He's our standard of holiness. He's our standard of holiness. We bless the lord because he's our standard. And while the lord is spirit, he sent his son to model for us how human beings are supposed to behave. How we're supposed to act. What we're supposed to do. What we're I sound like Barney Fife. Damn. Bless god. But I'm I'm blessed. I'm blessed today. You guys know I come from a mighty long way. I know you guys didn't come from much. You were all non sinners and all good people. I can't. I came from way back there in the dungeon. That's right. We bless the lord today. You know, I was I honestly used to believe I would not have done what Adam did in the garden. That was a long time ago. Yeah, my belief, that is. Because, I mean, even countless, numerous, unpredictable sins later, I can't believe that. He had instruction. By now, I've had plenty of instruction, and I went my own way anyway and did what I wanted. I sinned against the Lord. Why should we be blamed for what Adam did? Why is that? Why, Dorothy? Why should we be blamed for what Adam did? It just carries with you. If your father went and did something, we'll know you for what he did, okay? We inherited the sin. That's our forefather, the beginning of our race. Race is one nation of people, not different skin tones. One race, it's called human, and Adam was our father, okay? And when he sinned, we inherited our father's sin, and everything that went with it came to us. Bless the Lord. You don't have to believe me. I mean, look, look it up. Study to show yourselves approved. So, I think I know something I studied to show myself approved just now. Bless God. God is good. He cares about us. He cares about us in spite of the mistakes. He cares about us even after we fail. He cares about us even when we choose to fail. It's not his desire that any man should perish but that all men should come to the knowledge of who he is. It's his desire that we come to him even when we choose wrong. We can't say we won't choose wrong. You know, I'm always pushing this. Wake up with the Lord in the morning. First thing on your mind, make it the first thing on your mind because everything else is gonna be on our minds, right? So look, if you woke up this morning and just read about the flood, Noah's flood, okay, if that's all you read doesn't have anything to do with what you're going to encounter today Nothing at all But supernaturally you chose God this morning and he's gonna choose to rescue you from your mind and From all the enticements of the world because you chose him first right Okay, so wake up, choose the Lord, and then inevitably, when you're tempted to sin, it's gonna happen. You'll be fed. You have fed yourself, so you'll be able to endure. The Lord will be there. All of heaven will back you up when you say no to sin. But wake up and run out the house naked. Don't do anything. Just go running up the street naked the moment you wake up and then see how much sin defeats you. It's gonna win more than it was supposed to. Does this make sense? Family, we've got to win. We wanna win to honor the Lord. He died for us. Did he die for you? bless the lord. Did he die for me? Yes. What can we do? He's not asking much of us. What he's asking us to do is to turn to him. Turn to him. He's asking us to turn to him and ask him to help us out of our sin nature. I mean, how much look Help me on my default path today. Help me because I'm headed where I don't believe I'm going. Every day, I'm believing I'm going to do better. Without his help, don't bank on a New Year's resolution. Yeah, it's just a little. Thank you. I can't hear. Hold on. Yeah. Thank you. Bless god. Bank on Don't bank on a new year's resolution. Don't bank on it. I'm going to do in January what I can do today. Today is the day of redemption. Today is the day of the lord. This is the day the lord has made. Let us rejoice in this day and be glad in it. tomorrow's not promised. So don't wait for your resolution to kick in. Not just to honor the Lord. Don't wait to start your exercise routine. Whatever it is, ask the Lord, help me do this today. If it's your will, won't he help us? He'll help us. We don't want to be foolish. We don't. We're entering into a new year if the Lord says the same. If he says the same, and if we don't enter into a new year, if any one of us were to expire, we're entering into the presence of the Lord. We want to enter in having submitted ourselves to him. Having requested of him that he make us over into the likeness of his son. It's easy to ask. There's no excuse if we're not asking for him to make us better. Make me better. Make us better. He's able. He's able to do it. So now if we have any trust in him, like we've trusted all the riches these people have told us on TV, give me your money and you're gonna get your Mercedes and your Learjets. We trusted them. Sometimes, some of us, in some portions of our lives. I'm not dispelling anything God wants to do with you in your life or with me. But if we can place trust in that, and some people have gone broke trusting in that system. We can't trust in the Lord to help me get out of the system. Won't he help us? Will he do it? Let's pray that we'll have this admonition. Let's pray to the Lord that we'll have this desire to ask the Lord to do in us what we can't do in ourselves. Only he's able. With men, it's impossible. But with God, all things are possible. We need the Lord. That make sense? Did I just get up here and run my mouth for nothing, Danny? Am I what? Okay, you heard it all before. Then, I need to keep going. We're going to get this. We're going to get it. Bless god. God is good. He deserves servants. While we're waiting, I like that meme. We're waiting on the lord. So, while we're Let's go. Serve the lord. Let's pray. So, father, we just pray. I don't know what the struggle is. I love the clown. Lord, so let me repent for having a clowning nature when actually I need it subdued. I'm not without fault. I'm not without failure. I like everyone else. Father, we all come from something. I know where I came from. I know the issues of my heart. I know them until the point that you decide to show me there's even deeper. I go deeper still in your heart. I know you do because you've revealed things to me, Lord, that I would have never expected to have revealed to me. and you've revealed to my friends, my family, in the same light manner. Lord, we're praying, Lord, we don't just run off with acknowledgement of a revelation of how wretched we are. We're praying right now, Lord, that you would change the trajectory, have us to become the people you're molding and shaping us to be. Help us, Lord. Remind us to ask you for the help we need. Remind us to ask you, Lord, not on a daily basis, but moment by moment. We need you every moment. Lord, as fleeting as our hearts are, they go everywhere to and fro in a moment. So we need you every moment. So, we're praying today, lord. We're embarking on a new year. We're going to get a new message from our pastor. We have new breath. We're sitting here with some new clothes on. We bless you lord. We just bless you. We thank you because you've been so good to us. So, with that lord, we're going to pray that you would It doesn't end. So we're praying, Lord. Remind us, Lord, to stay connected to you, to pray for one another and love each other as you and the Father love one another. And bless this day, this moment. