What changes when you know you belong in God’s family? /// Red Letters: Part 2

Welcome to the Plum Creek Church Podcast.

We're so thankful that you're listening along with us in this way.

Now, if you're a returning listener, welcome back.

But if you're new or newish, we'd love to become part of your listening rotation.

So be sure to subscribe and follow to be notified when new episodes are available.

Now, before we get into the message, we want to remind you of one thing.

At Plum Creek Church, we are all about changed lives, changing lives.

We really believe that if Jesus is right about God, about life, about the soul, then it only makes sense to rearrange our lives around what he says is true.

Because when you choose to follow Jesus like that, it really does change everything, including the lives around you.

Okay, let's posture our hearts for what God has in store, this message.

Good morning, Plum Creek.

How are you?

Good to see you.

Thank you for being here.

Hey, listen, Tommy just hit the uh book that is out in the lobby.

It's the next in our step, the follow series, and what's been amazing.

If you haven't gotten one, I really want you to grab it to just uh help supplement your time with the Lord in the morning.

Uh, please do that.

Um, it's uh it's really, really well done.

And anytime we're focusing on the words of Jesus is a good thing.

Amen.

Okay, good.

All right.

Um I also want to give you a quick next is now update.

Does that sound okay?

For those of you that maybe are new, we're in the middle of a campaign to expand our auditorium by 40% and some offices and some other things, and and uh we're doing a one fund this time, which means that uh all of the resources that will be needed at Plum Creek for the next two years, including our regular general fund, the building expansion, and missions work that we're doing is all in one.

And our goal over the next two years is$25.5 million.

And uh we um made this announcement and started the capital uh raise back in the end of February, and I'm excited to tell you we have crested over the$7 million mark.

So praise the Lord.

Progress is being made, and if you compare this year to last year, we're up 80%.

And so thank you for your generosity and your giving.

Um, and I'm excited, uh, 15 commitments have already been fully met.

And of those 15, the amount of resources that they had committed versus the amount of resources that have come in is an additional$108,000.

Isn't that awesome?

So God is on the move, and I'm excited for what he's doing.

Matter of fact, let's just pray real quick.

Father, thank you.

Thank you for what you're doing.

Uh, it's overwhelming sometimes when we look at uh the resources needed in today's world to do things like expand the building here and and uh provide space and room for people that are seeking you.

And and so today I just thank you for my friends that are here.

I thank you for those that have uh so committed to being part of Plum Creek and have committed with faith for you to do amazing things.

Uh, Lord, we we need your favor, we need your blessing, we need to see your hand on the move.

And and I'm so grateful.

So today I pray for all of the individuals and that that are here and the companies that that represents and folks that are just trusting you to provide in very real ways for these commitments to be made.

Lord, I'm just praying that you will grow our faith as we watch you do your thing.

Thank you so much.

And all God's people said, Amen.

I wonder how many of you have had this experience perhaps sometimes sometime this week.

Uh you woke up and maybe your alarm went off, maybe it didn't.

But before your feet even hit the floor, your your mind started going.

Do you ever have this happen?

Where you start thinking about all the things, right?

All the things that are happening.

And you haven't even gotten out of bed yet, but you're thinking about the meeting that you have today and the conversation you need to have.

Perhaps you're thinking about something you said the day before that you wish you wouldn't have said, uh, bills that need to be paid, doctor's appointments you're waiting to hear back about.

Maybe it's something to do with your kids or your grandkids or or uh something that that you're fearful of or obsessing on that might happen tomorrow that you don't even know about.

And do you ever have this happen where your mind just starts going and it's almost like you can't even turn it off?

And it's almost like there's a little voice that's behind all of this going, hey, what if?

And uh, what if, right?

And the what ifs start to amount.

What if there's not enough?

And what if something happens I didn't expect?

And what if they don't get better?

And what if I lose my job?

And what if my kids make a bad decision that I can't help them navigate?

And what if things don't work out?

