Where's The Urgency? | Donovan Rillion

Close your eyes with me for a little bit. Close

your eyes. It's time to use our imagination skills

for a moment. I want you to imagine you are walking

into a restaurant. You have one goal, as everyone

does when they walk into a restaurant, and that

is to enjoy good food and a good time. And as

you walk in, you notice it's not a really crowded

restaurant. It's actually kind of empty. It's

not super busy. There's not a lot going on. There's

waitresses that are just hanging around. There's

a hostess who's not doing anything, open tables,

but you also notice that everyone working is

just kind of hanging out. You observe this for

a few minutes until finally the hostess comes

to get you seated. So you take your seat. The

hostess says, someone will be with you shortly

to take your order. Similar to your lengthier

than explainable wait to get seated, you wait

a while before the server ever gets to you to

take your drink order. The same annoying wait

you had to get seated becomes the same wait you

have to get drinks. And the same wait to get

drinks becomes the same wait to get your food.

In fact, by the time the food gets to you, it's

cold. Naturally, you're very frustrated by this

horrible service. And you can't give them the

grace of being busy because they're not busy.

If you're like me, you might look to the person

you're eating with and say something like, oh

my goodness, where's the urgency? Open your eyes.

I took you through that little imagination exercise

to get you in the right headspace to chew on

this question. Where's the urgency? By the way,

if you have a bulletin this morning, you'll notice

on the back of the bulletin, there are some fill

in the blank notes. We're just trying that out

to see if that maybe helps you, one, hold on

to your bulletin, but also engage with the lesson

and have some notes to look back on. So we ask

this question, where is the urgency? We ask it

whenever we have a coworker who's supposed to

be helping us on a project, but they're actually

not really helping us on the project. They're

just letting us do all the work. We ask this

question when we have a contractor that's supposed

to be building a house for us or doing a project

for us, but it's taking them a lot longer to

finish this project than they were supposed to.

We ask the question, where's the urgency when

we're in the ER or we're waiting on an ambulance

and somebody is really struggling and their life

is in danger, but it seems like nobody cares

how long you've been sitting in the waiting room.

We ask the question, where's the urgency? It's

a question that we're quick to ask someone else.

We're quick to ask this question concerning other

people. We even ask this question concerning

God. God, I've been praying to you to heal my

loved one. I've been praying for you to fix this

situation with my spouse. I've been praying for

you to fix this situation with my job. But it

seems like you're taking longer than you should

be. Where's the urgency? But do you ever ask

yourself, where's... The urgency. Do you ever

ask where that urgency is in your life? Maybe

a better way to ask this question is not where's

the urgency, but where's your priority? I want

you to think about the people in that restaurant.

Usually what's happening is they're not just

sitting around not serving you. They're not serving

you because they've got something else that they

think is more important than getting you your

food on time. or getting you your drinks on time

or getting you seated. They are living, they're

acting like there is something else that deserves

their urgency. And the truth is we all live life

with a sense of urgency toward something. And

whatever that something is, that's our priority.

And so I would say like this urgency is an indicator

of what your priorities are, what you chase.

tells me what you value. And I want you to notice

I'm saying priority in a singular sense, and

that's on purpose because we can claim that we

can have multiple priorities. You know, we say,

I've got to get my priorities, plural, in order.

I just need to, you know, this thing is my top

priority. So we act like we can operate with

multiple priorities, but the truth is you can

only have one priority. At least you can only

have one priority in a healthy sense. You know,

I can say something is my top priority, but all

that really means is I'm dividing my attention.

I'm dividing my time. I'm dividing my resources

to accommodate lesser things. But I want you

to see what Jesus says in Matthew 6, verse 24.

Matthew 6:24

He says, no one can serve two masters. I want

you to see that Jesus doesn't say no one can

serve two masters well. He doesn't say... No

one can serve one master, and he can kind of

serve another. He says no one can serve two masters.

And I bring up what Jesus says because this is

a sermon, not a TED Talk, which means it doesn't

matter what I say. It matters what God says.

So we're going to look at Scripture this morning

because I do believe Jesus has something to say

regarding our urgency being a reflection of our

priority. And so before we get into the Scripture,

I want to ask another question, and that is where

does God want us to aim? I frame the question

that way because, as I stated earlier, we all

have a sense of urgency in life towards something.

