Letting Go of Worry | April Farmer

Good morning, River Point Church.

Good morning, everyone.

I am so excited to be here on this beautiful Mother's Day for everyone here at our Richmond campus, those at Missouri City and West End, to all of our brothers at the Ramsey Unit.

We are so excited to be able to have this time with you today.

And of course, happy Mother's Day to all of the mamas in the house.

Oh my gosh.

If you're an auntie mama, if you're uh a stepmama, a godmother, a foster mother, a single mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, today is our day.

They can't do it without us, y'all.

I'm so excited.

It's a wonderful thing to be able to celebrate all of the mothers.

And I'm especially grateful because today I have my mother here with me today.

I brought her here to Texas.

And my mother's name is Miss Comfort Barron, and she's in the house today.

It's actually a picture of her.

She and I here at my brother's wedding.

That's my mommy, y'all.

She's the one who taught me how to sing.

So, yeah, that's her.

And um I also get the privilege and honor of being a mother.

I have two sons, uh, Christopher and Joseph.

Those are my boys.

And I love these pictures because it's very indicative of who they are.

Christopher's on the left.

He is my let's get in the street, let's shop, let's eat, let's make some noise person.

And then the other one is like, you need to be in the gym working out with me, kid.

And they are wonderful.

I love them both, Christopher and Joseph.

And then they are married to Mariah and Gabrielle, and they have blessed me with six grandchildren.

Oh my gosh.

These are my grandbabies.

I know, I know.

Okay, I bet you can guess which dad belongs to which kid, too.

So my shopper has the J children, you know.

That's B3.

I call them B3 like the Oregon.

That's Bryce Beautiful.

I mean, Bryce Blair, and beautiful is the baby.

And then to my right is Ava and Mateo, whose place just got taken as the baby.

And they have a new little brother named Princeton.

He's about four weeks old.

And so, yeah, he's he's he's a little mad his spot got taken.

But I love that picture.

Every time I look at it, and I'm like, look at my Tato Bug.

I love him so much.

And any mama knows why my baby's hair looks like that, because she just had a baby and she's just not trying to do it right now.

And so I love, I love my family.

Can't wait to get home and to spend some time with them.

But today I get to hang out with you guys.

But before we get started, I definitely want to say a special prayer for our moms in the house today.

I know many of us are sitting in different situations.

Some of you have lost your mother.

Some of you have never been able to be a mom, and I know that that can be challenging to your heart.

Um, and some of us have struggling, we're struggling with our kids.

The kids are transitioning, we're empty nesters.

Now, what do I do?

Am I still a mama?

You may have lost your children.

God sees us exactly where we are and he loves us.

And I have a special little place in my heart for single moms because I was one for 23 years.

And so I just want to say a really quick prayer for all of us.

Father in heaven, we bless your name.

And we thank you for your creation of women and of mothers.

I thank you, Lord God, that you saw fit to bring about the procreation of your children through a mother and a father, but specifically a mother, the way she carries, the way she nurtures.

God, you designed us to do just that.

And so I thank you for every mother represented in the room.

I thank you for every um uh every way in which we mother those that are around us, Father.

And I thank you for everybody sitting exactly where they are.

I thank you, Lord, that you know every heart, you know every situation, and you know every mother by name, Father God.

So I just pray a special blessing on each and every one of them today, God.

Meet every heart need, comfort, bring joy, bring strength, bring perseverance and endurance, Lord God, but most of all, bring your peace that surpasses all understanding.

Keep all of our hearts and minds in you as we trust you in this journey that you've given us.

It's in Jesus' name that I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, back in 1988, I was in elementary school and I was on the bus, and riding the bus was one of my favorite things to do because that was where I got to listen to music that was not Jesus music.

And one day I'm sitting on the bus and this song comes on, and this guy starts singing.

He says, Here's a little song I wrote.

You might want to sing it, note for note, don't worry.

Yeah, y'all know this song.

And he says, because when you worry, your face will frown, and that will bring everybody down.

So don't worry.

Be happy.

Come on, don't worry, be happy.

Somebody's whistling, I love it.

Do do don't worry.

Be happy.

Y'all are awesome! I love it.

And you're old with me, I love that.

Because the young people in the room are like, what is that?