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen. Bless God. Bless God who is holy. We're going to read. We're going to read Romans 5, 1 through 9. If you have your Bibles and your phones, then bring me one of your phones because I don't have it up. Okay, it's five, one through nine. So I'm gonna read out the ESV if you guys wanna read with me. So, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. not only that we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame because god's love has been poured into our hearts through the holy spirit who has been given to us for while we were still weak at the right time christ died for the ungodly for one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. We'll be saved in our wretchedness. from the wrath of God. Bless God who's holy above all things holy. Now we're going to have a musical affair with Danny and her team. Afternoon, everybody. Praise the lord, everybody. I was a little taken back because that verse that verse was one of the first verses I learned as a little girl. God demonstrates his love towards us and yet while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How many came to praise the Lord today? How many ready to lift Him up higher? How many ready to thank Him for bringing us all the way to the last Sunday of the year? Hallelujah. We love to call your name. It's something we cannot explain. That happens when we proclaim your great name, your great name. We love to call your name. Your great name. Your great name. Your great name. Your great name. King James. King James. No other name. No other name. King James. King James. In the strong world. In the strong world. The world will fall on King James. King James. King James. All on your name. All on your name. Oh. ♪ We love to hold you for your name is something ♪ ♪ We cannot explain, we cannot explain ♪ ♪ That happens when we proclaim your great name ♪ ♪ Your great name, your great name, your great name ♪ ♪ We love to hold you for your name is something ♪ ♪ We cannot explain, we cannot explain ♪ Oh, oh. There's power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. Power in your name. Help me say there is power. There is power in the name of Jesus. So much power. Power in your name. Healing for your body. There is power in the name of Jesus. So much power, yeah. Power in me. Think straight when I call your name. Think straight when I call your name. I'm free when I call your name. When I call your name When I call your name When I call your name When I call your name Say I'm set free when I call your name. Say I'm delivered when I call your name. Ride the blood of Jesus. Ride the blood of Jesus. I feel the sugar when I call your name. Say I'm set free when I call your name. ♪ Say I'm delivered when I call your name ♪ ♪ Let the band play ♪ Anybody ready to call his name? On the count of three we gonna say Jesus! One, two, three, Jesus! When I call your name. I feel much better when I call your name. I forget my problems when I call your name. Anybody here that call his name? Give God some glory in this place. Glory, glory, glory to your name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know I'm healed when I call the name of Jesus. I know things gonna change when I call the name Jesus. Demons tremble when they hear the name Jesus. One more time say when I call your name. When I call your name. He wants to hear you call his name. When I call your name. Oh Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. When I call your name. Oh Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. When I call your name. I feel much better when I call your name. When I call your name. I feel much lighter when I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I call your name. When I Anybody ever had a situation that looked dire and then Jesus made all the difference. I know about calling his name. I may have told y'all this once before, but I gave birth to a gray baby with no life in his body. and I screamed, Jesus! The name of Jesus can shift the atmosphere wherever you are. They said, ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, you still open, please stop screaming. I said, when I hear my baby scream, I'm gonna stop screaming. Jesus. Y'all know y'all met him. He's twenty. and god is still sustaining that prayer. He's still sustaining. Yes. That scream from that day 20 years ago. That's the kind of god we serve. When the end looks bleak and then all of a sudden, you just get all this life right behind it. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. The song says, ♪ Holding on to your word ♪ ♪ It's the light in the dark ♪ ♪ A hope for my heart ♪ ♪ Hey yeah, seasons come, people change ♪ But you were there at the start. You won't leave at this part. When my heart fails in the faith I know, I find strength in you. You sustain. You sustain. Oh, in the middle of it all. You remain the same through the rain. Still you reign. You sustain. Ooh, you sustain, yeah, you sustain. In the middle of it all, you remain the same. Through the rain, still you reign. You sustain. Letting go. Letting go. Of our fear. I'm not sure what's ahead. I'm not sure what's ahead. But I trust what you say. But I trust what you say. Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. Come. Have your way. Have your way. Come have your way. I surrender. I surrender my life. Lord, here's my life. Lord, here's my life. ♪ In the middle, in the middle of it all ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Still remain the same through the rain ♪ ♪ Still you reign, reign, you sustain ♪ ♪ Anybody have that testimony, you sustain, yeah ♪ ♪ You sustain, you do, you do, you sustain ♪ ♪ In the middle, in the middle of it all ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Still remain the same through the rain ♪ ♪ Still you reign, reign, you sustain ♪ ♪ Your mercies always come true ♪ ♪ Not depending on me but relying on you ♪ ♪ Your mercies are new every day ♪ ♪ So I will trust your promises ♪ ♪ Your mercies always come true ♪ ♪ Not depending on me but relying on you ♪ ♪ Your mercies are new every day ♪ I will trust you. I will trust you. Trust in the Lord with all my heart. I will. I will trust you. I'm not going to lean on my own understanding. I will. I'm gonna trust in Lord, yes I will. I will trust you. Oh, I will. I will trust you. When it looks good, even when it looks