Some urgently chase financial success. Some urgently

pursue fame and acclaim. And some urgently work

toward ensuring that their families are taken

care of. We urgently work to secure our retirement

or to secure an education, to secure a status

position in a career. We pursue these things

urgently. But what does God say we should pursue?

Where does God want our urgency? So I want us

to look at what Jesus says entirely in Matthew

6 concerning that idea that no one can serve

two masters. Matthew chapter 6, starting in verse

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

19. If it's underlined, I would love for you

to read along with me. Do not lay up for yourselves

treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy

and where thieves break in and steal, but lay

up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither

moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not

break in and steal. For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also. The eye is the

lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy,

your whole body will be full of light. But if

your eye is bad, your whole body will be full

of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness,

how great is the darkness. No one can serve two

masters, for either he will hate the one and

love the other, or he will be devoted to the

one and despise the other. You cannot serve God

and money. Now I want to make it very clear right

now, this is not a sermon about money. I could

actually preach the rest of this lesson without

saying the word money again. This is not about

money. This is about principle. And the principle

is simple. It's stated there in verse 21. Where

your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

You see, what Jesus begins by saying is, be mindful

of where you're putting your treasure. Be mindful

of where you're putting your devotion. Be mindful

of what it is that you value above other things.

Be mindful of where you are storing up, where

you are working towards building your kingdom.

In other words, be careful what it is you're

working for. And so we have this idea that we

have two places that we can work for, two places

that we can store up our treasures. The first

place is earth. That first place is this temporary

place where moth and vermin, they can break in,

they can chew it up. It's like I used to love

the show American Pickers. Anybody ever watch

American Pickers? And you'd have these people

that would have these barns full of junk. But

in the junk, there was always some really cool

stuff. There would be like a really nice car.

But you know what happened to the really nice

car? Somebody parked it in this barn way back

in the 60s. It hadn't moved since then. And guess

what? It's rusted out. It's got rat nests in

it. The wires are all chewed up. Because why?

Because these things on this earth are... temporary.

They are subject to destruction. But do you know

what's not subject to destruction? What is not

temporary? What is secure? There is no question

about it. It is what is eternal. It's what is

in heaven. And so Jesus knows this because why?

He's lived in heaven and he knows exactly what

heaven's like. He knows what goes on there. And

he's also lived on earth and he's seen loved

ones die. He's seen houses cave in. He's seen

possessions lost. He's seen businesses go out

of business. order. He has seen what happens

in heaven and he has seen what happens on earth

and he knows what the better part of the deal

is. And Jesus says, do not store up your treasures.

Don't devote your life toward, don't pursue,

don't work towards what is here, but work toward

what is there. Because all of these things here

are subject to destruction and being taken away.

And we know that's true. The fact that everything

on this planet only lasts, it's only ours for

a little while. It's borrowed, it's temporary,

no matter how important it is to you. As Solomon

says, Solomon, by the way, the wisest man to

ever live besides Jesus, Solomon says that this

is vanity. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 1, verses

Ecclesiastes 1:2–4

2 through 4. Vanity of vanities. says the preacher.

By the way, vanities also could be translated

to meaningless, also could be translated to foolishness,

to rubbish. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher.

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What does

man gain by all the toil at which he toils under

the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever. What he says there,

As all of this stuff comes and goes, the people

you love, the people you admire, the people you

put in power, the people that you follow, they

are temporary. They will cease to exist. All

of the things you secure in this life, they will

cease to exist. But the earth will keep on spinning

without you. You keep working. You keep slaving

away under the sun, beating your life away only

for it to end one day. Jobs hire you and then

they fire you. You have the money and then the

market collapses. You're healthy and then a pandemic

hits. Earthly kingdoms rise and then they fall.

And so what we see in scripture is this idea

that to chase these things, to devote our urgency,

to give our priority towards these things is

foolish, it's meaningless, it's vanity. I don't

know about you, but I don't want to live my life

in vain. And what Jesus is teaching there in

Matthew 6 is that this doesn't happen by accident.

