Undivided: Seeking the Kingdom without Anxiety - Matthew 6:31-34

All right, somebody new up here, if you don't know who I am, I'm

Dwight. I'm the one that teaches the

youth on Wednesday night. So if you do have a youth from

6th grade to 12th grade, by all means, this is an opportunity to

see kind of what they will learn.

So if if you also receive this message from a junior high

level, I apologize. All right, so that's who I'm

used to teaching. So anyway, that's, that's just

kind of where we are. But first let's open up in

prayer for Thanksgiving and supplication.

Lord, we just first, we want to thank you for your presence.

What a blessing it is to know that you are always there, Lord,

that you are always, no matter where we go, you are with us,

Lord. And as we learned this morning

with your omniscience and omnipresence and, and who you

are and the fact that you care so much about us to be here is

awesome. So we just want to say thank you

for that, Lord. And as we prepared to study your

word, Lord, we're asking for blessings.

I'm asking you to speak through me, Lord, Let it be your words

up here, not mine. And I just look forward to

seeing where you're going to take us with scripture today.

Lord, it's a a true blessing to be able to study your word, to

be able to look at what you have planned for us as we go

throughout our days in Jesus name, Amen.

All right, so I got to make sure all these see all these fancy

things that we have. I just have a whiteboard I

usually teach from some of you may have seen it, but we were

we're going over the Gospel of Matthew.

So we're currently on the Sermon of the Mount, right.

So we're going to back up a little bit because it's been

since November since we really have discussed anything about

the Sermon on the Mount. So if you're not aware, we Jesus

is there and he's teaching his disciples, right?

So he's teaching his disciples, there's a crowd probably about

your size. So we can just imagine, right?

So there's a crowd there. They're listening to him teach

his disciples and what he's really doing is he's discipling

them, right? So what He is providing them is

really how to live right? How do we treat our enemies?

Forgiveness, the golden rule, righteousness, the needy, how to

pray? Jesus provided us a road map to

living with Him and the character He wishes for us to

live. Then we're going to kind of jump

back into verse 24 through 30, which we read earlier.

And this is where Pastor Eric kind of left off, right?

So he's talking about kind of three main things and really

will say 4 because we already know you can't serve right,

can't serve 2 masters God, money, the world God, right?

So and then he also talks about not taking care of the birds.

If he takes care of the birds, how much more valuable are you

are the birds his creation and so are you.

And then he also, he talks about can't add anything to our lives.

And if and if you remember that scripture, there is kind of in

some of yours, it'll talk about not adding an hour.

I like to think about not adding height.

So some of your scriptures may say not you can't add a cubit to

your height. I would love to add a cubit to

my height, but it's really about adding, right?

You can't add anything to your life because he's already given

it to you. And then the plants don't even

worry. Even though, you know, and Cindy

and I, we planted some tulips this year in the fall, right?

So you got to get your tulips ready and we're doing our work

and we we're planning them. But then what do we got to wait?

We got to wait all winter long to see if we did it right.

But God's got it right. If those things bloom, it's not

because of what we did it. They're going to bloom because

of how God has taken care of the soil and how God has taken care

of the water and the sun and all those seasons.

They will bloom because of him, not because of us, right?

So if God takes care of the plants, how important are we?

And so that's where we kind of pick up right where he left off

on that. And am I going backwards?

I am. I knew I was that was going to

happen. All right.

So therefore in Matthew 631 through 34.

So if you haven't turned to Matthew, turn to Matthew chapter

631 through 34. Therefore do not be anxious

saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what

shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all

these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them

all. But seek first the Kingdom of

God and His righteousness, and all things will be added to you.

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow

will be anxious for itself, sufficient for the day of its

own trouble. All right, so we're going to

break this down and we're going to go verse by verse.

I'm going to give you guys some homework.

I hope you don't mind. You'll you'll have to read some

scripture. That's just because I'm used to

junior highers and they need homework, otherwise they get in

trouble. Maybe that's all of us.

All right, so undivided, seeking the Kingdom without anxiety, and

we're going to talk about Gogs. How do we seek God's Kingdom 1st

and how do we trust Him to handle what we are anxious to

control? If you are like me, right?