bad, I'm gonna trust you. I will trust you. Even in the midnight. I'm going to trust you. I'm going to trust you. with all my heart. because your mercies are brand new. Great is our faithfulness! Great is our faithfulness! From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same old hill! Oh! Oh! Oh! Even in the midnight. Even in the midnight. I will love you. You'll sustain. You'll sustain. You'll sustain. In the middle of it all, you'll remain the same. Through the rain, still you'll reign. You'll sustain. Help me say, you sustain. You sustain. In the middle. In the middle of it all. You remember to sustain. Yes, you do. You sustain. You sustain. You sustain. You sustain. You sustain. You're keeping power yet consistent. You're keeping power yet consistent. Your promises are, your promises always are true. Not depending on me. ♪ Your mercies are new, yeah ♪ So I will, I will ♪ Your promises always come true ♪ Not depending on me, I rely on you ♪ Your mercies are new, yeah ♪ So I will, I will Anybody trusting in the Lord today, I will. Anybody been trusting him since January all the way to December? Yeah. I will trust you. I know he's carried me. I know he's carried you. Yes, he has. I will trust you. I know some of us got some big mountains in front of us. But trust in the Lord today. I will trust you. Trust in the mountain mover on today. I'm gonna trust you. You're still a healer. You're still a provider. You've been my keeper. You've been my strong tower. I'm gonna trust you. Every time! Every time! Every time! Yeah! You sustain, you sustain, you sustain. In the middle of it all, you remain the same through the rain. Still you reign, you sustain. Help me say it one time, you sustain. You do, you do. He's a keeper. Thank you for keeping us. You sustain. You sustain. You sustain. You sustain. Even when I'm doubting God. You sustain. ♪ Even when I lost all hope ♪ God, you kept sustaining me ♪ God, you kept so loving me, yeah ♪ God, you kept your loving arms around me ♪ God, you kept your mercy keeping me ♪ You sustained, God You sustain me God. You sustain. You sustain. I dare you to stand to your feet and lift your hands and just worship the king of glory. Isn't he worthy? Has he sustained you? Has he kept your mind? Captain Marty! Play on! ? ? ? ? ? ? you Yes! Yes! Yes, lord. King of glory. Hallelujah. We bless you. The captain of of the army of host. We lift you up. who wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities and rulers of darkness of the world. We worship the captain of the army of hosts, the sovereign one, the omnipotent one, the omnipresent one, the omniscient one, the all-knowing one, the I am that I am. We magnify you above every struggle. We magnify you against all opposition, in the midst of all obstacles. Hallelujah. We who are resolved to your kingdom agenda, your kingdom purpose, your kingdom motive, your will. Hallelujah. We know we're just pilgrims passing through this place and we know we're also in a battle, but we also know who sits high on the throne of heaven. Hallelujah. And we worship you. We adore you. Hallelujah. And we know that through everything you sustain us. We know through everything, you preserve us. We knew through everything, Lord God, you not only cause us to survive but to thrive, to prosper and bear fruit. So Lord, we just want this praise and adoration to be a sweet savor into your nostrils. We want to magnify you. Hallelujah. Coming out of 25 and looking forward to 2026. Hallelujah. We've been through many things, many trials, tribulations, struggles, hallelujah, but through it all, you've sustained us, you've kept us. And so we bless you for that. And we know that there's more to come, more opportunities, but more opposition, more obstacles, but we know in the same way, you'll continue to sustain us. And you'll continue to preserve us, protect us, and prosper us for your purposes. So we bless you, Lord, and we magnify you in Jesus' name. Bless the Lord. Well, what can you really say after that? Okay. But amen, family. And praise God. And we're so thankful for our praise team, our musicians, our technical help that we have. We're so thankful for all of that and grateful And today, this morning, well, actually it's this afternoon, but it's morning somewhere, I guess. It has just been phenomenal. I mean, it made me want to just dance all up and down the aisles. You know, it made me want to dance all up and down the aisles. And I'm just thankful to be in the house of the Lord and with his family, okay? and we have so far had an amazing time worshiping and praising and praising, because that was definitely something. So I'd like to officially welcome you to Transforming Love Christian Center, where our services are held every Sunday at 1.30, and a Bible study every Thursday on Zoom at 7. However, you know we won't be having it this Thursday, because it's New Year's, OK? Now would be an optimal time to stand and to go ahead and hop across the aisles and give somebody a smile or a hug or somebody you didn't come with, you know, just a welcome. Okay? And to our members online, we're glad that you're joining us as well. Okay? We're going to have a couple of other things here. We're going to remember to silence their phones and remember the materials on the back table. OK? And you all know before you silence your phones, if you want to take them out to make your offering, please feel free to do so. But please, welcome, welcome, and everybody Jump across the aisle and give folks a hug. And then we're going to hear from Pastor Hawkins. ♪ ? ? ? Amen. Hello? Amen. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Amen. Amen. We're going to move along. And in the spirit of worship, we're going to have our offering, Brother Dave Boxon. Can you come and briefly raise the offering, give us some insight into what we're doing in the kingdom? Amen. Amen. What we're doing locally in this local body. Amen. Briefly. Pastor wants me to do an hour-long teaching on offerings, so just get ready for this. Okay. You know what, we're not that kind of church. You know, can you hear me? Yeah, we don't beg for money, but everybody needs money to run a church. That's common sense. You need money to live in your house, so you have to pay the bills, right? So it's autonomous in the sense that we come together and we contribute so that we can grow. And it blesses the Lord for us to participate. It's a blessing. It's advancing his kingdom is what's going on here, right? So for all the reasons anyone's ever asked you to give your money, I'm telling you, it's an investment in the advancement of the kingdom of God. He doesn't need your money. He doesn't. It's not like God's gonna Look, he owns everything, so when you hear that, believe that. But he's giving us an opportunity to contribute, right? Now, what did you guys think about our band today? Bless the Lord. They I mean in this