You don't just accidentally end up giving your

life, giving your urgency toward these earthly

priorities. Jesus says it's where your heart

is. And your heart fixes, it decides where it

wants to be devoted, where your priority is.

That's what you're going to pursue. And he speaks

to this idea of priority in verses 22 and 23

when he's talking about the eye as a lamp. It's

this idea that the eye, what the eye sees is

what's leading you. And if your eye is divided

or if it's split, you won't be able to see clearly.

I'll put it to you this way. Anybody ever just

go cross -eyed sometimes? Sometimes your eyes

just cross and it just gets blurry and you can't

see. I had a test one time and like the question,

was so perplexing. And it wasn't, I don't think

the question was that hard. Like I'm not, I mean,

I'm a dumb guy, but I'm not that dumb. But the

question was written in a way that I should just

stare at it for a minute to think, is the teacher

really asking what I think he's asking? And so

I'm staring at this question and my eyes start

to cross. And next thing you know, my vision

is as confused as my mind was. And that's what

Jesus says. He says, when your eyes are divided,

when they're not healthy, when they're split,

you cannot see. You can't see where you're supposed

to be going. You can't see what you're supposed

to be doing, what you're supposed to be chasing,

what you're supposed to be pursuing. This is

the very reason horses wear blinders, so they

can keep going in one direction until they cross

the finish line, which leads us to where we started

in verse 24, where Jesus explicitly says you

cannot serve two masters. Another way to put

it is we cannot have a split focus. We can't.

You can't have a split focus. Our priority has

to be singularly focused. Otherwise, we won't

be able to live with the urgency toward what

actually matters. And I want you to hear this

because it's really important. The word there

for serve doesn't just mean serve like I'm going

to serve you dinner. It doesn't mean serve like

I'm going to service you at the station. It means

to be owned by. So when Jesus says you cannot

serve two masters, he means you cannot be owned

by two masters. You can't work for two bosses.

There's no moonlighting in the kingdom of God.

You have one job, one priority, one focus. So

this isn't a time management equation. It is

about ownership. Another word would be lordship.

And so I would ask the question, who or what

is lord of your life? That's the question. that

we have to ask when we say, where's the urgency?

Where's my priority? It's who's my boss? Or as

Will said, who's my king? Who is the Lord or

what? Because sometimes it's not a person. In

fact, I would say most of the time, it's not

a person. It is a thing. Sometimes it's a place.

Sometimes it's a goal. I don't know what it is

for you, but I know you have something. And I

know for most of us, it is not the kingdom of

God. Do you know why I know that? Because if

it was, we would not be able to fit in this building,

and this community wouldn't look like it looks.

This world wouldn't look like it looks. Because

if our singular focus, if our Lord was singularly

Jesus, we would have changed this world and flipped

it upside down by now. And so I preach this as

an indictment, but also as a challenge. We have

to fix our focus on our king. Singularly. I feel

a sense of urgency here in preaching this lesson

because what I read in the next few verses sounds

a lot like what many of us are struggling with,

not just right now, but what we've been struggling

with for centuries. Look with me at verses 25

through 32. Therefore, I tell you, do not be

anxious about your life. what you will eat or

what you will drink, nor about your body, what

you will put on? Is not life more than food and

the body more than clothing? Look at the birds

of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather

into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds

them. Are you not of more value than them? And

which of you, by being anxious, can add a single

hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious

about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field,

how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet

I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was

not arrayed like one of these. But if God so

clothes the grass of the field, which today is

alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will

he not much more clothe you, O you of little

faith? Now that first word there in verse 25

is, Therefore, which means everything we just

read, everything we just talked about leads to

this. And so we see that we're not to prioritize

building up our kingdoms on earth, our treasures

on earth, but instead we are to prioritize heaven

because treasure here is temporary and disposable.

And we read to not be divided in our focus or

priority because we can only serve one master.