I'm a control freak, all right? I'm one of those guys that I

have to control every situation and everything.

I want to make sure things are right.

You know, we just had Christmas, so think about Christmas

vacation. If you've ever seen that movie,

right? He was a control freak.

The lights had to be perfect. He wanted the perfect Christmas

and everything just goes S That's kind of me.

So how do I change that in order for my recognition and my

identity in Christ and what that means to me and what eventually

hopefully my wife, you and everybody else will see.

So we're going to talk about kind of that trusting over

worthy, all right. So therefore do not be anxious

saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we

wear? So therefore we got to figure

out what that there is for all right.

So we've seen therefore before get it?

No, all right, so I'm moving on all right, So transitioning by

saying consequently for this reason, right.

So for this reason. And what reason was he talking

about? So he was talking about the, the

birds, he was talking about the plants.

He was talking about, you know, you can't be serving 2 masters.

Therefore, do not be anxious. Now I did a little word study on

the on that word anxious. And if you look at that Greek

word, it has 2 words that kind of combine to make this as we

think about it, it's actually divided and mind.

So combine those words and you get that word anxious.

So a distracted or pulled apart mind.

So, you know, when I think about God and I think about the world,

how many of us are anxious about that divide?

How many of us worry about I'm over here with God, but yet I

have to live in the world and I have to do certain things.

And this is where I, I'd love to tell junior highers, you know,

if you're going to call yourself a Christian, where do you need

to be? Do you need to be with God or do

you need to be in the world? And if I'm going to call myself

a Christian, and this is something that I've had to learn

over my my time as a Christian, when I first walked with him,

I'm like, OK, I'm going to visit Jesus on Sundays and the rest of

the week, you know, I'm going to live in the world.

And here's where we need to be all in.

What a great opportunity to hear this message at the end of this

year. As we look at 2025, there are

some things that has happened that you're like, 02025 was

great. Maybe 2025 wasn't so great.

What's 2026 going to be like? Are we worried about that?

Well, I know one thing that we're worried about, right?

You're worried about if I'm going to go as long as Pastor

Eric. So that way because you're

hungry, right? You're going to want to eat and

you're like, OK, what are we? Are we going to eat after this

and drink? And if you're like me, you know,

I had to hit the closet this morning and I'm like, what am I

going to wear? I'm so glad none of you are

naked right now. So I'm glad you did worry about

that a little bit. So you did put clothes on right.

So So what does that look like? What is this world that makes

total sense when we just discussed the most important

things in our lives should be about God, But yet what do we

worry most about? Have we really given up that

world that we live in? I think one of the things I and

I like to identify as a Christian.

So what does identify as a Christian?

That's probably. Is that too difficult to read?

No. And so the great poet Lecrae.

All right, if you don't know who Lecrae is, he's a rapper.

He's a Christian rapper. He's Yeah.

We're not going to talk about his theology, but he did, he did

say some interesting things, right?

I'm not the shoes I wear. I'm not the want me to rap it

out. I can rap it out.

I can like get down here and we can do the whole no, you don't

want that. My wife just said, no, do not do

that. Do not embarrass yourself or me,

is what she said. So I'm not the shoes I wear, I'm

not the clothes I buy. I'm not the house I live in.

I'm not the car I drive, right? My identity is found in Christ.

So what do we worry about, right?

If our identity is in Christ, we have to make a decision.

We have to give control back to Jesus, right?

I have to give control back when I think of my protection of my

family. We live in a world where it's

different today than it was, you know, 100 years ago.

We can go 200 years ago and the things we worry about today,

it's a world that has kind of creeped into our houses through

what I call and I don't have my phone on me, but picture this.

This isn't my phone. I mean, that would be weird.

But this, these little send boxes is what I call them.

All right? These send boxes are in our

house. The world is in our house.

How do I protect my child from that world?

How do I you know, and it's easy to say you can take it away and,

and not allow them to have it. But let's be honest, right?

The world is what the world is. So how do we influence our

worldview without our identity in Christ?

Are we worried about food, clothing, the house I live in

and the car I drive the place, You know, are we worried about

what I look at, what I take in all these things, right?

