[0:00] ...shoebox campaign, which is coming in just a minute. Catholic Playgroup on Thursday. Volunteers welcomed for pre-communion tidy up in and around the church, starting at 5pm on Thursday night, please.
[0:17] Morning service next week will be taken by the Reverend Mike Fuchella, who's known to some of you. And the evening service, I'll lead that service myself. We'll also have a representative from InterServe, Jane Fuchella, who will speak to us.
[0:34] Angus and Kirsty are preparing just to head back out to Nepal, and so we'll pray for them as they head out. We'll hear from them and from InterServe just a little bit about what's up ahead, and if you can be encouraged to come to that service, that would be good.
[0:53] Communion weekend, just a note in your diaries, 15th to 17th of September, which isn't far away now, and Professor John Angus, who was doing some training with the elders and the deacons over the last few months, is going to be joining us over the course of that weekend.
[1:08] There perhaps are some, I know there are some, who know the Lord and trust the Lord, and have never yet come forward to the table. And time by time, the invitation goes out.
[1:20] And it's not just an invitation, it's actually a command. Jesus says, do this in remembrance of me. So for those who have trusted the Lord, who are saved, and who haven't yet professed that, be encouraged to come and speak to myself, or any of the elders.
[1:37] And for those who may have come to faith in the last wee while, and who want to talk about that, and perhaps come forward again, be encouraged to come and speak to myself, or one of the elders.
[1:48] Team one on duty for the fellowship, you've got details there. And the shoebox appeal for Blysewood is beginning again. And as has been the case in the past years, these are the kind of items that we're looking for.
[2:02] I think, other than to say, Scripture Union is meeting back in Siree Scott, every Wednesday, 1.45pm, in Mr. Ian Morrison's room.
[2:14] I'm looking around for him. He's hiding in the creche, maybe. So, let's pray for that as well. And there was one more there, which I didn't see, but you got the chance to do it before the service.
[2:30] Let's now worship God, and let's sing to God's praise. We'll sing. The wire's on the screen, and the hymn is a hymn that's not a mission praise, but we've sung this a few times.
[2:43] Your grace that leads the sinner home from death to life forever. Forever. The peace that leads the sinner home from death to life forever and sings the song of righteousness by blood and not by merit.
[3:24] Your grace has reached its far and wide to every tribe and nation.
[3:35] I've called my heart to enter in the joy of your salvation.
[3:49] My grace I am redeemed, my grace I am restored, and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord.
[4:08] Grace that I cannot yet sway, not by my earthly wisdom, the Prince of life without a sting was laid in for this sinner.
[4:31] My grace I am redeemed, my grace I am restored, and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord.
[4:50] And trees I am restored, my song reached out forever.
[5:02] For grace will see me welcome home, to walk beside my Savior.
[5:14] my grace I am redeemed, my grace I am restored, and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord.
[5:34] Let's unite our hearts in prayer together.
[5:48] Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, your day, your gift to us, where we are called to come into your presence in a very deliberate way, and to wait upon you.
[6:09] We thank you for the promise that when we wait upon you, our strength is renewed, we are restored, we are recharged, and blessed within our souls.
[6:22] And so Lord, we pray that we would take time this day to step away from all that would distract us, and that we would take time to sit at your feet, as Mary did.
[6:35] Save us from the busyness, even in ministry, of going this way and that, and neglecting to sit at the feet of Jesus, and to receive that grace that comes from him.
[6:48] And we thank you for that invitation that we have sung, even in that hymn, that we are called to come into the arms of Christ, our Lord.
[6:59] And that's an amazing invitation, an amazing call for us to hear, because we know, Lord, that we are sinners. We know that because you have told us that in your word, and as the psalmist said, our sin is ever before us when you are working in the power of your spirit.
[7:19] He is the one who convicts us of our sin. But we thank you that as we see our sin, we are called to come to Christ, our Savior. And we thank you that he will never turn away anyone who comes in faith to him.
[7:35] We thank you that Jesus is the one who came not for the righteous, but for sinners. Not for those who think they are healthy. Not for those who think that they are not in need.
[7:47] But Jesus came into this world for us who know that we are sinners. We thank you, Lord, that that's the encouragement that we're given.
[7:58] That we are to come to you with our weakness and our sin, our failures, our inconsistencies, the unrighteousness that we confess, Lord, that is in our hearts and in our minds, on our lips sometimes, through our actions and our reactions.
[8:19] We thank you that we hide none of it from you, but we confess it all, even in the silence of this hour. And we ask, Lord, that you would forgive us, cleanse us, in the blood of Jesus, and enable us to know that embrace of Jesus where we receive the grace that is promised to all who will come.