We can only be owned. We can only follow and

devote our lives to one Lord. And so after Jesus

says all of that, he says, Therefore, don't be

anxious about your life. Don't worry about what

you're going to eat, what you're going to drink,

where you're going to live, what you're going

to wear, how you're going to survive. Stop worrying

about that. Worrying doesn't help you. Don't

worry about that. And again, I feel an urgency

in preaching this because does anybody in this

room feel a little anxious this morning? Or have

you felt a little anxious lately? It's okay to

say yeah. It's okay to nod your heads. That tells

me you're awake. I felt anxious lately. I'm sure

you have. You've worried what's going to happen

to my job. How am I going to pay this bill? How

are we going to face this diagnosis? How am I

going to make it through to the next day? I can't

even handle today. Maybe you're anxious about

your anxiety. I don't know what you've been dealing

with, what you've been worrying about, but I

know you've been worrying about something because

we're human. And again, we don't really do this

whole God is our singular priority thing too

well. And so we're anxious. We live in a generation

like this current generation is called the anxious

generation. Everybody's worried about something.

Everybody's medicated over something because

we're just worried all the time and it's killing

us. And Jesus knows this. Jesus came to give

us abundant life and he knows that worrying and

anxiety do not coincide with abundant life. And

so he says, don't worry. But we do. Because our

focus is divided. Our priorities are split. I

want you to think about that restaurant again.

What's usually the cause of bad service? If you're

like me, you observe these things and you notice,

well, the server, she's sitting there and she's

just on her phone. She's just texting. Or maybe

she's just hanging out and chatting it up with

that table. Meanwhile, my drinks are empty and

my food's not here. Or maybe you look and you're

like, what are the cooks doing? You know, you

ever go to those restaurants where you can see

into the kitchen and you see the cooks are just,

they're just hanging around and there doesn't

seem to be any urgency. Maybe the manager, you

know, the manager notices that the cooks and

the servers, they're pretty lousy. But the manager,

he's too scared to fire the bad employees because,

well, they'd struggle to find new ones. That's

a true, that's a real thing. We had a member

of our church at the last church we were at.

He owned a restaurant and he... He didn't hate

his workers, but he struggled with his employees.

But he was scared to fire them because he didn't

know if he could hire new ones. He was worried.

He was anxious about this. All of these things

are just examples of people not being focused

on the end goal, which in a restaurant, it's

to make the customer happy, right? They're not

focused on the end goal. They're not focused

on making the customer happy, which leads to

inadequate service. The same is true for our

lives. When our priority isn't on the right thing,

we lack the urgency required to make the right

thing happen. Like I said... if the church's

main focus, if our singular priority, if the

Lord of our life was Jesus, we would make the

right thing happen. And what Jesus says the right

thing is, is to flip this world upside down and

make earth look like the kingdom of heaven. We

just sang it. Father, let your kingdom come.

Well, Jesus employed us to fulfill that mission.

But we're too distracted. We're too anxious.

We're too split -focused. We're double -minded.

And so we are not fulfilling the mission. We're

not making the right thing happen. We chase our

own comfort. We try to provide for ourselves

or do what we can to get someone of this world

to take care of us, all while missing the most

important thing, the true priority. But Jesus

says if God takes care of birds, if he takes

care of flowers, things that don't even know

that they are being taken care of, you don't

have to worry. He says he does this for them.

He's like, look at the clothes that the birds

wear. And you've seen some pretty birds. Look

at how beautiful they are. God clothes them.

You think he's going to just leave you out to

dry? No, he's going to take care of you. And

then pay attention to what he says in verse 27.

Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single

hour to his span of life? Just think about that.

All that worry and anxiety. All the energy you

poured into how you're going to survive in this

world, how you're going to make it through the

next week. Yet none of it can help you. None

of it will make you live longer. None of it will

make you happier. It only adds gray hairs and

wrinkles. None of it helps you. It only deteriorates

your life faster. But Jesus says, stop doing

that. It doesn't help you. But you know what

it did do? It stole hours of your life wasted

thinking about that problem. It stole peace where

you should have been enjoying these days because

you were exhausted by the stress. It stole the

ability to actually be present in the life, the

good life that God has given you because you

were too busy trying to secure a life that you

may not ever see. And Christians in the room,

Christ followers in the room, verse 32 is exactly

for us. It tells us what the Gentiles do. It

says they chase. They chase the things of this

world. The people of this world, the pagans,

they do that. And if you are a Christ follower,

or as the people in the early century, first

century called the little Christ, if you are

this mirror image of Jesus, you don't... do that.

You don't worry about the things of this world.

