Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Finding Freedom From Your Worries | He Promises | Part 5

Episode Date: April 28, 2024

What have you worried about today? Chances are, the list is pretty long. Jesus promises that we don’t have to worry, but how is that possible? Understanding His promise can transform the way you approach concerns and give you relief.ABOUT THIS MESSAGEMaybe you’ve heard what Jesus has done for others. You want to believe He can do the same for you, but you're not sure it's even possible. Jesus made several promises in the Bible—but what do they mean today? Let’s find out in our new series, He Promises.NEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what’s next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://www.life.church/nextABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LCNowCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/craiggroeschelFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #craiggroeschel #hepromises Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, I'm curious, how many of you right now might have something that you're a little bit worried about? Raise your hand. Some of you go, I got a lot that I'm worried about. I don't blame you because there's a lot to worry about in this world. For example, do any of you have kids? Raise your hands. Online, you can type in the comment section, I have kids. You can type when I have three kids.

You can type and I have kids pray for me. Because if you have kids, there's a lot to worry about, right? I mean, you worry about their safety nowadays. When I was growing up, you didn't really worry about that much, but you do today. You worry about their mental health. You worry about their friends. You worry about, are they getting into the wrong stuff? Then, how about, does anybody ever read or watch the news?

That would give you anxiety, right? I mean, you look around, and here we are in an election year, which is complicated and divisor for a lot of people. The economy feels like shaky. Inflation seems to be out of control. Interest won't seem to settle down. A lot of people I talk to are like freak down and worried financially. Just how are they going to make it?

Not only how am I going to pay the bills, but like could I ever even afford a house? Doesn't seem like it's possible. And if that's not enough to worry about, then you factor in AI. It's going to wipe us out. I mean, we're all gone anyway. It's just to feel like it's going to take over the world. And the worst of all, though, probably is any time there's something wrong with you physically, let's see I have a headache

or you feel dizzy and so you Google your symptoms. Have you done this? No matter what you have you're going to die three days from now that's what happens whenever you Google your sentence. It's hard not to worry with all that's going

on in the world but there's some really good news we're in a message series called He Promises We're looking at the promises of Jesus and Jesus promises us because he's good and because he will provide, you don't have to worry. In Matthew chapter six, Jesus tells us five different times in ten verses, do not worry.

Look what he said, Matthew 6, 25. Jesus said this. He said, therefore, I tell you, help me out somebody. He said, do not worry about your life, what you'll eat or drink, or about your body, what you'll wear, it's not life more than food and the body more than clothes. Jesus tells us, don't worry. How? Why? Well, let's start with a practical reason. Why did Jesus tell us not to worry? Perhaps, because worry has never changed anything for good. Right? Never ever. In fact, it's quite the opposite. What is worry duchy? When you worry, when you worry, when you worry, when you stew, when you're anxious, worry is poisoning our peace. Worry is killing our joy.

And worry is stunting our spiritual growth. When you think about it, worry doesn't have a single useful purpose. Someone said it's like this. Someone said worry is like rocking in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but you're not going anywhere. Right? And that's what it is. I mean, you're sitting there worrying and you're stooing and you're wringing your hands

and you're not going anywhere. It doesn't do a single positive thing. When you think about it, worry never solved a problem. Right? If you're worried about your money, worry never paid a bill. If you're worried about your health, worry never made you healthier. Worry never protected your child from harm. Worrying never helped you pass a test.

Worrying never he. a broken relationship. Worry has only increased your anxiety. It's never increased your peace. And Jesus promised us because God is faithful, because God is good, because God always provides. You don't have to worry. In fact, in this text, he gives us three things to look to

in order to overcome your worry. What are we going to do? We're going to look to three things. We're going to look to your father. We're going to look to your faith and we're going to look to your future. Let's say it aloud. What are we going to look to? We're going to look to our father.

We're going to look to our faith and we're going to look to our future. Let's talk about it. Number one, we're going to look to your father. Why? Because he is always faithful. We're going to look to the goodness of God because he's always faithful. In fact, this is what Jesus said in Matthew 6, 26. He said, look at the birds of the air.

