INTRO.- ILL.- Dr. Clarence Bass, professor at Bethel Theological Seminary, early in his ministry preached at a church in Los Angeles. He thought he had done quite well as he stood at the door greeting people as they left the church. The remarks about his preaching were complimentary. That is, until a little old man commented, "You preached too long."
Dr. Bass wasn’t fazed by the remark, especially in light of the many positive comments. And the old man said, "You didn’t preach loud enough.” Dr. Bass thought it strange that the man had come through the line twice, but when the same man came through the line a third time and exclaimed, "And you used too many big words,” he began to wonder.
Dr. Bass sought out a deacon who stood nearby and asked him, "Do you see that little old man over there? Who is he?" "Don’t pay any attention to him," the deacon replied. "All he does is go around and repeat everything he hears."
Dr. Bass preached too long, too softly, and used too many big words. Doesn’t sound good to me. I prefer to be short-winded, fairly loud and use down-to-earth language that people can understand.
ILL.- Mark Twain attended a Sunday morning church service one time. He met the preacher at the door afterward and told him that he had a book at home with every word he had preached that morning. The minister assured him that the sermon was an original. Twain still held his position. The preacher wanted to see this book so Twain said he would send it over in the morning. When the preacher unwrapped it he found a dictionary and in the flyleaf was written this: "Words, just words, just words."
I think perhaps a lot of preaching is just words. However, if those words are put together sensibly then they can do a great deal of good.
ILL.- Someone said, “Long-winded speakers exhaust their listeners long before the exhaust their subjects. Recognizing this danger, one speaker began his talk this way: "I understand that it’s my job to talk to you. Your job is to listen. If you quit before I do, I hope you’ll let me know."
This is why I’ve cut my sermons down, IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED. I’d rather leave people wanting more rather than hurting or hollering.
ILL.- Someone said that some preachers preach "longhorn sermons." That is, a point here, a point there, and a lot of bull in between. BUT JESUS HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD EVERY TIME! Jesus didn’t talk long but He sure said a lot. Jesus said what we needed to hear. He is the giver of life and knows what life is all about and we would do well to pay attention to His Words.
PROP.- Jesus got to the heart of the matter in regard to prayer, treasures, and worries. Let’s think about what He said.
I. PRAYER
Matt. 5:9-13 "This, then, is how you should pray: " ’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
What is so important about prayer? And what is so important about the Lord’s prayer? Prayer is when we commune with God.
Prayer is when we get in touch with God and if there was ever anyone we needed to know and have a relationship with, it’s God! He is the one VIP with whom we need communication.
Prayer is a child crying out to His loving Father. Prayer is talking to the One person who truly cares for us regardless of who we are or how bad we’ve been in life. Prayer is talking things over with the all-wise, all-powerful, eternal Creator of the universe! WE NEED PRAYER!
Here is what Moses said to his people:
Deut. 4:7 “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” God is always near to us, but He’s even nearer when we pray!
Now, what’s so important about the Lord’s Prayer? What can we learn from it? Several things.
We must pray to our hallowed Heavenly Father. This means to our Holy Heavenly Father. When we come before Him we should be humble because there is no one else like him.
ILL.- You can talk to me anyway you want and some of you do! But when we approach the Father we must be completely humble because we’ve never been in such a presence before!
Long ago, Isaiah saw the Lord on His throne and exclaimed, “Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips…..” Isaiah was humbled before God so should we be in prayer.
In this prayer Jesus teaches us to pray about many things: the kingdom, the church, our daily provisions, people, temptation, etc. If we can’t talk to the Lord about these things then who in the world can we talk to about these things?
ILL.- I am honored in life when my children call me and ask my advice about life or else pour out their hearts to me when something is bothering them.
That doesn’t happen often but when it has happened I am honored when they recognize me as their Father and know that I love them dearly and also recognize that I know something about life.
And so with our Heavenly Father. Don’t you know? Don’t you realize there isn’t anyone on planet earth who loves you as much as your Heavenly Father? And He has ALL the answers to life’s problems and perplexities!
I Pet. 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
When you know that someone cares about your every heartbeat, your every hurt, etc. how can you not want to talk to Him as often as possible?
II. TREASURES
Matt. 5:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matt. 5:24 "No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.”
DO NOT STORE UP TREASURES ON EARTH. At first whenever I read this, I thought, “Who in the world can store up treasures. Most of us live from paycheck to paycheck.”
Basically, I’ve done that all my life. I can only remember one short period of my life when I was not in debt and that didn’t last very long.
Most of us have never made enough money to the point where we could “store it up,” so to speak.
