How many of you ever have had trouble enjoying the day that you're in, because you're thinking about or stressing about a day that is yet to come. Does anybody struggle with that from time-to-time or is it just me? Okay, a lot of us.
We struggle to fully participate in the day that we're in because of stress or worry or a day that's coming up in the future. It could be a good day. I know if you're in school right now, high school or college, yeah, we're turning the corner to spring fever, right?
Which is because that time of year that you're so focused on what's next, summer time or graduation or whatever the next season is that it's hard to stay focused in the moment. Some of you may be single. And you're looking forward to the day when you're married, and so maybe often you think so much about that day that you don't take full advantage of the day that you're in right now.
Or maybe you're like me and you've got kids. And you remember the day that you prayed for the kids, and now you're praying that they will leave soon. And so you struggle, right?
Not really. Lisa's shaking her head at me. But there are days that you're thinking about the next season of life with them or you think about what's next, and you don't fully enjoy the moment.
Does anybody ever worry about the future? I know there may be some of you that you even considered not coming to church this weekend because of something that you're facing this week. A project that's coming up, a deadline, and you thought maybe I'll take that extra time to get that done, 'cause you're thinking about something in the future.
Christmas is a great example of this. I know there are many of you that may struggle to enjoy the moments leading up to Christmas especially if you're the one who's in charge of getting all the presents. Lisa's staring at me right now.
You struggle to fully embrace the season because, man, you gotta get the stuff done. There's so much still yet to do. For some of us here today, this is the struggle of our lives.
Worry, anxiety. There's always an underlying sense of dread about the future or worry about the future that robs us of today. I know I'm not wired like that.
I have plenty of my own issues. That's not what I mind, but when it does come to the surface is when there's something big that either happens or something big that is coming. Transparently, doing this on a weekend is one of those things.
That when I've got to preach on the weekend and if my starting place is, oh gosh, I don't wanna screw that up. That's a lot of people to look silly in front of, which is a bad thought, but it's one that comes every now and then. I can find myself stressing about the message.
I'll be sitting at dinner with my family, my wife, and my kids, and my mind is somewhere else. And maybe you can relate to that as well. So the question for us this weekend is is it possible, is it possible for us to live in such a way where the worries about the future don't rob us of the joy and possibilities of today?
Is that possible? I believe that it is. I believe that it is.
And if you read the Gospels, you'll notice that Jesus seemed to be really good at living in the moment. Think about this, He had three years of public ministry. And His task, His assignment, His purpose in life was to save humanity.
It's a pretty big job. I know you have a big job too, but that's a pretty big deal, right? And yet He only had three years, and somehow He seemed to always stay present to the moment that He was in.
If you remember His friend Lazarus was on His death bed, and word came to Him. And Jesus had the ability to heal him. And yet He stayed where He was for three days while His friend died.
He was able to stay in the moment. At one time, He had a very important assignment. There was a very important person whose daughter was sick.
And so he was going to do this and to heal this person. And on the way there was a woman that we don't even know her name, had been struggling with an issue for years and years and years. And she touched His cloak, and He stopped.
And He was present in that moment. He wasn't so consumed about the future that he missed a moment that was right in front of His own eyes. And so what we're gonna do as we conclude our series "Give Us This Day" is I want us to look at something that Jesus specifically said to those of us who struggle to enjoy the moment.
To those of us that struggle to stay in the moment of the day that we're in. And so, we're gonna look at a Bible study from Matthew chapter six. We've been in this chapter the entire series, and I'm gonna go ahead and give you the end first.
Like the big idea, the main point, He gives it to us in Matthew six verse 33. He says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness "and all these things will be given to you as well. " Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.
That's the key. And the key is this, we put God first in our lives. Now you're like, thank you, pastor.
That's what you're supposed to say. We're at church, right? It's not brand new information for many of us.
Put God first and He can add everything else, but what I want us to do is back up. This is kind of the end of this part of His teaching, but I want us to back up to where He started it and see if we can learn how that is really practical and relevant for our life, especially as it relates to our ability to enjoy the day that we're in. So look at Matthew six verse 24.
Nine verses earlier. To where He starts this conversation. And here's what 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.
