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We're going to do a proclamation. That's why I want you on your feet. But when you came in, they gave you this piece of paper. And this will come up later in the message. So just hold on to this close and tight to your person. We'll come back to this in a moment today. So let's kick off today by making a verbal proclamation over the message today. And when you proclaim stuff, you say it like you mean it, okay? So for example, you don't say, I declare that God is a good God. No, you say, I declare, right? Come on, practice, come on, say I declare. And you guys are ready for this, aren't you? All right. Get on the board behind me, you guys got it. Here we go. Let's go. One, two, three. Today I declare, I am too blessed to be stressed. I will not allow the pressures of this world to become greater than the promises of my God. I may face pressures, but my pressure does not have to possess me. I may experience trouble, but trouble does not define me. I may walk through uncertainty, but I do not walk alone. Because I am a child of the king and I reside in his kingdom. My father is the King of Kings. His promises are my foundation. His presence is my peace. His provision is more than enough. I live under the rule and the reign of Jesus Christ. I declare, and the blessings of God are greater than the burdens in my life. His peace overtakes my anxiety. His provision overtakes my lack. His strength overtakes my weakness. His joy overtakes my heaviness. Therefore, I am too blessed to be strengthened. Come on. Come on, come on, come on, give them a plumage. I'm way too blessed. Listen, we should just go home right now. We're not going to get excited about it. Come on, say, I am too blessed to be stressed. Take your sea real fast. Get your Bibles up, go to Matthew's gospel. We're going to look at this thought today from a kingdom point of view. We're in a series of messages on the kingdom of God. And we're going to realize today more than ever before that when you're in God's kingdom, it changes everything in this life and on the earth. When you're a kingdom thinker, this world does not have the same hold upon your mind. I'm going to say it again. When you're a kingdom thinker, this world does not have the same hold upon your mind. Now I'm going to go for a third time. When you're a kingdom thinker, this world does not have the same hold upon your mind. Because you know who's in charge. In Matthew's gospel, there's a central theme of both the kingdom of God and the authority within that kingdom. Matthew chapter 1, we see Jesus as the King of the Jews. Matthew 28, he's the king of the universe. In his posture on the Sermon on the Mount, he's sitting up high on a hillside above the people, talking beneath in a kingly position. And then his words carry authority. He spoke with one with authority. And together we put all this in one bowl and realize that when he is king and has all authority, it changes your entire life. Today I want to focus on this from the angle of how does a kingdom perspective change the way you see and carry the pressure in this life. All of us today carry pressure and stress in this life. But if you're a kingdom thinker, how does that change because of God's kingdom? And this is all taking place in Matthew's gospel, the Sermon on the Mount. And here's the big idea. Listen close. Stresses grow when life becomes bigger than our view of the kingdom of God. If this world is bigger than God's kingdom, this is where stress comes from. But the moment you realize his kingdom has no end, it's eternal, always has been, always will be, and you realize everything here is temporary, not permanent, you start to think, okay, God, you are truly in charge. You're a good and a loving and a faithful father. And I know if you're in charge, this, even this, come on, say, even this, even this is gonna be okay. Not because this is great, but because God is good. That's a kingdom perspective shift we see in Matthew's gospel. Kingdom perspective puts God on the throne above us and the pressures underneath our feet beneath us. But if you take him off the throne and put yourself on the throne, if you push him in the valley in the problem on the mountaintop, all of a sudden life gets stressful. Jesus never promised us a life without pressure. But he teaches us here in this Matthew Sermon on the Mount conversation how to live a life with pressure, without allowing pressure to rule over us. I'm gonna tell you right now, this life is gonna have pressure to it. You're gonna feel stress at times. But you get to decide if this has rule and reign over me or if my king has rule or reign over me. But you can't have both because your king is greater than your stress. Come on, say my king is greater than my stress. Here's a kingdom point of view, real fast today. I have a king, I have a father in heaven. He knows what I need, he knows where I am, he knows what tomorrow holds, and his kingdom is bigger than whatever I am facing right now. But here is a simple fact today. Everybody here is carrying something right now. Every one of us. How many of you have ever had a worry in your life? What about this week? Who's had a worry this week? How about a worry this weekend? I'm getting there. Give me, I'm building up the momentum to the thought here. Hey, I I I'm preaching, not you. Come on. Anyone have a worry this morning when you woke up? I'm coming to your way next. Anyone gonna worry right now? I got you. I appreciate the help. Thank you so much. Here's a fact we live in a time of stressed out living. I thought about this, this, and the prep for this message. You know, when I was growing up as a kid, you had no social media. The news came on once, maybe twice a day in the evening. You had no information on things that happened in different countries. Now, today, an