They don't sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet, who does it? Your Heavenly Father, he feeds them, he provides for them. And then Jesus says, hey, aren't you way more valuable to God than the birds? Jesus shows us that God cares for Tweety. If God cares for Tweety, how much more will God care for you? And then I like kind of the image. He says, hey, look at the birds. They don't worry.

You never see a bird awake at two in the morning, pacing its nest, rubbing its wings together, asking himself, do you think the supply chain problem are going to result in the shortage of worms? You never see that, right? You don't. Because they trust that there will be food. The same is true for you. You don't have to worry because your heavenly father cares for you, and your father is always. faithful. Now, that raises a question, how do you trust in a heavenly father that you can't see?

It's a fair question. We have six children. My oldest daughter is Katie. When she was young, she was a bundle of energy. And one night there was a storm, and Katie came running into our bedroom, Mommy, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Dad. I'm scared. I'm scared. Can I sleep with you? Can I sleep with you? and I'm the softy, believe it or not, and Amy's one like, go back to bed, Katie. No, I'm afraid, no, I'm afraid. And Amy said, God is with you. God is in your room. God will protect you.

Go back to your room with God. And Katie said, I've got an idea. Mom, you go sleep with God. I'm staying here with Daddy, right? Kind of makes sense because it can be difficult to trust in a God that you can. see and anytime I find myself worried is God going to come through does God care I try to remind myself of what I call the godness of God the Godness of God who is God we have to remember God is the supreme creator ruler and sustainer of the entire universe God is big enough to overcome all the forces of darkness and God is loving

nothing enough to care about the details of your life. I want to remind you, God cares about what you care about. When you're worried, look to your heavenly father because he is always faithful. The second thing we learn from the teaching of Jesus is to look to your faith because your faith conquers fears. Look to your faith because your faith is greater than what you fear. Jesus said this in Matthew 633. He said, but seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness. And in all those things that you're worried about, all these things will be given to you as well. What do we do? We seek first God's kingdom. We seek first God's righteousness. We seek first the things. We seek first the

things that matter to him. We seek him first in his word. We turn our mind toward him. We think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. We let him renew our minds. We seek first the kingdom of God. And when we do, he will take care of what you're worried about. Whenever you're tempted to worry, tell yourself, before I panic, first, I'm going to pray to the God of heaven who declares that all things are possible with him. Before you worry, first open God's word, His living word, which comforts you and directs you and corrects you his word for you.

Before you turn to your substance to cope, turn to your Savior. Because whoever Jesus sets free is free indeed. Every single time. So what do we do? We seek first the kingdom of God. And whenever I start to look toward Jesus, the son of God, who gave his life for me, God raised him from the dead. Whenever I look to Jesus, my faith starts to conquer my fears.

Remember, it was Paul who said, for God has not given us a spirit, a fear. But instead, he's given us a spirit of what? Of power and of love and of a sound mind. If you find yourself afraid, that did not come from God. We're not going to listen to what doesn't come from God. We're going to tell that voice, get out of my mind, get out of my head, get out of my life, get behind me, Satan, I'm not listening to you, I'm listening to my father.

My father says he's good, my father says he's with me, my father says he'll never leave me, he'll never forsaken, he'll always provide for me. He is working in all things to bring about good. I'm not listening to the lies of the devil. Worry has never done anything good. Worry makes you anxious, faith gives you peace. Worry drags you away from God. trying to depend on your own resources.

Faith teaches you to depend on God. Worry doesn't change a dang thing. And worry will take you away and rob you of faith. Faith can change everything. So when you're worried about what I'm going to say, I'm worried about my presentation. I'm worried about my 401K went down. I'm worried about this healthish.

I'm worried about my marriage. I'm worried about, am I going to get into the right school? I'm worried about if I'm going to get the right job. Am I ever going to be provided for my family? Am I going to have what it's take? Can I ever be faithful? Will my child whatever? When you're worried, look to your father.

Look to your faith and look to your future because our God is in control. He is in control. Jesus said this. He said, don't worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will bring his own worries. Today's trouble is enough. for today. Look to your future because God is in control. Now, raise your hand if you're a control freak.