" A lot of times when we read this verse and we just think about the money part of it, which is very true, but Jesus is saying something much bigger than money. He's saying, "You can't serve two masters. " It doesn't matter what the other thing competing for mastery is in your life, you can't serve both God and anything else.
Why did He talk about money? Because that's probably one of the things that we're most likely to stress about, right? For many of us, money means security for the future.
It represents provision in our lives. It represents our ability to care for the people around us, and so a lot of us struggle with money. He says, "You can't serve both God and money.
" He's not saying money is bad, He's just saying it's a bad master. And so for some of you, that maybe your struggle. Others may go, "You know what, that's not it for me.
"I don't struggle with money. " Maybe you don't have enough money for it. I definitely relate to that where it's like it's not, certainly not master in my life, but some of you, maybe you have a lot of margin in that area of your life and that's not your worry.
And so the question is, what is competing for mastery in your life? You can't serve God and money, but you also can't serve God and your goals, you can't serve God and your business, you can't serve God and notoriety or popularity, you can't serve God in your Instagram account. In other words, the opinion of what other people think about you.
You can't serve two masters. Anything that competes for mastery in your life. If we do, it's a recipe for stress and it's a recipe for worry and anxiety.
Think about it, you can't train for a pie-eating contest and a half marathon at the same time, right? Like, they're competing values. You have to determine what's most important to me and then I'm gonna let everything else follow that.
And so let's look at what we can learn, three thoughts, as Jesus begins to kinda dig this stuff up. It's kinda gonna be a little bit of a counseling session with Jesus today, but it's gonna be really, really good for us to hear and experience. So when God is first in my life, the first thing that I know is it decreases my capacity for negative emotions.
It decreases my capacity for negative emotions. Until God is truly the master in our life, we're gonna struggle with anxiety, and fear, and stress about our future, we're gonna have a very difficult time living in this day and in this moment. Look what he says in verse 25.
He's just told us, "Therefore," is how it starts. In a lot of your Bibles, there's a little break between verse 24 and 25 like a new section of Scripture, it shouldn't be there because what he's saying is therefore, in other words, because you can't serve two masters, he goes on to say, "I tell you, do not worry about your life, "what you will eat or drink or about your body, "what you will wear. "It is, is not life more than food "and the body more than clothes.
" Because you can't serve two masters, don't worry about anything. Thank You, Jesus, that is very impractical. Like, come on, have you ever had somebody say, "Hey, just stop worrying about stuff.
"Don't be anxious. " That sounds wonderful. If I knew how to stop doing that, I would.
It can be frustrating to hear that advice, but he's pointing it back to the fact that for a lot of us, the root of that worry is that God is not first in our life. That we're trying to serve two masters. 'Cause whatever you're worrying about if you're not careful, it will compete for mastery.
It will become our master. He's saying, "Don't be so consumed "by what must take place tomorrow "that you end up mastered by it today. " Don't be so consumed with what's coming up tomorrow that it becomes your master today.
And ultimately, it's a matter of trust. He's saying I want you to trust Me so much that you're able to enjoy the moments that you're in and that you're not being robbed of those moments by the fear about tomorrow. Maybe this is why Jesus never seemed to be in a hurry.
Look at verse 26. He says, "Look at the birds of the air. " I just wanna say, Jesus, that's not practical, man.
Like, who has time to look at the birds of the air? We got a bird feeder like three or four years ago. I don't think I've ever looked out there to see if birds are there.
Like, we just don't have, maybe you're retired and you have time to look at the birds. It just doesn't seem very practical to me. Do you see the contrast in how Jesus seemed to be able to enjoy each day versus maybe how some of us feel in the hustle-bustle hurry of life?
He says, "Stop, look at the birds of the air, "they don't sow or reap or store away in barns "and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. "Are you not much more valuable than they are? " They're not stressing out about tomorrow.
I value you more than I value them, but we can learn something from them. That they have a day-to-day trust that their needs are gonna be met. That God is gonna take care of them.
Then he asked a simple question, verse 27. "Can anyone of you by worrying "add a single hour to your life? " In other words, can anyone of you by obsessing over what you have no control over influence what you have no control over?
No, you can't. That is a recipe for stress. When I try to take control of something that I don't actually have responsibility for, then that is a recipe for stress in our lives.
