Don't Worry

Are you a worry wart? Most of us have our moments of worry. We worry about our children, our parents, our health, and our finances, thinking of the worst possible scenarios. Worry does not help us escape evil, but instead makes us ill prepared to cope when evil comes. In this week’s sermon, we will talk about what Jesus taught regarding our concerns for the future.


Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all 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 into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So 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. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”


Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This thought is adapted from the sermon A Favorite for When You Can't Sleep delivered on Christian Crusaders August 26, 2007.

God loves you. If you have trouble believing that, look at the cross. We were lost in our sins, far from God. God loved you so much he gave his Son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for your sins, so that the relationship that was broken might be mended, and you could become a child of your heavenly Father. You are loved. God loves you. Paul discovered that, and millions of others have since, as they have come to know Christ and place their trust in him. Are you lying awake at night? Hand it over. Hand over that list. Take your worries list, turn it into your prayer list, and empty your heart to God.


Christian Crusaders 75th Anniversary Celebration
You are cordially invited to attend Christian Crusaders’ 75th anniversary event on Sunday, September 25 from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. at Nazareth Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Emcee for the afternoon will be former KWWL meteorologist Craig Johnson, and speakers will include our radio pastors: Rev. Homer Larsen and Rev. Steve Kramer. The afternoon will also include special music. A reception will follow.

Help celebrate a milestone in the history of this ministry if you are able. We look forward to seeing you there!


On the Light Side
Fresh out of business school, a young man answered a want ad for an accountant. Now he was being interviewed by a very nervous man who ran a small business that he had started himself. “I need someone with an accounting degree,” the man said. “But mainly, I'm looking for someone to do my worrying for me.”

“Excuse me?” the accountant said.

“I worry about a lot of things,” the man said. “But I don’t want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back.”

“I see,” the accountant said. “And how much does the job pay?”

“I’ll start you at eighty thousand.”

“Eighty thousand dollars!” the accountant exclaimed. “How can such a small business afford a sum that large?”

“That,” the owner said, “is your first worry.”