what the last song was like one of those rock operas that right. So I'm telling you it was the whole production is what it was was outstanding. That ain't free. We have to pay for that. You get what I'm saying? Yeah. Now look, if we pay for it and they recycle it back into the ministry, then that's between them and God. But we have to pay for it. Some stuff costs, OK? They have to come rehearse and bother each other and look at each other and everything and then come up here and smile at us, OK? This is one of the things that the church needs. This is what we do, right? On top of the lights and the warmth and the rent, right? And all the background details, the intricate details we don't know about, right? Everything, all the equipment costs. It costs. Consider that when you're giving, right? Just consider I'm playing a part in this. I'm playing a part in it, right? God wants us to be cheerful givers so don't just smile and put on an act. Ask him for a cheerful heart and then give your money to advance the kingdom. Bless the Lord. Should we pray? I think we should. Some of them rolling their eyes at me. Bless God. So Father, we don't have anything. We only have what you've given us. And so, Lord, I know for a fact, Lord, that it's better to give than to receive. Because in order to give, you have to have something to give. And I don't have anything you haven't given me. And it's just, it works that way. We're like a river. You pour in, and it runs out and waters everything through streams. Lord, let us operate in that mode, like you've called us. Lord, we have to consider every little detail of our lives would not be possible without you, your contribution into us. Lord, let us contribute faithfully back into your kingdom so that you'll be able to reward us with on top of everything else, well done, good and faithful servants. that you want to reward us for honoring you. You're such a blessing. Lord, we're praying today. Lord, please write it in our hearts. Let us be cheerful givers and let us bless the kingdom of god. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen. You can look. He just made a good point. You have plenty of time to give. You can give three times in a day as the Lord, as the Holy Spirit moves you. If you need more time or you're trying to figure it out, just how much you need to give or want to give, then take your time. Honor God. It's going to be a blessing to the ministry, but we're honoring the Lord. Bless God. Bless God. Amen. Now we're going to have the Hawkins sisters. Under the direction of Erica Pringle and of course overseeing all of this is our sister Danny. And we appreciate everyone and their patience as the children prepare a man to minister. Amen. Amen. you I worship and adore you. Just want to tell you that I love you more than anything. I love you forever I love you forever I love you forever I love you forever I love you forever I love you forever I just want to say that I love you more than anything I just want to say that I I just want to say that I love you more than anything. I just want to say that I love you more than anything. I just wanna say that I love you more than anything. I just wanna say that I love you more than anything. I just wanna say that I love you more than anything. I just wanna say that I love you more than anything. Bye! Amen. Can you hear me? Amen. The Lord impressed on my heart sometime last year. He was like, you are moving musically way beneath what you are capable of. And he wants the church to reflect that to where we sing to the honor of God to the best of our ability. We play to the best of our ability. We do what we need to do for God to the best of our ability. Amen. So we are moving forward in that direction. Amen. I'm going to obey God as well as do some other things. And it does not take a million of us to do His will. It just takes a fraction of us who actually are consistent. Amen. So I appreciate your support. I appreciate your prayers. I appreciate your attendance. I appreciate your encouragement of the babies and the band. Sister Danny, amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Jamie and all the fellas. Thank you so much for my wife who is allowing the children to rehearse in our house and all those things. And Sister Erica, thank you very, very much. Thank you for all of you who have been faithful this year, including Pastor Rick and Brother David Boxon when it comes to our Bible studies and discipleship classes, amen. We appreciate all that. And, you know, I said some months ago maybe that we were a little struggling. We're starting to actually get up out of that struggle a little bit. Amen? So continue, continue to give, continue to support, continue to pray that God will blow his wind on this church. Amen? Amen. We are grateful for that. All right. Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate you. It's a little late because we have sang and prayed and had some more singing, and I normally get up about maybe 30 minutes ago, so I'm going to try to be expeditious this morning, but if we don't get out until nine, we're going to preach the word, amen, and say what thus saith the Lord, amen? Let's go ahead and stand and read the scripture, and then we will pray. Amen. Elijah, thank you so much for your help. And Shari up there, I appreciate your help. Thank you so much. Shari's not feeling well today, and she's up there still working. Amen? We are grateful. Paisley, can you grab this for Daddy, please? Thank you. And set it next to Mama. All right. Matthew, the sixth chapter, verses 25 through 34. Matthew, the sixth chapter, verses 25 through 34. Let's go ahead and put it up, Elijah. All right. The Word of God says, therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothed you? Oh, you of little faith. Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added, amen, unto you, right? Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." I need somebody to get him. Amen. All right. I want to say to you today that it's going to be the first of the year pretty soon, and we're all getting ready to go into this new year, and I'm praying that God gives us a new mindset. Amen? I want to speak to you today from the title, Exposing the Sin of Worry. exposing the sin of worry. You may have your seats. Father God, I come to you asking you to deliver this word. It is a timely word. I need your help, Lord. These things that you are speaking to us from your precious Son, First spoken on the Sermon on the Mount and now given to us, your church. They are weighty things, very demanding things, very convicting things, God. I pray, God, that you allow me to teach this in such a way that people see what you desire for us all, that we see how much you love us all. and how you want the best for us, God. I pray today that we are freed in our minds, Father, from our typical way of thinking and doing things. I pray that you free us, Father, from any oppressive attack of the enemy. Set us free, Father, from our own religious training that causes us to miss where you really want us to be. Help us to be humble, help us to be truthful and authentic today in this area that we all may struggle in. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. That's not going to work. That's not going to work. Thank you, wife. Looking good, girl. All right. Exposing the sin of worry. We have landed on some verses in the Sermon on the Mount that should be very familiar to us. How many people have heard this passage before? Amen. Several of us. Amen. Some of us have it. I have been known to struggle in the area of worry from time to time. Anybody else? Amen. And the truth of the matter is I still, from time to time, struggle with it. So it's okay to repeat some things that we may have taught before or been taught before. And the Word instructs us to renew our mind. In other words, to hear something sometimes over and over again until, as I've explained before, the nail gets driven into the wood. Amen? Amen. So things are solid. Things are settled in our hearts. It's okay for some things to be on repeat mode. Amen? So now I preached this passage before, and I want to first take some time really quickly to look at what's been obvious to me, some things that I said before, some things you may have heard before. But I also want to look at what's not so obvious. There are things in this passage that are new discoveries for me. And I want to pass them on to you this morning. Is that all right? So, Matthew, the sixth chapter, starting at the 24th verse. Matthew, sixth chapter. No, in fact, let's go to the 26th verse, Elijah. I'm sorry. Matthew, sixth chapter, starting at verse 26. Amen. The Word of God says, How they grow, they neither toil nor spin. 29 says, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith. Women of that time would have these ovens and they would actually heat up the oven after a while and cook their food. And if the fire got too low, they would run outside and go grab some grass and pluck it out of the ground and throw it into the oven. And that was the existence of that life or that life of that plant. It was very, very short. He's basically saying if God will take care of them when their life is this short and they're not as valuable as humans, will he certainly not take care of you? And then he questions us or challenges us and says, oh ye of little faith. Basically, Jesus is using obvious things of nature to explain what is or expose what is the sin of worry. Amen. It is sinful to worry about the future because worrying, number one, denies the truth that God is all-knowing, which means He knows what He's doing even if we don't think He knows what He's doing. That's the obvious point. Obvious point number two, it denies that God is all-powerful. Worrying denies that God is all-powerful. God is able to provide and do anything he needs to do for his children. Amen. And point number three, very quickly, it denies the simple fact that God loves his children. Emily? He loves his children. He cares for his children. So if he loves his children, he cares for his children, why should we worry? That's the obvious stuff. I've said that before, I've preached that before, now let's get on to what's not so obvious. Back it up, son, to verse 25. Verse 25 says this, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat or what you will drink. nor about your body what you will put on." And then Jesus asked a very easy question, simple question. Jesus asked this question, Matthew 6 verse 25. He says this, and this question I think anchors the whole passage. This is his point that he's really getting at. Not just don't worry, but something he wants us to think. Is not life more than food? And the body more than clothing? Isn't your life more about something else than food? It implies that there's a purpose for the believer. There's a purpose for our lives. that is bigger than eating food and looking good while you're doing it. Lord, take care of my needs, and while you're taking care of my needs, I want to be cute. Don't have me out here looking raggedy. All right? We fear not having our food, our shelter, and we fear stepping out and people looking like, ooh, you seen Jeremy? He ain't looking too good. Right? It's a big concern. Because of that, worrying causes us, saints of God, to devote most of our energy to what I would call survival mode. Animals, Henry, do this by instinct, but we are not animals. Amen. People are created in God's image. We are more intellectual. We have the ability not just to be savage when it comes to our basic needs. We're not in survival mode only. We're made in the image of God. I've got a quote, and it says this, God did not create us in his image with no higher destiny than that we should consume food. We are here to love, worship, and serve Him and to represent His interest on the earth. Our bodies, therefore, are intended to be our servants, never our masters. That hit me, right? Survival mode makes the body The Master. God intended for us to have our bodies be our servants. But the truth is that many of us, because of how we function or our fears, we put this in reverse. Right? So because of this worry, the way we live our lives, we live our lives in such a way where it's centered around concerns for how we are going to make it, rather than trusting and finding peace and rest in our faithful Father. Okay? So here's a question for you. If God has a purpose for us being here, will he not also take care of us while we're here? Right? Now, I said it before, and you have to excuse me, because if I was in sports, I'd talk about sports, but I was in music. OK? And I don't drop names from the people that I work with, but I want to use this to make a point. In the past, I worked with some pretty big name artists, and at that time, these were some of the biggest name artists in the industry, in the music industry, and I was very grateful to be there and excited about all that. But behind some of these artists was something even bigger, and that was called the record company. The record company were even more powerful than the artists. They were invisible to the public, but they were there. All right, and the record companies had this one agenda. They wanted to make sure that whatever star that they were pushing or promoting or trying to make bigger, they wanted to make sure they displayed them in the best way possible in as many places or cities as possible. Amen? So they would gather a bunch of young, talented people, you know, a bunch of, you know, Jamie Hawkinses and whoever else was in their business at that time, and they would gather them and, you know, there would be musicians and singers and dancers and engineers and wardrobe people. All those folks, and they would gather them and put them around the artist to