And here's what's interesting, you haven't even gotten out of bed yet.

Today hasn't even really started.

Um, you start carrying the weight, not just of what is reality, but oftentimes the weight of what isn't even reality.

And I wonder if underneath all of that, all of those what-ifs, if there isn't something else that's running in our minds, and I have felt this, I know this one pretty well.

It feels like this is all dependent on me, right?

And I gotta figure this out, and I gotta do all of these things.

I gotta make sure there's enough, and I gotta make sure my wife Beth is okay, and our kids are okay, and their spouses are okay, and my grandkids are okay, and and I've got to make sure our church is moving forward.

I just gotta make sure everything works out, and I don't think I can.

And it just stresses us out.

If I'm not careful, I'm sure this is true for you too.

We can spend our entire lives trying to uh carry uh this underlying assumption that somehow it's just our job to figure it all out.

And um the burden of that is really real.

It feels like a lot, and oftentimes it's too much.

But but I have a question: what if?

What if I've been carrying something I was never meant to carry alone?

What if Jesus has something to say about that?

And here's what's fascinating.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus was sitting on the side of a hill and he was teaching a whole bunch of people.

Perhaps his most famous sermon of all time, the Sermon on the Mount.

And while he's talking, he knows that those people were dealing with the very same thing we deal with.

And it might have looked different there in the first century, of course, but the same concerns, right?

There were rulers and economic realities and political realities that were completely out of these people's control.

And they were trying to raise families just like we are, and they were trying to put food on the table and figure out the future.

And here's what's so interesting in all that was uncertain, Jesus didn't stand and teach about what was gonna happen with the Roman Empire.

That's not what he did.

He doesn't tell them what's gonna happen tomorrow.

Instead, in Matthew 6, and I please understand the heart of Jesus while he's standing to teach, he knows what they were dealing with and he knows what we deal with.

And he loves them deeply.

And so from the depths of his heart, he's gonna try and provide an opportunity for there to be a different kind of thought process as it relates to all of the things that we can have anxiety and worry about.

He loves these people.

And so, as we look at Matthew chapter six, he begins talking about the things we treasure and the things that have captured our hearts and the things that we look to for security, the things that can eventually become our master.

And then he says this in in Matthew chapter six, verse 25, that's why I tell you.

Now, in many translations, it doesn't say that's why I tell you, it says therefore.

So I need to teach you something real quick that my mom taught me when I was just a little guy.

When we'll be reading the Bible, and some of you have heard me talk about this before, and there was ever a therefore, she would almost be like, Stop! Therefore, we need to figure out what therefore is therefore.

Because it's a connecting word.

And my mom said that so many times that I can't read the Bible and see the word therefore without hearing my mom go, stop! Pay attention, because this is connecting.

This is connecting what Jesus had just said to what he's about to say.

And so Jesus is talking about the complexity of life and the way our minds work and the way the pressures of our lives in this world seem to complicate things and get us to a point where we're all spun up and we have all this kind of thought and worry.

So before we move into that, we have to look back at what he was saying before because it's connected.

In Matthew chapter 6, he talks about what we treasure, he talks about what we focus and what we serve.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

So treasure issues and heart issues, and what am I looking to, and what am I serving, and what am I trusting?

And then we get to this therefore verse that I just told you in verse 25.

That is why, or therefore, Jesus says this after unpacking all that he just unpacked, he says these words.

Therefore, I tell you not to worry about everyday life.

And I'm like, but Jesus, I worry about everyday life.

He's like, I know that's why I need to teach you this.

But I'm pretty good at worrying about everyday life.

I know it is not doing you any good, is it?

No, thank you.

It's not doing us any good.

Jesus is showing us that our worry isn't just about worry.

Our worry isn't just about the things that we're worried about.

I've found this to be true for me, and I'm sure if it is for you, it is for you too.

Worry also often reveals the thing beneath the thing, as our friend Steve Carter says.

Our worry says something about what I actually trust and how I trust.

