What's the Use of Worrying?
Worship
Bright Intervals
40 Brief Worship Services and Meditations for Any Occasion
Object:
Greeting and Call To Worship
This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Opening Prayer
Lord, like Martha of old in the biblical story, we are anxious and troubled about many things. Help us to take our eyes off our troubles and, instead, to focus on Jesus Christ. May we find courage, strength, wisdom, and mercy as we worship together this day. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Special Hymn
"God Will Take Care Of You"
The words of this wonderful old hymn were written by a pastor's wife. Here is the story: Once when the Reverend W. Stillman Martin was invited to preach in New York City, his wife became ill and was unable to accompany him. He was so concerned about her health that he thought of canceling his trip. But the couple's nine-year-old son spoke up and said, "Daddy, don't you think that if God wants you to preach today, he will take care of Mother while you are away?" Martin kept his preaching engagement and when he returned home, his wife had written the beautiful words of "God Will Take Care Of You."
Scripture Reading
Matthew 6:25-34
Meditation
Many people will probably recall the song featured for years on the John Gambling radio program, "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag, And Smile, Smile, Smile!" Most of us wish it were that easy, but the truth is that almost all of us worry far too much. We worry about what we have done and what we have failed to do. We worry about what we have said ... and what we should have said. We worry about money, about our children and grandchildren. We worry about our health and about how we will manage as we get older. And as if that were not enough, a lot of us worry about worrying too much!
Jesus knew that worry and anxiety can seriously damage the human spirit and rob us of the joy God intended for us to experience in our lives on this earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus suggests a simple formula for bringing worry under control.
Our Lord begins by suggesting that we learn to live one day at a time. He tells his disciples, "Tomorrow will be anxious for itself." We need to let go both of our past with all its failures and blunders and our future that has not even arrived. Instead, we are to live, as one writer puts it, "in daytight compartments." There is a story from an old McGuffey Reader about a clock on the wall that began thinking of how many times it would have to tick in the year ahead. The clock counted up the seconds -- 31,536,000 of them! The thought of what lay ahead was too much for the clock, so it stopped ticking. Then along came someone who reminded the clock that all it had to do was to tick one second at a time. When the clock realized this, it went happily back to ticking, one second at a time. That's the way Jesus means for us to live our lives.
A second part of Jesus' formula for controlling worry is to remember how much God cares for us. He mentions God's care for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, and then asks how much more God is ready to do for the human family. There was a childhood poem that expressed this truth in a way I have never forgotten:
Said the robin to the sparrow, "I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings rush around and worry so."
Said the sparrow to the robin, "Friend, I think that it must be
They have no Heavenly Father such as cares for you and me."
Our Lord's final suggestion was to put God first in our living every day. "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all the rest will be added unto you." Overcoming worry and anxiety according to Jesus is fundamentally a question of where we focus our lives. An old hymn puts this truth so well: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace."
Closing Prayer
O God, let us move into each new day in the assurance that you are with us in everything we face. Forgive our failures in the past. Give us the strength we need for today. Allow us to face the future in the confidence that we may not know what is coming, but we do know for sure that Christ will be there to help us face it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Benediction
Go in peace and serve the Lord. May the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you. Amen.
This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Opening Prayer
Lord, like Martha of old in the biblical story, we are anxious and troubled about many things. Help us to take our eyes off our troubles and, instead, to focus on Jesus Christ. May we find courage, strength, wisdom, and mercy as we worship together this day. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Special Hymn
"God Will Take Care Of You"
The words of this wonderful old hymn were written by a pastor's wife. Here is the story: Once when the Reverend W. Stillman Martin was invited to preach in New York City, his wife became ill and was unable to accompany him. He was so concerned about her health that he thought of canceling his trip. But the couple's nine-year-old son spoke up and said, "Daddy, don't you think that if God wants you to preach today, he will take care of Mother while you are away?" Martin kept his preaching engagement and when he returned home, his wife had written the beautiful words of "God Will Take Care Of You."
Scripture Reading
Matthew 6:25-34
Meditation
Many people will probably recall the song featured for years on the John Gambling radio program, "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag, And Smile, Smile, Smile!" Most of us wish it were that easy, but the truth is that almost all of us worry far too much. We worry about what we have done and what we have failed to do. We worry about what we have said ... and what we should have said. We worry about money, about our children and grandchildren. We worry about our health and about how we will manage as we get older. And as if that were not enough, a lot of us worry about worrying too much!
Jesus knew that worry and anxiety can seriously damage the human spirit and rob us of the joy God intended for us to experience in our lives on this earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus suggests a simple formula for bringing worry under control.
Our Lord begins by suggesting that we learn to live one day at a time. He tells his disciples, "Tomorrow will be anxious for itself." We need to let go both of our past with all its failures and blunders and our future that has not even arrived. Instead, we are to live, as one writer puts it, "in daytight compartments." There is a story from an old McGuffey Reader about a clock on the wall that began thinking of how many times it would have to tick in the year ahead. The clock counted up the seconds -- 31,536,000 of them! The thought of what lay ahead was too much for the clock, so it stopped ticking. Then along came someone who reminded the clock that all it had to do was to tick one second at a time. When the clock realized this, it went happily back to ticking, one second at a time. That's the way Jesus means for us to live our lives.
A second part of Jesus' formula for controlling worry is to remember how much God cares for us. He mentions God's care for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, and then asks how much more God is ready to do for the human family. There was a childhood poem that expressed this truth in a way I have never forgotten:
Said the robin to the sparrow, "I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings rush around and worry so."
Said the sparrow to the robin, "Friend, I think that it must be
They have no Heavenly Father such as cares for you and me."
Our Lord's final suggestion was to put God first in our living every day. "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all the rest will be added unto you." Overcoming worry and anxiety according to Jesus is fundamentally a question of where we focus our lives. An old hymn puts this truth so well: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace."
Closing Prayer
O God, let us move into each new day in the assurance that you are with us in everything we face. Forgive our failures in the past. Give us the strength we need for today. Allow us to face the future in the confidence that we may not know what is coming, but we do know for sure that Christ will be there to help us face it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Benediction
Go in peace and serve the Lord. May the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you. Amen.
