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[0:00] May our meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our Redeemer.! May we find comfort and joy in you, our God.

[0:14] ! We be glorified in our hearts. We pray that in Christ's name. Amen.

[0:40] Matthew 6, verse 25. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.

[0:54] Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

[1:07] Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing?

[1:19] Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.

[1:33] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat?

[1:48] Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

[2:07] Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

[2:19] This is God's Word. Autoimmune diseases seem like a morbid joke of this world's brokenness.

[2:33] Immune refers to your immune system, the system that's supposed to protect us by killing off germs and viruses and the like. And auto, in autoimmune, means self.

[2:46] And so an autoimmune disease is what happens when your immune system runs wild and turns in your own body. Your body's guardian cells attack healthy tissue as if it were the enemy.

[3:01] And if it goes untreated long enough, it can shred your organs, doing lasting damage. And there are, that I know of, several people here among our church family who have autoimmune diseases.

[3:17] It's not that uncommon. Worry is the autoimmune disease of the soul. We take something meant to keep us safe.

[3:32] Our God-given capacity for concern and for vigilance. Let it run wild, turning it on ourselves until it does damage. And Jesus says, Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.

[3:55] Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? I wonder, what is it that you worry about in this life?

[4:10] Most of the time, worry seems completely out of our own control. So it seems almost harsh that Jesus would command something that feels like we don't have the ability to do anything about it.

[4:24] As we saw last week, this is not a harsh command. Jesus has shifted. Chapter 5, in the beginning of chapter 6, he was speaking law.

[4:38] Don't do this, it's evil. Then he made a shift last week to wisdom. Don't do this, it is foolishness and folly.

[4:51] Do not chase after dust. And that is what we see here again today. Jesus is appealing, not to us, on moral grounds.

[5:02] But on the grounds of wisdom. These are the commands of a loving God, who wants what is good for us. He does not want us to tear ourselves apart.

[5:16] And so he asks us in verse 26, Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

[5:27] Are you not of much more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to a span of life? We worry in this world about the things we genuinely need.

[5:44] The necessities. In this passage we see the birds not sowing, not reaping, not gathering into barns. We worry about provision. Our finances, our housing, our food, our job prospects.

[6:01] We worry about those necessities. We also worry about our lives. Who can add a single hour to this life? We worry about our health. Health concerns can be some of the most worrying things in this life.

[6:17] Some of the most concerning things for ourselves and for our loved ones. There are many other things, the necessities of this life that we should genuinely care about.

[6:34] Right? Our family, our children, our marriages. There's something wrong when a parent doesn't have a genuine concern for their child. There's something wrong with that situation.

[6:45] We should have concern for these things. And genuine uncertainties, the unknown regarding some of these things, is really concerning.

[6:59] With regard to our own future and that of others. Mike prayed today about the situation with immigration and children.

[7:12] Like I can't even tell you exactly what that is because I don't know. Like, has anybody had trouble these last few weeks figuring out what exactly is happening at our southern border with respect to families?

[7:26] Like, every news agency is trying to debunk every other news agency. And I literally do not know how to pray. And so I can't even direct my care appropriately.

[7:40] That's concerning. That worries me. And so there are many legitimate things that we worry about in this life.

[7:53] Like, one of them is, what will it cost to follow Jesus? What am I giving up day by day to walk in faithfulness? As I give up sin.

[8:06] As I give up my own way to Him. And say, your way, not my way. When my way looks like it will make me happy.

[8:18] And God's way looks like it will make me miserable. Do we worry about that? I do. So we worry about necessities.

[8:29] But we also worry about niceties. Things that we don't really need to worry about. That's what he says in verses 28 and following. And why are you anxious about clothing?

[8:41] Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.

[8:54] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is today alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

[9:10] Clothing in the ancient world, and as now, is a status symbol. Here's one historian. Only the very wealthy could wear bright colors, like purple or scarlet, because of the expensive dyes needed.

[9:28] The average person, and there is no middle class really in the times of Christ, the average person would have an extra cloak, an extra cloak, to function as a blanket for sleeping in the fields that allows.

[9:46] Clothing was not self-expression unless you were fabulously buffy in the ancient days. But we still worry about our appearance, don't we?