You YouTube it, Google it, do what you gotta do.

But this one may be more familiar to some of the young, some of the younger ones.

In 2013, I think it was.

Another song came out about being happy.

He says, Because I'm happy, clap along, if you feel like a room without a root.

Because I'm happy, clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth.

Because I'm happy.

Because I'm Yeah, I love it.

Y'all are already more happy now.

Everybody's more happy right now.

We love singing our happy songs.

Happy Feet is one of my favorite movies.

Like he's just so happy.

He's so happy he wants to dance, and everybody wants to be happy, and it brings joy to our hearts and joys to all the people around us.

But then somebody scratched the record in 2024, and this other song came out that really vexed me.

Instead of making me happy, this lady started singing, anxiety, keep on trying me.

I feel it quietly, trying to silence me.

Anxiety can't keep it off of me.

Somebody's watching me.

It's my anxiety, anxiety, anxiety.

I'm like, what?

When in the world did we start writing and singing songs about anxiety?

Like, come on, and y'all, I was watching my Instagram, and all of a sudden this song was everywhere.

And what makes it so bad, mamas and daddies got their children on YouTube making choreograph moves to this song about anxiety.

We made it a family event.

If it was you, just keep looking ahead.

Nobody saw your clip.

We don't know that it was you, just you know, keep looking forward.

But it became a thing, and it was this popular trend that was happening.

And I think our culture really dove into it.

Number one, because we all experience anxiety, but you know, you gotta be honest, the song was kind of catchy.

It was, it's okay, you know, no judgment here, but we've accepted it, I think, as a way of life.

People almost identify themselves.

Oh, yeah, my name is so-and-so, and I suffer with anxiety.

It's almost how you present yourselves now, and our culture has made it a trending thing.

And for some of us, you know, it's become this way of life.

And you know what, y'all?

I don't think it should be.

I really, really don't.

Like, I mean, even when you watch the video, like there was chaos everywhere in that video.

People were jumping through glass windows and things were catching on fire.

I mean, literally, we feel like our lives are like that.

And we glorify it with a song that we play on repeat over and over and over.

If you got it on your playlist, take it off today.

That's all I'm saying.

It's not helping you, but I don't think that's what God has for us.

So today, we are going to talk about letting go of worry.

This is what we're going to address today: letting go of worry.

Now, what is worry exactly?

It's an emotion.

We all experience it, but worry is this sense of insecurity.

It's this place of dis-ease.

Where peace once was, it is no more.

It's being challenged, it's being uh uh shifted and changed.

Fear over what ifs.

Worry is fear over what ifs.

It hasn't even happened, but what if?

It's this this this troubling feeling, and it's a very unpleasant emotion, but it's also very, very common.

And I know this to be true about me, but most of us, we've all kind of laid in bed staring at the ceiling sometimes with all of our what ifs.

What if I'm late to work again?

What if my child does not get their act together together?

What if they get kicked out of school?

What if my husband doesn't apologize to me?

What if I can't get this promotion?

What if I lose my job?

What if I get in traffic tomorrow and something happens to me?

What will happen?

What if, what if, what if, what if, what if?

And worry, which is should be just this temporary emotion that that we get when we're facing something that we're challenged with.

It's supposed to really just be about something temporary.

It's supposed to be a temporary visitor that comes up when we are addressing an issue, but it has turned into this permanent resident in our hearts and in our minds.

And I do not believe that God's design for us is to live in worry.

So we're gonna take a look at what Jesus actually has to say about this.

In fact, Jesus taught about worry, he is so amazing, he leaves no stone unturned.

So much so that he placed a lesson about worry in the most famous sermon he has.

It's called the Sermon on the Mount.

And we find the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

And Jesus saw fit to address what many of us sing songs about today.

And in chapter 6, Jesus gives us uh not just a talk about worry, but he gives us something better than that.

He gives us a perspective, he gives us a new way of looking at things and a way of living.

He doesn't just tell us not to worry, but he shows us why we don't have to.

Let's take a look.

Matthew chapter 6, verse 19.

Matthew 6:19

He says, Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Jesus is encouraging us to consider where we make our investments.

Why?

Because worry is often cultivated in the soil of misplaced treasure.

Worry is often cultivated, curated, and grown in the soil of misplaced treasure.