event can take place in a whole different continent, in a whole different people group, in a whole different time zone, and you'll know about it within seconds. And all of a sudden, you're focused on things so far beyond your control, and you're carrying weight you simply cannot carry. And that's not in some places, that's in many places, and it affects all of us at some level. Today we live in a place where people are stressed out about money, they're stressed about their kids, they're stressed about their marriages, they're stressed about their workload, they're stressed about their health. Here's one for you. Some people are even stressed about politics. But not in America, right? And not in Chicago for sure, right? And some are stressed about things happening around the globe. And most of it we cannot do anything about. But we have a father and a king and a kingdom that we can reside in, and it takes all that to a different conversation. We can lay in bed at night and talk to ourselves and have a dialogue about events that will never even take place. We'll be up all night. Who's ever been up all night stressing? Or some of the night? I have. Never the whole night. I got too tired and I fell asleep. But I've definitely missed some hours in my lifetime. Worrying is like paying interest on a debt before you ever even owe the debt. Imagine going to the bank tomorrow morning in a place you don't even have a debt or a note with, and saying, I'm here to pay interest on this note. And they say, Well, sir, you don't have a note here. You don't have a debt, you don't owe us anything. You say, I know, but one day I might owe you something. I'm gonna pay the interest now. Now we laugh at that, but that's what worry is. Worry is paying the interest well in advance of the actual debt that's owed. It's thinking about things that may or may not happen. In the process, you're forgetting a scripture that tells you not to do that. Look at this in Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 through 7. It says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to who? To God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks to us directly about the idea of worry. Not as a psychologist or a counselor, not as a motivational speaker, but as the king within God's kingdom. Notice the progression we see in this Matthew's text and gospel on this Sermon on the Mount conversation. In Matthew 4, he says, repent, the kingdom of heaven has come. Now the word repent means to turn the other way. To repent means you're walking this way, and then you make a pivot back to this way. And when you understand the mind shift change, when you change how you see things, when your thoughts begin to shift from this way to that way, you position yourself in a place in which God's kingdom is greater than this kingdom of this earth. And all of a sudden the stress begins to dissipate away from you because you begin to realize that God's kingdom has a different way. Jesus says to turn away and go a different pathway. He later says to pray to your Father in heaven. He says in Matthew chapter 16, he says, Pray your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. There is a tension there because we're going to pray not just heaven then, but heaven right now. Part of being in God's kingdom is heaven today, not heaven just in eternity. It's a mindset that says, God, you're in charge today, not just when I die. And then later on in Matthew 6, Jesus himself talks about the topic of worry. He says, repent, turn around, pray, kingdom come, will be done, here as there. And oh, by the way, on the topic of worry, we're gonna fix that right now. He presents the worry topic in the package of repented mind, a new way of thinking, and a kingdom now, Jesus' power, God's power today, as it was in heaven, not there, but just here. And Jesus then says, and as for worry, you don't want to do it. And here's why. He connects together how we handle worry with our understanding of the kingdom of God. There's a direct link. When we understand God's kingdom and make that our primary reality, the stresses of this world begin to lose their authority over me. They may still be there, but they have no power over my life. That bill may still be due, but it doesn't control my life. That report may be still present from the doctor's office, but it doesn't dictate my future. No matter what you face, once you enter in God's kingdom, all of a sudden that reality is now under his throne, under your feet, under the power of the authority of the word of God. And when he is king of kings and he is, he is Lord of Lords, and he is. If necessary, because I am too blessed to be stressed. What if you said instead of I am worn out to I am worth something? I've got value. What if you stop saying the phrase, I just can't? You start saying, I know a God who can. See, it's just a little bit of an adjustment in your thinking because when you begin to think different, repentance, think differently, all of a sudden, wait a minute. I think the Bible connects our words to our thoughts. And all of a sudden, my thoughts dictate my words. You may face a difficulty at work, and it may be stressing you. I'm not saying it's not. What I'm saying is pivot your mindset from I am stressed at my job to I am blessed at my job. You know why you're blessed? Because He is with you, and He goes before you, and He'll never leave you nor forsake you. And He's a good and a loving and a faithful God. And I am blessed because God is on the throne and He is in charge of everything. And I don't have to worry, I don't have to wonder. I know who I am, I know who I believe, I know what His report has declared, His promises are greater than my problems, and I trust God's plan because He's a good God. And that's why I say I'm not stressed out, I am blessed out because