[10:02] The appearance that our clothing gives, that our vehicles give, the appearance that our figure and physique present to the world, the appearance that our homes and our reputations and our job titles, and, and, and.

[10:17] We worry about all those things. We also worry about the niceties of comfort. Right? Once we have them, we do not want them taken from us.

[10:32] They immediately become necessities in our lives. Secondary things that we have made primary. It's incredible how quickly luxuries become necessities in our own lives.

[10:43] In our own lives. In my life. Okay. And that's why, verse 25, he begins with, therefore. This is connected to what we said last week.

[10:55] To what Christ was talking about. When we treasure the things of the world, we worry about them. We know that moth and rust and thieves are on their way for those things.

[11:10] And so we worry. Because they are always at risk. Where your treasure is, he said, your heart will be also.

[11:22] And if your heart is set on things that decay, things that are at risk, you will worry about them. Always. And what does worry get us?

[11:38] What are its effects? In Proverbs chapter 12, Solomon, who was just referenced earlier, tells us. In Proverbs 12, 25, it tells us this.

[11:53] Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down. And we know this to be true. In our own lives, don't we? But physically, right?

[12:06] When we're worried about things, our physical self suffers. Everything from lethargy, and listlessness, to illness.

[12:17] To illness. One counselor made a list. Are you having difficulty sleeping? Are you losing your appetite? Or are you overeating? Are you experiencing headaches? Stomach problems? Struggling to maintain good health? Many times it has to do with our worry. God made us body and soul. And so our worries affect us physically, weigh us down physically, but also mentally.

[12:32] And our thoughts. And our thoughts. And our thoughts. And our thoughts. And our thoughts. And our thoughts. And our thoughts. And our thoughts. And our thoughts. And our thoughts.

[12:43] And our thoughts. And our thoughts. us down physically, but also mentally. Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, and it anchors us to an issue. Whatever that thing that we worry about, we are lashed to.

[12:57] We can't move past it. It weighs down our thought life and our hearts. So anxiety weighs us down.

[13:10] It also lies to us, or we lie to ourselves, really. We tell ourselves we won't worry anymore once this trial is passed.

[13:25] Once this issue is resolved, but that's not how it works. Right? We always worry about the next thing. Because worry isn't about our circumstances.

[13:37] Not really. It doesn't end when a concerning situation ends. It's cruel irony, really. We think that if we go, if we get what we want, if things go the way we want them to, that our worry doesn't come true.

[13:57] That will be the end of it. Our worries will be over. That's not the way of things. That's not the way of us. As soon as one worry resolves for good or for ill, we're on to the next concern.

[14:15] Again and again and again. Endlessly. Worry is not about our circumstances. Yes, they're the things we fixate on. But no matter the circumstances, we will find something to worry.

[14:31] And so if we tell ourselves that it will finally go away when this issue gets resolved, we're lying to ourselves. We worry primarily because of something inside us, not outside.

[14:44] Worry. Worry weighs us down. It lies to us.

[14:56] And it isolates us. Worry is a lonely thing. In our worry, we put up walls between ourselves and other people's.

[15:08] We say, in our hearts. We say, what's wrong with you? That you don't care the way I do. Or we accuse ourselves. What's wrong with me? That I'm the only one worried here.

[15:24] It's isolating because it tells us that we are unloved. Our worry makes us ask. Does no one see? Does no one care?

[15:39] We worry about necessities. We worry about niceties. Our worry weighs us down, mind and body. Our worry lies to us, pretending that it's just temporary, and it isolates us.

[15:55] Is there help? Is there hope? Well, it's Jesus speaking here, so there is always hope. Amen.

[16:07] He continues in verse 31. Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?

[16:18] For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

[16:32] Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow. For tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Here's what Jesus does not say.

[16:50] Jesus does not say, it's not a big deal to your worries and cares and concerns. Right? Verse 32. He knows you need them.

[17:01] Jesus doesn't say, it's not a big deal. He doesn't say, you're not a big deal. Verse 26 tells us that God values us much more than something he evidently gives his cares for.

[17:22] Jesus doesn't say, it's not a big deal, or that you're not a big deal. He doesn't say, suck it up. Jesus does not say, just wait it out and ride out the storm.