Our hearts become consumed with things that are temporary, things that are here today and gone tomorrow, things that are fleeting, things that don't last.

Things like status, position, money.

I don't know about y'all, but my money does not stay in my account.

Nine times out of ten, I don't even see that it hit before somebody else went and got it to pay a bill.

It's fleeting.

It doesn't last, it's temporary, and we can become inundated with the fear of losing temporary things.

Temporary items.

But what what when when we make healthy or heavenly investments, things are different.

When we make heavenly investments in things like giving generously or loving deeply or serving humbly, we're investing in things that can't be taken away from us.

Nobody can take away the joy you feel when you help an elderly person across the street.

Nobody can take away the joy you feel when you grace that little baby in the seat in front of you on the airplane who keeps playing with you and throwing their toys behind them.

It's a grace.

Nobody can take away from you the joy you feel when you realize that what you gave out of generosity is now being multiplied, and people are getting fed and people are getting clothed, and that you got to take part in that.

You can't take away that type of investment.

And Jesus gives us a very clear illustration of what this looks like, this new type of investment in chap in uh verse 22.

He says this: He says, the eye is the lamp of the body.

If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness?

Jesus is talking about focus here.

The eyes represent what we are fixated on, what we are focusing our attention on, what we consistently consume and give our attention to.

So my question for you is what's getting your attention?

What is clouding your vision?

What is getting in the way of you seeing things clearly?

You know, I married Mr.

Farmer about almost eight years ago.

Our anniversary's on the 18th.

And so we met about nine years ago.

Actually, May, I think it was Mother's Day of 2017 was the day we met.

I was actually literally up preaching, and he was auditioning to be our new music director at my church at the time, and he saw me and he was just smitten, taken away.

But it took a while because I was 40, I was about to be 40 years old, and I had gotten this wall up of no, if you're coming for me, you better come correct because I've been waiting a long time.

And so you need to be ready.

And so after a while, he kind of broke me down and I said we could start dating.

And one day I decided, okay, now he needs to understand what he's about to embark upon.

And so it's time to cook for you.

And I don't know about you, but I grew up in a house that was very structured around mealtime.

Mama would call down and she'd say, Hey, April, it's your turn to set the table.

And so we had to get the plates, we had to get the cups, we had to get the napkins and the silverware, we had to place it in the right position at the table.

We had to set the table and bring the food, and it was a big ordeal, and the whole family sat down so that we could eat together because this was my favorite time where I got to share and we got to talk and we got to uh uh uh eat our meal together and exchange stories, and it was wonderful.

So my new boyfriend was coming to my house after church, and I would decide it's time to make my good meal.

My kid's favorite, shepherd's pie.

Woo! It's a good hearty meal.

You like shepherd's pie?

I like shepherd's pie too.

And I put a pie crust on the bottom of mine because why would you call it a pie with no crust?

Like that just doesn't make any sense.

So I have mastered this shepherd's pie that I learned from my father.

And so I make my dish and I set the table before him.

And I set out the table and I set out the food and I make his plate because my mother made my father's plate, and I learned how to do this, and I set all the silverware out.

And my boyfriend at the time was watching the game somewhere.

I didn't care.

It was time to eat.

And so I said, Hey, Dave, it's time to eat.

So he comes down and he looks at the food and he's like, Oh man, April, this looks amazing.

Oh my gosh, I didn't know you could cook like that.

Yeah, I could cook like that.

And so I'm so excited.

And so I sit down to eat, and my husband grabs the plate, or my boyfriend that time, he grabs the plate and he starts walking away.

And I said, Hey, hey, hey, where are you going?

It's time to eat.

He said, I know I'm going to eat.

I'm going to watch the game and eat.

I said, We eat at the table.

He said, I eat at the TV.

And I was like, but I just took all this time and I made, I was, he, I was confused, and he's looking at me like, what's wrong with you?

And I was infuriated.

How dare he?

And for some strange reason, I decided to marry him anyway.

Thinking that this is just a small thing, you know, this doesn't matter.

I can, I didn't, you know, he'll learn the proper way to have a meal with his wife.

And one year went by, and two years went by, and four years went by, and this rub kept happening with me, investing my time and my energy into making these wonderful meals, and he's still getting his plate and saying thank you, and I'm going to watch TV.