These are going to help identify and provide that trust in my

relationship with Jesus Christ. So that trust at some point I

have to give my child, my my life over to Jesus and trust

that he knows what to do with it.

I, I think at the end of the day, I who knows the answer, the

answer is always Jesus, right? So when I'm struggling with

things, where do I go? For me, I'm a control freak.

I want to try and fix it. And then I'm, when I've really

screwed it up, then I go to Jesus and I'm like, hey, you

need to fix this mess. And Jesus is probably like,

dude, you created a big mess. But don't worry, I got it and he

fixes it. Wouldn't it be nice if I went to

Him first? So then as we continue down our

scripture one I am reminded right in Philippians 46.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything but

by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving.

Let your requests be made known to God.

I think about Has anybody done the Alcatraz trip?

All right, Does anybody know what rule #5 of Alcatraz is?

Because I had to tell my kids this all the time.

Rule #5 of Alcatraz, right? They will provide food, water,

clothing and medical care. All else is a privilege, right?

Rule #5 of Alcatraz, they kind of get it.

As a prisoner, you walk in and if you've never walked it, well

anyway, we won't get into that. But as a prisoner, right, you

walk in, there's certain things you don't have to worry about.

Food, water, clothing and medical care.

This is this is kind of like the the world and everything else is

a privilege. We are blessed to be able to

come here today to hear his word.

Now granted, you're listening to Dwight speak, but it's really

His word that you are hearing and He is reaching you in a way

that is completely different than everybody else.

When you have your identity in Christ, He is talking to you

specifically, and I'm here to tell you that He is talking to

you specifically because you are His creation and He loves you.

He wants nothing but the best for you.

Now that best may not be what we think is the best, but to think

that He will take care of us is trusting that worry, not being

anxious about everything, right Prayer.

Where do we go to? So Matthew 632 for the Gentiles,

seek after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that

you need them all. Surrender over control.

Give your control over to Jesus as we look at that verse, I'm

going to go back right? It says for the Gentiles, the

the word Gentile here is is kind of, and I will say not a

mistranslation, but probably a misuse of word.

When we look at Gentiles, some of your translation may say

pagans, but really the word ethnos means a group of people,

right? A group of people, in this case

for the group of people seek after all these things.

What type of group of people are we talking about?

Non believers, right? Non believers seek after these

things. Non believers out there and we

can even say believers in other faiths, other religions.

What are they concerned about? If you ever have an opportunity

and and I would encourage, you know, there's nothing I should

say. It's interesting.

When you go to a Hindu, Hindu temple, what's the first thing

you see them give the gods food, Second thing, drink.

Third thing, it's kind of weird clothing or other gifts.

They're gods need that. Why?

Because they don't have one God that takes care of it all.

So the Gentiles seek after all those things.

What about us? What does your heavenly Father

know? What does he know about you?

And what does he know specifically about you?

This morning we went over omniscience and God being

present. Where's God present?

He's present everywhere, right? So we think about that in a very

generic sense, like God. And Pastor Mike brought it up.

God was already in this room before you showed up.

He was already here as we were walking in, setting up, setting

up the chairs and and doing all this.

This does not, by the way, magically happened.

It godly happens because God's already got a plan.

But anyway, we'll get into that a little later.

I got some some more homework for you.

But anyway, all right, so God's already here.

Why not give him control? Why not?

What? What's the worst that can

happen? What's the worst that can happen

when you turn your life over to Jesus Christ?

What's the worst that you can happen?

The worst that you that can happen is you get to heaven and

you get to spend eternity with him.

That is literally the worst thing that can happen.

There may be some pain going on on along the way.

There may be some things that, as I would like to say, he

shapes and molds US and, and does some different things to

us. And sometimes it hurts if we we

look at the who's the clay and who's the Potter, right?

He's the Potter. And sometimes he throws us in

the fire and we need to burn in order to see who he has created

in US, right? He's created each and every

single one of you for a specific person purpose.

And that control is pretty much what we need to surrender to.

OK, now it's not working. Next slide.

OK, well, I'll just keep talking.

If you can handle the slides from here on out, the next

slide, you're going to get some homework because it would be

beneficial for each of us to understand right when we think

of how much he cares about us, right?