[8:39] And we thank you, Lord, for the cost of that that has been paid. For his grace, it's God's riches, it's forgiveness and peace and joy at Christ's expense.
[8:50] And we thank you for the cross where Christ was expended. We thank you that he laid down his life so that we could be forgiven, so that we could be redeemed, restored, and know that we are your children.
[9:04] And so, Lord, we pray that each one of us would come to the cross and know the assurance of the fact that we are saved if we are believing in him.
[9:15] We thank you, Lord, that your grace not only saves us, but it sustains us. It keeps us keeping on. And we thank you, Lord, for the assurance of that.
[9:25] We pray for anyone who may be hearing the call to come forward at another communion as we approach it and who may have the fear of will I be able to keep on going.
[9:37] Lord, we know that we cannot keep on going. We can't be faithful in our own strength depending on ourselves, but we thank you that you have promised that if you save us, you will sustain us.
[9:49] If you justify us, you will sanctify us. And, Lord, we pray that on the strength of your promises, any who are hesitating would come forward and would put their trust in you.
[10:03] So, Lord, we thank you for that grace. We thank you that your grace is saving and sustaining. It's also sufficient for every situation and every trouble that we face, every care that weighs heavily upon us.
[10:19] And, Lord, we pray just now that you would help us. We are conscious of many things that weigh upon us at this time. Many in our number who are sick and who are grieving and who are struggling with different things.
[10:32] And so we bring them to you. We pray, Lord, for Shona. We ask, Lord, that you would be with her. We thank you that she's come through another surgery this week. We thank you, Lord, for the amazing benefit that we see in her, the amazing increase and strength over the last couple of days from barely being conscious to now sitting up in her chair.
[10:58] And we thank you that even now she's watching the service in Glasgow in the ward. And we pray that you would bless her and be with all of the family. We thank you that in the storms of life you are with us.
[11:10] And we pray that they would know the touch of Jesus upon their lives, each one of them, as they continue to look to you. So we pray for Shona for her healing, for her recovery, that soon we pray that we would see her back in the congregation here in Harris with us.
[11:28] We pray for Nurse Margaret in Glasgow also, just a ward or two up from Shona. And as she waits for tests to be carried out and as she thinks about the way ahead, we pray that you would be with her and Kenny and all of the family, that you would steady them and that you would help them as there is the obvious sense of anxiety about the future when our health is struggling.
[11:54] We bring them to you, Lord, and we ask that you would sustain them, carry them through this difficult time. And Lord, that your hand would be upon them. And we pray also for Mary Morrison, Mary Latham, as we've known her.
[12:07] We pray for her and for Connor, for Anthony and Christian and all of the family as they wait for test results and as they ponder the future also.
[12:18] We ask, Lord, that they would know your peace and your presence and your hand of healing upon Mary especially. So hear our prayers and help us, Lord, we ask.
[12:31] We thank you that we're all in this place today. We pray for those who may be ill, who may be at home watching or who may be listening at a distance and we bring them to you.
[12:43] We ask that you would bless them and that you would bless us together and bless those who are watching or listening online. We pray for Natalie as she prepares to go away to Sterling this coming week.
[12:56] We thank you for her, for the faith that she has in Christ and for the profession of that faith at the last communion. We ask, Lord, that you would bless her and that as she prepares to go acknowledging you and trusting you that you would guide her and direct her in all of our ways and go before her and be with her and bless her.
[13:18] And we pray for James and Mary and Jono and Michael as they'll miss her that they would day by day be looking to you. So hear our prayers, take away our sin, go before us, we ask, and help us in this hour to be in the spirit of worship, to worship you in spirit and in truth for you alone are worthy of all our praise and we ask these things in Jesus' name and for his sake.
[13:43] Amen. Boys and girls, would you like to come forward, please? Amen. Amen. Poor wee Ben, ever since the time I tried to take his hand and take him over, he's terrified.
[14:06] Don't worry. How's everyone today? All good? I've got a few pictures on the screen for you today.
[14:19] This happened, this is something. Do you recognise, do you recognise the place? It's here in the church, it was last Sunday morning and do you recognise the person?
[14:33] You do, it's just the side profile so it's not so easy to see. Well, if we take, we'll go forward and then we'll come back again. So next picture, there you go. Look at these big bright eyes.
[14:47] So, this is, what's her name? Do you know her name? Henry? It's Olivia. Olivia. Henry knows the names of all the girls. Olivia.
[14:59] Olivia. And Olivia is Anthony and Christian's granddaughter. Are they here? Yeah? Oh, there they are, yeah, there they are.