It reveals what I've built my security around, and it exposes what I believe I have to have control of.

And Jesus knows that this is all complicated, and that's why he puts all of this stuff together in this Matthew 6 passage, and he knows that it's complicated.

He's not trying to say it's not complicated.

He knows the pressures of this world and this life are real.

And so then Jesus then exposes what I want to call today the architecture of trust, because trust is the exact opposite of worry, right?

So, what do I mean when I say architecture of trust?

The architecture, which we've just been looking at, the plans of the building, and all these things are submitted to the town for second review, and you go through all of these documents that the architects design, and it's like you can kind of see it all starting to come together, and it's all the things that will make the thing, right?

That makes it all work.

So when I say architecture, it's the underlying structure of something, how its parts are arranged and what holds it all together.

And we all have this.

We're all in pursuit of this in our lives, trying to figure this out.

We're all arranging our lives around something, something carrying the weight and something's foundational and holding it all together.

So this is why I can show you in my Bible, if you can see the red letters in Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

If you don't know what the red ink means, those are the words of Jesus.

And that's why we encourage you to do things like get this book, which is also the words from here are in here, right?

And we have an opportunity to process the things that Jesus has said.

That's why this is so important.

And what we've been saying, because we all have arranged our lives in some way, we've all done it.

And what we've been saying is that if Jesus was right about God and about life and about and the soul, then it only makes sense to rearrange your life around what he said is true, which presupposes that we've arranged some things perhaps the wrong way.

And so when we hear what Jesus said, then we rearrange our life around what he says is true.

And today, Jesus wants to take us underneath our worry.

He wants to get to the thing beneath the thing, and he wants to ask us a deeper question, and that's this Who are you trusting to hold your life together?

Who are you trusting to hold your life together?

So before we look at these architectural drawings, I want you to notice something that it'll be on the screen.

This Matthew 6, 22 and 23.

I want you to see that he talks here about the eye.

We've highlighted him on the screen.

Three times on the on he talks about the eye, and then he's trying to show us.

He talks about what we see, how we process life, how we look at what's happening around us.

And I think that's significant because sometimes the problem isn't simply what we're looking at, it's how we've learned to see.

Make sense?

How we've learned to see.

And I think that's significant because sometimes the problem isn't simply that what we're looking at, it's how we've learned to see our lives.

And before he ever addresses our worry, he wants to expose what we're building our lives around.

And I would like for us to look at this from four different perspectives today.

So the first perspective is this we're gonna look within.

We're gonna look in.

And we're gonna ask this question what is it that I'm actually trusting?

What am I trusting?

So let's take a peek into our hearts.

Pay close attention to how these structural elements are all gonna connect and start working together to help us process and understand how to deal with our worry and anxiety in a different kind of way.

Matthew chapter 6, starting in verse 19, don't store up treasures here on earth where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Verse 20, store your treasures in heaven where moths and rust uh cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.

Look at verse 21, very important verse.

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

So what is he saying here?

Quite simply, very simple.

Our treasure reveals where our hearts are gonna go.

What you're in pursuit of, the things that you treasure in this life will reveal your heart.

So, where are we storing up treasures?

And where what is it that we've decided is valuable?

Our hearts are gonna be connected to and follow whatever it is that we say that we treasure.

So what I treasure will capture my heart.

Let's keep moving.

We just looked at these verses.

Now let's read them.

Look at verse 22.

Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body.

When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.

But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness.

And if the light you think you have, this is powerful, and if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is, that's scary.

He's talking about the way that we see, the way that we observe, the way that we process what's happening in our lives around us.

And he says this if you think that what you think is light is, or if what you think is light is really dark, well, that's a real scary place to be.

Jesus is addressing the condition of our spiritual sight.

So our focus or our eye, the way we see things, will eventually reveal the way that we have perspective about the things that are happening to us and the things that are happening around us.

They shape the way we see our lives.

So we talk about this a lot at Plum Creek.