And then he says, verse 28, "And why do you worry about clothes? " When I read that, I thought, I don't worry about clothes. I mean, that's ridiculous.
And then last night, I was getting ready to preach for the first time and I was wearing something different and I went to our worship team 'cause they're kinda supposedly on the leading edge of fashion and I said, "Is this outfit working for me? " And they said, Garrett Abel, I'll throw him under the bus, he said, "No, it's really not. " And so, I had to scramble.
I had to find another shirt. I had brought a back-up thankfully. I had to get it ironed and get ready.
And I was like, "Dude, you are getting ready "to preach about this "and here you are worried about your clothes. " But listen, that's a big screen. You can't come out here lookin', [congregation laughs] lookin' rough.
So He says, "Don't worry about your clothes. " And maybe you don't worry about clothing, but let me ask you this question. What do you worry about?
When your mind goes to that place, maybe at night and you're having a hard time sleeping, what do you worry about? Chances are it's not a bad thing. It may be our families, the well-being of our kids, how we're gonna get our bills paid in the future, maybe something going on at work.
For most of us, we don't wake up in the morning going, all right, I'm either gonna rob a bank or put God first in my life. I just gotta figure out which one, right? Usually it's good things, but when they become our master, when they become the most important thing, it creates stress, anxiety, negative emotions in our lives.
Verse 28 to 30, He says, "See how the flowers of the field grow. " "No, I don't see how they grow. "I don't have time to watch flowers of the field grow.
" Have you ever tried to watch a flower grow? Like, it takes a while. But He says, "They don't labor or spin.
"Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all of 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 kinda hits us straight between the eyes with the issue.
He says, "You of little faith. " You of little faith. He's sayin' when it comes to the things that we worry about, when it comes to the things that we stress out over, what are we gonna drink, what are we gonna eat, how we're gonna get our needs met, ultimately, He says it comes down to faith.
It comes down to faith. And let me just say this because I know there are many of you that may be here today and you struggle with this issue, anxiety, to the point that you're taking medicine for it. And I just wanna say, please, continue to do that.
What I'm not saying is that faith will just eliminate all of our problems, but what I am saying is no matter what you have facing you, what diagnosis you have, we can walk through it and experience the peace that passes all understanding. When we put our faith, then we're anchored in Christ. And so He says, "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.
'" He says, when you start worrying about those things, you're really acting like the pagans. Your faith is not really activated in your life if that's kind of the ongoing state of mind that you're in. He says, "Your Father already knows that you need them.
" And so, what is it that you are tempted to worry about? For me, full transparency, probably the biggest thing that I worry about is this right here. Our church.
This great thing that I love being a part of, that's changed my life, that's changed my family's life. But I remember about eight or 10 years ago when the leadership team at Seacoast sat me down and said, "Hey, we are just kinda beginning "to think through transition "and we believe that God has called you "to step into a leadership role at Seacoast. " So my response was, you're all crazy.
Like, what is wrong with you? I can name 10 people who could leave this place. Like, that's ridiculous.
I can't do that. I can't do that. And I often feel overwhelmed just with leading the church when I get it out of order.
Because even as great as this church is, it can become a master in my life and it can get in the wrong place. And so, here's what I do. I wake up every morning and this is my prayer.
Lord, this was not my idea. You got me into this, so I'm trusting You to see me through it [chuckles]. [congregation laughs] Really, that's my attitude about this church.
This is the deal, right? [congregation applauds] But let me encourage you. The same is true of you with whatever it is that you're stressing about or worrying about.
If God has given us purpose, if He's given us a place, a significance in this world, He's given us a family, He's going to come through on His end. And I remember probably three, four years into our marriage, I remember Lisa and I were driving home from a vacation. And she said to me like, "I'm not ready to go back.
"I don't wanna go back. "I don't want you to go back to work. " And I thought, well, you know, I know.
It's post-vacation blues. We all deal with that from time-to-time. And she told me on this drive.
She said, "No, this is a little bit, "this is a little bit deeper than that. " And as we began to talk and have a conversation about it, she'd began to share that she felt some resentment in her heart about the church. And I was like, "What are you talking about, babe?