How much He cares about us more than the birds and the plants.

And why does He care? I want you to take a look at

Psalm 13914. You don't have to do it today.

This is homework. All right, So if you want to

take, go ahead and take a picture, but just make sure I'm

in it. 13914 discuss how you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Jesus is discussing this. Matthew 1031.

You're worth more than sparrows. Your hairs are numbered, even

all my Gray hairs. Ephesians 210.

You are God's masterpiece for good works.

Do you know that? Think about what you know.

I think of a masterpiece. I think you know, in the US

we're like, oh, we have master artists and all these things,

but you go over to Europe and you're like, wow, this thing was

painted beautifully. Masterpiece.

Do you realize He created you even better than a human painter

can paint a painting? And then Isaiah 43.

Four, you are precious and does anybody know, honored you are

precious and Otter and honored. Not Otter, not an Otter.

Even though they are important, they're also very special.

This is that junior high. And me, I like to squirrel

sometimes. We can talk about otters and

never mind, I'm already getting the word with my wife.

So this kind of reminds me when I when I look at this homework

and, and I think how precious I am and how I had to surrender

control. So everybody remembers that I

was or am a control freak, right?

So how did I get to Utah is a very great story on how God does

things and how God, well, God does if you get your hands out

of it, right? So there we were 3 1/2 years

ago, Cindy and I, my wife, we're in Israel on a Calvary Chapel

church trip. I am currently the pastor of

youth and, you know, doing some different things within the

church, running the school of ministry.

Cindy's heavily involved. We both got good jobs.

Everything is happy, everything is great.

You know, you would look at us and be like, wow, those two are

doing really well. And and, you know, my pastor's

looking at me. He wants to bring me on staff.

And I'm thinking, oh, does it get much better than this?

I'm standing here telling you it does because I get a phone call

and it says, hey, the Air Force is changing positions.

It looks like they want you to either go to.

And it was funny. I was talking to Andrew today

about Seattle, wants to either go to Seattle or Boston.

And if you know me and if you know my wife, she's not a big

city person. That's why we live in Far West,

even though the city's coming this way.

And I'm like, OK, well, that's looks like where we're going,

right? And I look at my wife and she

says, I don't know if I want to do this.

And I was like, OK, well, I'll just throw some stuff out there.

I interview for a job a month later at Hill Air Force Base.

Don't hear anything. And so now this is March, April,

May rolls around, not hearing anything.

My boss comes to me and says, hey, we are really happy with

you. So what we're going to do is

we're going to try and keep you the longest.

We're going to try and keep you here and we'll figure things

out, but that gives me less choice on where I can go.

So then it really gets narrowed down to probably some bad jobs

in Seattle or now we've lost complete control.

I got to give it to God. All right, so, so all this is

happening and literally Friday my boss is telling me how he is

going to take care of me by really giving me limitations.

That Monday, Hill Air Force Base offered me a job.

By Friday, I accepted the job. My pastor, by the way, at

Calvary Chapel is still not happy.

He asked when I'm coming home and I said I am home because I'm

with the new church family. That's a whole nother story.

But when by the time Friday hits and I decided to take the job,

literally within three months we had sold the house, moved,

bought a house and settled into a new job that I absolutely

love. And it's been the best job I've

ever had in my career. And then we find this church

called Redemption, and we're like, yeah, we don't know, It's

kind of a far away drive, blah, blah, blah.

What, Someone's going to plant a church.

Then I am standing here in front of you guys loving everything

that God has done on this adventure in the last 3 1/2

years. And it's the first time I've

really prayed to start off with, it's the first time that I went

and just you know what? If God's going to open this

door, he's going to take care of it.

Literally when I called the housing office to say like, hey,

we're going to move, they're like, Oh well, good news.

We don't have anything available for I think it was like 6

months. I'm like, what?

You're not going to be able to pack my stuff up for six months?

I'm like, Nope. And they're like, wait, is this

Dwight? And I'm like, yeah, oh, do you

Remember Me? And we had a long discussion.

I'll tell you what, I'll get you done next week.

That's how it happened. I mean, and it was like, whoa,

all God taking care of things. So that way I could stand here

today and talk to each and every single one of you.

