REALLIFE STUDY GROUP
“Don’t Worry About It!”
ICEBREAKER: Tell us one of the most
unusual things you like to eat or have ever eaten.
CONFESSION: There is a difference
between healthy concern and anxious worry!
Because I am loved by God, I refuse to worry!
I
refuse to worry about what I do & do not have the power to change
I
refuse to worry about the choices that other people make
I
refuse to worry about the mistakes that I have already made
I
refuse to worry about the past, the present and/or the future
I
refuse to worry about the things that God is using to build my character
I
refuse to worry about the little, the average and/or the big problems
I
refuse to worry about what people have said, say or will say about me
I
refuse to worry about where I will live and what I will eat or wear
I
refuse to worry about our economy, our society and our enemies
I
refuse to worry about my neighbors, my friends or my family
I
refuse to worry about my health, my finances or my future
I
refuse to worry about storms, fires or natural disasters
I
refuse to worry about trials, troubles, traumas or tribulations
I
refuse to worry about whether people accept me or reject me
STATISTICS:
40%
of all things that we worry about never come to pass
30%
of all our worries involve past decisions that cannot be changed
12%
focus on criticism from others who spoke because they felt inferior
10%
are related to our health, which gets worse when we worry
8%
of our worries could be described as “legitimate” causes for concern
DEFINITION:
·
Worry
is like sitting in a rocking chair and thinking you are moving toward your
desires and your destiny
·
Worry
feels productive, but is only counter-productive
·
Worry
shapes the future that was never intended for you
·
Worry
is probably the most common and one of the biggest sins of Christians today
·
Worry
is a habit that is hard to break
·
Worry
is contagious and passes from generation to generation
·
Worry
is based in pride
·
Worry
only causes you to be more stressed, never more blessed
OUTLINE: 8 Worry-Free Principles
1. The same God who created you can be trusted with the details of
your life
·
Matthew
6:25 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat
or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the
body more important than clothes?”
·
We
are the most valuable of all God’s creatures.
In all that we face in this world we can trust God – even in bad
times. But we must make the choice to
let go of our worries and trust him. I
think that is why Matt Redman writes that he is going to choose to say “Blessed
be Your Name”
“Blessed be Your name,
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s ‘all as it should be’
Blessed be Your name.
Blessed be Your name,
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name.”
2.
Worrying about the future
hinders your present
·
Matthew
6:26 – “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in
barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?”
3.
Worrying is more harmful
than useful
·
Matthew
6:27 – “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
·
ILLUS
– Death was walking toward a city, and a man stopped Death and asked, “What are
you going to do?” “I’m going to kill
10,000 people today,” Death said. The
man ran ahead to the city. He warned
everybody he passed that Death was coming and what he was going to do. At the end of the day, he again met
Death. He said, “You said you were only
going to kill 10,000 people and now 70,000 are dead.” Death said, “I killed only 10,000. Worry and fear killed the others.”
4.
Worry puts you on the
throne that only belongs to God
·
Matthew
6:28-30 – “And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the lilies of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin. Yet I
tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of
these. If that is how God clothes the
grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
Don’t Worry, be thankful!
·
If
you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a
place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.
·
If
you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish
someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s
wealthy.
·
If
you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed
than the million who will not survive this week.
·
If
you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of
imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead
of 500 million people in the world.
·
If
you can attend church meetings without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or
death, you are more blessed than three billion in the world.
·
And
if your parents are still alive and still married, you are very rare, even in
the United States.
5.
Worrying shows a lack of
trust and understanding in God
·
Matthew
6:31, 32 – “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we
drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the
pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need
them.”
·
When
it comes to faith conquering our worrying, we need to have a child-like
faith. A child does not worry all day
long whether his house will be there when he gets home from school or whether
his parents will have made dinner. In
the same way, Christians should trust God to supply what is best for us.
6.
Worrying keeps you from
focusing on what God wants you to pursue
·
Matthew
6:33 – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well.”
·
There
are two kinds of people in the world.
The “Can-dos” and the “Will-dos.”
Everyone can do something, but not everyone is willing to persevere,
sacrifice, and be a will-do something.
Stop worrying about what you think you can do and focus on what you will
do.
7.
Living one day at a time
keeps us from being consumed with worry.
·
Matthew
6:34 – “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of
its own.”
·
It
does no good to worry about tomorrow. We
may not have a tomorrow. If you are
worrying about the problems of tomorrow, you will miss out on the blessings of
today.
8.
Worry leads to grumbling,
complaining, bitterness & self-pity
TEXT: Matthew 6:25-34
STUDY GROUP QUESTIONS:
1.
Name
one thing or person that you are most tempted to worry about?
2.
Name
one way that worry could affect you physically?
3.
Worry
is a form of fear. It actually is using
your faith in reverse by putting more trust in your enemy and your
circumstances than in your God. What is
the earliest age you remember worrying and what did you worry about?
4.
Which
of the 8 Worry-Free Principles listed above do you find most insightful to you?
5.
Who
in your family is the biggest worrier?
6.
Name
something that would change in our lives if we really believed Matthew 6:33.
PRAYER REQUESTS &
PRAISE REPORTS:
ACTION POINT: This week every time I
start to worry about something, I’m going to verbally
thank God that He is already working on the answer to my problem!