You don't chase. The same word that Solomon used

in Ecclesiastes for pursuing things of this world,

where he says, it's like chasing after a wind.

Anybody ever catch wind? Well, I think that's

a saying, but like, you know what I mean? Like

you can't catch wind and pull it out of the air.

You try and you try and you try and you run after

it. You pursue the next thing and the next thing

and the next thing. And look, if you've done

your Enneagram test, I've done mine. My Enneagram

is the challenger and the trailblazer. I like

to try. I like to push. I like to push people's

limits. Ask my wife how much I rage bait her.

It's my favorite thing to chase the next thing.

But Jesus says, stop doing that. Sit where you

are and work diligently and faithfully where

you are. We don't chase. like the pagans do.

It's not supposed to be us. Verse 33 actually

says what's meant to be us, and this is what

he says. Seek first the kingdom of God and his

righteousness, and all these things will be added

to you as well. The food that you worried about,

the home you worried about, the clothes you worried

about, the life you worried about, if you will

just pursue God, if you'll seek God, all of that

will be taken care of. And I found that to be

true in my life. When I put God first, when I

stop trying to make my own trails, when I stop

trying to push the limits because I want to and

I feel like I need to, when I just trust in God

and seek him, everything works out so much better.

Now, it doesn't always look good, but it works

out the way it's supposed to. And I want to make

a note here. Seek, that word that's in verse

32 and now in verse 33, the Greek word there,

and I'm not a Greek scholar, but I have a Google,

so the Greek word there is zateo, which is used

to describe an ongoing pursuit. Again, chase,

run after. Go after, pursue. This is the same

word as verse 32. But this time, instead of we're

chasing the things of this world and we're chasing

the ideals of this world, now we're aiming it

at God and his kingdom. We are chasing first

priority, the kingdom of God. See, the difference

isn't whether you're seeking because we're all

seeking. Everybody is seeking something. The

difference is what you are seeking first. What's

your priority? The urgency. It means always pursuing.

It's this constant pursuit. Always pursuing God

before the career of success. Always pursuing

the kingdom before figuring out the bills. Always

pursuing God's will before you decide how you're

going to ensure your security in this life. It's

pursuing the kingdom before anything else on

your list gets your urgency. The kingdom of God

comes first. And I want you to notice something

that Jesus is doing here. He's saying, you seek

the kingdom of God first and the treasure you're

storing up. Now it's safe because it's in an

eternal place where moth and rust can't touch

it. The kingdom of God first in your life, in

your eye. That leads to a single focus where

you're not feeling like you're being pulled in

two directions. Your mindset, your urgency isn't

divided. It's not divided vision. You're not

seeing confused. You're not blurred. You are

seeing straight and clear. You seek the kingdom

of God first and your master, your Lord. Now

there's only one. You don't have two people fighting

for your life, fighting for your attention. You're

not trying to serve two. Or in some of our lives,

we're trying to serve three or four or five because

we've got to take care of our family. We've got

to take care of our friends. We've got to take

care of our social groups. We've got to take

care of our jobs. Oh, and don't forget, I got

to have my hobbies. How many things do we have

pulling us? I've only got two arms and two legs.

I can only imagine how long I can go before I'm

ripped apart. And what Jesus says, if you seek

the kingdom of God first, you won't get ripped

apart. Your life won't be stirred up all the

time in a bad way. You won't be disillusioned.

You won't be confused. You won't be blurred.

If you will seek the kingdom of God first, all

those things that make you anxious, guess what?

They'll be added to you. They'll be given to

you. You will be taken care of. Jesus doesn't

say figure it out yourself. He doesn't say pull

yourself up by your bootstraps. He doesn't say

go out and figure it out. He says it will be

added to you. God will give it to you. And this

isn't a health and wealth. It's not prosperity

gospel, although I do love to say the gospel

is prosperous. But what this is, is God saying,

stop worrying about things you can't control.

Stop worrying about the things that this world

is trying to sell you and just pursue God. And

he'll take care of you. He's a good promise -keeping

God. Now, Jesus isn't telling you to ignore your

bills. He's not telling you to ignore your job

or your family's needs. This is Jesus telling

you what happens when you chase God. Those things

that you're worried about, they go from things

that you have anxiety over and that you're urgently

pursuing to things that you trust the God of

the universe to handle. And I've got to be honest

with y 'all. I love the idea of a good... loving,

promise -keeping God, handling my stuff, my situations,

my issues, because I've tried to handle my stuff.

