Don't Worry - Be Happy

Good morning. Welcome to Celebration Church. Let's all stand together as we join our voices in reciting the Apostles' Creed. This is our statement of faith and who we are. We believe in God, the Father Almighty. The Creator of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord, who for us and for our salvation. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and lived.

He descended to the dead, and on the third day he rose from the He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Christian Church is the Fellowship of believers, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Heavenly Father, we gather today as your people, thankful that this is the day that you have made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Lord, you know our hearts, you know the burdens we carry, the anxieties that trouble us, the worries that keep us awake at night. Today we lay those down at your feet. Teach us to trust you with our daily bread, to rest in your promises, and to believe that you will never leave us nor forsake us.

We thank you for the countless ways you show your love through the beauty of creation, the provision of our needs, and most of all through the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, trusting that all the necessary things of our lives will be added to us. We lift up those in our church family and in our community who are struggling, those who are sick, grieving, lonely, or in need. Surround them with your peace that passes all understanding.

Strengthen their faith and let them know that they are not forgotten. And Father, as we go into this new week, make us a people of joy. May our words and actions reflect the happiness that we have in Christ. May we live not as those who are consumed by worry. But as those who are confident in your care and eager to share your love with the world We pray all of this in the strong and saving name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and everyone said, Amen. You may be seated.

Good to see you today. Deanna and I were gone last Sunday. Pastor Ben did a great job filling in. We're very blessed in this church. Yeah. The weather, holy cow, where am I? Yeah. It's amazing. What a great fall day. Goodness Christian, this whole week has been absolutely I was listening on the news, people were all excited because Taylor Swift has a new album. Clearly I am not connected to what's going on.

Reminds me of a few years ago I was uh we were at a birthday party for one of our staff members. And uh we're all hanging out and stuff and my phone goes off and uh and I step outside to take the call and the guy says, Hey, this is uh Keith Hudson, I'm a Katie Perry's dad. And I said, Hey, how you doing? He said, I hope you don't mind. I got your phone number from a mutual friend and I just want to call and tell you. We love listening to you. And he went on and on and said, Wow.

He said, Listen, if you ever uh want to go to a concert, I'll get you free tickets to go see K uh Katie, take you backstage so you can meet her and stuff like that. I said, Man, that's that's really nice. And uh so we hung up and I went back into the room and I said, Katie's very dad's just called me. Really? I said, Yeah. Who's Katy Perry? I had no idea what he was talking about. But he seemed excited so I went along. Anyway.

This morning we're going to read from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6. Actually, when we start chapter 5, this is where uh Jesus gives famous Sermon on the Mount. He sets down his the bulk of much of Jesus' teaching is this one sermon. If you've never read the Sermon on the Mount, you ought to read it. You just Google Sermon on the Mount it'll pop up. and read it. Uh we're gonna pick up at uh chapter six, verse twenty five. And Jesus says, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life.

What you will eat or drink or about what your about your body, what you will wear, is not life more than food and the body more than clothes. Look at the birds of the air that do not sow or reap or store away in barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the foul flowers of the field grow. They do not labor.

Yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his splendor was not 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 fire, will he not much more clothe you? You of 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 you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble. Yeah. My sermon today is titled, Don't Worry, Be Happy. Worry is something that every human being struggles with. Doesn't matter how strong your faith is. where he creeps in like an unwanted guest. Once it takes root, it robs you of sleep, steals your joy, cleansing.

Our Lord Jesus knew that worry would be one of our greatest struggles, and he speaks directly to it in his sermon on the Mount. He tells us that to worry is not the way of his kingdom people. Instead, he invites us into a life of trust where God's priorities come first and our needs are faithfully provided. And Jesus begins with this simple command do not worry About your life. Well think about that. He doesn't say Try not to worry too much.

He doesn't say, Keep your worry under control. He simply says, Do not worry. Why is that? Because worry doesn't change. Jesus asks, can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Worrying is like a rocking chair. It keeps you busy, but it doesn't really take you anywhere. Now, he's not saying don't prepare for life. And there is a normal and healthy level of fear. A good version of it that motivates us to prepare, kind of like

Fear of letting your kids play in the street. That's normal, that's healthy, that's wise. If you're staying up all night long worrying about your kids playing in the street, you have issues Fear is getting out of control. We all need to prepare. If you don't plant, you won't have anything to harvest. If you don't get a job You won't be able to support yourself. If you don't promote or advertise your business, you probably won't have any customers. If you spend everything you make

You won't have enough money to pay your bills. So, preparation, even if motivated by a healthy fear of bad consequences, that's fine. However, worry.

