Elmwood United
Reformed Church
Sunday 22 November 2020
Worry
Welcome to Elmwood Thank you for joining us.
Today is our Gift Day Sunday. We should have marked our annual gift day on 22 March, but that was our first Sunday of lockdown.
This morning our worship is led by Mr Nigel Malka. Nigel has led worship on many occasions in the church and during lockdown has mastered WhatsApp and completes services via this medium.
Thank you Nigel, for leading our worship; thanks also to Julie for leading our prayers and to Angela for reading the bible.
Call to Worship -Claude
Song- We have come into His house
Opening prayer and Lord's Prayer – Julie
Song- Make me a channel of your peace
Good News
Time to share Good News-birthdays, anniversaries, how God has blessed you.
Bible Reading Philippians 3:13b-16 and 4:4-8 Angela
Song: The Lord’s my Shepherd
Gospel Reading Luke 12:22-31 Angela
Song: All I once held dear
Message: Worry - Mr Nigel Malka
Jesus tells us not to worry; I call it the 11th commandment, and yet we all do it,
The big difference between this and the original ten commandments
Is worrying applies directly to ourselves and not to those around us?
And the effect it has is directed back onto us too
It seems such a small thing in comparison with the laws of God
And yet not to worry must be one of the hardest to keep
We need to make sure our concern and apprehension doesn’t grow into anxiety.
To consider what’s ahead and plan to avoid things we don’t like, is common sense
But dwelling on things we have no control over causes stress and illness.
Peter who learnt first-hand from Jesus about worry, wrote 1 Peter 5:7
‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you’. Well can we?
This is only one of several Bible teaching that plainly tell us not to worry,
Jesus gave good practical advice about how to live.
So when he tells us not to worry we ought to try to do what he says
Doing what Jesus taught is not always easy, but it is always the right thing to do.
When we got our first TV my mother was hooked,
And she would say, ‘If only I could have a little Television
That would show me what you’re doing, then I wouldn’t worry.
Us children were all pleased she didn’t
We would say, ‘Don’t worry mum, we’ll be ok’, and we were.
When the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary she was worried
He said, ‘Do not be afraid for you have found favour with God.’
Like her we have been chosen, we have found favour with God
And we should trust in him and not be afraid
Jesus taught God’s ways. A very down to earth, common sense approach to living
They are not there to spoilt our lives but rather teach us a best way to live it.
We all know life has it up’s and downs, good times and bad
Being worryed will bring on stress and make us unwell, so don’t do it
Everyone wonders about the future, what could happen, in fact we all need to.
It has to be part of how we live, we have choices to make
The issue is when we dwell on something and take it to worry.
Particularly if they is nothing we can do about it.
Jesus taught us not to worry so at the heart of this is, do we obey him?
Let’s define what worry is. Worry:- to be troubled about actual or potential problems
Worry is when we give ourselves no peace of mind’ it overwhelms us
We can often avoid worry by doing something about it
I could worry about being caught again on a speed camera
Some years ago I was caught doing 58 in the new 50 limit.
I don’t want to lose my license so to give myself peace of mind
I can take a very simply action and keep to the speed limit.
When we think of what will happen to our churches, we know there’s trouble ahead
With so many mature congregations which ones won’t be around in 12 years
Ready to celebrate the 2,000’th Easter, worrying about it won’t help
But seeing trouble ahead should give us an objective
To work together alongside the Holy Spirit to change things
We’re told to give our problems to God and work with him for the solution.
Concern will highlight a problem, which is where assessment and action is needed
It’s what we do with the thoughts that matter,
Are we motivate to do something, We share our problems
We talk to God about them, We give them to God and we don’t take them back.
Jesus’ said don’t worry about your life, what you eat; about your body, what you wear
When Mary was listing to Jesus and Martha told Jesus to tell her sister to help her,
He said, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, Lk 10:41
But only one thing is needed, Mary has chosen what is better.’ In others words,
Martha stop what you’re doing and do what Mary’s doing, come, listen and learn
I often wondered, if Martha turned and said ‘OK no food then, I’m listening too’
Or did she go off in a huff, with no peace in her mind and then even blaming Jesus.
So what did Jesus mean by worry?
We shouldn’t worry over things we can do nothing about
His words are very plain, we can’t add a single hour to our life by worrying
No matter how rich we are, we can’t dress to match the beauty of a lily
We don’t have to worry at what we look like, just accept what is.
A few year ago I went out on a walk and had a hard time walking back up a hill
So I lost 3 stone got fitter and feel better for it.
We know Jesus took his concerns to His Heavenly Father,
When in the garden of Gethsemane before his arrest,
He prayed for himself, his disciples and for all who would follow him.
And on the cross he saw his mother was very upset, in his concern for her
He sought a solution then he asked John to care for her.
It would be pointless for God to give us worries if he just wants us to give them back
Certainly God will challenge us, ask us to do things for him
He cares for us so wouldn’t ask us to do something we couldn’t do
Satan, now he wants us to worry as it stops us obeying or communicating with God,
Make us think we’re not good enough,
or the problem is something God wouldn’t be interested in
maybe make us too ashamed or embarrassed to bring to our Heavenly Father
Satan wants us to worry about anything that will separate us from God.
But you see Satan can’t stop us taking things to God, only we can.
Remembers Peter’s words, Cast all your anxieties on God for he cares for you
Our problem is often self-inflicted worry, involving guilt or shame,
We need to remember Jesus has already promised to forgive us.
And so guilt and shame shouldn’t be an issue and neither should worry.
They can all be taken from us, so we can always talk to God
So how do we stop worrying? First analysis it, can we do anything about it
If we can then the worry is turned into what to do and how to do it
If they is nothing you can do then it is pointless to think about it
What did Jesus do when he was worried? He shared it with his Father, so we pray
We could say, Our Heavenly Father, I love you, But my mind is full of worry
Here is my worry, guide me in thinking
Take my worry from me for I leave it in your hands in the name of Jesus your son.
And by giving it away, let’s make sure we really give it and we don’t take them back.
Jesus brought issues out into the open to be dealt with.
Jesus taught us to handle problems by asking, ‘What would God want?’
When we say God loves us and cares for us
We see a paradox in the life of Jesus, for God didn’t stop evil hurting him
Yet he does help us get though everything the world throws at us,
For us to handle worry we need to face problems and we deal with them
And if we can’t then we give them to God.
Paul tells Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God
Consider the song David’s song The Lord’s my Shepherd,
Jesus is our shepherd he cares for his flock, and that is us
Song: What a friend we have in Jesus
Prayers of intercession –Julie
Song: Tell out my soul
Sung Blessing: The Blessings Zimbabwe