ILL.- Many years ago we had a deacon in one church who had a farm with livestock but he also built houses on the side. He believed in hard work. He went to church every Sunday morning but he still worked the rest of the day. I heard him more than once say, “Gotta make that money.” And I was told by sister-in-law that at that time, which was probably 25 years ago (or more) that he had enough money in the bank to live off the interest without ever working another day in his life.
There are not many people that wealthy or have made that much money and had it “stored up.” But we all have our treasures in life; things that we value and treasure highly.
ILL.- I have a friend back in MO who is retired and is in his mid-50’s. For many years, he traveled and fished in big bass tournaments. Now his big bass boat just sets. He hasn’t sold it because I suppose in some form it’s still something of a treasure to him. And when I told him that I had probably a dozen rods and reels he told me that he had over 40. They are a part of his treasure. His treasures are stored up and doing nothing.
We all have our treasures but we must not value them too highly, because they will not last. They are not eternal!
Do I think it’s wrong to save money if you can? No, but It’s hard to save money because the neighbors are always buying something that we need. But if we can save money it must not become the focus of our lives. Do I think it’s wrong to have things: cars, houses, clothing, etc. No, but again, these things must not and cannot become the focus of our lives!
ILL.- Suppose I were to give each of you here today $1000. In the first place, you know I’m kidding, but suppose it was possible and I did it. Do you think you would be grateful and thank me? I think you would. If you didn’t I would think there were would be something terribly wrong with you.
And do you suppose you would go through the rest of the day thinking about me? I think that would be a very good possibility. And do you think you would probably of me more than usual throughout the next week? I think that, too, would be a very good possibility.
GUESS WHAT? In the first place, I have given you something that is worth a whole lot more than cash money, even a thousand dollars.
Secondly and more importantly, I know of someone who has given you a whole more than a thousand dollars and do you thank him profusely and think about Him often as you go about your daily duties?
If we would be honest, everything good that we have comes from the Lord. Every good and perfect gift is from above. And we owe Him our thanks, gratitude and praise in huge proportions! HE IS THE GREATEST TREASURE OF ALL! He has given us life, all good things in life, and He will give us eternal life. I think He deserves more attention and more focus than we give Him.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
III. WORRY
Matt. 6:25-34
ILL.- Three cowboys had been riding the range since early in the morning. One of them was a member of Navajo Nation. Being busy with herding stray cattle all day, there had been no time for the three of them to eat.
Toward the end of the day, two of the cowboys starting talking about how hungry they were and about the huge meals they were going to eat when they reached town. When one of the cowboys asked the Navajo if he was also hungry, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, “No.”
Later than evening, after they had arrived in town, all three ordered large steak dinners. As the Navajo proceeded to eat everything in sight with great gusto, one of his friends reminded him that less than an hour earlier he had told them that he was not hungry. He said, “Not wise to be hungry then. NO FOOD.”
And so it is with worry. We often worry about things of which we have absolutely no control, so why worry? We worry because it seems to be our nature. Of course, some of us worry more than others. BUT WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF WORRY? It is faith.
II Cor. 5:6-7 “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight.”
We don’t always live by faith but we should. We have more reason than anyone else to live by faith. We have the greatest assurance, insurance and backing of anybody in the world. WE HAVE THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE BEHIND US! We have a God who loves us more than life itself! He proved that with the death of Jesus.
Phil. 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
The greatest antidote to worry is trusting God in prayer! Some people have jokingly said, “Why pray when you can worry?” But the reverse is the truth, “Why worry when you can pray and trust God?”
ILL.- Oliver Cromwell’s secretary was dispatched to the continent on some important business. He stayed one night at a seaport town, and tossed on his bed, unable to sleep.
According to an old custom, a servant slept in his room, and on this occasion slept soundly enough. The secretary at length awakened the man who asked how it was that his master could not rest.
“I am so afraid something will go wrong with the mission,” was the reply. “Master,” said the servant, “may I ask a question or two?” “To be sure.” “Did God rule the world before we were born?” “Most assuredly He did.” “And will He rule it after we are dead?” “Certainly He will.” “Then, master, why not let Him rule the present, too?”
Likewise, we need to let God rule and we need to trust His rule.
CONCLUSION----------------------------
ILL.- Golf immortal Arnold Palmer recalls a lesson: “It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, and I had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very good tee shot. I felt I was in pretty good shape. As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said, "Congratulations." I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus.”
“On my next two shots, I hit the ball into a sand trop, then put it over the edge of the green. I missed a putt and lost the Masters. You don’t forget a mistake like that; you just learn from it and become determined that you will never do that again.”
Prayer, treasures and worry. It’s all a matter of having the right focus. When our focus is off the Lord and on other things we will always fail or fall into a trap, but if we keep our focus on Him we will not fail!
