Sermon - Jesus’ plan for your anxiety - Matthew 6:25-34

All right, good morning, everyone.

It is so good to be here with you.

It's so amazing to be a part of a church that gets excited about Jesus' presence.

As Pastor Matt has been sharing over the past little while, part of our vision and goal at Centre Church is to be a renewed and renewing church.

It's so special to be part of a body that is actively seeking renewal.

And it's been amazing to hear countless testimonies and stories of people experiencing the manifest presence of Jesus' spirit, as we pursue obedience to his word and spirit together.

I'm excited and honored to be sharing this message with you today that I believe is so relevant to our body and our city.

As a church, we desire to encounter the living God.

We do this in many ways.

We do this by gathering together here on Sunday morning.

We do it by reading the word on our own time and in our gospel communities in so many more ways as we press into Jesus' word and experience his spirit together.

It is in the pressing in and desiring transformative and meaningful encounters with King Jesus that leads us to renewal in the church and in our world.

But if we're honest with ourselves, there are barriers and walls that can feel impossible to break down, that prohibit and prevent us from living into the life that Jesus has for us.

I know for myself that one of the biggest barriers to experiencing and encountering Jesus is anxiety.

I have always been prone to anxiety.

I know that when I'm experiencing anxiety, my focus and attention drifts away from God and what he is doing and goes to myself.

My attention and focus begin to drift away from what God is doing.

I come to worship or to pray or to read the word and my mind begins to race with distraction after distraction after distraction.

I can try to pray.

I can try to sing.

I can try to worship and receive what the Lord has.

However, my attention drifts away from him and becomes fixated on my fears and my anxieties.

Church, I know I'm not alone in this.

I know that even as I say this, many of us in the room are feeling this way today.

Anxiety and worry are something that many of us not only experience on a Sunday morning, but in our daily lives.