And I feel some type of way, and I'm praying and I'm interceding and I'm going before the Lord.

Change this man, like what is happening?

And year after year goes by, and so we're in year seven or eight, you know, not too long ago, actually.

I'm about to head out of town in a few days, and I make a meal, and but that particular day I needed attention.

So I made a meal, and I didn't tell him, I thought through osmosis, he was just gonna know that I need you to sit with me so that I could share.

I need to talk.

And he I did a really good meal.

I went and got my southern roots and I made collard greens and smothered turkey wings and I made cornbread and rice, and it was just one of those meals you take a picture and send it to your brother because his wife can't cook like that.

And and oh, don't tell my secrets now.

And my brother always texts me, like, ooh, April, you're wrong for that.

You wrong for that.

And so I take, I make this meal, and sure enough, he comes down and he gets that food, and he says, Thank you.

And he goes in front of the television, and I sit there on the island and I eat by myself, fuming, mad, angry.

Three days go by, and my husband got cold shouldered for three days.

I was mad.

I had an issue.

My focus was on the fact that you don't appreciate me.

And day after day would go by, and I remember the next day my husband comes downstairs because I made breakfast because I'm now wrestling with the Holy Spirit.

Because the Holy Spirit says, you still gotta get up and make breakfast.

And I'm like, No, I don't.

And he says, Yes, you do.

So I'm wrestling with him and I make breakfast, and he comes down and I'm like, well, maybe he'll eat breakfast with me.

And he comes down and he sees it, and he's I oh no, I actually I text him, I didn't even tell him it was there.

I text him, I said, breakfast is ready.

He was like, What is it?

I said, Food.

He knows I'm upset.

He comes down and he starts to rub my back.

This is what husbands do when they don't really want to talk about what's going on.

They just kind of rub your back.

He was like, You good?

I said, mm.

He says, Thank you.

And he goes away, and I'm mad.

Now I have to leave to go out of town the next day.

He gets another night of the cold shoulder.

And Holy Spirit's like, Really, April?

What's wrong with you?

And I said, He wouldn't eat with me.

And April was like, that's not it.

What's really wrong with you?

Is it gonna be like this forever?

Am I always gonna love the evil myself?

He's supposed to love me.

He's supposed to be concerned about me.

All of that stuff's going on in my head.

What if this is the rest of my life?

What if I sit at the table every year, every day for the rest of my life?

What if this never changes?

What if he never grows out of this?

What if he never learns how to be a civilized person and eat at the table?

And I have been praying about our closeness.

I have been praying about our connection.

And the Lord said, Your issue is not that food.

Your issue is that you don't trust me.

You are focusing on food when the real issue is your heart.

You are worried about stuff that hasn't even happened yet.

Haven't you prayed about that already?

Why are you tripping?

And this is what worry does.

What if, what if it never changes?

What if my kid doesn't get accepted into this school?

What if I don't get this job and I can't pay for them to go to college?

What if they don't quit smoking?

What if they get sick?

What if they get in an accident?

What if I let them go on this trip and they never return?

What if I let them spend the night at their friend's house and something happens?

What if?

What if?

And if our focus is healthy, if it's centered on those things that are true and generous and purposeful, and those things that are pure and lovely, what those, if our focus is there, then we can walk in clarity of who God is and clarity of his promises and clarity of his truth and clarity of the history that he's had with us year after year after year.

But if we worry comparing ourselves to other people, I'm comparing myself.

But that's what I keep comparing him to, and he's not measuring up.

What if he never measures up to my daddy?

What if I never measure up to my mom?

What if this never looks like everything I dreamed it would be?

And if we live in that space, we cloud our inner world with darkness, with darkness.

And I get to the airport that day, he loads up my stuff and we he takes me there and he unloads and he comes in to give me a hug.

And I reluctantly hug him.

He says, I love you.

He's like, I love you too.

You still mad?

I'll see you when you get back.

Okay.

And Holy Spirit was like, Really, April?

Really?

Y'all, I'm so stubborn.

I was at the gate before I texted him.

I didn't even call, I just text.

Okay, so I love you too, for real.

And I hope, God forbid anything happens, I don't want you to not know that I love you.

So I look forward to seeing you when I get back.

