by Ed Welch

I must be personally edified. Though it sounds a bit selfish – or maybe just plain selfish – that is my criteria for whether or not I will work on a new book. After all, if I am not encouraged in my faith in Jesus Christ through the process of writing, why would anyone else be edified by the resulting book?

by David Powlison

The fourth part of this series on worry opens with Jesus' seventh and final reason not to live a fretful life. It closes with six steps of application that help you to get a game plan for addressing your struggles with worry.

Other parts of this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Part 4 Finally, after saying all this, Jesus gives a seventh reason not to live a fretful life. It's both a reason and an alternative. Having given you so much, your Father calls you to the radical freedom of giving your life away. Everything before was get. We become anxious because we want to get. We don't want to lose what we got. We covet the inheritance because we want to get. We become presumptuous, and kick back into a life of leisure, and think we are fat cats because we have gotten. Everything is get, got, gotten, want to get, maybe I won't get. But here, when you come to the end of Jesus' message to you, it's all give. Because you have been given, because you are being given, because you will be given a sure thing, a certain and wonderful thing, no iffy, no maybe/maybe not, because there's nothing to really worry about, then give. It's His pleasure to give to you, so you can give, too. Focus there.

by David Powlison

In the first two installments of this series on financial worries, we unpacked Jesus' teaching in Luke 12:22-34, considered how the instability of our lives gives us good reasons for worry, and then looked at the first of Jesus' better reasons not to worry. In this third installment, we look at five more reasons Jesus gives for laying down our anxieties.

(Read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.)

Part 3
Here's the second reason. Jesus tells people to look around. Open your eyes. Look at the world. In this case, look at crows. Notice these birds flying overhead. It's like saying, Notice rabbits, Notice pigeons, Notice feral cats. Notice some common, not very appealing animal you take for granted. Jesus says, "Consider the ravens. See, God feeds them. He takes care of them even though they don't put a single seed in the ground. They don't ever water their crops. They don't store a thing for next year—not even for tomorrow. They live in the moment, day to day, but God provides for them."

by David Powlison

(If you haven't read part 1 of this series, find it here.)

In Luke 12:22-34, Jesus speaks to people who live in a subsistence culture. Their daily provision of food and water was not certain, yet Jesus told them not to worry about what they would eat or drink. In fact, he piled up reason after reason not to get hung up on money and the things money buys, even when survival is at stake. He gave people something better to be preoccupied about. He offered better treasure, more lasting food and drink, something indestructibly secure – his kingdom. If Jesus' words were true for the farmers. fisherman, and housewives of Palestine – then they are certainly true for us who live in relative plenty. But we still worry, don’t we?

This second installment of the sermon picks up with the discussion of how we have plenty of good reasons to worry, and then moves to the first of Jesus' better reasons not to worry.

by David Powlison

"Don’t worry?! But my investments have tanked, my sister has lost her job, and my house isn’t worth what I paid for it!" Yes, we are facing significant financial challenges, but how great it is to have the always timely Word of God to go to when we are troubled. In this four part series, let David Powlison walk you through this passage in Luke 12 on worry. Being reminded of Jesus’ words and how they apply in any and every century brings comfort and reminds you how to live a gospel-centered life in turbulent times.