make sure that the artist was displayed and presented in the best way possible. Amen? And they want to make a bigger star, because the bigger the star, the more money, because the more money means we are selling more records. Right? Right. So, you know, when we did the Grammys, it was big. When we did the Music Awards, it was big. It had all these people around there, talented folks. Now, here's the thing. The record companies would give the band members, singers, wardrobe people, and all those folks what was called a per diem. And a per diem was there to make sure that the needs of the people, the helpers like me who were helping to display the artists and the stars as big as they can, making sure that our basic needs were taken care of while we were working for and representing the artists that the record company that was invisible wanted to be seen. Are you following me? Here's my point, before this tour even started, there was a predetermined budget put together for everyone during the entire length of the tour. You get paid a check, but you also got paid spending money for food and everyday needs while you were away from home. It's bad business for the record companies to have the workers stressed out while they were performing and making sure that the artists that they were representing looked good. Here's my question, if an evil record company can put together a budget for the workers who are representing the artists, the stars, for the whole entire tour, don't you think that your heavenly father, who is not evil, knows how to put together a budget for the rest of your life while we are away from home and working for and representing Jesus and making him bigger? Jesus has, he has a predetermined budget for the rest of your life. So why worry? Can I go a little deeper? While I was on tour, there were certain hours that I worked while I was performing. And there were certain hours that I had to myself. This is where it gets interesting. Let's back this passage up a little bit more. Now, Elijah, to verse 24, Matthew 6, 24. No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Some translations say you cannot serve God and what? Mammon. Some people read that, right? Okay, a lot of translations put it that way. The word mammon had a most curious and most revealing history. It comes from the root word which means to entrust. And mammon was that which was entrusted to a banker or a safe deposit of some kind. Okay? You wanna put something aside? I trust that you will keep this for me. I'm entrusting my money to the banker. I'm entrusting my money, the safety of my money, to this safe deposit box. Follow me? Mammon. But as the years went on, because words change, The word mammon came to mean not something that you entrust someone to, or money that you entrust to someone, or a banking deposit box, but that in which people began to put their trust in. So the word mammon was not I entrust this to you. The word mammon became I trust in mammon. The word mammon could easily be substituted for, I trust in this God, mammon. Interesting. I didn't know that was there. So Jesus, when he is preaching this, in his day, he's not saying that you can't serve God in money. He's saying that you can't be a slave to two gods at the same time. Not because money is actually a God, but because 10 people tend to make money a God. They put their trust in it. Amen. So Matthew 6.24, again, keep it up there, Elijah. You're going to be there for a minute. Matthew 6.24 says, no one can serve. That word serve means no one can be a slave to. Two masters. That word master means absolute ownership. No one can be a slave to two masters who have absolute ownership for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve, be a slave to God and the God of money that has absolute ownership. No man can be a slave to two absolute owners at the same time. See, in modern times, saints, hang with me, it's fair for an employee to have certain amount of hours at their real job, and then they have time for themselves to work, you know, the thing that they want to do. Their free time. Because there are many people that I ran into on tour where they called their real job their day job. And that was what they used to support themselves. While behind the scenes they were speaking, you know, about working on something else with their own hours, their own dreams and aspirations. I can't count the many times, I mean, how many times I ran into a waitress who said, I really want to be a dancer. Or even a lawyer who said, you know what? I really want to go on Broadway. I have my day job hours. And then when I'm done with that, I have time to myself where I actually start to work on the thing that I really want to do. Right? But at the time that Jesus is preaching this message to the people, they don't have such things called employers and employees. They have slaves and masters. And the masters totally owned the slaves. There was no such thing as clocking in to work at your so-called day job. The masters saw the slave as a tool, and the tools don't have separate hours, amen, that belong to themselves. Which tells me, saints, when Jesus said no man can serve two absolute master owners, help me, Holy Spirit, He's saying the only real way to accomplish this impossible thing is to think you're a slave of God when you're really not. It's to be deceived in your own mind. Many of us, if we're honest, we're really part-time employees of Jesus, but not slaves of Jesus. We work really for our fears and our worries, and we try to work for God at the same time. And Jesus is saying, it's really impossible to have two masters. Are you following me? Free time for me and what I'm concerned about versus free time for Jesus. Jesus is saying, no, no, I own all your time. That's a hard point because when we think about two masters, we take the American version understanding of that and not the biblical understanding that Jesus had when they were teaching at that time. So Jesus is saying it's impossible to be absolutely owned by two different masters. So if mammon or money here really means a false god master, then this other so-called false god will do what all other false gods do. Tie us up, enslave us, restrict our freedom, keep us bound by oppressive tactics, and torment us with worry to get us to keep serving it. Are you seeing what's happening in the context here? Here's a connection. The thing that keeps most of us from full commitment to God is the worries and the cares of this world. If we are worried about taking care of ourselves, then we will not be loyal to God. We'll never make ourselves available to use what He's given us for His purposes. Our fear, which is really a lack of trust in God, will block anyone from benefiting from what God has given us to be a steward over. Do you see what's happening? No man can serve two masters. What's your other master? You're concerned