[15:10] So, I was having my cup of tea last Sunday after the service and there she was, you know, just getting ready to go and, well, you take a look at the size of the bag that she's got.
[15:26] The bags, go back to the first picture because I think you can see even more clearly. I thought maybe she had her brother laughing in that bag. It's huge.
[15:37] But, Helen, her mum was saying, I've got the nappy. She said, I've got the nappies in there and I've got this lotion and I've got this and I've got that and I've got the next thing.
[15:48] She says, I can't believe I've forgotten wipes. Does anybody get any wipes? I was thinking, if she hasn't got wipes in there, what has she got in there? Is that the materials for building a new house? It's just, and the weight of it, it was heavy.
[16:01] And so, she had that on her back. How far do you think she would get with that on? I think she could walk the stockinage with it.
[16:12] No. Not with the weather, but the weight of it. If you felt, if you felt the weight of it, Michael, it was, it was super heavy, that bag.
[16:23] So, it was, it was hard for a little girl to, to carry. So, who should carry it if she's not going to carry it?
[16:37] Or who could carry it? Her mum was here, her dad was here, and her dad was standing right beside her. So, what do you think the best plan would have been?
[16:47] Here's the clue. Her dad was standing right beside her, and, he was big, and strong, and she was there, and she was strong. So, what do you think she should do with her bag?
[16:59] Shawnee. Give it to her dad. Give it to Hannah's. She should take the bag, and she should cast it on him. Now, sometimes, in our lives, we walk around with, you could say it's like, it's like a big bag of worries.
[17:22] Have you ever had that? What? Do you ever, do you ever get worried about anything? put your hand up if you get, put your hand up if you sometimes get worried about things.
[17:36] What kind of things worry us, do you think? Don't get too detailed, but, what kind of things worry us? Sometimes, we get stressed about.
[17:48] Who just started school, secondary school? That can be a bit of a worry, can't it? It's before you're, you're starting, going to school. What other kind of things might worry us?
[18:02] Henry? Water slides. Water slides. They can worry you, yeah? No chocolate milkshakes. There's all kinds of things that can worry us. If I was, do you know who's got more worries than you?
[18:15] All the greyheads. All the guys like me with our grey sideburns. Seems like when you get older, actually, sometimes there can be more worries.
[18:29] And if I was to, to ask the question around the congregation, and they were to be honest, there's a whole bag full of worries that we could fill. And so, do you think we are strong enough to carry all our cares and all our worries?
[18:47] No, we're not, are we? I think we can sleep easily at night if we're going to try and be the ones who carry all our cares and our anxieties and our worries. So who can carry them?
[19:00] Jesus. Jesus can carry them. And so what should we do? Do you? If we know that we're not strong enough to carry all our cares and worries, and we know that Jesus is strong enough to carry all our cares and worries, what should we do with our cares and worries?
[19:15] Give them to Jesus. And how do we do that? By cast them to him. We cast them to him. But how do we cast them to him? By going to the cross.
[19:27] We take them to the cross. That's what we do with our sins. Good answer. So all the sins that are in our hearts that they sometimes they feel like they're weighing us down. And we don't want to be carrying sins.
[19:40] We want to be casting our sins on Jesus and we do that at the cross. But what about things like, you know, even things like, like, with Natalie going away and we might be a bit worried about that and Anna's going away and we might be a bit worried about that.
[19:53] how do we take these cares and our worries and bring them to Jesus? We pray. We pray. And so it says in the verse that we're going to study today with the older ones, cast all your anxiety on him, on Jesus, because he cares for you.
[20:14] Now, do you think last Sunday that when Olivia took her bag off and gave them to Hannah, her dad, do you think he said, I don't want that, I don't care for that, but take that bag away, carry it yourself.
[20:31] Do you think that's what he said? No. It's not what he said. Because he cares for her. Because he loves her. And so he took the bag and I think we've got a picture of Hannah's actually I meant to put that on.
[20:46] So Olivia can't carry that bag that's Hannah's. I think he can carry it, don't you? That was him and just in a minute after that, I think he had him, he had her on the shoulders along with the wee back.
[20:59] So because he's strong and because he cares for her, he takes the care, he takes the bag and he carries it. And because Jesus is strong, because he cares for us, Michael, enough to go at the cross just like you reminded me of, we know that he'll he'll never say to us, take your worries and take them away, I don't want to hear about them.
[21:21] He'll never say that. He'll listen and he will take them from us. He'll carry them for us. So let's pray. Let's close our eyes and let's pray.