I serve a God who brings blessing upon His people because He loves His creation. Can I get an amen today? He's a faithful God to His Word, His promises. Here's the conversation where it starts right in this kingdom conversation. What happens to us, to my stress, when I start seeing the kingdom at center stage? If I look at everything in my life through God's kingdom, what happens? First of all, the kingdom starts by identifying the value that you are to God. Remind yourself of this. You're valuable to God. Look at your neighbors and say, You're valuable. Look back and say, So are you. You realize that in God's eyes, we have tremendous value. We're made in his image, we reflect his beauty. We are fearfully and wonderfully and purposely designed by God Himself. God shaped you. God made me six foot three, and I made me 200 and none of your business. God did his part and I added my part in addition to. God's blessed you. You have value. And this is where Jesus starts the conversation. Go to Matthew chapter 6, verse 25, real fast today. He says, Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life. What will you eat or drink? Or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? And then he says, Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in the barns. And yet your heavenly Father feeds them. And then he says this, listen close. Are you not much more valuable than they? Do you realize how much value that you are to God today? That you matter? And because you matter to God, God knows your life and cares about your life? And then he says, This can any one of you, by worrying at a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about your clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow, they they don't labor or spin, yet I tell you not, even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. And then he says this, if that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, What shall we, what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? And then he says this for the pagans. Aren't after all these things, and your Heavenly Father, he knows that you need them. Watch this. Jesus kicks off this worry past, this worry stop conversation by simply saying, change your perspective and focus on what has occupied your mind. He says, You're thinking too much about eating and drinking clothing. God's got that. Don't stress about that. In fact, he says, that bird when it flies over, remind yourself of this. You're worth more than that bird, and God takes care of the birds. Now notice this conversation. In their space and time, food was a real conversation. This was a culture that was agricultural by nature, and one failed crop could cause a famine across the entire land. They did not have a Costco. And they couldn't call in Uber Eats or DoorDash. But yet God still said to them, through Jesus to all of us today, don't worry. In fact, there was a song that hit the charts many, many decades ago. I heard it. Yeah. Do do do to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't worry, be what? Happy. If if a song that simple can bring hope for decades, in the smallest of ways, how much more can the authority of the word of God bring hope? The challenge is many of us trust the song more than the word. And we gotta realize you have a king on a throne who has the authority, and in his kingdom, your worries go away. Jesus says to us, Aren't you worth more than those birds flying over? He says, in essence, your need is not greater than your king. It's good news to nota in this house that no matter what you need today, it's not outside God's power. He is an omnipotent God. Nothing is too difficult for him. We often put Jesus in the valley and our worry on the throne. We gotta flip that. Put Jesus on the throne and the worry in the valley. Because he is the king over this kingdom. Life is way bigger than the things you're worried about in this kingdom. Stresses shrink our world down, and they occupy. So think of it this way one problem becomes the whole story. Maybe you got someone in your family, their problems dominate the whole Christmas season. Their issues dominate all of Thanksgiving. Every birthday, every get together, one person's issues control the whole narrative. You're looking at me like I'm talking crazy. I'm talking right to you because that's people today. But here's the truth. When you begin to realize God's role in your life, in his kingdom, all of a sudden, one problem is not the whole story. One report from the doctor, one diagnosis can't take all your joy. One issue, one conflict, one conversation, tis to always occupy everything. And all of a sudden, one difficult season becomes the rest of your life. And that is simply the tool the devil used to destroy your life because we know we have a God who loves us. Stop letting things that are part of your life become the dominant part of your life and rule your life. Begin to trust God's kingdom and trust his plan because he will not forsake you. He is a good and a loving and a faithful God today. Reset your thinking. Second thought. Kingdom perspective always looks up. We tend to look down. Jesus said, look up to the birds of the air. This was not a lecture on bird watching. This was a reminder that your help comes from above, not beneath. Yet often in our word, we often look at ourselves and in our strength, and we forget God's resource and God's strength. Everybody needs to look up every time you see a bird fly by and remind yourself that bird doesn't sow, doesn't reap. God takes care of that bird, and God loves me more than he loves that bird. What he's teaching us here is simply this we can have responsibility, but not have anxiety. You're gonna have weight in life. The bird has to go get the food. They got to build a nest. Some of them build massive nests in my house in my gutter system. We