for your well-being, your worry. How am I going to make it? Jesus is saying, you can't serve that and serve me. Are you hearing me? Verse 31, Matthew 6, 31. Jesus says, therefore, because of the sin we now see when it comes to worry, he says, I tell you, don't be anxious, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? Pray and ask God to free us from worry. It's a sin. It keeps us bound up. Amen. We're not free. We will do its bidding every single time. We will run our lives by what we are concerned about the most. And what I'm concerned about the most is, Lord, how I'm going to eat and how I'm going to look when I'm doing it. Right? He said, for the Gentiles, verse 32, Elijah, for the Gentiles seek after all these things. So at the time Jesus is preaching this message, he's saying that the gospel has not been preached to many Gentiles yet. Amen. It's a way of saying there are people of God and there are the people of the world. The people of the world don't know God. The people of the world are programmed to seek after the basics. The people of the world are programmed to put their car notes and their rent above God. Right? They focus on the things that they can see because they don't know who God really is. They never had the Word of God. They never knew God or saw God bring them out of Egypt. Amen. They have no history of a relationship with God, the one true God. Jesus is saying, don't be like the Gentiles. He's saying, you know God. God changed your status. God made you a child of God. Jesus is saying, you know my word. He's saying, you have my promises. You know my track record. You've seen me make a way out of no way. You've seen me bring you through. You know good and well I took care of you last time, I'll take care of you this time. He's saying, don't be like the Gentiles. Don't act like you don't know me. Right? And he said, and your Heavenly Father knows what you need. He knows that you need them all. Before we even ask, our Heavenly Father already knows what we need. He's a very present help. in time of trouble. He's very aware of every detail of your life. A decent father will at least provide for his children. How much will a heavenly father provide for his children? Right? And your Heavenly Father, He already knows that we need them. So, here's the part where we play a key role in our own deliverance. Are you ready? Matthew 6.33. He says, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Not only seeking his kingdom and becoming a citizen of the kingdom through belief in Jesus Christ as his son, where he makes us holy in our position, but he's saying seek him not just as a citizen kingdom, but also his righteousness, which means living under his rule. living under his authority, living under his lordship as king, which will lead to a righteous life. But more than that, Jesus is saying the weapon that you have in fighting against your anxiety is actually giving yourself something else to focus on other than you. Did you hear that, saints? Seeking the will of God for our lives on a daily basis by doing what God tells you to do, being the hands and feet of Jesus, I'm busy with His interest and not my own. I'm so busy doing what God wants me to do for Him, I don't have time to worry about me. Are you hearing what I'm saying? You can drive yourself crazy thinking about you all day long. Or you can give yourself some deliverance and walk out of that situation and trust that God's got you. And no matter what happens, He will take care of you and be concerned about somebody else. Amen. Therefore, verse 34, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for today is its own trouble. Today, saints, is actually the tomorrow that we were worried about yesterday. Did you catch that? Today is the tomorrow that we were actually worried about yesterday. Somebody getting delivered over here. Amen? That's how it always is. I worry about tomorrow, tomorrow comes, and somehow I think about, I don't know how I'm going to make it, but God comes through and I'm okay. Right? And then I sit back and go, wow, what was I worried about? Isaiah 26 and 3 says this, you, God, will keep him in perfect peace whose mind has stayed on you. He's telling us, get your mind off of your basic needs and your everyday situation and get your mind on the fact that you have a loving, faithful father who will take care of his children. That's how you stop the worry. Amen? Worry refuses to learn the lesson of life. Amen. We are in perfect peace because we have our mind stayed on you. What's the key? Because this man, this woman who thinks about God trusts in God. I trust in you. Amen? Here's the thing, saints. The lesson of life is this for the believer. We are still alive. Our heads are still above the water. It may be uncomfortable. Anybody experiencing some discomfort? Right? But the truth is, is every day, your head is above the water. I'd like it to be down here, where I can kind of feel a little free, you know? Right? But the truth of the matter, when it's up here, it's a little uncomfortable. Right? But the truth is, is no matter how high the water is, every single day, I seem to never go under. It's uncomfortable, but I never go under. And here's another point that I want you to think about, Saints. There's no guarantee that you'll be here tomorrow to even worry about tomorrow. I got bills just like everybody else, but if I sit there thinking about my bills all day, the truth is I might not even be able to pay them because I might not even be here. Right? living one day at a time, trusting God, and who's always taking care of us. If someone told us that we would have to go through some of the things that God has actually taken us through, we would have said it's impossible. But the lesson of life is that God will take us through what seems to be unbearable. God will take us through what seems to be impossible, and we'll look back and we'll go, I can't believe I made it through that, but you took me through it. You're a faithful God, and you did it again, and you did it again, and you did it again, and you did it again. A lesson of life is that worry is completely and totally unnecessary. God will bend you to stretch you, but he will not allow you to break. I don't like being bent over backwards either. But the bottom line is some of that stuff is exactly what I need to see just how God is good to me, to see how God is faithful. Sometimes you don't know how light it is until you experience some darkness. Sometimes you don't know what comfort is until you experience something uncomfortable. Sometimes you don't know that God can make a way out of no way until you got the Red Sea in front of you and an army on the other side and God somehow opens up the Red Sea and you walk through on dry water and you are delivered from what you thought would never happen. What I'm trying to explain to you, God, is, people, God is faithful. He's