:
The things you are most devoted too, fuel the things you worry about the most.


v.19-20
---We are not talking about having a savings account or a 401k (in fact, there is a biblical mandate for saving for the proverbial winters in life).  Storing treasures on earth is taking the things that are supposed to be an aid in your life and making them the ultimate pursuit of your life.  


---Choose to invest you energies into things that will have an eternal impact.


v.22-23
---The point being that what we choose to look at will either cleanse or distort the light of God's revelation into our hearts.  

---Choose to gaze upon things which promote healthy and Holy living.


v.24
---I love the line in the sand Jesus just drew.  He says, "Don't play games, you can't serve two masters because what they are calling from you conflict with the other master."


---Choose wisely the master you serve.


v.25
---One of the major problems that come when we worry is that it creates a false reality.  You spend more time reacting to "what may happen" and it never leads to you anywhere except towards DOOMSDAY scenarios. 


---Never will our worrisome thoughts lead us to rainbows and kittens.


v.25
---Jesus is pulling us back and asking: Is not life more important than your job?  Does your life = your job?


v.26
---Birds don't even try and God feeds them.  Do you believe that God loves you more than the BIRDS??


v.27 
---Can worrying in this now bring certainty in the next now?  Can your worry today bring certainty into the next day?  Jesus says if it can't then look at the birds of the air and settle in on this revolutionary thought that God loves you more than them.


v.28-30
---At the end of verse 30 Jesus connects the dots:  The reason it is difficult for you to pull away and trust God with the uncertainty of tomorrow, the reason you are so devoted to and emotionally distraught about the issues of life is because you lack trust in God taking care of you.


---Maybe you get stuck on the same spot I get stuck: "I know God can save the world, but what about my groceries, my bills, my ____________."


v.31-34
---To beat worry we must choose a path which is God-centered, not self-centered.  Because when our world is all about us, worry will beat peace every-time.


3 take-aways:
1.  Worry is not just a waste of time.  It's a waste of life.
2.  We are to do what we can do, then trust God to do the rest.
3.  What I am most devoted too, will be the object of my worry.


---My prayer for you is that you will start to see your worry as a great slap in the face of a perfect God.  That we will start to quickly identify worry and leave it at the cross of Jesus because if you don't you will never be able to experience the life to the fullest He came to make available to you.


Heart and Soul,
BAG
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