Me, Worry? (4 of 4)
Series: Insomniacs - Things That Keep Us Up At Night
Jeff Strite
Matthew 6:25-34
(This sermon was preached by our Family Minister, Scott Jewell) We’re wrapping up our series on Insomniacs: Things that keep you up at night. Last week we looked back and talked about handling regret. Today we’re looking forward to the future, dealing with our anxieties.
What about the future makes us worry? I took an unofficial FB poll this week - ‘‘What about the future keeps you up at night?’’ A couple of my college buddies decided to give smart aleck responses and answered indigestion from spicy food and acid reflux. Another mentioned waiting on the alarm clock. I wondered about that one, but then I woke up at 4:30 this morning, then 5:15 and 5:30 and 6:00... The next person responded stupid people - I wondered if he was reacting to the first couple of responses.
Then some people started sharing and a few categories seemed to emerge. They were worried about personal things: Where will I live, What’s going to happen with my job, Dealing with health struggles, Trying to overcome the temptation to sin. They were worried about family - how will we spend time together as the kids move away, what kind of legacy will I leave them. They were worried about politics - who’s going to be in charge of the nation and even the world, especially in light of recent developments in Ukraine. They were worried about religion - from the lack of unity and growing divide in the church to whether or not I’ll be ready when Christ returns.
There seems to be a common thread through all these. We like to think we’re in control of our future. Our anxiety tends to kick in when we focus on the things that aren’t fully under our control. We try to create methods of control that may or may not work to convince ourselves that we’re in charge of our destiny.
ILLUS: For example, my dad has a clipboard that he famously uses to prepare for vacation. The first page has a checklist ...
Series: Insomniacs - Things That Keep Us Up At Night
Jeff Strite
Matthew 6:25-34
(This sermon was preached by our Family Minister, Scott Jewell) We’re wrapping up our series on Insomniacs: Things that keep you up at night. Last week we looked back and talked about handling regret. Today we’re looking forward to the future, dealing with our anxieties.
What about the future makes us worry? I took an unofficial FB poll this week - ‘‘What about the future keeps you up at night?’’ A couple of my college buddies decided to give smart aleck responses and answered indigestion from spicy food and acid reflux. Another mentioned waiting on the alarm clock. I wondered about that one, but then I woke up at 4:30 this morning, then 5:15 and 5:30 and 6:00... The next person responded stupid people - I wondered if he was reacting to the first couple of responses.
Then some people started sharing and a few categories seemed to emerge. They were worried about personal things: Where will I live, What’s going to happen with my job, Dealing with health struggles, Trying to overcome the temptation to sin. They were worried about family - how will we spend time together as the kids move away, what kind of legacy will I leave them. They were worried about politics - who’s going to be in charge of the nation and even the world, especially in light of recent developments in Ukraine. They were worried about religion - from the lack of unity and growing divide in the church to whether or not I’ll be ready when Christ returns.
There seems to be a common thread through all these. We like to think we’re in control of our future. Our anxiety tends to kick in when we focus on the things that aren’t fully under our control. We try to create methods of control that may or may not work to convince ourselves that we’re in charge of our destiny.
ILLUS: For example, my dad has a clipboard that he famously uses to prepare for vacation. The first page has a checklist ...
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