faithful. Amen. Amen. Verse 21 of this same passage, or should I say 22? Yeah. Says this, the eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. And if then the light in you is dark, how great is that darkness? The I, saints of God, must be single, not dual. I must have God's purposes as the priority. Amen? I must not be focused on all of these worries that cause me to fret and fear. I must remember that God wants me to represent Jesus. He wants his star to shine. Amen? How am I looking while I'm trusting? Right? Huh? You know, the I is singular. My focus is on God. My focus is not mainly on me. If we see the stuff in this world, and that's all we desire to have, if that's our main focus, then we will live whatever life we can to attain those things in this world. Right? But if we desire to please Christ and to live a life that's devoted to Christ, then what we will more than likely do is have our life steered towards the purposes of the kingdom. Here's the thing, saints. He's saying you can't have two masters. You cannot be loyal to both. The enemy and your flesh will use worry to get you to have a divided heart. You see that? That's why life, it changes and we have to have the kingdom of God at the forefront of our mind because we need to be found doing God's will, the things that will please Him. That's what we want to do. If you seek first the kingdom of God, then all these other things will be added unto you. He will add those things that you're concerned about. He's already got a budget for you. The budget has been predetermined. It may look bad, but the budget's there. It may look uncomfortable, but the budget is there for your whole entire life. Amen. He adds those things to you. But here's the thing, saints. If I am not careful and I'm focused on this world and all the things that I think I got to have and I'm in survival mode, then what has to happen is God has to give me an intervention because I'm too focused on me. Are you hearing me? My decisions that I will make will be all about what I want. And there's no guarantee that I'm actually going to be happy after I get what I'm worried about. Are you? Do you hear what I'm saying? All that fretting. Do you know what worry really is? It's self-preservation mode. It's self-preservation mode, but it's deception because the person that I'm trying to preserve is not even the person that God wants me to be. Did you hear what I'm saying? So I'm trying to keep myself from all kinds of stuff that I'm worried about. And God is saying, no, I'm going to take you through all that because that's going to change you and make you more like my son. And my son depended on me, my son trusted in me, and my son had total joy while he was doing it. Do you hear me? Do you hear what I'm saying? Worry snatches life from you. Trust brings life to you. You hear me? There's no guarantee that you will actually... Do you recognize that 90% of the stuff that you worry about will never even happen? We make up the worst situations in our minds. Oh my God, it's going to be bad. What's going to happen if this happens? We blow it and we waste all that time and that energy and it doesn't even happen. Jesus is saying, I got a better way. Trust your faithful Father that He's already given you everything you need before you showed up to the planet. Because worry is a sin. It robs you from doing the will of God because the thing that you become most concerned about is how I'm going to survive and not working for the Lord or representing Jesus Christ. That's what it comes down to. I don't know how else to say this, but I want us to go into this new year trusting the Lord. Several years. of my life has been spent worrying about whether God was near. Whether or not he's gonna come through. Looking back over my, let's say, 20 years, he came through. So what did the worry do? Absolutely nothing, except for one thing. Steal my time. Steal my joy? Take my focus? Huh? Cause me to be distracted? Cause me to prioritize being taken care of and my, you know, being in survival mode versus actually doing the will of God? There were blessings and opportunities that we missed and we actually passed on because we were over-focused on, God, do you have me? Jesus says, oh, you of little faith. Don't go into this year with no faith. Don't go into this year with little faith. Go into this year with certain faith. I know He's going to take care of me. I know everything is already set. I can actually be busy about doing God's will, which will bring more joy and satisfaction to me than me sitting here worrying about whether or not God's going to come through. You hear me? This is a challenge for all of us. Is this just my message or just yours? Father, I thank you so much for taking care of the lilies. I thank you for taking care of me, this church, our families, our loved ones. Thank you for taking care of those needs, cars and shelter and food and all those things. Father, I pray that you help us to trust in you. Help us not to act like Gentiles who have never heard your truth. Help us to recognize that you are a father and that you actually do sustain us. And help us to be found in a place where we maintain and remain in faith with you, where we trust you, God, to come through. There are many things that we need. But you placed us on this planet, and you've given us everything that we need already. Help us to trust you, God, and to not worry. Help us not to sin in thinking that you will not provide, and thinking that you don't already know what you're doing, and thinking that you don't care and love us, Father. Forgive us, God. Forgive me. Forgive this church. Help us to have faith and not sin in our worry. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right. First of the year, we're going to have to do something radical. We're going to have to step away from the information that comes into our mind for about a month. We're going on a fast. That means shut down your TV, turn your phone off unless it's absolutely necessary that you make a phone call. Step it, give it away or set it aside, whatever you got to do. Because what we want is more of God's truth and less of the world's lie. in our minds, right? That way, we will actually be freed enough to do God's will. Because we think differently. Are you with me? First of the year, complete and total media fast. Complete and total media fast. Amen? That's what we're doing. Netflix, social media. Do I need to call it all out? Scrolling. All of it. Get into the word, talk to your heavenly father, and ask him, free me from worry so I can do your will. Help me get up my mind off of me so I could do your will. Amen? Let's raise, let's stand. Hug on somebody that you did not come with, love on them. I will see you next week. God bless you. If I haven't seen you in a while, come give me a hug. God bless you. I'll see you next week. You are dismissed. so so