Never forget, we're always being formed.

Something is always forming us, it's always happening.

The question that you and I have to keep asking ourselves with tenacity is what is it that I'm allowing to shape me?

What is it that's impacting the way that I see and process and understand this life that we're living?

So let's look at the next verse, verse 24.

Jesus is continuing and he says, No one can serve two masters, for you will hate one and love the other.

You will be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

So what Jesus is saying is, be careful, because whatever your master is, you will serve, right?

Whatever is your master, you will serve, because the master reveals our allegiance.

And what is it that we have allowed to be the master of our lives?

What is it that we're depending on, believing that it will be our ultimate security?

So then we get to this verse that my mom told me to pay attention to, Matthew 6, 25.

That is why, or therefore, Jesus says, I tell you not to worry about everyday life.

Whether you will have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear, isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing.

So, and then there's this therefore statement where Jesus takes all of the things that we've just looked at and he kind of wraps his arms around all of them and says, Listen, friends, it's all connected.

These things are all connected.

Your treasure reveals your heart, your per your perspective, what your eyes lock on.

And then that thing that becomes your master is what you serve.

And don't kid yourself.

This is all part of what is the substructure around your life.

And when you're worrying, you've got all of these things kind of out of line.

So Jesus is saying we need to do it different.

Jesus connects our worry to what we've arranged our lives around.

And so you remember that little voice that I talked about earlier that you and I have both experienced.

I've got to make sure and I've got to do this.

It's on me.

I am responsible.

And maybe, maybe I've arranged my life as though ultimately everything depends on me.

And so this week, as I was finishing my talk for this weekend, I was wondering: is it possible?

Is it possible, friends, that some of what we call worry may actually be the exhaustion of trying to do a job that was never meant to be ours?

Maybe that's why it feels so overwhelming.

Because it was never meant to be yours to carry.

Let me say it again.

Some of what we call worry may actually be the exhaustion of trying to do a job that was never meant to be ours.

And it's important for you to hear me hear me say this now because I know that worry and anxiety is a complicated thing, and there are clinical and physiological and trauma-related realities, and I know those things are real, and I've I've experienced some of them, and I've talked with many that have.

And there are times where we have to get compassionate care to overcome these things.

But oftentimes I think we've left the spiritual component out too.

And so, in a multifaceted approach to dealing with worry and anxiety, we have to also, we're spiritual beings, friends.

We have to understand the spiritual in this as well.

Jesus is inviting us to ask ourselves an important question.

What am I trying to control?

Because I'm not sure I can trust the Father with it.

And so, first we had this look within, and then it brings us to the second perspective where Jesus says, now look around, look around.

And I want you to watch what he does.

Look around.

What is my father doing?

And I love that Jesus doesn't leave us looking within ourselves to try harder to manufacture trust, right?

Light and duck light, trust more.

I will trust more, I will trust more, I will trust more.

No, he says, look, get your head up and look around.

Look around and see the faithfulness of my heavenly father.

And by the way, who better to tell us about our heavenly father than Jesus, right?

He's actually standing on mission from God.

And he's like, Look, I know a couple things about the big guy.

And I'm gonna try and help you understand the big guy better.

Because God loves you and he cares about you.

And so instead, he redirects our eyes.

So look at this picture on the wall behind me.

This is a beautiful bird.

I'm from the Midwest.

Blue Jays are always a big thing, and then you come to Colorado and you're like, wait a yeah, blue bird, right?

And I want you to look at that picture while I read Jesus' words from Matthew 6 26.

Look at the birds.

They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns for your heavenly father feeds them.

And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?

Have you seen birds lately?

You ever slow down long enough to look at a bird and rather than just see it?

I'm hoping that will happen this week after we've talked about this.

Jesus says, Look, they don't plant, harvest, or store food, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

And more importantly, how more valuable to him are you than they are?

And then notice I want you to see.

Now we're gonna get this great perspective forming question in verse 27.