have a multifamily living situation on our western gutter. I think it's multi-generational. It's got moms and dad and grandbirds and everybody else living together in the same complex. I'm like, can you people move to the neighbor's house? But remind yourself all the time that even though they have responsibility, they don't have anxiety over it. They trust the rhythms of the life God's given to live out. Kingdom living is I do what God's called me to do, and I trust God with only what He can do. Stop trying to play God and be the best you that you can be. Put it for you this way today. Some of us have combined our jobs and God's jobs into one job. No wonder we're tired. We're being both people and God at the same time. Yes, you have responsibility. God has sovereignty. Let me come closer to home. You can raise your kids godly, but you can't control their adult choices. I'm gonna say it again. You can raise your kids godly, but you cannot control their adult choices. I'm gonna say it a third time for those folks need to hear it, you're not getting it. You can raise your kids godly, but you cannot control their adult choices. You can't do it. And there's no sense in worrying where you have no control anyway. Because worry doesn't change anything. You can steward your finances, but you can't control the economy. You can take care of your body, and your body still gets sick because you live in a fallen, broken society, and sickness is part of the curse of sin. You can steward a lot of stuff. You can prepare, you can plan, you can work and you should. You can pray and you should, you can make good choices and you should, but in the end, it's always the intersection between my responsibility and God's sovereignty. And I am not God, and I only have a part to play. And in the end, I trust God with all things beyond my control. Don't let worry attack your heart because you're trying to do your job and God's at the same exact time. Third thought today kingdom identity is affirmed by the king. I want you to get this part right. Jesus says to us, Are you not much more valuable than they are referring to the birds? His argument here is your father in heaven cares for the birds, but how much more will he care for you? He's moving them from provision to identity in God. And this again isn't about birds, it's about how we see things. Now, watch this right here unfold. Kingdom language says to us the king isn't just a king, the king is my father. I'm gonna give you a little secret today. When I was a kid growing up, my dad was the pastor of the church, and I'll be honest with you, I leveraged that for extra food in the camp lunch line. I'd go through the food line at camp and they put one scoop, I'd go, you know who my dad is? I'm only two scoops. And that began to go down the line, and now it's waiting for me in advance of my arrival. And all of a sudden, the one worker says, That's the pastor's son. Give him extra. I'm like, amen, give him extra. I leverage that. Now here's my question for you. Why don't we leverage with the devil who our daddy is? Why don't we leverage that? Devil comes up with fearful thoughts, anxious thoughts, crazy thoughts, goofy thoughts, suicidal thoughts, greedy thoughts, lustful thoughts, this thought, that thought, this worry, that worry, your kids, your marriage, your health, the culture, society, social issues, global issues. Why don't we say do you not know who my daddy is? My daddy has everything in control. He's a good father, he's a faithful father, he's a providing father, he's a protecting God to me, he's on my side, he's before me, he's beside me, he's in front of me, he's behind me, he's all around me, he is with me, for sending me come on the devil. My demon is beating one, he will do the game because he is the powerful gun, he is the fan of the money, he's not gonna spend my demands and jump in. Big happen. Start to leverage who your daddy is. I was a kid growing enough. We used to play that on the playground. My dad's bigger than your dad. You're gonna play that on the playground with little boys growing up, my dad's bigger than you. The problem is I was bigger than her dad. I'm like, yeah, I'm better. I've seen your dad, I'm bigger than dad. I'm in the second grade. Learn to leverage the authority of your father in heaven. Those thoughts come in your mind at night. You lay in there, fear comes over you, job insecurities, marital insecurities, future insecurities, you tell your future, my dad's already seen my future. My dad, if I lose this job, he's got another job for me. Because I'm a faithful servant. If the economy goes out, I'm gonna be okay because Jehovah Jarah is my father. If I get sick in body, I'm gonna be okay because Jehovah Rapha is my father. If I have difficulty and stress and struggle, Jehovah Shalom, he is my daddy, and he's got all things worked out. He's unseen all of this. Thoughts, I'm gonna go to bed because my dad's already in my tomorrow, and he's got me. He's holding me right now. I can sleep tonight like a baby and purr myself to sleep without stress or pressure, because God has all things in control today. And then you lay there and you sleep with a smile on your face because you know your dad has all things under control. The devil, he don't want to hear about your dad. He lost that fight. And he knows he'll always lose that fight. But if he can get you to take a king off the throne and put your problem up on the throne, now he's back in charge. I don't know about you, but one of my life goals is to kick the devil right in the rear every day. He's gonna kick it, just keep kicking it because you know what? He does not have authority over my life. Don't let stress, don't let worry, don't let fret, don't let fatigue become what dominates you. Rest in the arms of your father who loves you dearly. Here's another thought