This is going to be a great weekend for us, and I’m really looking forward to it. We are talking about one of the biggest problems ever, one the the biggest problems most all of us face: worry.
Worry is different than anxiety and concern, both of which we all experience from time to time. Worry is a choice we make to become upset and anxious about things we have no control over, or things we’re not exercising control over but should. Over and over again in Scripture, Jesus tells us flat out, don’t do it.Why? Because it is a complete waste of time. And, it can easily lead to other bad things like lack of productivity and depression. It can impact our physical health and it definitely damages our relationships…beginning with our relationship with God.
Worry takes God off the throne he should be on in my life and puts fear and failure there instead. Worry tells God, “you’re not in control, the worst case scenario is.”
This weekend we’re looking at how we sometimes act like atheists when we worry. It is a great message to invite a friend to hear. Bring them to church this weekend or share the message online, beginning Monday morning. Or, you can invite them to join our online congregation, this Sunday morning at 10:30 am (with a rebroadcast on Wednesday evening at 7pm). The online campus is an easy and accessible place for people who don’t have a church to give it a try again, hear a message that speaks to their experience, and get a taste of our church community. But it only works if you help us out and make an invitation to your unchurched friends and family. Thanks for your help.
By the way, some of our staff and ministry leaders are off to Atlanta this week for a church conference at NorthPoint Church, led by Pastor Andy Stanley. As many of our regulars know, Andy is a great man of God and a real mentor and inspiration to us. I am really looking forward to the conference and just being a part of their incredible church environment, in fact Tuesday I’m having lunch with Andy too which should be interesting. Meanwhile, please keep our group in your prayer this week; we hope that this experience will bring more of our parish leaders to a new level of enthusiasm for what God can do in his local church and what he already is doing here at Nativity.
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life…
Matthew 6.27
Thanks for all you do to bring us closer to God. Have a safe and rewarding trip to the conference in Atlanta. Should be warmer weather there.
Diane Blattner