[21:34] Lord Jesus, we thank you that you know us, we thank you that you love us, we thank you that you are strong. We thank you that you can carry all our cares and our worries and our burdens.
[21:44] and we thank you that if we come to you in prayer and ask you to, you will. We thank you that when we confess our sin, when we tell you about this sin that makes us feel guilty, that weighs heavy on us in our hearts, we thank you that when we tell you about it and ask for forgiveness, you'll take it away because of all that you did on the cross.
[22:08] We thank you, Lord, that when we are worried, maybe especially at night time, about different things and we're struggling to sleep and we're anxious about different things, we thank you that we can take all of these things and almost like put them in a bag and then take the bag and hand them over to you as we pray.
[22:27] So we take just a second just now and we ask, Lord, that as we, as adults and as the boys and girls, think about all the things that worry us, we ask that in the quiet that you would take them from us and that you would help us to leave them with you.
[22:50] So hear our prayers and take from us all our cares, all our anxieties, all our sins and help us to be trusting you. We ask this in Jesus' name and for his sake.
[23:01] Amen. We're going to sing now and we're going to sing the Mission Praise 746. 746 in Mission Praise, words on the screen. What a friend we have in Jesus.
[23:13] All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Everything Amen.
[23:53] Oh, what reach we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
[24:13] How good trials are temptations, is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer.
[24:34] And we find our friends so faithful, who will all have sorrows share.
[24:46] Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer. I'll be in an heavy laden, comforted with a lot of care.
[25:07] Precious saviors in our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy fences rise for saving, take it to the Lord in prayer.
[25:27] In his arms he'll take and shield thee, thou will find us all as dead. Amen.
[25:39] Amen. Amen. Okay boys and girls, if you head to Sunday school, remember to pray for them as they go. And we can turn to 1 Peter chapter 5.
[26:07] 1 Peter chapter 5.
[26:34] And we're going to read from verse 1. To the elders among you I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed.
[26:57] Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers, not because you must, but because you are willing as God wants you to be. Not greedy for money, but eager to serve.
[27:09] Not lording over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
[27:20] Young men, in the same way, be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
[27:34] 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.
[27:48] Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us. We're going to sing now from Psalm 107, verses 29 and 30 of the Psalm.
[28:01] Psalm 107, verses 29 and 30. We sing in Gaelic, we remain seated to sing, but I'll read the verses in English before we do sing. The storm is changed into a calm, at his command and will, so that the waves which raged before now quiet are and still.
[28:20] Then are they glad because at rest and quiet now they be, so to the haven he then brings, which they desire to see. We sing these two verses of Psalm 107 in Gaelic and we remain seated to sing.
[28:33] Psalm 107, verses 29 and 30.
[29:03] Psalm 107, verses 29 and 30.
[29:33] Psalm 107, verses 29 and 30.
[30:03] Psalm 107, verses 29 and 30.
[30:33] Psalm 107, verses 29 and 30.
[31:03] Psalm 107, verses 29 and 30.
[31:33] Let's unite our hearts in prayer. Let's unite our hearts in prayer just as we turn back now to God's word.
[31:49] Heavenly Father, we thank you. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your heart, your heart, your character to us and you revealed your will to us as well.
[32:04] Lord, that we are to be those who are to be those who are trusting in you. örthat the relationship that the relationship that we are to beatroop? The relationship that we were created for, which was broken because of our sin, is mended through Jesus, your Son, our Saviour.