It's a huge blessing. And so now that we're, if you

want, you can turn to Philippians chapter 4 and we're

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

going to talk about 10 through 11 and then talk about 19.

So Paul, so if we take a look at kind of how God takes care of

things, Paul is a great example to see an individual who, you

know, we may think that, you know, Paul's had had his issues,

right? Paul is devoted completely to

Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ is doing.

And at this point, Paul is sitting in prison, right?

So he's in prison for preaching and talking about Jesus Christ.

And this is what he says in verse #10 of Philippians 4I

rejoiced in the Lord greatly. And that now at length, you have

revived your concern for me. And he's saying basically at

this point, hey, you guys, I get it.

You're concerned for me. You were indeed concerned for

me, but you had no opportunity to assist.

You don't have the ability to come to Rome where I'm sitting

in prison and take care of me. Not that I am Speaking of being

in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be

content, to be content. So we go all the way back,

Sermon on the Mount, he's talking about being a disciple

of Jesus Christ. He is providing guidance on how

to be a good follower of Christ. It's telling us that, hey, you

are the creation. This is why you are here.

You have a specific purpose each, and I'm looking out at

this room. Each and every single one of you

have a specific purpose, all right?

Each and every single one of you have a specific purpose.

Hard to fathom unless you recognize God's attributes and

those attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence,

right? This God that we follow knows

every single one of your hairs on your head.

I would count them, but it would take me a long time, right?

So he, he knows this. Then he goes on in verse #19 and

says, and my God will supply every need of yours according to

his riches in glory in Jesus Christ.

See, Paul recognized who was in control.

He recognized that once he surrendered that control because

remember, would you say Paul was a control freak before he got to

know Jesus? I mean, this is the guy that was

literally watching and controlling the stoning of

Timothy. Oh, Stephen, why?

I don't know why I said Timothy, but the the stoning of Stephen

watching all this happen, he follows Jesus Christ, and now he

is trusting God for every single one of his needs.

He's in prison in Rome, right? Alcatraz #5 rule #5 but where

does he go but seek? This is funny because it's being

delayed. So it looks like I'm pressing

the button, but I press it, it gets delayed, and then she takes

care of me back there. Thank you, Shay.

All right, but seek, second, the Kingdom of God.

Is that what it says? No, it says seek 1st the Kingdom

of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added

to you. Seek first.

The Sermon on the Mount is all about Jesus discipling his

disciples, right? Telling them, hey, this is, this

is how we go about life. If you want to spend life with

me, right, it's not going to be pretty.

It's not always going to be beautiful.

There's going to be times where we're going to struggle.

There's going to be times where you know we're in the valley.

There's going to be peaks and valleys and, and all these

things. He's not saying that once you

accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that your life is

going to be hunky Dory and everything will be just fine.

He's not saying that. But what he's saying is you seek

first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness will take care of

you and all these things will be added to you and all what

things, right? So we have to go all the way

back to the Sermon on the Mount. We're talking about peace, we're

talking about the Golden Rule. We're talking about food, water,

clothing. All these things will be added

to you. And the best part is yet to

come. So, so the real question becomes

like, how do we seek the Kingdom of God?

How do I put him first? This is going to be, I wouldn't

say a plug for some of the things we're doing at

Redemption, but this is kind of a plug for some of the things

we're doing at Redemption. So daily prayer, why daily?

Why not? And if we go back to Matthew 68

through 13, right? It says pray then like this.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, your Kingdom come,

your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day Our Daily Bread, and forgive us of our

debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Lead us not into temptation. And what and what is one of the

key things? I think we tend to skip over

with this when we pray like that.

There is an assessment when you break that down.

Give us this day, Our Daily Bread.

It doesn't say this week. Give me my daily bread.

It doesn't say this month or in 2026.

Give me our my daily bread. It says this day.

So this gives and makes me understand that this is a daily

prayer, right? So I'm seeking the Kingdom

first, then maybe I should start with daily prayer.

Next Bible reading. How important is Jesus in our

lives? Did you know that?