Okay, just stop for a minute. If you find yourself trying to raise the hand of the person sitting next to you, you're a control freak. Those are you online, if you're a control freak, just type it in online. I'm a control freak. Okay. I want to remind you this that even control freaks, can't control the future. You can try to manipulate all you can and all you want, but no matter how hard you try, you cannot control everything. So, if it's out of your hands,

get it out of your mind. Give it to God. Trust God with it. Trust God with it. Because worry doesn't protect us from tomorrow's problems. Worry robs us of today's peace. And that's where some of you are right now. You are surrendering and giving in to the,

lies of your spiritual enemy. Any time that we're worrying, we're essentially saying, God, I don't trust you. I don't trust you're with me. I don't trust you're with me. I don't trust you're for me. I don't trust that you're going to do what you say you're going to do. And so just take a moment sit in that. Jesus says over and over again, let me tell you how good my father is. Let me tell you about how much he cares for you. He is completely in control. He is a good God. His purposes for you are good. He wants to bless you. Doesn't mean you're not going have a hard time, but in the middle of a hard time, he'll be enough. In the middle of something painful, he'll be your peace. In the middle of what you feel like you lack, he is your provision.

When you're weak, he is your strength. He is what you need. So you can say, okay, good preaching, Craig. You can say that if you want to. It won't hurt my feeling. You can type it in the comment section, good preaching. Some of you won't, but you can't if you want to. And so you're going to say, okay, okay, that's good, but I just sit there and I do nothing. I just sit around. I just sit around, and I don't worry and everything works out. Let's go back to the birds. Jesus said, see how I care for the birds. What I like about birds is birds don't worry, right?

But birds don't sit around doing nothing either. When you think about birds, they don't wait for God to drop food in their laps, partially because they don't have laps. But work with me here. I'll say it this way. Burrs don't worry, but they do hunt for worms. There's a difference. There's a difference between doing nothing

and doing what you know you're called to do or can do. And birds kind of really help illustrate the difference between worry and concern. And there's a big difference. A worried person sees a problem and doesn't do anything about it. A concerned person, sees a problem and does something about it. In other words, the way I like to look at it is this.

If you can do something about the problem, you do it. If you think your marriage is not in a great place right now and is struggling, what do you do? You're concerned, you pray about it, and you call a counselor. Or you join a life group, or you talk to your pastor, and you do something about it. If you have caffeine crashes at the end of every day, you may say, you know what, I'm going to stop drinking all the energy drinks. Instead of four, I'm cutting back to three.

I'm just joking. Don't drink four and don't drink three. I'm cutting those out of my life. If you are battling with depression every time you get on social media, you might just get off social media. You're going to do something about it. And so whenever you're tempted to worry, tell yourself this. I will do what I can do, and I will surrender to God what only he can do.

I will do what only I can do. and I will surrender to God what only he can do. I will do what I know I can do. If there's something I can do about it, I'm going to do something about it. If I can love my child who struggle, I'm going to love my child. If I can coach my child without being annoying,

I'm going to coach my child without being annoying. If I can pray for my spouse, if I can love my spouse when my spouse isn't acting lovable. If I can study for the exam that's coming up, if I can prepare for the presentation, if I can do something about it, I'm going to do something about it.

I will do what I can do, and I will surrender to God what only he can do. Let's just say that together. I will do what only I can do. I will do what only I can do. I will surrender to God what only he can do. Let's say it together.

I will do what only I can do. what only I can do. I will surrender to God what only he can do. Let's say it again. I will do what I can do. I will surrender to God what only he can do. I will do whatever it is I know that I can do. And whatever is out of my control I put in God's hands. Anybody anxious? What do we do? We cast our anxiety on him. Why? Because he cares for you. He cares for you. God loves you as if there were only one of you. And so you tell them about it. God, I'm nervous about this.

God, I don't even know what to do. God, I'm trying to trust you, but I tend to take it back. We cast it on him. We give it to him. I think about Katie, my daughter, when she came in and she's all afraid. Amy said, go sleep with God. I said, go ahead and sleep with us. Told you I'm a softie.