[32:22] help us we pray to look to him to come to him we thank you that he is the one who fulfilled the words of the psalm that we've sang he's the one who spoke a word and brought calm to the sea of Galilee and he's the one who speaks a word and brings peace to the storm of our hearts we thank you Lord that as we come to you Lord Jesus you will receive us and you will bless us and we thank you your promise is that where two or three gather in your name you will be with us and be close to us and we pray that we would know that here we pray that those in our homes and in hospital wards and different places would know your presence with them we pray for the children we ask Lord that as the message of the gospel is spoken to them simply in Sunday school that they would hear that they would understand and they would believe and we pray for every other denomination and congregation that's represented here those who are visiting with us we thank you for them we pray for the fellowships they've come from and as your word is proclaimed in these different places across the land we ask that you would be speaking that Christ would be lifted up that many would be drawn today to him and we pray for the congregations around us as well different denominations in this village and across the island and across all islands and across the nation and all nations we pray that this would be a day of your right hand that many would come and proclaim that Jesus is their Lord and their Saviour so hear our prayers help us we ask in Jesus name
[34:07] Amen what I'd like to do today is take a text which is not something that I often do we are in the section of scripture that we've been studying through over the last number of months usually we'd go through a chunk of a passage but today I just want to zoom in on this one verse and it's 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 7 in the NIV it says cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you and it's probably the best known verse in 1 Peter we see this verse on cards and on paintings on fridge magnets I meant to look around the church I'd be surprised if there isn't somewhere in the church a painting where this verse is on it and it's a verse that's well known to us it's a verse that we commonly read in these different paintings magnets all these different things and the reason that we see it so frequently the reason that we that we come to this verse so often is because it resonates with us it comforts us and the reason it comforts us the reason it resonates with us is because we all have cares we all have anxieties
[35:44] I wake up every Sunday morning 7 o'clock at the latest with anxiety about standing here and preaching and likely some of you woke up earlier than 7 o'clock this morning with anxiety about other things that perhaps nobody knows anything about and at every stage in life we wrestle with cares and anxieties when we're when we're young we have anxieties about the about the monster under the bed doesn't exist but we're anxious about it when we're a wee bit older as teenagers there's anxieties about how how we look speaking on behalf of teenagers I'm not speaking as a teenager but how we look and the exams that are in the timetable for for future months when we're a bit older middle aged there's anxiety about our families and the demands of a job 20 year olds or so
[36:51] I've got anxieties about going to college about going to university about getting a job after that and what the job is going to be older people there can be anxieties about about health and and the world that their grandchildren are coming into and the state of it so all kinds of anxieties at every stage in life and because all of us have anxieties and cares this text speaks directly into our lives and it it tells us what to do with our cares and our anxieties and I really just want to step through pretty much each word in the text it's a short one so the first thing that we see here the first point is that we are to cast we're to cast our anxieties our cares and cast is a it's a doing word it's a very descriptive verb but it means to to throw forcefully doesn't mean to to place but it means to chuck or to hurl or to throw with a lot of force in the Greek the word is epiarypto which kind of sounds like what it means you know to rip our cares off you know throw them away and so that's what we're to do we're to we're to cast that's how this verse begins and remember it's Peter that's writing this letter as God the Holy Spirit inspires him and it makes sense that Peter the fisherman would use a word like this because Peter spent many years casting heavy nets wet nets heavy nets and he's casting over the side of the boat he's not gently placing them but all his strength and all his power is going to to casting these nets over the side of the boat and into the sea and what he's saying to us is that's what you're to do with your cares and your anxieties you don't hold on to them you don't place them neatly you know somewhere within arm's reach we're to cast them throw them hurl them rip them from us and notice if you're reading the NIV the verse begins with cast and that kind of makes us think that what we're being asked to do is a kind of one time action you know like the washing machine breaks down so what are you going to do with the washing machine that's broken down it's going to cost more to fix than it is to replace so you take the washing machine in the back of the van you take it up to the skip hopefully one day it's open and you take it and you cast it you cast the washing machine over the side of the skip and you never see it again it's a one time action but we know that's not the way it works with our anxieties and cares we know it's not just as easy as you cast them once and you never see them again because at three o'clock in the morning when we wake up they're back they're bigger than ever they've crawled out of the side of the skip and they're weighing heavy on us again and so that's why