Looking at definitions of worry. Worry is a state of mind characterized by anxiety, unease, or concern about something, usually a future event or outcome that feels uncertain or out of one's control. Worry is the mental activity of dwelling on difficulties or troubles, often imagining negative outcomes that haven't happened yet.

In psychology, worry is a form of repetitive thinking focused on potential threats or problems. When prolonged, it becomes unproductive and And in the Greek in the scriptures the word worry literally means to be pulled apart, which is an interesting word picture. Faith and fear pulling us apart, fighting against us. And here is the deeper reason Jesus tells us not to worry. Worry is a failure to trust the Father. Every moment we spend in anxious fear is a moment we aren't resting in.

And think about it from God's perspective. When we worry, we're saying to God, I really don't think you'll be there for me. And that has to be pretty insulting. Jesus points to creation itself as a testimony of God's care. Look at the birds of the air. They don't plant, harvest, or store away food, yet every day God feeds them. Have you ever seen a bird pacing back and forth in anxiety?

He says, See how the flowers of the field grow. They don't labor or spin, yet they are clothed more beautifully than Solomon and all his life. The lesson is simple but profound. God if God feeds the birds. And close the lilies. He's able to and certainly will take care of you. Now Jesus calls worry what it truly is, you of little faith. Worry is just not an emotional state, it's a spiritual problem. It reveals where your faith is played.

And Jesus draws a contrast. He says the pagans who do not know God run after material things. But the people of God are to live Instead of running after food, drink, or clothing or whatever it is, Jesus says seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things that you need will be given to you as well. It's a matter of priorities. If you focus on the things of this world, you'll always be restless. But if your focus is on God's kingdom, everything else falls into play.

And when Jesus finishes with his freeing truth, do not worry about tomorrow is what he says, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of itself. changes nothing. It accomplishes It produces nothing. It'll make you sick. It'll damage your faith, torment your mind. Why we do it as if somehow that's producing something is our strength.

God gives grace for today. Today's grace will come tomorrow's grace will come tomorrow. But today, He's already provided what we need. Enjoy.

That's the worry part. Now the beehap. Jesus doesn't want us to simply stop worrying. He wants us to step into joy. Notice that throughout his passage, he points to creation, birds singing, flowers blooming. These aren't just illustrations of provision. They're examples of joy in God's care. The birds just don't survive, they sing. The flowers just don't exist. They radiate beauty. That's a picture of what God wants for his children, not a life of concentration.

But a life marked by contentment And even happiness in his presence. Psalm hundred and eighteen says this, this is the day the Lord has made today. What are we going to do about it? We will rejoice and be glad in it. Not tomorrow, not someday, today, this day. Happiness for a believer isn't found in perfect circumstances. But in a perfect state. So when Jesus says seek first his kingdom He's inviting us to into a life where our priorities are not driven by fear, but by joy.

Reminds me of uh In Acts the sixteenth chapter we have this account. Paul and Silas. They had just been preaching the gospel in the world. Some of the business people in town started making up lies about them, how they're trying to destroy the city. Yeah. Wow there they're there this big riot break. Uh if you've ever seen on the news people in the Middle East huge crowds going nuts It's a cultural problem. They've been doing this for thousands of years.

It's just what they do. And they got this crowd in a lather and they're all screaming and throwing things in the air. Oh, we gotta stop these guys. So the sevort uh authorities find come up. They don't know what's going on. Paul and Silas hadn't done anything, just the crowd was out of control, they were yelling at these guys. So they take them and they arrest them. Not what Paul and Silas had in mind for the day, I'm sure.

Picking up the story in verse twenty three he says After they had been severely flogged Now being flogged is bad. Severely flogged has got to be really bad. And they were thrown into prison. Again, I hadn't done anything. They were thrown into prison, and the jailer commanded to guard them carefully. And when he received these orders he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in stock. Now stop and think about it. They are in a very uncomfortable position. Their backs have to be.

