March 1, 2011 No Worries! 2

"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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Good Morning and welcome to the month of March, which at the Southern Location of the North Pole is coming in like a lamb. THANK YOU JESUS!! AMEN!! Tuesday and the day we pray for God to send cures for cancer, heart conditions, liver problems, failed kidneys and all those diseases of each and every type and also let's pray that people start driving WITHOUT TALKING OR TEXTING ON THOSE STUPID PHONES. You know people use their phones for entertainment now, playing games on them. When I grew up we did not have cell phones, we had one phone in the house and it was a party line. Now you want to talk about entertainment, you could listen in on the neighbors calls. JUST KIDDING FOLKS. Yeah, right, Dan! Don't remember how often my brother and I got spanked for that one. We had it made, pick it up slow and be quiet, then the dog barked. Moving on...

The Big Trip, 12-2 No Worries 2: 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? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (NIV)

Folks, again I say today one of the hardest things that God told us to do, is not worry. Jesus said these words, folks. "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" But we do worry, and we worry about a lot of things, and dare I say today a lot of things that we do worry about are really worries that we piled on top of ourselves, while there are many we worry about and cannot do a thing about. While what we need to do is cast our worries over to the Lord but also do something more about them than just dump them over to the Lord. Let's make a short list today of just some of the things that I think most of us worry about...

Family, our children, aging parents, grandchildren, etc.: What can we do to help keep the worries down? One of the things that helps Dolores and I not worry as much about our children is that each morning we start out by thanking the Lord for watching over our children and grandchildren and we ask God to keep watching over them. We put in that "Heavenly protection". We also do realize that our children, like all people, have been given free will and things could still happen, so we pray and pray and have faith in God. Another thing with our family, with our children, is they "check in". Most of them check in just once a week. In some families when the kids call something is wrong for it is the only time they call. We are blessed, as we pick up the phone to hear a voice say, just checking in, and then ending with I love you. If we don't hear from them, then we worry if they are sick, or in the case of one, did he slip off the wagon. So folks, check in with your family, brothers and sisters, check on each other, even if you are upset at one from time to time, CHECK IN. And take time to pray for your family.

Money and Bills: Most families or most people worry about their money or in most cases the lack of it. How am I going to pay all these bills... who made those bills? But wait you say, I was doing so good, then the electric bill went up, the price of gas went up, and I got laid off and I really got behind. And yes, that happens, and the sooner we get back to work after a layoff the better, but some people enjoy the time off with pay by the other people. (Other people = Government.)
One very, very good way to help get you back onto your feet when it comes to money is to give to God... What, you say, there is none left to give to God? Give God his first and do it in faith and watch what happens. Shop for clothes at your Good Will store, and at the food store buy store brands and if you smoke, give it up. Now if you need help, you can also call us if you are from this area and we will help keep your worries away by GIVING you food. Folks, things are expensive, and it does hurt, yesterday I filled Dolores' little red truck with gas and it was 3.30 per gallon. When I was sixteen years old, gas was .20 cents per gallon. How about that, and my old Ford got 20 MPG... Anyway, I drifted off subject a tad, but we tend to worry about money.

Working parents: Yes, those working parents, even in two parent homes, need to get the kids ready for school, pack lunches, out to the school bus, get dressed and get to work on yourself, then when done with work, get the kids at the day care where the school bus takes them after school. Pick them up by a certain time or pay extra. Get home, let out the animals, get the dinner started, get the kids going on their homework and before you know it you are going to bed, dead tired and worried if you can do it again the next day. Now that was the mother. Dad leaves for work early, stops for his large cup of coffee, works, gets off work, and comes home and takes his paper to the reading room (the one with the lid on the seat that never gets put down). Then when done, yells where is supper? Ok, I was making fun here, but the everyday rush is on and it does cause worries.

What can we do to cut those worries? Well, we must lay out some good plans, get the family into team work type of thing. And put God ahead of your team. Folks, one of the things I missed most about my mother after she died, was her coming into my bedroom at night and getting on her knees beside my bed and praying for me. Even when I got home late from work and she was in bed, she would get up, and come over after I was in bed and would pray and say good night. If I had my life to do over again, I would do that part with my kids, for I never did that when they were little.

Health: We worry about our health and the health of our family. No health insurance, some will say. And one thing I always said and still do, I can afford to get sick, so Lord keep me healthy.

Brothers and sisters, I labored on this enough today, and to just sum it up, most of our worries we have brought upon our own self. Let's today pray for God to help us deal with them. Instead of trying to take all of them and bundle them and dump them on God, let us ask God to work on them with us. Maybe we will never really stop the worry about our kids, but we sure can make it lighter... And as the Bible tells us, we cannot add a day to our life with worry, but I think we can shorten it some if we try and worry ourselves to death... let's pray.

Dear Father, I know I am a worry wart as it is said. Help me, Lord, to trust more and more in You and help me not to worry so much. I love You, Lord, and I know You love me. Thanks for that, in Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Now folks when I sing, I find I do not worry, so as we go out today, I would like to put a song on your lips and in your heart and see if you can keep it there all day. Now go forth and share your blessings and have a really nice first day of March and remember Jesus really loves you, and I love ya also. Pastor Dan.

It is the first day of March and THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE.

Oh, This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it, this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made. (Les Garrett)

Oh, This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it, this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made.

Oh, This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it, this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made. ONE MORE TIME AND THEN SING IT ALL DAY.....

Oh, This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it, this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made.