The Future Doesn't Look So Good Series

STANDING TALL:

THE FUTURE DOESN’T LOOK SO GOOD

Matthew 6:25-34

S: Courage

Th: Fear of the Future

Pr: WE CAN BE CONFIDENT ABOUT THE FUTURE.

?: How? How can we do it?

KW: Reminders

TS: We will find in our study of Matthew 6:25-34 three reminders about worry that will enable us to be confident about the future.

The _____ reminder is the…

I. POINTLESSNESS OF WORRY (25-32)

II. PRIORITY OF FIRST THINGS (33)

III. PRESENT NEED (34)

Version: ESV

RMBC 23 November 03 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Notebook: Worry (Paid to Worry)

Fresh out of business school, a young man answered a want ad for an accountant. Now a very nervous man who ran a small business, which he had started himself, was interviewing him.

"I need someone with an accounting degree," the man said. "But mainly, I’m looking for someone to do my worrying for me."

"Excuse me?" the accountant said.

"I worry about a lot of things," the man said. "But I don’t want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back."

"I see," the accountant said. "And how much does the job pay?"

"I’ll start you at eighty thousand."

"Eighty thousand dollars!" the accountant exclaimed. "How can such a small business afford a sum like that?"

"That," the owner said, "is your first worry."

Do you worry too much?

Well, if there is anything that we have in common today, it probably is that we all worry.

I think that a lot of us live in the “what if” syndrome.

Often, they are fears of the extreme.

Like…

What if I am attacked while I jog?

What if my child is hurt or even shot while at school?

What if the terrorists strike again and set off a bomb where I work?

More often, though, our fears are more practical in nature.

Like…

What if I lose my job?

What if my kids drop out of church?

What if I get into an accident?

What if someone breaks into my home?

What if my spouse cheats on me?

What if my folks can no longer fend for themselves?

A lot of these are real possibilities.

And whether the chances of these things happening to us are small or great, we have definite concerns that they might happen to us.

TRANSITION:

Here is a truth that we must realistically consider…

1. We don’t know all that is going to happen.

ILL Forrest Gump

Several years ago a movie came out titled “Forrest Gump.” I know that many of you have seen it. The main character in the movie was a man named Forrest Gump, played by Tom Hanks, and Sally Fields as his momma. The movie won several Academy Awards in 1995 including Best Actor (by Hanks), and Motion Picture of the Year.

The story is about the life and times of a man named Forrest Gump. Forrest is a man in his early thirties and he is reflecting on his life. He is sharing his story with several individuals while sitting at a bus stop waiting to see his one true love. Forrest is from a small town in Alabama, has had physical problems, and a rather low IQ. The story starts out in the early fifties and through three turbulent decades, Forrest rides the tides of events that whisk him from physical disability to football stardom at the University of Alabama; from Vietnam hero to shrimp tycoon; from White House honors to the arms of his one true love.

His life is one adventure after another, one heartache after another, one success after another, one question after another. He gains a lot of what little wisdom he has from his momma. She teaches Forrest the ways of life through such wise, clever little sayings that would even make King Solomon proud. One of the most catchy of her sayings is “Life is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re going to get.”

There is truth to that…

Sometimes we get the creamy centers…representing the smooth, sweet and easy times in our lives.

Sometimes we get those caramels…they are chewy, tougher to get through; they get stuck in your mouth, and last longer than you want them to.

Sometimes we get those nuts, representing the bumpy times in our lives.

We never know what is going to happen in our lives.

To an extent, life is a big futuristic mystery; a journey on a road filled with curves, construction, detours, hills, and stoplights.

So do we know when bad things are going to happen?

No.

Do we know if the terrorists are going to strike again?

No.

We never know what is going to happen until it happens.

There is a sense irony here that I must mention.