And that was hard to do because I have a flesh that still needs crucifixion.

And so I'm waiting after I humbled myself and sent this very loving message for my husband to send back this soliloquy of just how much he cared for me and how much he missed me those three days.

I was waiting for it.

And you know what my husband texted back?

No worries.

Don't worry about it.

We're gonna be married for years.

We're gonna get in lots of fights.

It's okay.

Have a good trip.

He told me not to worry about it.

I lost three days of affection with my husband.

I lost three days of quality time.

I lost three days of intentional one-on-one time of legs touching in the bed because I'm over here because I'm mad.

I lost three days worrying about what if this never changes instead of enjoying the time that I had with him.

And I lived in the lands of what-ifs and darkness.

Max Luceto said this.

He says, worry is the dark room where negatives develop.

Okay, for you young people, once upon a time there was a camera that was not on your phone.

And inside of this camera was this film where when you took your picture, there was an imprint an imprint, uh, an imprint made on that film, and you had to go into this thing called a dark room where the lights were out and there was this ultraviolet light, and you had to go in and you put this film in the solution, and when you put the film in the solution, the light would come to life.

This is what happens in Max Luceto.

He's saying that worry is the dark room where negatives develop.

But Jesus has called us to a better life than that.

He is saying that there is something more than living your life in this dark room, building this world of negatives.

But what I love about that illustration that he said is that what happens, or how do you ruin a negative, older people?

You turn on the lights.

Exposing a negative to the light will ruin that negative.

And guess what, y'all?

Jesus is the light.

Jesus is the light of the world.

Jesus is the one.

And if we focus our hearts' attention on the light, on the one who is true, on the one who is good, on the one who has everything in control, all that negative will go away.

It will be destroyed.

And Jesus wants us to be free from our worry.

He wants us to be free.

And so as he's giving this sermon, Jesus takes us a little bit deeper.

And in verse 24, he says this He says, No one can serve two masters.

Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and money.

Now I can hear some of you saying, What in the world does that have to do with letting go of worry?

It's a great question.

Jesus is so brilliant.

This verse can seem to be like a sidebar, but I don't want you to miss what Jesus is saying.

I don't want you to miss what he's actually getting at.

We hear this sermon on the mount all the time, but I truly often call this the sermon on the heart.

Jesus is not just talking about money, he is talking about our hearts.

Jesus is helping us to diagnose the root of our anxiety and our worry.

And guess what it is?

A divided heart.

That is the root.

The root issue isn't your stress, the root issue isn't your boss, the root issue isn't your job, it isn't your kids, it isn't your marriage, it isn't your family, it isn't your parents, it isn't your money.

It's serving two masters.

It's serving two masters.

And what does it mean to serve?

When I look up this word serve in the Greek, it literally means to be a slave to.

To be a slave to.

Have you ever felt like a slave to your worry?

How many nights have you stayed awake, worried, stressed out over what ifs?

What if this happens?

I was in the ER not too long ago.

I had food poisoning at work, and my husband had to come and get me.

It was just that bad and take me to the emergency room.

And I knew that that's what it was.

I knew it was that food because there was no other excuse, and I just kind of had this nowhere on the inside that that's what it was.

And so we get to the emergency room and I'm waiting for them to come out with the wheelchair.

And I don't know why, but in my heart I said, Lord, I know this is about the food.

But if there's anything else I need to see, show it to me now.

So we get in there, they take all the scans, they run the CT and all of that, uh, and and and and they get the results back.

And they said, Yes, ma'am, you do have food poisoning, but we noticed a mass on your kidney.

So we want you to follow up with the urologist.

And I said, Okay.

Thank you, Jesus.

I asked you to show me.

And so you showed me.

So I went and got my MRI with contrast.

They came back and I got a phone call two days ago saying, not just, I didn't get a phone call saying everything was clear.

I got a phone call saying we need you to come in and talk to the urologist.

I have two options now.

Two, I had to make a decision.

Am I gonna let myself ruminate on what-ifs?

Or am I gonna trust the God who created the universe, who knew my body when he formed it, who knows the number of my days, and who has my life already mapped out and already scheduled?

Am I gonna stress and live in worry in the land of what-ifs, or am I gonna let the light of Jesus Christ give me peace that surpasses all understanding to keep my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus?