And if you've seen me, if you've been around

me long enough, you know I will mess something

up quick. I will tear something up. I will mess

something up. I will kick something over that

didn't need to get spilled. I will mess something

up quick. But God does not mess up. And so I

will take God handling my issue long before I

will handle it. It's like when you take your

car to the mechanic because you know they are

a lot more qualified than you are to fix that

part. I think I've maybe shared this illustration

with you before, but if not, you're going to

hear it, or if I have, you're going to hear it

again. When I was in college, my truck wouldn't

start. And so I'm like on YouTube trying to diagnose

the issue, trying to figure it out. I called

someone. I'm like, hey, what do you think about

this? Like, yeah, you know, it's the starter,

blah, blah, blah. And so I found this YouTube

video. So I've always said I can fix anything

with YouTube in a toolbox, but this was the first

illustration of that not being true. So I saw

this YouTube video that said if you take a flathead

screwdriver and you jam it in the starter or

the ignition, you can turn it because it'll get

past the little key thingies and it'll go. Don't

ever jam a flathead screwdriver into the ignition

of your car, which most cars are, you know, pushing

start now or whatever. But this was a 05 Silverado.

Don't do that. I ended up having to like replace

the whole ignition, whatever column. And long

story short, I brought it to a mechanic after

that. Okay. Yeah. So that's how I feel about

God handling my life. I want God fixing it because

I know if I do it, I am bound to mess it up.

Now, I want you to look at how Jesus closes this

thought in verse 34. Therefore, do not be anxious

about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious

for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own

trouble. You know what that tells me about urgency?

That tells me that Christian urgency. isn't about

tomorrow. It's not about what will this look

like tomorrow. It's not about what can I have

tomorrow. It's not about what can I set myself

up for tomorrow. Christian urgency is about being

faithful today. And can I just say this? Anxiety

is just urgency aimed at a future you have no

control over. That's all it is. But Christian

urgency takes action in the present, trusting

God with the future. It says, I'm going to work

today. I'm going to work faithfully. I'm going

to do what I can today. I'm going to make what

I can happen today. I'm going to take care of

the things I need to today. And I'm not going

to worry about what it looks like tomorrow. I'm

going to be faithful today, trusting that God

will handle tomorrow. And before I go any further,

I need to stop and say something directly to

somebody because I know somebody needs to hear

this. Maybe you've been sitting here. You've

been listening to all of this, this treasure,

the idea of priority and urgency, and you know

it doesn't apply to you the same way because

you haven't made Jesus your master yet. You've

never even hinted at making Jesus your master

yet. Maybe you've been on the fence about following

Jesus, thinking about it, meaning to. You've

been saying, one of these days. I'm going to

do it one of these. I'll give my life to Jesus

one of these days. I'll get baptized one of these

days. Here's what I want you to hear. Everything

we just read about urgency applies to you too.

When Jesus was preaching. the Sermon on the Mount

that he's talking about, that he's preaching

in Matthew 6, he was not just preaching to his

followers. He was preaching to people that were

curious about this Jesus guy that showed up because

they wanted to know what the hoopla was about

this Jesus guy. They were not yet Christ's followers.

And so even if you're not a Christ follower,

Jesus preaches the same message to you too because

he loves you and cares about you too. It is,

don't be anxious about tomorrow. Don't wait until

tomorrow. Don't put it off till tomorrow. Worry

about today. And when I say worry, I don't mean

get anxious about it. I mean take care of today.

Handle what you can handle today. Take care of

what you can take care of today. So if you've

been thinking, I don't know, this might not apply

to me. It does. The truth is the same for you.

Seek God. Seek first the kingdom. of God. He

says this is an invitation for everybody. And

verse 34 tells you, tomorrow isn't promised.