And every medical personality, uh, person, every therapist in the house is gonna say a resounding amen to this.

Likely you've heard this verse before, but it's a forming question.

We have to arrange our lives around what Jesus said, and in verse 27, he asks us this rhetorical question: Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Which now, with all the medical advancements that we have, they study these things and they're like, no, actually, your worry takes days from your life.

So it's amazing.

Jesus was saying, Look, I love you guys.

Can one of these worries add a single second to your life?

No, it can't.

It's gonna make it worse.

So learn what I'm telling you.

So here's another picture Columbine, beautiful Colorado wildflower.

Listen to what Jesus' words say in verse 28.

And why worry about your clothing?

Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow.

They don't work or make their clothing.

Yet Solomon, do you remember who Solomon was?

The king of the doggone nation.

He says, Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautiful as they are.

And if God cares so wonderfully for water wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.

Why do you have so little faith?

So Jesus shifts from just observing a flower to considering a flower, just looking at a bird to considering a bird, and to see how his reflection is in all of this.

And if God cares so much for something so temporary, how much more, friend, does he care for you?

So then we get to verse 31, and he he just says this so don't worry about these things, saying, What will we eat?

And what will we drink?

This is the morning talk that we have to talk ourselves off of, right?

Haven't even got out of bed yet.

Don't worry about these things saying, what will we eat?

What will we drink?

What will we wear?

These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all of your wants.

Is that what it says?

No, it doesn't say wants.

It says your needs.

He knows what you need.

And I love this.

Because when we look closely at this, we need to notice where Jesus takes us.

You see, he's not giving you a forecast for tomorrow, so you have great certainty on what's going to happen tomorrow.

That's not what worry-free living is about.

He doesn't promise that everything will work out the way that we want.

That's not what he does.

But remember what we've been saying: if Jesus is right about God, and that is what this passage is all about.

The one most qualified to tell you and I about our Heavenly Father.

And if he knows what's right about God, life, and the soul, then it only makes sense to rearrange our lives around what he said is true.

So what is he telling us in this passage of Scripture, this great sermon that he taught?

What is he telling us about dad?

Here's what he's saying.

For someone that's carrying a load of anxiety, for someone that's carrying a load of worry, listen to what Jesus is saying to you today.

Hey, Dad sees.

Dad knows.

Dad values.

Dad cares.

Dad provides for his children.

And we need to rearrange, don't you think?

This is what Jesus is saying.

You need to rearrange your life around dad.

Because when you truly know who he is, you begin to build your life on that.

Friend, listen, I promise you what will happen is those worries and those anxieties will start to subside a bit.

And notice this, Jesus doesn't answer our uncertainty about tomorrow by telling us more about tomorrow.

Don't miss this.

He tells us about our Father.

Friend, listen, you have a heavenly father.

And remember our question from earlier: who am I really trusting to hold my life together?

Jesus is inviting us to see that we have a father who knows our needs.

But Jesus doesn't simply want us to know that we have a father here, but not live it here.

He wants that truth to change how we arrange our lives.

So we take a look within, we take a look around, and then that brings us to our third perspective.

We look ahead.

What am I seeking?

Now here's the rearrangement challenge of Jesus' words.

Just like we've said, if Jesus is right, we need to rearrange.

Jesus is saying the same thing here.

Now here's the rearrangement challenge in language in verse 33.

Seek the kingdom of God after you have your work done.

Seek the kingdom of God after your day went okay.

Is that what it says?

Does it say seek the kingdom of God when you have nothing left to worry about?

I don't see that here.

Jesus specifically says, seek the kingdom of God.

What are the words?

Say them with me above all else.

And live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

So don't worry about tomorrow.

This sounds like your therapist, ready?

These are your therapist words.

So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.

Today's trouble is enough for today, right?

Now notice what Jesus doesn't say.

He doesn't tell us to stop seeking, he tells us what to seek first.

He doesn't say these other things don't matter.

And that's where this rearrangement starts happening.