Jesus is telling us in this text, he is saying, either you are going to be wholly submitted to God and his kingdom, trusting his ways, surrendering your life to him, surrendering the outcomes to him, orienting your decisions and your posture and your thoughts and your mouth and your behavior around his kingdom, or are you going to functionally serve something else, like a doctor's report, or your money, or your security, or approval from other people?

Which one are you gonna let be your master?

What's controlling you today?

And it will rule you if you let it.

But why does Jesus use money here?

He uses money because money is not about cash or coins, it's about it's symbolizing the material systems of this world.

It's symbolizing the things that we place value in that have no lasting value.

That which tempts us to trust in resources rather in God, to trust in doctors' reports rather in God, to trust in the teacher who says your kid is this way, your kid will never amount to nothing, your kid will never go to college, your child will never accomplish anything.

That addiction can't be broken.

It's trusting in that or trusting in the creator of the universe who has all power in his hand.

Money and material systems are counterfeit masters.

They promise peace, but they deliver pressure.

They offer identity, but they deliver anxiety.

But Jesus is the real deal.

Jesus is the light of the world, he is the way and the truth and the life, and Jesus promises peace.

And y'all guess what he gives?

He gives peace.

Jesus promises identity and he gives real identity.

Jesus invites us to choose him no matter what your situation looks like, no matter how long you've been praying, Jesus invites him to pick our master and let it be him.

And so now, after he lays his foundation, Jesus turns to the heart of the matter in verse 25.

He says, Therefore, I tell you, what?

Do not worry about your life.

I don't know who that's for in this room today.

Do not worry about your life, do not worry about your kids' lives.

Don't worry.

We get temporary stewardship parents of our children for a season.

And then guess what we have to do?

Let them go.

They belong to God anyway.

And he's got a path and a story written out for them that they have to go through.

And just like with you and I, there were bumps in that road.

You can't stop your kids from the bumps.

It's gonna happen.

But he says, do not worry about your life or anybody else's life, what you will eat or drink or 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.

They do not uh sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Can any one of you by worrying, oh my gosh, add a single hour to your life?

Our worrying changes nothing, just our attitude.

Our worrying changes nothing, only our emotional stress.

Jesus says, if the birds aren't worried, why are you?

If the flowers know that that little bee is gonna go in that little thing and get the get the nectar and fly it around and give us all pollen and sneezing so that the more flowers can come up.

They don't worry about that.

Why are you worried?

This is how God talks to me.

Why are you worried?

If he dresses the lilies with beauty and splendor, how much more will he clothe you?

Are you not much more?

He asked the question, are you not much more valuable than they?

And then that one question can any one of us add a single hour to our day by worrying?

No.

And then he continues and he says, and why do you worry about clothes?

See how the flowers of the field grow.

They do not labor or spend.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown in the fire, will he not much more clothe you?

And then he drops the bomb.

You of little faith.

This is not condemnation, this is Holy Spirit conviction.

He says, You of little faith.

What this means is you who trust to little.

That's the issue.

Worry is a faith issue.

Tim Keller once said this.

He says, worry is not believing, God will get it right.

Sit with that for a second.

Worry is not believing, that God won't get it right.

That he'll mess your life up, that he'll mess up your kids' lives, that he'll mess up your world.

And honestly, we all had moments where we've felt like that.

And that's what it boils down to, though.

Jesus is saying, you don't trust me.

Simply put, you just don't trust me.

Jesus isn't minimizing our needs or or or anything like that.

He knows what we're going through.

He knows what that doctor's gonna tell me when I go in the hospital, uh, when I go visit the doctor.

He knows what they're gonna say, and I know that he knows what they're gonna say, and I know that he's already sat in tomorrow.

I know whatever is gonna happen, he's already gotten to the end of my situation, and he's already called and settled the matter.

So, what am I stressed about?

He's not minimizing what you're going through, he's reminding you that he's got it.

That's what I want you to leave here with today.

Remember that God's got it, and so he wraps up this part of his sermon and he says this he says, 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 that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well, in addition to.

In addition to.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

My God, each day has enough trouble of its own.

It's in the book.

It's not my fault.

Jesus wrote it.

So I want you to leave here with two homework assignment options.

