Foundational Faith

Matthew 6:25-27 Foundational faith in times of uncertainty.

Intro..Screaming headlines
You don’t even have to be worried about the economy to be worried. You could be uncertain about your kids, family, neighbors, your future, your marriage…

Text: Matthew 6:25-27
Thesis: A solid foundational faith comes from time spent in the word, applying many Biblical principles and trusting God for your basic needs.

Matthew 5-7 gives us a picture of a godly life. Although we are focusing on 6:25-27, in reality, the topics covered in these three chapters will give us that foundational faith we are looking for.
· I’d like us to take a look at these other areas that are important in our Christian lives, before we see how we are doing with worry about uncertainties.
· I want to make this as practical as possible, so get ready to think and write.

Let’s take a look:
5:3-10, The Beatitudes, (from the sermon on the mount) present the way of righteous living…., hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers…
· How can you be more righteous, merciful and pure in heart?
· What is preventing you from having those qualities in your life?

5:22, Be kind to others, treating them nice.
· Who is it in your life that you are having a hard time with?

5:23-26 Reconcile to others
· Is there someone in your life you need to reconcile with?
· What is the first step in making that happen?

5:27-32 Stay committed in your marriage, getting rid of anything that would cause you to sin.
· What can you do this week to improve the commitment factor in your marriage?

5:33-37 Keeping your word
· When is it easy for you to “massage the truth?”

5: 38-42, Turning the other cheek
· Is there a situation in your life where you need to avoid revenge?

5: 43-48 Loving those who are not easy to love, even your enemies.
· Who is it in your life that is not easy to love?

6:1-4 Giving with a pure heart and pure motives.
· Are you giving of your time, talents and money? Y or N
· If so, are you doing that begrudgingly? Y or N

6:5-14 Proper prayer and forgiveness
· Do you have a consistent prayer life? Y or N
· Is there someone you need to forgive?

6: 16-18 Fasting
· When was the last time you fasted or withheld something important if your life so you could have a deeper time of godly reflection?
6:19-24 Having the right perspective on money and material possessions.
· What material possession are you really craving right now?
· Is it really necessary for your daily living and basic needs? Y or N

And then we get to our passage for today, (6:25-27) in relation to anxiety.
· I’d like you to take a moment and write down something that you are anxious about. Let’s make it personal.
· The reason I wanted us all to look at all these other godly characteristics listed is because sometimes these verses taken on their own almost seem too simple. Some Christians even like to use these verses flippantly.
· PIC “Don’t worry, there is more to life than food and clothes. God takes care of the birds, so he’ll take care of you.”
· “Don’t worry you’ll be fine.” Not always…often there are many tough lessons to learn in times of uncertainty.
· These verses are not promoting idleness…
· “I guess I don’t have to do anything since the Bible says God will take care of me! “
· God will take care of us when we take some action ourselves.
· I’ve already mentioned a lot of the actions we need to take in chapters 5-6 and we’ll look at some more in chap. 7.
· The key is we need to differentiate between worry and concern.
· Worry can damage our health, cause us to be unproductive, cause us to treat others wrong, and reduce our ability to trust God. Worry can immobilize us.
· Proper concern should move us to action. That action needs to be a godly, biblical response to uncertainty.
God is omniscient; nothing is a surprise to him. God allows every event to come into our lives. God has a plan to bring about his purpose in everything, no matter how random or senseless it may seem. (sprinkler story at church)
· The question we should be asking is: “What does God want to show me through this?” Instead of: “Why is this happening to me?”
· If we are overly concerned about the things of this world, then it shows where our treasure and heart is.
· Striking the balance between the need for basic necessities and trusting God for what we truly need takes time, maturity and a deep study of the Bible.
· The truth is, the “basic needs” will vary for each one of us, so let’s be careful with judging others…unless it’s obvious.
· I believe God is asking each one of us through these verses, to honestly evaluate our worries and concerns.
· If we all take an honest, biblical look at our lives, God will show us where we need to cut back and what we need to trust him for more fully.
· If we truly believe in a big God who takes care of the birds of the air and knows the number of hairs on our head, (Matt. 10:30)then we need to trust him that even in times of uncertainty, there will be something for us to learn.
· The rest of Matt. 6 helps us even more…
· Maybe these verses are too convicting for us. We don’t want to hear that in the midst of our troubles, we need to trust God to take care of us.
· It’s too tempting to shoulder the weight of our worries ourselves.

Let’s finish up with a few more practical nuggets from chapter 7: (and remember, all these qualities help give us a more rounded perspective on life and what we’re worried about)
1-5 Not judging others
· Who is it easy for you to cast judgment on?

6-8 Prudence
· The ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of (Biblical) reason.

7-11 Trusting God for what we need through prayer
· Through a consistent prayer life, are you giving all your concerns to God?


12 Doing unto others as you would have them do to you.
· The golden rule, treating others right.

7: 13-29 Proof of a godly life
· Are you choosing the narrow, godly path?

· We’ll be known by our fruits…what are you known for?

· How sincere is our Christian faith? Is it a 24/7 faith or only when convenient?

· Are we putting the words of God into practice and building that sure foundation, the house built on the rock.

Keeping faith in times of uncertainty requires a large package deal. It takes some action on our part.

Conclusion: OU QB, Sam Bradford quote: “I’m trusting God right now, I know he has a reason for this…”