And you know this. You know people who felt really

good about their lives, and then the next thing

you know, they're gone. You know people who felt

really good about their career, and the next

thing you know, it's gone. You know people who

have lived. You may be a person who has lived

this truth that tomorrow is not promised. But

yet we continue to act like we've got all the

time in the world left. This is important for

you to hear and for us to be reminded of because

Jesus says in John 10 10 that Jesus came so that

we could have abundant life. That is not a life

of chasing things that you can't catch. That

is not a life of anxiety over what you're going

to eat, wear, sleep. It is not a life that is

worried about everything that might or might

not happen in the future. It is a life that Jesus

has been describing as good, as a life with treasure

that can't be stolen, a life with goodness that

cannot be destroyed. It is a life where eyes

can see clearly and have direction and know their

purpose. It is a life where you serve one master

instead of being pulled apart by two. It is a

life where the good father, the God of the universe

who created and handcrafted everything in this

world, it is a life where that same father takes

care of you. And I don't know. If you believe

it, but I believe that that life is incompatible

with anxiety. He's not asking you to figure it

out first and then come find him. He is asking

you to seek him now and forever and let him handle

the rest. And so if that's you, if you've been

on the fence, I don't want you to wait for a

more convenient tomorrow because tomorrow may

never come. I want you to think about the Garth

Brooks song. If tomorrow never comes. Will everything

that you meant to be handled today have been

handled? Would God know that he was your top

priority? Would the people around you know that

you love them enough to tell them the good news?

Would the people that you live and work and fellowship

with know that you love God enough and you love

them enough to be a light like Jesus to them?

If tomorrow never comes, would your place in

heaven be secure? Because I know the truth is

that this morning there are people in this room

who have not given their life to Jesus. Maybe

they have said, yeah, I'm a Christian. Maybe

you've said, yeah, I go to church every once

in a while. Maybe you have said, I follow Jesus,

but you haven't been following Jesus. And if

that's you, it's okay. We can fix that. The thing

that you have to do, though, is not put it off

until tomorrow. You have to give Jesus your life.

You have to give him your devotion today. Let

me try to land the plane. If urgency is the evidence

of priority, I believe it is, then the question

isn't really where's the urgency. And it's not

necessarily where's your priority. It's also,

it's not what makes you anxious. The question

of if urgency is the evidence of priority, then

the question you have to ask yourself is who's

your master? Who's the Lord of your life? A lot

of people say, Jesus is my savior. Is he your

Lord? Does he have sole custody of you? Is he

the sole owner of your life? Who's your master?

Because whatever has your urgency owns you. Whatever

it is that you spend your life worried about,

spend your life focused on, spend your life chasing,

spend your life working toward, whatever that

is, is who your master is. And if it is not Jesus,

then we need to change it today. Because tomorrow

may not come. But today has plenty that we can

take care of. I want to push this just a little

bit further because I don't think Jesus meant

seek first the kingdom of God to just mean get

your own life in order and stop there. I do believe

a kingdom that you're the only one in. A party

with just you is not a party at all, right? A

kingdom that is just you in it is not a kingdom

at all. If seeking God's kingdom first is really

your priority, if that is what is the master

of your life, if that is what has your urgency,

then that urgency should not and cannot stay

contained to just you. you. It has to look outward.

Think about the people you love. If you love

somebody, you'd be urgent about telling them

when something might not be safe. If you love

somebody, you'd be urgent about telling them

when something just doesn't feel right or there's

some danger present. If you love someone, you

will tell them when they are in danger or when

they need help. We don't hesitate. We don't wait

for the right moment. When we see somebody suffering

and they're hurt, we call 911 immediately. If

they're in the middle of the road and you see

a bus coming their way, you're going to yell,

get their attention. You are going to run and

knock them out of the way of the bus, even if

it means you get hit yourself. What we don't

do is go, maybe I'll mention it. We don't look

at the bus coming head on at them and say, I

sure hope they get it figured out. We don't go,

hey, by the way, I don't know if you noticed,

but over there, there's a bus coming, and it's

about to hit you. We don't do that because there

is a sense of urgency with the people we love.

We have to act with a sense of what? Urgency,

you're awake still. We act quickly because we

love them and because we want to help save them

from destruction. And so if we know tomorrow

isn't promised for those we love, then why in

the world are we waiting around to tell them

the life -saving good news truth of Jesus? Why?