And if rearrangement is needed, that means we've arranged our lives around something different.

What is the culture showing us and telling us and wooing us into rearranging our life around?

Family and relationships and health and planning and money and career, right?

That's what drives us.

And listen, Jesus not one time in his great sermon says, friends, listen, all those things are bad things.

He never says that.

That is not what he says.

The problem isn't always that we have the wrong pieces, it's that we have the pieces in the wrong priority.

And sometimes we're asking these things to do for us something they were never designed to do.

Money can be a huge distraction from seeking the kingdom of God first.

Amen.

So can career and family and security, and none of them are bad things, but they were never meant to be the primary thing.

And Jesus says, seek first his kingdom, not remove everything else.

He just says, look, just rearrange it properly and watch what happens when you do.

And this is so hard.

Ready?

I need to tell you something.

This is, I wish it was not the case.

I wish this wasn't the case.

You don't make a chance a decision to rearrange your life one time and then you're done.

It doesn't happen.

You know why?

Because tomorrow's Monday.

And Monday is going to have its own set of problems, isn't it?

And we're going to be challenged to rearrange our life around the kingdom of God one more time.

And if we're honest with each other, it's not just one more time, it might be all day long.

We have to keep rearranging our lives.

The second we get off course, other stuff's going to start spinning, and it's going to spin us.

And the next thing you know, our hearts and our souls are overwhelmed and we're predisposed to worry and anxiety and it takes over.

So we got to rearrange again tomorrow.

But don't miss verse 34.

So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.

Today's trouble is enough for today, and that's so important.

Jesus is dropping some theology here that you have to know.

Because if you don't know what Jesus said there, it will mess you up here and it will mess you up here.

What do I mean?

Jesus acknowledges that tomorrow we'll have trouble.

He doesn't say that you're going to have a trouble-free life.

And yet, so many times don't we think if I just do this thing right, God's going to help my life work out perfect and I'll never have another problem.

It just doesn't work that way, and that's not what Jesus said either.

And so if I have this misunderstanding of God's trustworthiness and I think that he's going to prevent all difficult things from happening in my life, eventually the suffering that we have to walk through, the hardships that we have to walk through won't just hurt us.

It'll dismantle your trust in Jesus.

And there are so many that have gone down this path.

Well, if he really was who he said he was, I wouldn't have to deal with all this stuff.

I'm like, well, we need to read the real Bible then.

Because Jesus said tomorrow's going to bring some challenges.

And it's not really about the challenges, it's about where you've arranged your life.

This is so important.

So how can we know that our Father can be trusted?

You see, trust doesn't mean that I stop planning for tomorrow.

Did you hear what I just said there?

Please hear me say that again.

Trust doesn't mean that I stop planning for tomorrow.

It just means that tomorrow stops being my master today.

Instead, my mind is rearranged.

My heart and my soul is rearranged in a different way, knowing that dad can be trusted, that he's got it.

So we look within, we look around, we look ahead, and then that brings us to our final perspective.

We need to look again where the Father has proven his heart.

And again, the whole time I'm thinking about Jesus' message there on the side of that hill that day, I'm thinking, you know where Jesus is about to go?

Where's he about to go?

To the cross.

He's like, listen, guys, I'm trying to tell you about dad.

He's so crazy about you.

Like, whoo! I'm going through it for you.

Just so you know.

I'm about to head to the cross, and he's gonna put me on that cross on purpose because that's gonna put his love on display in a different kind of way, and you and I will then have an opportunity to be in the very presence of the king.

That's how much my dad loves you, Jesus is saying.

Look how Paul said it.

Where has the father proven his heart again and again?

We must go back to this.

Paul says this in Romans 8.

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?

If God, someone needs to hear this, if God is for us, who can ever be against us?

Since he did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for us, won't he also give us everything else?

So think back to what dear Jesus taught that day.

The birds, they reveal his provision, the flowers, they reveal his attention.

