Worry is something we all experience whether it be due to financial
troubles, medical procedures, employment situations, etc. Personally
speaking, all three of those examples are areas where I can't help but
worry. At times like those it may be difficult to place our trust in God
knowing that He will get us through but He wants us to place our trust in
Him even in the most difficult of time. From personal experience, in all
three of those specific examples, God has helped me through those troubles
and I try my best to place complete trust in Him but admittedly I do fail
to
do so. However I know He still loves me and will still help me in ways I
may
or may not expect. And I know in my heart He does so with a divine purpose
and divine love. For that, I am eternally and wholeheartedly grateful and
praise His name.
Martin Dale's sermon centers upon Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus Christ
teaches
that God will take care of our needs so we should not have to worry.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
---
Worry Will Be The Death Of You
by Martin Dale
Do not worry (Mt 6:25-34)
Matt 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 im****tant
than food, and the body more im****tant 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
Who
of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies 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, O 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.
A Sunday school teacher was teaching her class about the difference
between
right and wrong.
"All right children," she said "let's take another example,"
"If I were to put my hand into a man's pocket and take all his money, what
would I be?"
One little lad raised his hand and answered with a confident smile,
"You'd be his wife!"
Worrying about money is one of the biggest killers in our society today.
And if it is not about money, most of us worry about something.
And yet Jesus told his disciples not to worry. He said:
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 im****tant
than food, and the body more im****tant than clothes?
And Jesus went on to give the reason:
30 If ...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?
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.
There is a very famous free church hymn called when "It is well with my
soul" and I'd like to read it to you
1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul"
Chorus:
It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
2. Though Satan should buffet,
though trials should come,
Let this blessed assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin, o the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live
If Jordan above me shall roll
No pang shall be mine for in death as in life
You will whisper Your peace to my soul
5. And Lord haste the day
when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is a beautiful hymn - but let me tell you the story
The hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford.
You might be tempted to think that a man who writes such a song would
indeed
have to be a rich, successful Chicago lawyer, with all going for him.
But he wasn't. On the contrary, they came from a man who had suffered
almost
unimaginable personal tragedy.
Horatio Spafford and his wife, Anna, were well-known in Chicago in the
late
19th Century. And this was not just because of Spafford's legal career and
business endeavours.
The Spaffords were also prominent sup****ters and close friends of D.L.
Moody, the famous evangelist - the "Billy Graham" of the 19th Century
In 1870, however, things started to go wrong for Spafford.
The Spaffords' only son died of scarlet fever at the age of four.
A year later, all the real estate that Spafford had invested in on the
shores of Lake Michigan was destroyed by the Great Fire of Chicago.
Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on his family and wanting
to sup****t Moody on one of his evangelistic tours in England, Spafford
decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England.
So in November 1873, the Spaffords travelled to New York, where they
planned
to catch the French steamer 'Ville de Havre' to cross the Atlantic.
Yet just before the steamer set sail, a last-minute business development
forced Horatio Spafford to have to stay behind and catch a later ****p
Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to
go
ahed without him and he'd catch tem up later.
So Anna Spafford and her four daughters sailed East to England while
Horatio
Spafford returned West to Chicago.
Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales.
It simply read: "Saved alone."
What had happened?
On 2nd November 1873, the 'Ville de Havre' had collided with another ****p
'The
Lochearn' and had sunk in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226
people.
Anna Spafford had stood on the deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie,
Bessie and Tanetta clinging desperately to her.
Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by
the force of the waters as the ****p went down.
Sadly all the children drowned - and Anna herself was only saved her
unconscious body fortuitously coming to rest on a plank and which somehow
propped her up.
When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford's first
reaction was one of complete despair.
Then she heard a voice speak to her,
"You were spared for a purpose."
And she immediately recalled the words of a friend,
"It's easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care
that
you are not a fair-weather friend to God."
Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ****p out
of New York to join his bereaved wife.
During the voyage to England, the captain of the ****p on which Spafford
travelling - who had heard Spafford's loss , called him to the bridge.
He said: "A careful reckoning has been made and I believe we are now
passing
over the place where the Ville de Havre was wrecked. "
After passing over the wreck of the Ville de Havre, where his four
daughters
had died, Spafford returned to his cabin. And it was then that he penned
the
lyrics of his great hymn.
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul"
Chorus:
It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
When I first heard Spafford's story, it helped me to put my own worries
into
perspective.
And my experience is that we can trust God to look after our worries.
But also note what Jesus said:
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well.
And we enjoy this wonderful exhibition of flowers, let us give thanks to
god
for his wonderful creation.
And as you look at all the flowers, may I leave you with these words of
Jesus:
See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I
tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one
of
these. 30If 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?
|