[40:35] I think that the King James version and the ESV are actually a better translation the start of the verse there it doesn't say cast it says cast the ESV verse 7 it says casting all your anxieties on him it's a continuous ongoing action day by day with some things it's a case of hour by hour we're to be casting our cares I remember as a wee boy my shenner would take me fishing and we used to do the bubble and the worm fishing and the weight would be on the end of the line and the bubble and the worm and I used to love just casting it as far as I could out of the loch and if the wind was going that way you could do a long cast and it would stay out there but sometimes the wind was against you so you cast the thing out wouldn't go all that far would splash my shenner would be exasperated as every fish in the loch goes somewhere else but you throw out the line the bubbles out they are not too far ahead but the wind's blowing within three or four minutes the bubble floats almost back of your feet again so you have to take it back out and you're casting it again and again and again to try and get to a place where the fish are and that's the picture in this verse that's the discipline you know it's the wind of changing circumstances blows our cares and our anxieties back into our minds we're to be casting them time and time again over and over we're to be ripping them from us and throwing away in the direction of the
[42:43] Lord so the first word there first point is we're to cast we're to be casting the second thing to note here just briefly in the passing is just how comprehensive this instruction is because it says there casting all or cast all your cares your anxieties not some but everything everything that worries us everything that gives us anxiety everything that troubles us we're to be we're to be casting it all not just the big worries but the wee niggly ones as well not just the spiritual things but also the mundane things that distract us and bother us the Greek word pasan it means all the whole of every kind of that's the literal translation casting all the whole of your anxiety the whole of your worries every kind of anxiety every kind of worry and care we're to be casting it not holding on to any of it and
[44:04] Jesus who's speaking through Peter says I want you to keep on casting all your cares your anxieties upon me and we'll have to stop talking about rubbish and all that but remember the way we used to cast out our rubbish remember there used to be just one big black bin it's all very straightforward the stuff that you finished with you just took and you cast it into the big black bin all of it wasn't much thought to it but finished with that it goes in the bin the big black bin the only one that's there we just throw it all in and that's the picture we cast it all now today in the world of recycling and I know that's a necessary it's a worthy it's a right thing don't have a go at me I know it's necessary but see when we're taking the rubbish we're so hesitant you're going out with a can and you're looking at a blue bin and a black bin with a sticker on it another sticker on it and a brown bin sometimes and you're thinking
[45:07] I'll put it in there no I can't put it in there and you're going back in trying to get the thing back out and putting it into that bin oh no there's paper in that one where to shift it it's into the other one we're so hesitant with every bit of rubbish we're not sure where to cast it because we know if we put it in the wrong section then the whole thing will get refused and just to say daft example but Jesus doesn't work that way with our cares and our anxieties he says cast it all in my direction don't be dithering don't be hesitating don't be hanging on to all these bits and pieces of things that are weighing you down and troubling you cast it all be casting it all comprehensively everything all the time continuously it's an all inclusive it's a comprehensive instruction we're to be casting all and the third thing is our cares casting all your your cares that's the translation in the in the
[46:18] King James version the word the word for care merima merimna I'm not a Greek scholar but it can be translated as cares or anxieties it's not a very commonly used word in the New Testament it's only actually used three times you'll find it five times in the Bible if you do a search in a concordance but three of the five times it's in the same incident Jesus uses the word when he's telling the parable of the sower he uses that word for cares and remember the story of the sower you have it in Matthew 13 Mark 4 Luke 8 you can look at it later and in the parable of the sower the good seed of the gospel the message of the good news about Jesus the good seed has been scattered and it's scattered widely and as it's scattered there's some of the seed and it springs up quickly into what looks like a plant and it's an illustration that this person seems to believe there's a response to the gospel there's something evident but in that case where the seed is in the shallow soil the belief the apparent faith is short lived it's not real and why is that what's the problem well
[47:50] Jesus says the reason that these people are not saved the reason that faith is not a saving robust faith is because it's choked by the cares the cares of this world and that's the word that's been used here it's the same word that Peter uses it's the cares of this world so we're to be casting all the cares of this world that keep us away from Jesus we're to be casting them away Jesus is saying to us through Peter cast all these things away don't lose your soul because you're holding on to these cares that choke faith don't throw away salvation because you're worried about what that guy down the road is going to think if he hears you're a
[48:51] Christian because you're worried about how you'll be treated in the workplace or in university or in the playground or whatever all these cares all these anxieties Jesus Jesus Jesus is saying to us through Peter cast them away don't allow these cares these worries these anxieties to choke faith so much so that when it comes to the end of time you've lost salvation you don't have salvation you don't hear Jesus saying come to me I know you you're mine but he's saying depart from me you're like the cares of this world to to suffocate faith and pull you from me so that's the picture of cares that's the word anything that is choking faith anything that is causing us to to be kept away from Jesus we're to cast it so that we can be saved and three times that word for cares is used by
[49:59] Jesus in that parable of the sower the other place Jesus uses the word for cares is in Luke 21 in verse 34 and Jesus is talking about the end of time and he's telling us in that chapter about the cares of life that can distract us from that day that day when he returns that day when we will go to stand before him and that's the most important day that we're all to be prepared for because all of us will stand before Jesus we don't know the day we don't know the time we don't have it in our diaries but there is coming a day when we have to stand before Jesus and Jesus warns us in Luke 21 and verse 34 about the cares of life the cares of life that weigh us down in our hearts and clutter our minds and distract us so much so that that day when we have to stand before