People, if you got to know us, you'd be like, you know, Craig's all tough. actually I'm a mush pot. Amy's pretty, but she carries a big stick. There's no joke. And when Katie slept with us, let me tell you what I did not do. I did not shame her. Why are you worried? You should have more. I didn't shame her. I let her sleep with us because when she was worried, she turned to her father, her earthly father. Her worry didn't take her away. from her father, it drew her close to her father. And so whenever you finds yourself a little bit worried,

the devil wants to use that to draw you away from God, but God wants to use whatever is on your mind and on your heart and weighing you down to draw you to depend on him. God wants to take whatever you're worried about and use it to draw you close and recognize that you need him. When you're worried and when you're anxious, this shows you just how much you need your heavenly father.

And when you realize that you need him, you realize he's drawing you close. So chances are there are some of you today who you need an extra dose of his grace, an extra measure of his provision. He's with you. He's for you. He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. Our God is good. His word is true. He's always faithful. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. Look to your father. He's good. Look to your faith. It conquers your fears. Look to your future because our God is always in control. As scripture tells us about the goodness of God that the Lord is

close to those who call on him. Yes, to all who call on him in truth. The Lord is close. If you're hurting today, if you're anxious today, if you're worried today, that might be evidence of just how much you need your father. And the good news is when you draw close to him, he draws near to you. So let's do that now. Father, we pray in the name of Jesus that the power of your Holy Spirit would do a work because we all need you. today at all of our churches as you're praying those of you who have something that would be a real concern a weight a burden a worry something that's making you anxious would you lift up your hands right now just lift it up online you can type in the comment section I'm worried about something

if you want to share it for prayer you can say I'm worried about whatever and just put I'm worried about my child or I'm worried about my job or I'm worried about my finance whatever it would be and what we're going to do right now is we're just going to take what you're worried about and just by faith, just imagine handing that to God. Just say, God, take my marriage. God, I trust you with my finances. God, I trust you with my health. I trust you with the health of someone that I love.

I trust you with my children. God, I trust you with my mental health. I trust you with my career. God, I trust you with my future. God, I don't know, I can't figure it all out. I trust you. God, I want to be. will do whatever I can do.

And I will surrender to you what only you can do. So God, help us to be faithful and full of faith to always trust you. As you keep praying today at all of our churches, there are some of you that you're going to take a step of faith bigger than you've ever taken before. We talked about Jesus, and he said, you don't have to worry because of the goodness of God. Some of you, if you stopped long enough to think about where you stand with God, what would happen to you after this life. Some of you say, well, I might be a little bit concerned about that. Let me tell you how much God loves you, how good he is. God loves you so much that he sent his only

son, Jesus, for you, the perfect, sinless son of God who died on a cross in your place, in my place. and God raised him from the dead, defeating death, hell, sin, and the grave. Now, anyone in this includes you who calls on the name of the Lord, the name that is above every name. When you call on the name of Jesus, scripture says all of your sins are forgiven. You become brand new. All the old stuff is gone and everything becomes new. Some of you, you might be a little worried, a little uneasy.

It may come and go, but when you recognize, we think about it, I don't really know where I stand with God today. you can settle the issue. In fact, you're not watching this by action. I believe with all my heart that you are here by the divine will of God to meet the power of His risen Son, wherever you're watching from today. Those who say, yes, today I don't know where I stand with God. I am going to step away from my sin. I'm going to step into trusting Jesus. I'm going to call on his name. When you call on the name of Jesus, he hears your prayers. He forgives your sins and he makes you brand new today at all of our churches and all of the world online.

Those who say, yes, I am ready. By faith, I give my life to Jesus. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now. All of the place, flip them up. Somebody give God some praise for those today saying yes to Jesus, yes to Jesus, yes to Jesus. We thank you, God, for those coming to you online. Just type in the comment section.

I am surrendering my life to Jesus. I am trusting Jesus as my Savior. Today, wherever you are, would you pray with those around you? Nobody prays alone. Everybody, let's just pray this aloud. Pray Heavenly Father. I'm trusting Jesus. To save me from my sins.

To be the Lord of my life. I put you first. Forgive me. Transform me. Fill me with your spirit so I could know you personally and share you faithfully. Thank you for new life. I give you all of mine.

In Jesus' name, I pray. Could somebody celebrate big welcome those born into God's family?