MK040 Sermons
What to do with Worry (Audio)
Peavey Joseph, who is serving God in the country of India. Come and share with us. Peavey was here with us last May and has been here in the States for an extended time and his wife Runa is here with us as well, so it's great to have her with us also. And so as Peavey comes, he's going to tell you a little bit of what God has been doing through his life over these last number of months and then he's going to continue our series on the Sermon on the Mount. So if you have your Bibles, if you want to pull them out and turn to Matthew chapter 6, if you don't have a Bible, our guys will be passing them out to you as Peavey is getting started here this morning. We'd love to have you follow along. So I'm going to go ahead and turn things over to him. Peavey? It's cold. So I quickly went to that place. What is it called? Will you buy the used things? Good will and got myself a jacket. It's worth five dollars to keep yourself warm. It's good to be back with you, people of God again. And not a nice passage to talk about to worry, but that's a part of all of our lives. If there's one person who should be worried, it should be I, it should be me. This is not the place I wanted to get stuck in America. So there is a room in my house where it was like looking too stuffed, too closed. Those of you who came to India, you know, closed places is not my world. I sit outside. I said, I can't live with this closeness. So I made some changes in that bedroom, put the bed, push it aside, got a table from somewhere and chair from somewhere else. I'm a pilgrim. And so open that window thing up. Ah, now I can see the world. And it's important that we be not bogged down by the closeness. For the, we will be here into April. We've been in and out of the country for many years from, from 92. And we have what people call, what we have, green cards. That's what allows us to come and go and work with a mission board as the employees of the mission board for all purposes of accountability and administrative oversight. And for, for past three, four years, there's been, there's been that thing at the, at the borders, at the airport, say, sir, you, you got to, you got to decide if you want to not come back and be in India, if you want to come back and you got to change. So we are here for this year to make sure our paperwork is through. And the legal will be legal, not illegal. So we can come and go with freedom and, and an ability to communicate. So pray for us. Come April. Third week of April, we'll put some paperwork in. It's called naturalization. And it may take two months, three months, four months, five months. I do not know, but I really want to get out of America. So sooner, the better. So would you pray that God will really make it fast? We can go and enjoy my freedom to work and to live and to serve. Today's passage. And back at home, back at home, things are not shut down. They're actually doing well. Two months back, that's maybe three months back in December, they had, they had to get together of different church groups that work with us, our church plans, about 500 people and gathering. There were 14 baptisms. And that was, that was good to, good to, good to hear. And then last month, there was the gathering of a college group. Young people come together from different colleges. And that was a good time. They said there were 15 decisions. Some for salvation, some to trust, some to serve. They're doing well. School, planning to add a hundred more next year. You know, we have 400 some now. And we are actually looking for men to come for ministry to go out as church planters. So I'm anxious, willing and ready to go. Frankly, this time has been difficult for me to stay in America in many ways. But it has not been a wasteful. I've seen things, thought of things, went to things that are essential for my life as family and for the ministry God has called me. So when you feel closed up, that could cause a sense of worry. It could, it could be, it could be real with unrealistic reasoning. Worry leaves God out lot of times. Sometimes it is so tricky, it adds God into it as well. Then that gets complicated. You add God and worry together and we're children of God. Imaginations of fears and intimidation overtake in that world of worry. All I think of worry in three ways. One, it's very demanding. Worry is very demanding. It is always built around a person called me. The meanness in the passage. What shall I eat? What shall I wear? What shall be my future? It's always me. It's demanding. It's always around the perishable. It's about the food. It's about the clothing. It's about tomorrow. I guess today, today there are not people sitting here wondering where their meal will come. But there might be people here wondering if they would hold on to their job. If a new opening will come. So that food issue has many forms in our modern world. And this worry is demanding. It may be, it's always about me. It's always about, can I survive? It's about not eternal, but somehow it turns the earth into heaven and turns earth into heaven. And things are reversed. We are in a reverse gear. And that's where we get worried. You think you are going forward, but actually you are going back. It's about being full. Here I never fall. Worry is demanding. It's a demanding master. When it takes over our life becomes the master of our life. It also becomes destructive. Worry has never made anybody healthy. You cannot, there is a divorce. You cannot increase your height by worrying in that passage we read. You see, others become our measure. Instead of we being measure for what God has made us to be, called us to be, somehow the Jones have become our measure. We don't seem to measure up to somebody, to something of an expectation. It is destructive. It destroys our body. Worry destroys our body. It destroys our soul. It destroys our spirit. It does not stop there. You see, when we become a form of destruction ourselves, destruction spreads like cancer. It gets tagged with spouses. We spread. See how destructive Worry