1/15 at The Gathering
Blake Coffee and Tony Diamond each taught from Matthew 6 on Sunday, January 15. The videos and listening guides from both those lessons, followed by the scripture, are below.
Core Lesson (Tony Diamond)
Pollyanna had it right too.
Matthew 6:19-34
Core Listening Guide
Treasures in Heaven
Pursuit of possessions, whether monetary or material, drive a wedge between us and God. Even family, those we love or are directly responsible for, can be considered prized possessions. Preoccupation with anything other than God robs us of eternal treasure by compromising our relationship with Him.
Worrying about controlling things
Worry merely occupies our minds with negativity. It robs us of life. Thinking through negative scenarios signals a lack of faith. It reveals a selfish, controlling streak within us.
Worry is a choice
Like so many other obsessive or compulsive behaviors, worry IS something that can be changed. It is a choice. It’s a bad habit, difficult to break, but not impossible.
Invest in eternity
Focus on today, not tomorrow. Serve God obediently. Think through positive scenarios. Trust our lives fully to God.
Will you live a life that shows trust in God?
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Venture Lesson (Blake Coffee)
Treasure Hunt
Matthew 6:19-34
Venture Listening Guide
Kingdom-colored glasses change our perspective from long-term financial security to much longer-term spiritual wealth.
We must each decide what things are most important to us, and we must choose wisely, because how we value things affects how we see them, which in turn affects the condition of our heart. The consequences of our values run longer and deeper than we know.
As we mature, our values change and our priorities rearrange, but as Christ-followers, we never change Who holds the highest place of importance in our lives. It matters Who sits on the throne of your life.
Sometimes worrying points to the real god in our life…something we treat as more important than God Himself…and sometimes worrying just points to our lack of faith in God.
Worrying is a complete waste of energy. It is without purpose, without results and what we do instead of praying.
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Scripture
Matthew 6:19-34
Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 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 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
