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Living Hope SDA Church

Christian Martin

Faithful Stewards Serving with Purpose and Passion

When we lifted up towards heaven just now, it was beautiful.

Blessed Jesus, take my hand and take me to the promised land.

Through the pilgrim land, we're going home.

Let's pray as we prepare to open His Word and listen to His voice.

Father in heaven, Thank you, Lord, for the promise that you are not a God who just sits high and mighty in your throne, aloof from the realities of our life here on earth.

No, You are a God who comes to us and abides with us, and you take our hand.

And today, Lord, we pray that you would lead us through your word as we Open the scriptures and as we meditate on your word, may you have comfort and hope for us.

So Lord, come minister to our hearts through your word.

You know, I've come to the conclusion that no 1 is too busy here on earth.

And what I've come to realize is that it really comes down to this.

The fact is that it's not that you were too busy to eat.

Rather, it's that something else was more important for you during the lunch break.

You had more important things to do, and so on and so forth.

Regardless of age, gender, income, nationality, marital status, you name it, we all have priorities.

We all do things that we consider important.

And we don't do things that we consider not as important.

And no 1 questions whether we have them or not.

The question is if we are devoted to what matters most.

And naturally there's going to be things in our lives right now, at this very moment, that you regard valuable.

Again, more important than other things, as it was for 1 particular hunter.

A group of friends went deer hunting and they paired off in groups of 2 and they each went their separate ways.

And that night, 1 of the hunters returned home alone, carrying with them an eight-point buck.

And the group asked them, hey, where's Harry?

They asked, oh, 0, Harry, Harry had some kind of stroke, and he's a couple of miles back on the trail.

Well, I left Harry lying there and carried the deer back.

Well, said the hunter, I figured no 1 was going to steal Harry.

But are they the things that matter most?

You know, they did a survey recently of 2, 422 U.S.

Adults, and they were asked the question, what matters most?

56% said having a job or career you enjoy.

35% said being in a committed romantic relationship.

16% said that earning a lot of money is essential to a fulfilling life.

And 50% said just simply having a lot of money.

Well, all these things, All these things may have their place in life, I suppose.

But are all these things absolutely necessary?

Well, Jesus had something to say about all these things.

Come with me to the book of Matthew, Matthew Chapter 6.

Tell us what you think about all these things.

He said, therefore, do not worry, saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?

For after all these things the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." And among those in the crowd listening to every word was Peter.

And Peter, as I read more about Peter and reflect more about Peter, I realize that Peter was just like us, just like us.

For when he should have been seeking first the kingdom of God, Peter was worrying, worrying greatly what others would think of him.

He was worried about the consequences of being found out that he was a follower of Christ.

Instead of seeking first the kingdom of God, he did all that he could to avoid being recognized as a citizen of the kingdom of God.

He did everything that he could to divert the attention away from himself.

And consequently, he betrayed Jesus 3 times.

You see what happens when we don't seek first the kingdom of God and we're caught up with all these things, we soon discover that there's something amiss in our life and our response to Christ will reveal that.

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Faithful Stewards Serving with Purpose and Passion

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