[17:34] He knows that worry is a liar. There's more worry on the other side of the situation, so he doesn't just say, wait it out. Jesus does not say, what's the matter with you?

[17:44] Jesus does not say, get over yourself, you're being so dramatic. Jesus doesn't say, it's all in your head. because some things are genuinely troubling, and you should care for them.

[18:03] Jesus does not say, stop caring altogether. He does not want us to become stoics. Godly success over worry does not look like being a robot, devoid of feeling.

[18:21] Jesus himself is very passionate, in the Gospels, isn't he? And so this is not an Eastern philosophy where we're trying to eliminate all our desires.

[18:33] God has given us a natural propensity, in his own image, for vigilance. The trouble with worry comes when we make vigilance the only voice we listen to.

[18:50] Jesus also does not say that things will turn out the way I want them to, or the way you want them to. Here's what Jesus does say.

[19:05] At the end of verse 30, Jesus says, oh you of little faith. See, the issue is not whether we have concern for concerning things, or not.

[19:18] We should. The issue is we often live like atheists in the midst of those concerns. See, we've trusted the Lord with our eternal soul for salvation.

[19:37] That's saving faith. But we can go through our daily life without any thought of him. If that describes us, if we disconnect our worries from our God, we shouldn't be surprised if we worry just like those who don't know him at all.

[20:06] And that's exactly what we see in verse 32, a contrast. A contrast. The Gentiles seek after all these things.

[20:18] And your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. There are two groups of people in this world. He says Gentiles here, he's not speaking racially, he's speaking theologically.

[20:32] Those who do not know God. People separated from him. If you are without God, you are on your own.

[20:42] with your worry. Your cares and your concerns, your what-ifs lie on your shoulders. But the people of God, friends, we are not alone.

[21:02] We have a Father in Heaven. That's why he says in verse 33, to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

[21:14] And what does that mean? So that we can do it. Right? I think the way that I have read that most of my life is do lots of holy things.

[21:30] Be real good, and maybe God will relieve some of your worries and your cares. righteousness. But it cannot mean that. It cannot mean that.

[21:44] One commentator put it this way. In this context, seeking God's righteousness, and he points out, it's not our righteousness, right?

[21:58] Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness will mean seeking that righteousness which God alone can give. There's no thought that the believer by his or her own efforts can attain a righteousness that may be called God's righteousness.

[22:18] righteousness. Where is the kingdom except with the king?

[22:31] Romans 14 17 tells us that the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The kingdom is where the king is.

[22:43] And righteousness to seek the kingdom, seek his righteousness. What is righteousness and where is his righteousness except in his person? And so this isn't a command to work harder.

[22:57] It is a caring instruction to quiet our spirits in his presence. And to seek him out. What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease.

[23:17] And so friends, this is the central point, this is the main idea of this passage. This is the defining issue and the distinguishing factor.

[23:29] Do you have God as Father or not? If no, then it's all on you, then maybe you shouldn't worry.

[23:43] God is God who has already made the biggest show of love the world has ever known for us already in the past and continues to be a near and present Father to all who call on him now in the present and promises to have your best in mind forever.

[24:15] That is our future. Then do not worry like those who have no hope. Trust in him this moment as you did for your salvation.

[24:30] That's what it means to walk by faith. friends, if you've never been reconciled to a loving heavenly Father, Jesus stands here today preaching to you, inviting you to repent and believe in him because the story ends with him dying on a cross to bear the guilt of your sin.

[25:03] rising from the grave to secure forever a people for his heavenly Father. And so that central truth in verse 32, God as Father, kind of comes sandwiched between his instructions, the application, right?

[25:27] Verse 31, don't do this. Verse 33, do this. don't spend yourself on worry, do seek him.

[25:40] Because the alternative to worry is not numbing it away with things like distractions and busyness and entertainment and alcohol and anything else you can think of.

[25:52] the alternative to worry is not fixing yourself with messages like get yourself straight or figure it out.

[26:03] The alternative to worry isn't even, now listen to me carefully, the alternative to worry is not even a message about religious practice like take some scripture verses like a pill and call me in the morning.

[26:17] or believe real hard or make sure you're at church on time. The alternative to worry is this message. You have a father whose love for you is greater than you can even comprehend.