"I mean, this church is why we know each other. "God has changed our lives in so many ways. " And she said, "All of that is true, "but at times, I feel like you're married to the church.
"I feel like I'm having to compete for your attention "with the church. " And it was like, oh, my gosh. At the time, I just started the ministry.
I was over at the annex, which is one of our campuses and I realized I had totally put the church as a master in my life. I felt like I had to be at every event, she had to be at every event and it had gotten to an unhealthy place. And maybe you have either heard or said the words you're married to your work.
And if that's the case, work may be in the wrong place. It may have become a master in our lives, and you can't serve two masters. You will love the one and despise the other.
So when I put God first, it's gonna decrease my capacity for those negative emotions. The second thing though is it's gonna increase my capacity for everything else. Everything else.
Let's go back to that verse 33, Matthew 6:33. And what I want us to do is let's read it out loud together. "But seek first His kingdom.
" A lot of times when we read out loud, we actually like move our lips and say the words out loud. [congregation laughs] So, let's try that again. You guys in Somerville were all over it.
And I know you had it there, but we were struggling here. So let's start over. We're gonna read it out loud.
- [All] "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness "and all these things will be given to you as well. " - What are "all these things"? All the stuff that He was just talking about, the things that we worry about, the things that we stress about.
The provision, the money, the family. The needs of our kids, the job, the project that's coming up. All these things, He said, "If you'll put Me first, "it will increase your capacity "for all those things that you're worried about.
" And I wanna illustrate it with this. So these are a couple of jars and these jars would represent our lives, our capacity. The same size jars.
And the small rocks in this jar, this represents all of that stuff. The stuff we stress about. It's not that it's not important.
This could be important stuff. This could be our families. This could be where I'm gonna go to college.
Our hobbies. This is our resources, our income, our job. All of that stuff is in this jar.
But when we put that stuff first, and then we go, well, you know, I wanna also go after God. I wanna have a relationship with Him. I'm gonna give my life to the Lord and that's important to me.
And we've been talking a lot about small groups, and relationships, and building my faith in that way. I wanna do that. I wanna be a part of church attendance and I definitely wanna be a part of the dream team.
We talk about how important is it to get involved, and to service, and to be a part of that. That's like, man, I'd love to do that. And I mean, tithing, I know that's a big deal.
I wish I could do that, but at the end of the day, I just, I can't do it all. I can't do it all. And many of us feel that way right now.
There are some things we want to. It's the beginning of a new year, we were going after it. Like, I wanna put God first in my life, but gosh, at the end of the day, it doesn't all fit.
I don't know how to make it happen. And that's where Jesus says, "Hey, seek Me first. " It's not just seek me, but seek me first.
So when I decide that I'm gonna have the attitude that Joshua had and when he said, "As for me and my house, "we are going to serve the Lord. "Priority one, I'm gonna do it first. "I'm gonna give my life to Him.
" Maybe for you, that represents getting baptized today. I wanna put Him first in my life. I'm gonna be involved at the church.
I'm gonna get involved in a small group. I'm gonna get involved in the dream team. I'm gonna make it a priority for me.
I'm gonna be a person of prayer. I'm gonna try to wake up every day and pray and put God first in that way of my life. I'm gonna give my resources to Him.
I wanna read His word. I wanna make Sabbath a priority. I'm gonna take the things that God's word says about putting Him first and I'm gonna build my life around that.
And then we've got all this other stuff that's really important too that a lot of us are worried about. But when we get the order right, Jesus says, "Hey, I got you, man. "The thing you're worried about, "your family, your job, your resources.
"If you put Me first, "there's room for everything else. " [congregation applauds] Here's the principle. Priority determines capacity.
Priority determines capacity. If we get it right, if we get our priorities right, man, God is not trying to withhold from you [chuckles]. There may be some things that you're trying to fit in there that don't belong, but when you put God first, He'll reveal those things.
There may be habits or addictions that you've been trying to stop on your own, you've been trying to figure it out, but it's like, man, when you put God first, you've gotta, every day, I want You to be first in my life, it creates capacity for all of the other stuff. Priority determines capacity. So where is your priority today?
My prayer for us is today would be a moment for us to realign our priorities. Say, God, I wanna put You first. It's all-important, but, God, You're first in my life.
