Worry is a sin that blocks your congregation’s growth

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Worry is a sin that blocks your congregation’s growth

By Rick Warren

 

 

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"Think of what you could do, as a pastor, if you stopped worrying. Is it possible your worry infects your congregation?"

Rick Warren

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Worry is emotional garbage that hinders our progress toward spiritual maturity. The more we worry, the more it weighs us down. (Proverbs 12:25) Jesus commands us not to worry and so, when we worry, we are disobeying Jesus and that is sin. (Matthew 6:25)

Think of what your congregation could do if your members weren’t being dragged down by worry. Think of the people you’d be able to reach for Jesus and the ministry you could offer in your community if those within your congregation were not distracted by worry.

Think of what you could do, as a pastor, if you stopped worrying. Is it possible your worry infects your congregation?

Worry exhausts your energy and it exaggerates your problems. And it wastes your time. How do you stop worrying? How do you help your congregation to set aside this sin that so easily entangles?

• Start by identifying your worries. You can’t release your worries until you know what they are. One of the reasons we’re often stressed out is we have a vague feeling that something is wrong, but we don’t know what it is. If you carry this vague sense of anxiety, it will drain your energy.

• Take your worries to God. Psalm 55:22 (NCV) says, “Give your worries to the Lord and He will take care of you.” In other words, he’s saying, “Let it go. Give it to me. I’ll take care of it.”

• Pray about your worries. You don’t get rid of worry through therapy, fads, diets, pills, seminars, or conferences. You get rid of worry by prayer. If we prayed more, we’d worry less. Philippians 4:6-7 in the Message paraphrase says, “Instead of worrying, pray. Let your petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. … It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

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"Jesus commands us not to worry because he knows God’s promises are absolutely rock solid."

Rick Warren

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Jesus commands us not to worry because he knows God’s promises are absolutely rock solid: “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.” (Matthew 6:30-32 MSG)

God is for you, not against you. And he wants to see you succeed in ministry as much as he wants your congregation to grow into full spiritual maturity.

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times best seller The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for ministers.



Copyright © 2010 Rick Warren

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Posted Wed, Apr 14 2010 3:48 PM by MTBEditor

Filed under: Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Pastor