[26:31] it extends past death itself and he is not far off. He desires that in the midst of your troubling circumstances that you would seek him out and cast your cares on him.

[26:50] Will you walk with your father who loves you? That's the message. How?

[27:03] What does it look like day by day to do this? I'm going to break it down into kind of two categories. The first is going to be embracing truths about our heavenly father and then secondly embracing the father himself.

[27:25] Embracing the truths about our father in heaven because truth shapes our view. What we believe to be true about the world affects everything about our lives.

[27:37] How we interact with other people, how we prioritize things and how we think about our cares and concerns. And so Jesus is here reminding us of precious truths to reshape our vision.

[27:57] Right? Verse 26. Are you not of much more value to God than birds? verse 30. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and gone tomorrow, will he not much more clothe you?

[28:11] These are beautiful and precious truths for us to treasure up in our hearts. things. And we remember the wonderful truths of the cross, his past grace and past love that overshadows anything in this life.

[28:28] And we remember his promises. Everything sad will come untrue. One pastor put it that way and it stuck with me. I really like it.

[28:39] we fill up our minds and our hearts and our own vision with truth from God's word for our lives.

[28:53] But calling those truths to mind isn't the same as seeking the Father.

[29:07] Remembering his past grace and his precious promises for the future doesn't actually get me outside of my own head. It's a marvelous start, but it doesn't actually live up to what Jesus wants for us to do here, to move from God's truth to God's face.

[29:28] Seek the King. So if we are supposed to seek the kingdom and the king's righteousness, we can't have that without the king himself.

[29:39] And Jesus is saying, here, seek out the king. So we need to move from principles to the person. And so we move from embracing the truth about our Father in heaven to embracing our Father himself.

[30:02] The scriptures point us and move us from falsehood into truth, and then from truth into living fellowship with God.

[30:12] God's God's love. 1 Peter 5, 7 says, to cast all our anxieties on him because he cares for us.

[30:26] Not just think true thoughts about him, but to cast all our anxieties on him because he cares for us. And that looks like prayer, friends.

[30:39] That's what it looks like. That's the shape it takes. And not just empty prayer like a ritual, like here I'm doing my prayer again today, but genuinely meeting with our Heavenly Father to cast our whole soul into his loving care.

[30:55] Philippians chapter 4 verses 5 through 7 is often, I think, used like a blunt instrument to just pound God's people and to just stop worrying.

[31:10] It's actually a beautiful promise. The end of verse 5 says, the Lord is at hand. He's near to all who would call on him.

[31:22] The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.

[31:35] Let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Friends, we move past remembering true things into actual fellowship with the Father.

[31:55] So if you don't make that shift, just remembering truths from the Bible to actually engaging with God, you will still be alone in your mind with your worry.

[32:09] You will battle worry yourself with the truths you know, which is a good start, but it is not the fullness of what Christ wants for us today.

[32:22] It is just like our salvation, right? We are not saved by believing in the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith.

[32:34] We are saved by trusting in Jesus Christ himself who offers us salvation by the grace of his cross. And likewise, we are not comforted in our worries by believing truths about God.

[32:50] We are transformed by his presence. And so if worry does not turn me into a prayer warrior, it will turn me into a warrior against myself, against my own heart, against my own peace.

[33:09] faith. So, when we worry, we need to meet with God, we need to live out our faith. How exactly do we do it?

[33:21] What are the steps to that? And especially, how do we actually do this when anxiety grips us and so controls our focus and our attention that we can't get outside of it?

[33:34] when it captures our every thought and won't let go? How do we seek the Father in that moment? Actually doing it might be hard.

[33:55] We go past here's a Bible verse for you in your struggle. We go past here's a precious truth for you in your struggle all the way to here is your Father. He wants to be present with you in your struggle.

[34:07] Will you walk with Him? And so in that moment, if you feel like you cannot break free from the worry of your cares and concerns, if your thoughts are trapped, we cry out for mercy and grace.

[34:28] It is okay to go to your Father and say, Lord, I am completely oppressed by my own thinking. Will you intercede and intervene and make me new by your presence?

[34:46] Will you do a mirror in my heart and in my mind? And in our worry, we need to become psalmists.

