Sermons

Are You Humble enough to be Care-free

Posted by Alex on
Sermon on June 26 by Pastor Roland Eskinazi

Scripture:  1 Peter 5:7

Anxiety comes with the package of being human.
Is it possible to live a care-free life when anxieties threaten us?

When anxiety wants to drown you:

1. EXPECT IT – IT WANTS ALL OF YOUR HEART!     ‘Cast all your anxieties on Him…’

  • You won’t control what you can’t control
    Much of our anxiety is about what we cannot change or may not happen…

‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own’.
(Mat. 6:34)

  • Imagining the worst will not prepare you best

‘Advanced worriers worry about everything, and if you worry about everything you will occasionally stumble upon an approximation to a real event. ‘.
(Ed Welch)

2. CONFRONT IT – CAST IT ALL ON THE LORD!     ‘Cast all your anxieties on Him…’

  • Dump your anxiety – throw it where it belongs
    Do not throw your anxieties in the air, or on your family – but consciously hand the entire load over to the Lord
  • Ditch your anxiety – trust the Pilot to fly
    The presence of anxiety is directly related to the absence of humility …
    ‘Humble yourselves under God mighty hand’ (v6) When you do, you will trust the Pilot to handle the journey and relax in the flight. (Luke 10:42)

3. RESIST IT – YOU ARE GOD’S ONGOING CONCERN     ‘… because He cares for you’

  • God is too wide awake to drop you
    Faith is not groping in the dark. If God is wide-awake, it si trusting Him for each step as well as the end of the journey (Ps. 121)
  • In Jesus, God is too invested to turn away
    Do you doubt if God really cares? The proof of His care is that 2000 years ago God took our open sins and secret sins (which ought to cause us the greatest anxiety), and placed all of them on the shoulders of Jesus.

Remember! We have an enemy who wants nothing more than to blunt you edge with anxiety! We cannot live in a stress free world. We can be humble enough to be care-free as we relax in God’s wisdom, love and power.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

  1. Is there a difference between legitimate concerns and sinful anxiety? When do we know we have crossed the line from the first into the second?
  2. Read Matthew 6:32. Why does this truth make worrying foolish? What does it say about our view of God if we continue to worry?
  3. Reflect on the following passages: Ps 103:13-14; 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3; Heb. 12:7-10; Jude 1. What do they say about our heavenly Father? How do they point our the irrationality of of anxiety?
  4. Evaluate your joy in your walk with the Lord. Where you recognise that sinful anxiety has dragged you down, confess that. Now ask the Lord to give you the peace and posture of Mary in all the concerns that want to divide your heart.

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Photo credit FreeImages.com/Carin Araujo