You know, if we sit here and wait around and

we don't tell the people we love about the good

news of Jesus, I might look at you like I look

at a lousy server, and I might say, where's the...

Wow, man, y 'all are asleep. This was a real

dud of a lesson, right? Let's try that again.

Where's the... Great. And so next Sunday is Friends

and Family Day. Next Sunday is a day that we

have set aside in the year where we're still

going to worship God like we do every Sunday.

But on this special Sunday, we're encouraging

everyone to find the friends that they know that

don't have a church home or that are struggling

in their walk with Jesus, to think about the

family members who haven't given their life to

Jesus yet, that are still walking this life like

the world does, and they haven't found the abundant

life of Jesus. We think about those people and

the destruction that their life... So right now,

I want you to think of your one person. Somebody

who needs to hear that their tomorrow is not

promised either. Somebody that needs to hear

that there is an eternal kingdom that is just

waiting for them to make deposits into it. I

need you to think of the person that needs to

know that they're invited to God's family. And

before you leave this room, I want you to commit

to God that you're going to invite them. Like

right now. In fact, I want us to stop right now.

We're going to take a moment and we're going

to pray for that person. So go ahead and have

that person on your mind. Think about them. And

as we pray, I want you to talk to God about that

person and how they deserve your urgency. And

then after we leave here this morning, because

you're not on your phones during the sermon,

right? After we leave here this morning, you

are going to send them a text and say, hey, I

would love for you to join me next Sunday at

my church with my church family for Friends and

Family Day. Let's pray for our one. Father God,

we thank you for your goodness, for the promise

that you will provide for us, for the promise

that if we will live a life that pursues you,

that seeks you, that isn't worried about this

world and isn't worried about tomorrow, but will

just focus on faithfully following you today.

God, we thank you for the fact that if we will

do that, you will secure, you have secured a

place for us in heaven. But God, we're also mindful

of our loved ones, the people that we want to

know you, the people that we want to see in heaven,

the people that we want to know for a fact that

their life is secure in you, that we know they

can have the abundant life that Jesus came to

give. God, we pray for that person, for that

coworker, for that neighbor, for that server

at the restaurant that sees us every week. for

that family member that's just been resistant,

or maybe they just don't quite understand that

their life is not yet secure in you because they

haven't made you Lord of their life. God, we

pray for that person. We pray not only that we

would have a sense of urgency in our reaching

out to them, in our inviting them, but God, that

your spirit would be working on their hearts

right now so that when we invite them, that there

would be something in them that is stirred up,

that they would say, yeah, I'm going to come.

And that when they come, that they experience

the community that Jesus came to. And God, my

prayer is that something happens in this room

that stirs their hearts, that they will give

their lives to you, that they will commit to

seeking your kingdom first. And God, that we

would love them, that we would disciple them,

so that they would know that Jesus wants them

in his family. And that God, our lives... collectively

would go into this world and change this nation,

would change this earth. Because God, there are

people in this world that need to know you. There

are people in this world that need to come to

know Jesus and live a life like Jesus and have

a place in heaven with Jesus. God, my prayer

is that your spirit would empower us, would stir

us up to go faithfully into this week and live

like that is our pursuit. And God, if anything

is competing for our focus, if anything is competing

for our urgency, if anything has tried to fake

its way into being the Lord of our lives, my

prayer is that you would strike it down, remove

it from our lives, and make no question about

who our God is. God, we pray for the people that

we want to invite, and I pray that we would show

boldness and urgency in inviting them. And God,

when they get here, Would we love them like Jesus

did so that they know that all the talk about

abundant life and a kingdom and a family and

a community and a good God, that they would know

that that is not just lip service, but God, that

that is real and that this is a family that is

empowered and is filled with your spirit. God,

we love you and we praise you. It's in Jesus'

name we pray. Amen. Now, if you need... to lay

your anxieties down at the feet of Jesus. We

want to help. If you want help in pursuing Jesus,

we want to help. Or if you're ready to get off

the fence, to give your life to Jesus in baptism

today, don't delay. Tomorrow is not promised.

And you weren't made to live in worry today,

so I'm asking you, I'm pleading with you to respond

with urgency. We would love to help you trust

and follow Jesus better today. So whatever you

need, please come.