[35:07] There's a whole book of psalms in the Bible. Basically a prayer book, right? The psalms are our guide. They're not just liturgy for us to do.

[35:21] They shape and form our worship and our prayers. prayers. Here's what it looks like to become a psalmist. They're written.

[35:33] That might really help you in your worry. To write down every worry you have. And instead of turning on the spin cycle in your own head by yourself, go to God with it.

[35:48] And follow the pattern of the psalms. The psalmists say, Lord, here is what's going on. They describe explicitly, here's what's happening in my life.

[35:58] Do that. Say, Lord, I am worried about this or that. And then they always transition to, here's my fear, or here's what that's doing to me.

[36:12] Here's what my inmost parts are feeling about this. Pour this out to your Father. He wants to hear it. Here's where my heart is right now.

[36:25] I feel like this. And psalms are not afraid to ask God for anything. So, make your request to God.

[36:39] Lord, here's what I want. And as you do it, you need to have the humility to say, Lord, I know you can say no. And then the psalmists always conclude by looking at his face, by staring intently at him, they've taken their eyes off of the care and the concern, and they always finish with, this is what I know to be true about you, O Lord, in the midst of my worry.

[37:22] No matter the outcome, this is who you are, and I will find a refuge in you. Psalm 25 is a great example of this.

[37:42] Psalm 25, 16, turn to me, and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

[37:54] That doesn't sound like what we were just talking about, where he is isolating, where he tears us apart, like I don't know what else this could mean. The troubles of my heart are enlarged.

[38:09] Worry becomes all-encompassing to our thoughts, doesn't it? We cannot see past it. It overwhelms and consumes our minds. Bring me out of my distress.

[38:24] That's the cry for mercy. consider my affliction and my trouble. You can't say that to God unless he is a heavenly father, unless you know he cares for you, unless you know that his love for you is real.

[38:47] Forgive all my sins. Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me. David may or may not at this point have actually been under physical duress with actual enemies knocking at his door.

[39:06] But if God can protect him in that great thing, how much more in the smaller things? And he says, consider how many are my foes.

[39:16] Worry has this way of multiplying. What if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if. What if? Oh, guard my soul and deliver me.

[39:35] Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. Will you do it? Will you take refuge in him?

[39:48] May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. friends, that is what it looks like to seek the king.

[40:07] So I'm not going to tell you today to not be concerned about concerning things. I'm not just going to give you a Bible verse to go with it.

[40:21] I'm going to tell you that there is a king whose love and power are matchless. And he wants you to take refuge in him, in the midst of your cares and concerns.

[40:40] Will you do it? God do it? Now I may have given you some anxiety throughout because are we going to talk about medicine at all?

[40:53] We haven't spoken about that at all today, have we? Not yet. And are we going to talk about it at all? Are we going to ignore it?

[41:03] Are we going to be condemnatory? How is this going going to go down? I am not a doctor. That much you probably already know.

[41:18] But I do know what God says about this world and about our bodies in his word. God made this physical world and he cares about it.

[41:30] And he made us body and soul. In the resurrection we will be in our bodies renewed.

[41:42] We will not be disembodied spirits. And so we will live forever with Christ in risen, redeemed, and restored bodies like his own. And so the physical world and your body matters to God but it is broken by the fall of this world.

[42:00] And so our bodies do get sick. Our organs do get sick. Infections, diseases, cancers, and our organs can get sick, including the organ of our brain.

[42:15] And so medical helps are appropriate. However, it is important for Christians who are the people of truth to know, to go in with eyes wide open, and not treat medical science as if it is God himself.

[42:32] When you have strep throat, for instance, we know exactly what that is. it is a bacterial infection. There's a test they can decide, there it is. We know exactly what is wrong with you.

[42:44] You have strep bacteria. But medical science does not yet have the capacity to say, here is exactly what's wrong with your brain. Part of the reason for that is it's really hard to study your brain without killing you.

[42:59] And so when doctors diagnose conditions like anxiety disorders and depression, what they're doing is they're saying you match a set of symptoms which medical science believes to be a medical problem with your brain.

[43:14] But we do not know exactly what it is. Which means also that we do not know exactly what the drugs we treated with are doing. I do not say this to dissuade anyone from seeking medical help.