is. It does not stop with our spouses. It gets into our heads. And then it begins to ruin the very institution God gave us. That's called marriage. It does not stop there. Worry is deadly. It's destructive. Of course, what is in our heart, what's in our mind, what is in our relationships within ourselves, with our spouses, with our kids. Inevitably comes into the very family of God called church. It begins to deal with church destructively. Worry is destructive. Oh, it does not stop there. It even comes to missionaries. So I'm worried about the body. We need to be careful. We need to be careful. It's simply not a demanding, unreasonable master. It simply is a destructive. Actually, all those put together, it becomes very deviating. It defies very purpose of God for you on this earth, the kingdom of God and the righteousness. That's who we are. Being born children of God, we belong to the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That actually is our world. Worry plucks us out from that very purposeful inclusion of you into God's kingdom. It deviates. It defines the very purpose of God. Worry is a deadly wake. You must choose if you will die under the deadly wake or if you will come out of it. You need to replace that demon called worry. Come out of it. You got to replace that worry with trust. You see, trust. Think of trust in the U.S. again. I just, I just treated, put in the Facebook since coming to the church. How is that? We can trust God and the worry at the same time. There's an issue there. Trust is transfer. A trust is never too trust in God unless you have learned to transfer whatever you trusted him for onto him. You cannot give to him and keep at the same time. Trust is transfer. Transfer from self to God seeking the kingdom of God. There's a word in the passage. First, F-I-R-S-D. Trust is a matter of setting priorities right. First things, first, last things last, making God first. If God becomes our first priority, every other priority will sit in its place and that is trust. Are you willing to transfer your trust from self onto God? Trust is not secretive. It is personal, but trust is always transparent. It's visible. It's noticeable. Jesus said, look at the birds. Look at the flowers. You see, you see, it is so noticeable. It is so obvious. Leave things of God to God and enjoy your life. You see, worry is a stealer, is a thief steals the very purpose of life, the joy of life. Trust is transparent. Look at the birds. Look at the flowers. Things of God must be left to God. You must fly. You must look pretty. You see, you are a child of God. You see, you are the kingdom of God. You see, your priority is the righteousness of God. Any other weight that will hold you down must be put down. Trust is transparent. Trust actually is triumphant. All these things shall be added unto you, Jesus said. You see, you are so worried about what shall I eat, what shall I drink, what shall I wear? Jesus said, sick you first, the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, all these things shall be added unto you. Trust in God is the triumph of life. When you leave things of God unto His own care, immerse yourself in the kingdom of God, in the calling God gave you, and take His righteousness, life, your life truly becomes a triumphant life. You can trust God because, not because TV said, because the word of Jesus Himself, you can trust God at His word. He is trustworthy. Jesus said, I will say in words He used in the scriptures there. Father will feed you. He can feed your needs. Why are you worrying about the feeding question? Father will clothe you with dignity. Heavenly Father will clothe you with dignity. That may be a housing. That may be something else. That may be something else. Whatever is the aspect of the dignity of your life you are worried about. Look at those flowers. Look at those lilies. How beautifully they are adorned. You are far more than those lilies. Those wild flowers, your dignity. When God becomes your very dignity. When God becomes your own very beauty. What worry should we have? Trust. Look at the flowers. When you go home, look at your yard and say, if God can care for my yard, He cares for me too. What is the lifter up of my head? My Father will hold up my dignity. Three. He knows your future. His third one. Do not worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. He also knows. He also knows. From there I'll transition into a little bit of what God has taken me through in my life. That's anywhere I come from. That's the state of 100 Pradesh where I live. He who knows knows you well. I was 17. Helpless, worthless, worried, dejected, did not want to live. At that point in time, I had come to realize God is living. Jesus died for me. And those again, receiving Him into my heart will change me. I'm here alive, well, at 60 to tell you that is true. Is that where the issue with your life is? Will you let Him be your God? That's my mom. A single? Oh, these things move fast here. Technology and me. I want to go back to India. She was the first woman. She was the first woman, one single woman in that village from that community who trusted Christ. God met everyone of her needs. She raised us single handed. That's back in those days trusting God for your spouse. Young woman? Young man? He must seek, but he must trust. We came back, I think it's shifting on its phone, John. You'll be here for a long time today. When we came to India, to America, we came with $20 in our pocket. We lived. And we decided to go back to India. One of the Indian men said, "You're going back. You're a fool. Who will live America and go back to India?" Under a friend said, "They are good people. You're going back to India, trusting us. I heard on and on. Sikhi forced the Kingdom of God. All these things shall be added unto you." We went back. Booked our tickets with our money in pocket. God gave it. I owe none a dime. Don't you worry. I want a borrowing missionary. It is stuck, right? Okay. If you go to the next picture, which you can't, when we decided to go back, as I went back, God