Wollen, bleeding and aching. Talk about an opportunity to belly ache and cry and say, Oh God, why did you let this happen to me? पर बाम बना है Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the other pris prisoners were listening to him thinking These guys are crazy. Yeah. They should be cursing. They should be upset. They should be having a fit. But in the midst of this horrible circumstance, they're singing to God in prison. Apparently God was rather impressed.

Verse twenty six says suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaking. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose. The jailer woke up and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword, was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. Why would he do that? Because in this time of the world, two thousand years ago, you're a guard. In the most horrible ways imaginable.

Better just to kill yourself under your control quickly. So he takes a sword. He's gonna off himself because he doesn't want to go what's uh the way that it's gonna go,'cause he figured all these guys had escaped. But Paul shouted, Don't harm yourself, we're all here. And the jailer called for lights. He rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and sleep. He brought them out and asked Sir. What must I do to be saved?

I want what you guys got. This is the kind of life we should live in, right? We should live the kind of life that people look at us and say, Man, I want some of that to rub off on me. We're at uh we're in Maine. Last week. Greg Stooby and his wife. Special Forces Soldier. He spoke on the fourth of July. He's coming back next month. Anyway, uh we're looking for so anyway we're hanging out and eating lobster. I mean though

They were massive. They tasted so good. Usually you gotta put, you know, some seasoning on'em or butter or water. You didn't have to do anything. You just chop them and it's like, holy cow, is this stuff good? It was amazing. It was they live right on the ocean. It's a little fishing town. Uh their daughter who's a l uh what do they call'em, lobsterman, huh?

Just brought him in that day. It was amazing Anyway, uh his son, who knew what I was, was sitting close to me and uh we made some comments, he says, Man, I just want some of that to rub off on me. Thank you. And I thought, well that's cool, right? That's the way we should live our lives, to be the kind of people people want to be around. And this jailer says, I need what you got.

Your day sucked, it's horrible, it's awful, you should be in pain, crying and complaining, and instead you're singing I need that in my life. So how do we live all this out?

First of all, we need to pray instead of panic. Replace anxiety with fear when you're feeling anxious. Don't just sit there and run those pictures over and over and over again in your head. Pray. Anxiety should be your wake-up time call to pray. So pray instead of panic. Number two, focus on today. Worry about today. Think about today. Can you handle today? And most of us would. Focus on today. Tomorrow, don't focus on tomorrow's what-ifs, because it'll steal today's peace.

Number three, reorder your priorities. Put God first. When he's your joy, everything else will find out. And finally, number four, be happy in God's care. Make it a daily discipline to thank God for his provision and rejoice in his blessing. That's why we give thanks. I'll tell you what, skip eating for the next three days. Your next meal you'll be really thankful. Oh, thank God. Give it a half a day.

You know, be grateful before you take your meal. Thank God for what He's done in your life. Provide. Wake up in the morning. Thank you. For your blessings. Thank you for my family. the job I have, even though they hate me. Help me do the best I can. Enjoy your life. Celebrate your life. Start your mornings not with worry, but with gratitude and a smile.

So, church, the world is full of anxiety, but the people of God are called to something higher, a life of trust, peace, and joy. A life we not only stop worrying. But we start rejoicing. So today let's hear Jesus' words again seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Be free from worry, be secure in his care. And yes.

Now we're gonna have our time of communion. So we're gonna turn our attention to why we are here. We are here because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. God so loved the world that he gave his son. That whoever would believe in him should not perish before Jesus sacrifice on that cross even though he was innocent. He was proclaimed guilty by the authorities of the Three days later he rises from the dead. It changed the world. And we celebrate it when we take communion.

on the night he was b before he was betrayed. He gathered with the disciples and came. He gave him the bread, said this is my body. The wine said, This is my blood. The Bible says whatever we do We're to remember what He did for us. So with those words in mind, let's bow our heads as I pray a prayer of forgiveness over all of us. Heavenly Father, before we partake of the bread and the cup the spirit To examine ourselves. If we haven't loved you with our whole heart, if we've not loved you.

We pray, have mercy. And forgive us. Well heads are bowed and people are reflecting. Well you can't write Yeah.