And let's see. So there are 160 hours a week of

which you sleep. And let's just say you you

conservatively sleep for 8:00 work for 40 hours a week on

average. Did you know there's 72 other

hours? What are we doing in those 72

other hours, right? Would it take 15 minutes to do

some Bible reading? If you log on to RNO and see the

daily reading plan and click on it, it will actually help you

read your Bible daily, right? How awesome is that?

For 72 hours out of the week, 15 minutes a day.

Anybody do the math on that? For how long that would be for

the week? Is it 2 hours?

I don't know, I didn't do the math on that.

But either way, right? So another way is to Bible read.

So go, go to RNO website, take a look at it, click on it, read

along with us. If you're not going to read

along with us, I want to encourage you to read your Bible

daily and then Bible study, right?

So out of those 72 hours, here's another way where where we can

give God the first, right, the first action Bible study.

We have community groups within redemption where we get together

with our groups and we actually study scripture, whether or not

you're a single male. We've got female studies.

We got small, small community groups.

If you want to come to, for instance, my group and you're

over the age of 90 because we're all old.

I would that would be awesome to have some fresh faces.

If you're 22, when you want to come to my group, it's, yeah,

you're probably going to be like, wow, this is what old

people do. So, you know, at the end of the

day, though, there is a group out there for you.

So I would encourage you to get on the redemption website, find

a community group. Because if we do Jesus one hour

a week, right on Sundays, are we really seeking him first?

Are we really seeking the Kingdom first?

Is our identity really in Christ right?

Our worry, our anxiety, all these things can be lessened if

we think of the Kingdom first. Unfortunately, you're not going

to know that. I can tell you time and time

again and it's just like, you know, sometimes when you're when

you're talking and, and you just know you need to do something.

What a great opportunity. 2025 closing 2026.

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions, right?

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions, but here's what I

am a fan of. Let's dedicate 2026 to Jesus

Christ. And what does that mean, right?

You may start off with just a daily prayer.

You may just start off with maybe a daily reading.

You may join a community group, right?

But where is that going to take you in your relationship with

Jesus Christ? This is what he's talking about,

right? So as we seek the Kingdom first,

there's also some other things we can do Worship.

Now I'm here to tell you, I'm I'm surprised that they haven't

invited me up here to sing because I do have a great voice

That that is totally a joke. You don't want to hear me sing.

That's why I think Doug came up and adjusted my mic because I

thought maybe it was on for a second.

He's like, dude, we got to turn you off.

But you know, at some point, right?

We what does worship look like? What does worship look like for

you? Are you worshiping once a week?

How about serving? Are you serving once a week?

How? What does serving look like?

Here's a plug for for redemption.

Another plug. Sorry, the pastors had no idea I

was going to do this. They didn't like, hey Dwight,

you need to talk about this. This is all me.

So don't yell at them for me plugging all this stuff.

But but serving, we already know God's presence is here when we

show up. But when we set up in the

morning, there's a very small group of us.

Hint, hint, there's a very small group of us that we just come

in, we do our thing and, you know, we sit back and we're

like, OK, good. You know, we line up the chairs,

we set up the stage and music gets to practice and

everything's good and we don't really think about it.

But I'm here to tell you that that pleases God, right?

The the coffee doesn't. There's not a.

A coffee fairy back there that kind of makes the coffee and

pours it all in and and does all this and like, oh, they will be

so happy at church today, right? No, there are individuals that

come in early to make sure there's coffee here.

So that way you can stay awake through service, even though,

hey, whatever. All right, but what about the

kids right now there are individuals back there who and

I, I love my wife because she loves babies and I'm so glad we

don't have babies right now because we are old.

But she gets her little baby fix and goes back and gets to hold

your children and that pleases her heart, which then happy

house, happy spouse pleases my heart.

All right, so another way. So these are all the things and

there are many more things we can do that puts the Kingdom

first, right? So Kingdom over anxiety and I

guarantee and I will guarantee this.

All right, if you do just one of these things extra a day, you

don't have to go in and, and try and do it all at once because

that's just like our resolutions, right?

Our New Year's resolutions are we usually, we typically go all

in. I'm going to work out five days

a week. I'm going to get, you know, I'm

going to drop 50 lbs and I'm going to do this.

And then week number one hits and you lost a half pound and

you're like, Oh, this isn't working.