[51:05] Jesus will come unexpectedly upon us and it will be like a trap you know we've seen these pictures where there's a trap there's a snare that's set and one moment a person is walking along or a beast is walking along and the next thing snap they're trapped there's nothing they can do and Jesus is saying to us in that chapter don't allow the cares of this world to distract us from the coming of Jesus don't allow the cares of this world says Jesus to distract us from the reality of eternity yeah we've all got bills to pay we've all got things that distract us we've all got things that clutter our minds and occupy our time we've got businesses to run we've got jobs to attend we've got relationships that we are deep into and involved in and rightly so
[52:15] Peter is saying as God leads him don't allow these things these cares of this world to distract us from the reality of eternity so much so that we'll find ourselves in eternity and we're totally unprepared all these cares God is saying to us through Peter cast them away all these distractions all these things that just anchor us down in time and obliterate eternity from our minds cast them away so we're to cast our cares the cares that would keep us away from Jesus and cause us to be unsaved cast them away says Jesus and the cares that we may be saved but we're distracted we're ineffective and we have no earthly use because we have nothing of heaven in our minds and cast these cares away says
[53:34] Peter and then the final time that word is used is by the apostle Paul and it's in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 28 and he's talking in that letter about all the people that he loves remember Paul he plants churches all over the place there's lots of people that he meets there's some people that he never meets but he cares deeply for them and he feels the pressure the burden of his love for them and that weighs heavily on him and the thing with Paul is he can't just jump on a plane and reach them but he can't pick up the phone and say how are things going over in Philippi tell me about how things are going he's not getting an email a letter he's not getting one of these leaflets from various people and various places with an update on how things are going so what's he to do with all these cares and anxieties that he feels for the people that he loves who are in the Lord well he's told here cast them all cast them on the Lord there's nothing you can do Paul in your prison cell nothing you can do when you're six days journey away to all these pressures all these cares that are upon you because you love these people cast them on the Lord and that's what we're being taught to do we're to take all our cares and all our anxieties and we're to be casting them continuously upon the Lord the cares and the concerns that we have for other people to cast them upon the Lord the cares that we have for family and friends who don't know Jesus and who are currently headed for a lost eternity we're to cast these cares on him on the Lord the cares that we have for people who once perhaps walked close with Jesus and now they're drifting once their hearts were warm and I always see his glazed eyes there's that distance we're to take these people these situations we're to cast them on him and the people who are going through a hard time just now and there's so many situations that we're aware of people who are ill people who are anxious who are waiting for tests who are undergoing procedures we're to cast our cares our anxieties for them upon the Lord upon Christ and that's the next point we cast comprehensively all our cares on him and Paul is speaking about Christ
[57:01] Peter sorry is speaking about Christ cast all your anxiety on him Peter is pointing us to Jesus and this is very straightforward stuff I can have the children down here and ask them these questions they give them they give us the answers readily we heard them giving these answers what do we do with our worries what do we do with our cares who do we pass them to we give them to Jesus we know this but we struggle to do this I struggle to do this and so in our minds although we may not articulate this with words we wrestle with this question of can Jesus carry our cares and our anxieties or do I need to keep holding on to them do I need to just keep trying to manage them because that's what we do on the day I was preparing this this message or part of the message it was it was Monday actually and it was the community lunch and Mary had made a big pan of leek and sweet potato soup it was a big drum of a thing and my job was very straightforward
[58:24] I just had to carry it to the church so I had various things to do and I said to the girls right you jump in the car I'll take you down to school and then I'll call past the church and I'll just drop in the soup and that'll be fine I'll not have any more distractions until lunchtime I can just crack on with things so the soup was taken and it was placed very carefully on the floor well of the car but between the manse and the church there was a disaster and 80% of the soup ended up on the floor of the car none of it was scooped back in don't worry but 80% of the soup was on the floor of the car and not in the pan and it wasn't out for the lunch and so the point is I proved to be an untrustworthy carrier of the soup don't ask me to carry the soup again but Jesus is a trustworthy carrier of our cares he can carry them all the people that we love that we are concerned for he can carry them and the situations that we lose sleep over and that we have that deep anxiety about he can carry them and the sin that haunts us he can carry it away if we will confess it and through
[60:09] Peter Jesus is saying let me carry it how many of us look like little Olivia with a huge big rucksack of things and we're just falling over backwards like an upside down turtle half the time with all the weight of the stuff that we're trying to carry and Jesus is saying to us through Peter all these cares all these anxieties all these worries all these concerns cast them upon me what a what a friend we have all our sins and griefs to bear what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer and it's a really powerful picture for us just to meditate upon when we feel that burden on us when we feel the pressure of a concern building within us when we feel a wave of anxiety crashing over us when we see a person or a situation that comes before our mind's eyes what do we do we carry it we carry them to the Lord in prayer and he takes them he takes it from us and Peter could say to us remember who this is that we're carrying our cares and anxieties to this is the