[43:31] I do this to tell you that you cannot rely upon it as if it is a panacea, a cure-all. And in fact, any doctor will tell you that medicines for medical disorders are not cures.

[43:52] They are symptom management. And so we cannot rely on them to heal us. They are helps, not cures. And so medical attention may be needed for you if your anxiety is prolonged in its duration or if it completely overwhelms your ability to function or if you have anxiety without contact that is worry looking for something to worry about.

[44:25] If you have panic attacks or if you have questions, talk to your doctor. Doctors and medical science are a good gift of God's common grace for this world.

[44:38] Do not be afraid. And it is not unspiritual or unfaithful to ask a doctor for help. medication. And so be cautious but not unnecessarily fearful of medication.

[44:54] And in fact, the medication that a doctor might recommend for you might not even be directly for mental health. Vitamin or hormone deficiencies can have profound effects on our bodies and our minds.

[45:06] And don't be surprised if a doctor doesn't recommend any psychoactive or psychotropic medication.

[45:18] They may ask you to look or may I may look at your current medications. Drugs you're already taking for other things may have anxiety as a side effect medically.

[45:31] You know those drug ads on TV? Shots of people playing with a puppy while a cheery voice says extropofan which I made that up for this it's not a real drug.

[45:42] Extropofan may cause night sweats delirium anxiety dry mouth and constipation look a puppy right? And it might be that switching from one medication for your condition to a different medication alleviates the symptoms.

[46:00] Doctors often recommend lifestyle changes before they recommend medication. diet sleep and exercise. They also recommend often changes to your internal life.

[46:13] Medical professionals often recommend meditation for anxiety. If your doctor recommends that ask them about it. Ask them about prayer. They're similar.

[46:24] And they'll ask you about your social life. do you have real friendships? And friends, if you are here today and if you belong to Christ you have a church family who's here for your good.

[46:46] dive in to your church family. That's a plug for community groups.

[46:59] Do not be afraid of medical health, but all the while verse 32 still holds.

[47:13] Medical intervention or not, we seek out our Father in heaven who desires to walk with us and we walk with him just as we would with any other illness.

[47:28] We cast our cares on him because he cares for us. We become psalmists friends. Because the Bible doesn't just offer some thing, some method, some truth for you in your worry.

[47:48] Jesus offers you some one. Fill your mind with the things of God. Then take your heart to him.

[48:00] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that when Jesus said he would not leave us alone in this world, he meant it. And by his cross, he has opened up the gates of heaven so that we might know you in the midst of our worries.

[48:23] Father, will you please help us to cry out for mercy when we need it, to find joy and comfort before your face.

[48:36] And, Lord, to point others to you in the midst of their cares and concerns and worries for their comfort and joy and for your glory.

[48:54] We pray that in the name of Jesus who made all this possible by the blood of his cross. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.

[49:33] Thank you.

[50:03] Thank you. Thank you.

[50:35] Thank you. Thank you.

[51:07] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Watched away my sin.

[51:19] Jesus, thank you. Father's bread feels satisfied. Jesus, thank you. Once you're ending.

[51:31] Now seated at your table, Jesus, thank you. See those words?

[51:56] Seated at your table. This is a fellowship meal. We're about to remember Christ together. This is his table.

[52:08] There is no surer testimony that God is for his people. That God has made great promises to his people. That God promises himself to his people.

[52:24] That God is present to him, to his people. And this. Seated at his table, he says, this is my body for you.

[52:41] This is my blood for you. This is my blood for you. This is my blood for you. This is the most tangible sign and seal.

[52:53] That our God is for us. And wants to be with us. This is my blood for you. this is the way he made it possible for us to approach his throne and cast our cares on him to find in him delight and comfort peace and joy and so friends this is that reminder and this is the testimony of that truth in our lives if you belong to Christ this meal belongs to you because Christ belongs to you if you've not been bought by the blood of Christ you've not repented and believed in his name don't receive these elements they won't testify those truths to you or for you instead receive Christ if you would like to know more about that

[53:58] I would love to talk to you I'll be up here I'd love to pray with you answer any questions you have friends let's take the elements we'll return to our seats and take a seat at his table together and You