I'm done, right? So I'm not saying go all in and

do every single one of these things at once.

What I'm saying is let God work on you and begin somewhere.

Begin somewhere because then I know right having gone through

this myself is I know once you start these things and you see

God take control of your life and you give God more and more

control, 1 you realize how much control you actually think you

had and then two, the blessings you will receive on the other

end is awesome. A relationship with Jesus Christ

is it changes and when I say changes your life, it will

change your life. Your perspective will be

completely different on how you look at your sin, on how you

handle your day-to-day operations of life.

And here's what I want to do with you guys.

I want to live life with you guys and living life with you

guys means serving, means reading my Bible sometimes means

getting rid of those nasty thoughts, praying.

I want to pray with you guys. I want to pray for you guys.

I want you to pray for me. You know, this is this is what

it's all about. This is our community here.

And if I get to live life with you, how much more blessed will

I be, right? How much worry will I have if I

know that I have something happen to me?

You will take care of my wife. If I lose my job, you guys will

provide the food, right? Because God's going to talk to

you. And if you are spending time

with Jesus Christ, you can't help but help.

So this is the verse that that kind of brings us a little back.

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will

be anxious for self-sufficient for the day is its own trouble,

right. So we have a tendency to think

about tomorrow even though you're sitting here.

Some of you are like, but I really don't want to go to work

tomorrow. I've been off.

The kids are like, I'm so glad I have tomorrow off.

I can sleep in. My dad made me come in and help

set up chairs with this old man named Dwight, and he was

directing me. And, you know, all these things

are happening in that, right, Ethan?

Yeah. I see you.

All right. So.

Right. So don't be anxious about

tomorrow. I need to be reminded of this.

And it's funny because my grandson asked me a Riddle a few

weeks ago. Let's see if you guys can get

this what am I I'm always coming, but I never arrive.

I'm always coming, but I never arrive tomorrow.

Tomorrow will always be there. Nothing we can do about tomorrow

because today is today. So if you're going to worry,

worry about today. But I think we've already gone

over how you handle that worry, right?

Let's pray, let's read, let's study, let's love each other.

Let's show each other how much God has loved us by shining that

light to others. Jesus is not just saying that

food, clothing, or tomorrow don't matter.

What he's saying is that it is something for him to worry

about, not you. That's a different perspective.

It's something for him to worry about, not you.

So as we close, here's what I want you guys.

As we go into 2026, I want you to choose trust over worry,

trust in Jesus Christ. I want you to choose surrender

over control. Let's surrender our lives to who

Jesus Christ is and what he does.

And then let's choose the Kingdom over anxiety.

This world provides Enough worry, anxious.

Let them all worry about it. Let you know if you have to turn

off the social media, if you have to turn off the news,

We'll, we'll tell you what's going on.

We'll tell you about Jesus Christ.

We'll tell you how he loves you. And that's the goal, right?

Because we just celebrated, we celebrated the birth of Christ

who came to die for us, who also came to take away the worry for

us. That's the key.

He came to take away the worry for us.

Seek him first and let him handle the rest.

Let's close in prayer. Lord, you're awesome.

As I think about all those things that I used to worry

about and, you know, I think about food and clothing and, and

all these things and, and it tends to bubble up.

Lord, I can just turn to you and say take it.

The hardest thing to do is for us to give up control.

And I'm asking that each one of us today take a look at that

control and just say take it. You sent your son to take it for

us. You sent your son because you

love us, You care about us. And Lord, if there are

individuals in this room that want to know you more and want

to have that relationship and just don't know where to start,

Lord, I want them to feel encouraged to go to somebody

that does know. Lord, I want them to just wake

up and begin to seek your Kingdom first, Lord.

And maybe it's time as we head into 2026 that even us believers

who have kind of maybe strayed a little, not been as consistent.

Lord, help us re get re energized in who you are in our

lives, Lord, so that way we can go out and show and reflect who

you are and what you have done for each and every single one of

us. Lord and I thank you for your

love and what you continue to provide this church in this

community at this time with these individuals.

Thank you, your Son's most holy and precious name, Amen.

Amen. Would you stand and sing in

response with us?