Oh, but friends, the cross, that reveals our Heavenly Father's heart.

And if God did not spare his own son but gave him up for us, please hear me today.

How much more can we trust him with our lives?

You see, Jesus does not answer our uncertainty and our fear for tomorrow by telling us more about tomorrow.

Instead, what Jesus teaches you and I is more about his Father.

So the invitation today isn't to try harder to stop worrying.

Stop trying to not worry.

That's not the answer.

Today is an invitation to rearrange our lives around what Jesus has said is true.

And what is that?

Please, look at me.

You have a heavenly father.

And he loves you.

And when you trust the Father, worry will begin to lose its grip on your life.

I want to make this personal.

So what's gonna happen tomorrow?

If you're like me, you're gonna have to get up at 3 to pee.

And your head's gonna start spinning, right?

And it'll be really hard to turn it off.

And you have a decision to make right then.

Your feet hadn't even really even hit the floor yet.

Your day hasn't really even begun, and yet we our minds can be spinning out of control, and we start to worry, and anxiety starts to hit, and you're like, dear Lord, I just want to go back to bed.

So, what if tomorrow, when you're laying in bed and your mind begins this incessant spin of all the things?

What if you're just reminded of what Jesus said and it becomes a prayer prompt?

Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything that you need.

So I thought it would be great.

You have your communion elements, can you open them?

I thought it would be important for us today to take communion together because this is actually part of the problem, isn't it?

I also think it's interesting that when Jesus did communion the first time, if you don't have communion elements, just raise your hand and we'll get them to you if somehow you snuck in without getting one today.

We practice open communion too, by the way, which means it's not about church membership, it's about your relationship with the Lord.

And so if you've taken that step across the line of faith, uh this is for you today.

And if you haven't, I hope you will in this moment.

Maybe you're carrying with you some worry and anxiety, and you realize you need a Jesus.

And you need to know this Heavenly Father that Doug's been talking about today.

Today you can make a decision to step across that line of faith and say yes to him, knowing you've fallen short of his perfect standard.

Saying, I'm tired of trying to deal with worry and anxiety alone.

I need this God you're talking about in my life.

Matter of fact, bow your heads, will you?

If that was you, would you just simply pray that prayer?

Use your own words.

Lord, I'm tired of trying to do this on my own.

I need you today.

Will you help me to understand what it means to rearrange my life around you?

And now for all of us, this is an important moment.

Because that very Jesus that was speaking that day, this what we hold is a symbol of his body that was broken and his blood that was shed.

And you know how much he loves you?

He came to tell you about his dad, to put his dad's love on display for us.

And so, Lord, I pause today to pray for my friends.

Whether in this room or at home worshiping online, Lord, you know that worry and anxiety can take over our lives and it can be so crippling.

And we play the what if game way, way, way too much.

Truth be told, the problem is that we haven't rearranged our lives the way you've challenged us to.

And so, Lord, I'm praying today for supernatural help for some of my friends that this has become such a way of life that they don't even know how to escape it.

So, we're gonna do what you told us to do.

You said, remember, do this often.

The ultimate display of our heavenly father's love, dad's got it, is that he sent his son.

That his body would be broken and his blood would be shed.

So today we remember.

Will you take the bread?

And now take the cup.

Will you stand to your feet, Father?

As we close our time in worship, I'm just asking that you will remind us of the heart of our Heavenly Father and all that you've done for us.

That rather than trying to control life on our own, that we need to rearrange our lives beginning this week around the truth that our dad's got it, and you can be trusted, and we can put our lives in your hands.

Lord, help us this week by the power of your spirit at work in us to help us to live this way, and all God's people said.

Thanks again for listening.

Our prayer is that this message encouraged and challenged you in your journey to follow Jesus.

If you'd like to learn more about our church, please check us out online at plumcreek.church or if you find yourself within driving distance of Castle Rock, Colorado, we would be honored to see you in person on a weekend.

So until next time, grace and peace in the name of Jesus.