put on my heart to plant churches in Hindu communities. While I was here, there was a place that I knew as a kid, I played that God brought to my mind saying, "Here, you will start your work." I prayed for two years. When I told my wife, "That's a place I'm going to get," being a sensible woman, she said, "With what?" But I must follow the lead. There I go. Deal was made. Forty acres you're willing to sell. It cost about $40,000. There was $100 in my bank account. And at that time, I do not know if you guys were supporting us. I'm not sure. Perhaps not at that point in time. So only one person you passed a bill from high point. And that was not a big hallelujah. Let's go get it. Only God has to do it. First month, second month, third month. Do not worry. I'm preaching today, right? A day came. It was beating fast. I might lose this. That very evening, somebody from the Mission Office, TV, somebody sent it $10,000 for you. For what? He said, "Whatever you want to use." That went to buy $40,000. He bought it. "Seek ye for us the kingdom of God and his righteousness. All these things shall be added unto you." That's over. Then we needed to build. We needed a place to live. Somebody gave actually $30,000 because we were here. We were back there trying to live small kids and all that. They said, "Build a house for yourselves because you've gone back. You need a place to live." Then I go, call an architect and said, "Here's a little place I have in the village. I want to build my house." By then I had the 66 acres. The man said, "Sir, if you want to start your work, you must be the first person to live on that hill, not in that village. There goes the house onto the hill. That house, three more houses. I think by then you guys were on board with us and one church called Village K, the village K, and that you gave $20,000. You know, guys, you're special. You're really special. I do not know of any other group of people who would meet in a place like this and would find $20,000 back how many years ago and say, "Build a place of worship." Thank you. Oh, that's good. That was empty. Good for none. That's what God showed. Today is a Bible college. There is a home. We began that building within a year. We finished Village K, church building, three homes and one more. We have sent 136 men out into ministry so far. I think this is what your pastor John said. "Pivi, how do you build these things? Where do you get money this from? We're buddies. We pray. We talk. Every building, every work God put on my heart, I pray and pray. When He gives me a little seed, I will be a fool to hold on to seed in my pocket. Seed must be put in the ground." You guys did something smart these days. You were too long. It's okay. I forgive you. You got the place going. Get it going. We put that into ground and God met everyone of those needs and my needs. What shall I eat? What shall I drink? What shall I eat? What shall I eat? What shall I drink? What is tomorrow? God meets our needs. When we send our men out to plant churches, they go and live in a small place. Two-room house. Not your two-room, our two-rooms. That's ten by eight. Maybe ten by ten is big. Little veranda. That's where it all begins. Little more a pole shed. A little more a church building. We have built 11 of them. When you're done with the building out there in all that, get on to your 20,000 business. Make it 30, 35. That's okay. No big deal. Seek you first, the kingdom of God. You know what guys? I went to Bible college seven, eight years without having a supporter, without having a job. I can trust but God and God alone. I know what it means to have a shirt just depends for years. I know what it means to not to have a soap to wash this color. Pray three, four hours in the morning for a piece of soap. Don't find it. Go back. Dip it in the water. Take it out. Thank you for the warm bucket. And you begin to wash on that floor. And then you find a little sliver of that soap. Oh, praise the Lord. Hallelujah. I can wash the color. I've gone through all that. I know what that means. There were many Sundays. I would not have that read what you call whatever that is. That's to put in the offering box. I know what that means. I know what this means. Money should never become our master. In fact, the worst about it says you cannot be a servant of two. You serve one, I hate the other. Let money never, never, ever master your mind, your might. God meets all of our needs. That's inside. We can put 200 people out there. And that's a school building. They're looking for a bus next year. They're going to add 100 more kids. God could do it. That's my staff out there. When I began, you know, I'm not even qualified to teach in a public school in India. They'll have all my education theology all the way up to PG. But those men and women God gave one after the other. When you think of school, you think of them. 476 of them, maybe 20 of them from Christian homes, all the rest with the red dot on their forehead saying in Jesus name, that is possible. Will you trust him when God calls you? Leave things to him. You do what your calls to do. And many dozens of those kids come to know the Lord. That's a VBS. Hundreds come on that Westland. We have today, big trees, bananas. God gave us even a road. Pave. That's what is today. I'm not done yet. You know why? I'm not dead yet. I will go on. I'm hoping to live for under 30 years. Boy, yep. I have an agenda. You know what? I've sent men out to preach. I have the school to bring high school kids. There's one group of people I haven't been able to touch. That's college. As I go back, as I prepare, we want to start a college program where young men, women can come. Equip them there. Then I can cover from nursery all the way up to old age. Every segment of humanity is reached with the gospel of Christ. Would you pray? Would you join? Hey, you know what? That's the one I really like. You know what that is? That's my office. I'm a man without office today. Would you pray? I'll go back to the place. Thank you. God bless you. Good John. [applause]