And when we do that, not only does it decrease our capacity for negative emotions, it increases our capacity for all that other stuff, but it also, third point, gives me the ability to be my best today. To be my best today. The last verse in this chapter, verse 34, he says, "Therefore, "in light of all of that that we've talked about, "do not worry about tomorrow "for tomorrow will worry about itself.
"Each day has enough trouble of its own. " In other words, today needs my best. Today needs my focus.
Today needs everything I've got. I need to be my best for today 'cause tomorrow isn't even guaranteed and it's got plenty of troubles for their. So He's saying don't let the worries of tomorrow rob you of the joy, and the focus, and the opportunity of today.
And when we put God first, it allows us to be our best today. And I don't know about you, but when I'm my best as a dad, I'm patient, I'm loving, I'm kind. I'm not blowing up at my kids.
By the way, all of those are fruit of the spirit that is being birthed in me. When I put God first, I'm able to be more patient, I'm able to be more loving. When I'm best as a leader, I'm not comparing myself to other pastors or other leaders and trying to be somebody that I'm not.
I'm just embracing the call of God on my own life and I'm trying to do my very best to do that to the best of my ability. When I'm at my best, I'm attentive to the people that God has put my life today to reach out. To reach out to those who are hurting, to those that are struggling.
Maybe to the poor. When I'm at my best, I'm others focused and I'm not so consumed with me. And here's what's awesome is that every day that we step into the best version of ourselves, it opens a door for someone else to become the best version of themselves.
And this isn't self-help stuff. This is the fruit of the spirit of God living in us that allows us to give our best and our focus to today. That's how we experience kingdom culture here on earth as it is in heaven.
So we've had this little counseling session with Jesus. He's talked to us about our worry and our anxiety, and about putting Him first. If we were there, I think the next question would be, okay, Jesus, how?
Like, that sounds great. I wanna put You first in my life. How do we do that?
What does that look like? And I think He would go, "Hey, why don't you go back "to the beginning of this chapter. "Why don't you go back "to the beginning of this conversation, "which is what this whole series has been anchored on "which is the Lord's Prayer.
" Look what He says. He says, "But when you pray, "but when you pray. " Are you praying?
Do you pray? I don't ask that question in a judgmental way or condescending way at all, but I think it's an honest question that we ought to each evaluate. Is prayer a part of my life or have I gotten kind of into the habit of doing things in my own power, in my own ability?
Jesus is assuming that we are people who pray. He says, "When you pray, this then is how you should pray. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
" In other words, God, You are great. How great is our God? You are first and I am not.
And I wanna start each day knowing, God, You are number one. I am a vessel. I am here to be used by You.
I'm here to serve You. You are great. Hollowed be Your name.
He says, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done. " God, help me today to be about Your agenda and not mine. Help me today to be the kind of person who brings the kingdom of heaven into every conversation that I have and to every interaction that I have.
That I would be a person that when people around me, they see a glimpse of hope and a glimpse of heaven. And He says, "Give us today our daily bread. " Not tomorrow, not next week or next year, but today.
God, help me be a person who is dependent on You each day for every bit of provision. The resources, the insight, the wisdom. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Remember, priority determines capacity. Priority determines capacity. What are you seeking first?
What are you seeking first and what needs to change for you today? Remember, you can only serve one master and there's only one master that's worth serving. Would you, guys, pray with me as we close.
God, we thank You for a simple, [chuckles] yet life-altering message that You give us out of Your word. And, God, I just pray that as we are gathered here today, for each of my friends that are gathered, that we just wanna, we wanna get this right, God. Would You help us to get our priorities aligned.
For some of us, there's been just a lot of misalignment. We've been putting a lot of things ahead of You. And, God, we just pray that by the power of Your spirit, that You would help us today to put You first, to remember that we trust You, that we anchor our faith in You, that You would decrease our capacity for worry and anxiety.
I pray, Lord, that today, even in this moment, that You would break us free of fear, and of anxiety, that You would allow us to be attentive to this day, to this moment. And that, Lord, You would add all the things that we need. You'd add all the things that we need.
We trust You for all of it. We pray that You would give us today what we need, in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.