[61:44] Lord who stilled the sea with a word this is the Lord who chased away illness and disease with a touch this is the Lord who gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf who gave peace to the troubled who gave hope to the hopeless who gave freedom to those who were in captivity this is the Lord who gave life to the dead so I think he's able to carry your cares and you know the key to unlocking verse 7 is found in verse 6 the key to us knowing in reality verse 7 in our lives is found in verse 6 and it's humility as we humble ourselves and as we admit how weak we are we begin to see how strong and how trustworthy
[62:58] Jesus is and we experience the mighty hand of God upon us verse 6 lifting us from all the suffocating cares and anxieties of this world and giving us peace peace one of the commentators Clowney said Peter's pride had cast him down but the Lord had lifted him up and we can think back to Peter's life it was pride I can do it that I continually cast him down but the Lord had picked him up and Peter is saying he can pick you up too he can lift you up too and all your cares and all your anxieties and maybe the question that we come to as we as we conclude is will he maybe we're sitting here and we believe that he can but we're looking in the mirror and we're thinking about ourselves and we're saying will he do it for me and the answer comes in the end of the verse he cares for you cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you and that takes us finally to the cross because that's where we see the clearest picture of the fact that he cares for us
[64:41] I often find myself especially over the last while I've often find myself back in the boat passage in Mark 4 and in the passage there in Mark 4 the storm is raging and this little boat is getting thrown all around the lake and the disciples are terrified and Jesus seems to be absolutely unconcerned and so the disciples ask the question of Jesus do you not care that we are perishing and the answer was an answer that became increasingly clear as time went on of course he cared that's why he was on the boat because he cared that's why he was in the world because he cared for those who were perishing John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life so if you think about the boat getting thrown all around and the disciples stressed out their minds and they're asking don't you care what did
[66:03] Jesus do in response to their question he spoke a word and Psalm 107 verse 29 came to pass the storm is changed into a command the storm is changed into a calm at his command and will so that the waves which raised before now quiet are and still and in that moment in that boat in that storm that they would never have wanted to be in these disciples they knew two things one they knew that Jesus was powerful more powerful than they could ever imagine and two they realized that Jesus loved them that he cared for them so how do we know that he cares for us and we weren't in the boat we weren't in that storm but we were in a different storm the storm of sin was raging around us and it was within us and we were perishing so what did Jesus do he went to a cross why because he loved us because he cared for us here is love we're going to sing in a moment vast as the ocean loving kindness as the flood when the prince of life our ransom shed for us his precious blood who his love will not remember who can cease to sing his praise he can never be forgotten throughout life's throughout heaven's eternal days on the mount of crucifixion fountains open deep and wide through the floodgates of
[68:06] God's mercy flowed a vast and gracious tide grace and love like mighty rivers poured incessant from above and heaven's peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love that's how much he cares for you so anytime you doubt his care for you look back to the cross and anytime you and I doubt his power look back to the empty tomb the tomb that he burst out of in resurrection life so to finish do you have cares do you have anxieties do you have worries yes you do as do I perhaps some here are wrestling this morning with anxiety about our sin and whether our sin can be forgiven we've never confessed it because we think it's too much that's our anxiety and that's our care what are we to do cast it upon him become a
[69:31] Christian and maybe there's others who've got anxiety about sin as Christians because once you were close now you're far away again and we're wondering will he take us back after everything that's been done after everything that we've said after all these promises and protestations we're back in the mud and in the mire again will he take us back the devil saying of course he won't God says to us through Peter come back return give them to me again I care for you and for those who are Christians but secretly still not professing still with worries about coming forward worries about having to give her testimony worries about maybe I'll get asked to pray cast them upon him he cares for you maybe maybe we came forward years ago but we still have worries about all kinds of things spiritual and secular big and small about ourselves and about those that we love what are we to do keep on casting all our cares upon him what a comfort to know that he cares for us and we'll pray heavenly father we thank you for your love and for your care of us help us to trust you and help us to hand over our sins our griefs our cares our anxieties to you day by day and in some seasons hour by hour thank you that you care for us thank you that you sent your son to die for us and thank you lord that we can trust you help us to do that in jesus name amen we'll sing to finish mission praise 987 with one extra verse on the end of it hope we're allowed to do that here is love vast as the ocean love and kindness as the flood love and kindness as the flood where the breaths of life are answered shed for us his precious blood who his love will not remember who can cease to sing his praise he can never be forgotten throughout ver who's might
[73:24] Christ, I love like mighty rivers, Lord, incessant from above, And held to peace and perfect justice, Kissed a guilty world in love.
[73:45] In your truth you do direct me, By your sin and through your word, And your grace my need is meeting, As I trust in you, my Lord.
[74:06] All your fullness you are pouring, Your great love and God on me, With a pleasure full of God bless, Drawing out my heart to thee.
[74:29] And I may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God the Father, The fellowship of God the Holy Spirit, Be with us all now and forevermore. Amen.