This is the teacher and me.

We're gonna put this into practice because hear me, I get it.

The story I just told you about what that doctor told me, that wasn't easy to do.

I had to make a, I literally had to make a decision.

And each and every one of us have a decision to make every single solitary day.

I don't know what tomorrow holds.

God does.

So we have a choice to make.

So I want to give us two options to use this week and hopefully moving forward as we navigate the things that try to keep our focus away.

Number one, I want you to name your master.

I want you to take about 10 minutes this week to ask yourself this question.

What am I most tempted to serve instead of God?

What am I most tempted to serve instead of God?

It might be money, it could be control, it could be people's approval, it could be your children, your marriage, whatever it is, what are you most tempted to serve instead of God?

To make master in your life.

I want you to name it, and then I want you to write it down.

Because when you see it, when you name it and you see it, you can surrender it.

Literally, some of us we might need to write it on a sticky note and put it up because we cannot serve two masters.

And so I want you this week, I want you to choose the one who will give you peace.

Look at what the option is and recognize God is bigger.

He's so much bigger.

And option two, I want you to trade your worry for worship.

Trade your worry for worship.

Each time you catch yourself worrying this week, I want you to stop and say this one little simple prayer.

Say, Father, you know I choose to trust you.

You don't have to tell anybody else what it is.

Say, Father, you know, I choose to trust you.

With that, yes, I choose to trust you.

With this, yes, Lord, I choose to trust you.

I choose to trust you.

And I don't care what you do, you can you can play some worship music.

You know, that's one of my favorite things to do.

Because the thing is, when we play worship music and we we get other things in our head instead of anxiety, keep on trying me.

When we get something that says, You are the lifter of my head, or what was the songs?

All the songs that we sing about he dresses the lily, how much more will you clothe me?

When we start to do that, it shifts our focus on God and his kingdom.

Worry wants our focus, but worship takes it back.

Worship takes it back every time, and every time you worry, let it be a cue to start worshiping God.

Let it be a cue to begin to worship Him.

Jesus is offering us today a better way to live.

He's not asking you to pretend like life isn't happening or that life isn't hard.

He knows it's hard.

We get that.

But he says, bring your heart into alignment with the kingdom and trust that your Father, your heavenly father, will take care of everything that concerns you.

So I do not say this in jest.

Don't worry.

Be happy.

Seriously.

One of my favorite Disney characters, and I'm gonna close with this, is Winnie the Pooh.

Let me tell you why Pooh is one of my favorites.

Pooh figured out his way to not worry.

Whenever Pooh starts getting a little stressed about anything, what does he do?

Pooh gets that big old jar of honey and he sits that thing right on his Lap and what is he?

He takes his whole hand.

He don't even try to be neat about it.

He takes his whole hand in that jar of honey and he.

This is what worship is to me.

And this is what worship can be for you.

When you start to feel stressed and anxiety and worry and you start ruminating, I want you to take your worship pot of honey.

And I want you to dig into that word of God.

And I want you to drown yourself in the presence of God.

I want you to drench yourself in worship.

I want you to drench yourself in the truth of God's word and let it get all over you till you're nice and sticky.

God does not want us to worry.

So just as Jesus says, don't worry.

Can I pray for us?

Father in heaven, I'm so glad that you desire so much for us to be free.

And in that freedom, you desire for us to not worry, to not doubt you.

So, Father, for all of us, each and every single solitary one of us, we have a tendency to not trust you.

And for that we ask your forgiveness.

Forgive us for not thinking you would get our lives right.

Forgive us for thinking that we know better than you.

Forgive us for thinking that other things are in control and for allowing other things to become master in our lives, God.

Forgive us and wash us clean from that, Father.

And help us this week to name those things that we are tempted to allow to be our masters and to surrender those things to you so that you can take rightful place.

And that we would also allow worship to become our honeypot this week.

We would allow worshiping you and remembering your goodness and your faithfulness and all the truth of who you are to become that which puts you back in your rightful place.

And that we would saturate ourselves in your presence, in your spirit, and in your peace, God.

You desire for us to be free of worry.

So we receive that gift today, Lord God, and we bless you for it.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you so much for being here.

If you desire prayer at any of our locations, the prayer team is down front.

We love you, and we'll see you next week.