for you. We see this so clear in scripture. Isaiah 40, 28. I love this text. It will not be on the board, but listen close. I love Isaiah 40, 28. It says, Do you not know and have you not heard? Come on, sit again. Do you not know and have you not heard? It then says, the Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, he understands far beyond what we can imagine. Lesson is close. God is an all-powerful God today. Do you not know and have you not heard? My God has the power to do what he chooses to do. Here's number four. You guys so here say yes. Write this down. Worry does not work in God's kingdom. Jesus asked this question. And I can just see this. He goes, guys, come here. I need to ask you something. What have you added to your life? I always worry. Has worry ever paid a bill for you? When you get that bill and you go to write the checkout, write the checkout, don't put a dollar amount on it, write, I'm worried about this. Mail it in, see if they accept it. It's payment. Now you laugh about that and you say, Well, that's dumb. Well, so is worrying about it. Worry doesn't add one thing. It won't add you a day, it won't add you a dollar. It won't add you a new friendship, it may attract the wrong friends, but it won't help you. Worry won't get you a better job, won't draw you closer to God. Worry only distracts, only detracts, and only divides your life. You can lose a day, but you can't gain a day. I can't tell you I have lost time over worry in my life. And you look back on it and go, how dumb was I to think that worry made any difference at all. Worry won't help you lose weight, but it'll help you gain weight. I've proved that. Because in my life and my journey as a pastor, there is a factor in my life that involves stress. That may be a shocker, but there is some stress with this position right here. And I have found that my go-to drug for stress is Oreo cookies. And I found there's nothing poisonous like those double stuffs. And I told my wife, I said, you cannot buy these. If I'm in a stressful time, don't bring an Oreo close to this house or the neighbor's house. I might break in and get it. Because I've been worried before at night, and I get up and you open that fridge door, and there's that golden glow of the glory of God coming out of the fridge, that light, and there's that gallon of milk. And you grab that milk and you go to the pantry and you grab that blue bag that says O R E O, double stuff on the outside. Got that blue bag with the pink writing. I'm not sure why I know this stuff, but I just heard from somebody else, that's how the bag looks. I've heard it, I've seen on a picture somewhere. Next thing you know, you wake up the next morning and there's spilt milk on the floor and Oreo crumbs, the bag is empty, looking like an Oreo crime scene somewhere. You're thinking, man, I just stressed my life through a bag of Oreos. Nothing changed but my waistline. Watch this. Why worry when you matter more to God than the bird that flies over your house every day? Why fret and why stress? Because God has all things in his control. Yes, life is difficult. Yes, life is hard, but God is good and God is faithful today. Jesus says you can't add one thing to your life by adding one more second of worry to your life. Worry has never paid a bill, it's never healed somebody, it's never fixed your kids, it's never changed somebody's heart. Worry has never solved a single problem in your life. But it's created plenty of problems on top of the worry you've already had. You were given a little sheet when you came in today. And it says on here a simple phrase, my heavenly father knows. Today I want to tell you, he does. And so today I want to take these out right now, and I want you to write on this sheet whatever you worry about. You say, Marty, I need a legal pad. We can get you more sheets. But for simplicity, just maybe a few words. Money, health, future, marriage, spiritual life, death, addiction, bondage, whatever it may be. Just a single word and do not put your name on this. And if you would mind doing so, don't put somebody else's entire name on this either. Like my wife, her name is Susie Thomas, and she needs prayer today. She's my. But just write down the things that worry you and keep it pretty anonymous because we want to have you turn these in in a moment today. And just a single word is fine, because the point here is not for us to see it. This is not a follow-up card. Please know this. Don't write anything you want us to follow up on. This is not a follow-up card. This is a communication card for your own heart today. And what you're saying is, God, I've been worrying about this, but today I'm gonna fill it out. I'm gonna fold it over, and I'm gonna give it back to God. So what we're gonna do, we're gonna pray over this just a second. We're gonna pray first of all over every card there today. And then when you leave out today, we're gonna have you collect these in the buckets at the door as you walk out today. Now, watch this close. Next week, come back, and here's why I'm gonna show you what we're going to do with these cards. So don't miss next Sunday. It'll be very important to see this next phase of what we're gonna do with our worries in life. Because there is a biblical pattern how to deal with worry by trusting God's plan today. So you get these cards out today. I'll give you a second, fill these out. Could be a single word, could be a couple words. We was walking out the door between services today, and my wife asked the person holding the bucket. She said, Can I put my husband in the bucket? And the bucket wasn't big enough, is the problem. What are you worrying about? What's controlling your life? What's controlling your thoughts? What's having a hold upon you it shouldn't have? Today's the first day in saying, God, I give this back to you.