Tomorrow is Ruining Today | Adam Weber

Something I've noticed when it comes to the chaos in our world and my own life and the lives of so many others is we'll be so focused and consumed with what's going on in our world. We'll yell at our phones and we'll get all fired up about what this person saying about what this person posted. We'll get so consumed with all these things that we have zero control over. All the while, we will totally neglect our own lives and our own relationships and what's happening in our own homes. So last week, though, we started out by talking about all the chaos in our world, right? All the chaos going on in the world around us. And well, speaking of chaos, at least 19 people are now confirmed dead after Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica this week. More than half the SNAP benefits will stop flowing to all those who need it. This is breaking news. The Justice Department is filing federal charges against DeCarlos Brown Jr. Tonight, the dean of a Denver, Colorado high school remains in serious condition. Charlie Kirk has been shot. We have very few details so far. But they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They've killed over 100,000 since. This is breaking news images that we are bringing to you. Because people are tired of being lectured by men with Rolexes on CNN about affordability in this country.

That's the real. A key city in eastern Ukraine appears to be on the verge of falling to Russia. So do you feel more calm, feel more at peace? So there's all this chaos. And then for whatever reason, there's this belief. There's this understanding. There's this assumption that everyone needs to have an opinion about everything. Like everyone needs to make a public statement on every single thing that takes place. Not just pastors, not just city leaders. No. If you are a plumber, if you are a teacher, if you're a nurse, if you're a banker, you need to stand up. I mean, are you a coward? Like, are you embarrassed about what you think? You need to stand up. You need to tell the world what you think about every single thing. And if for whatever crazy reason, if what you think is different than what I think, well, then you're a complete idiot. Like, honestly, I really I can't believe you're that ignorant. Like, are you really that naive? Are you really that clueless? I literally don't want to be around you anymore. I know we used to be friends back in college, but that was before I found out what you really think about every single thing on Facebook. I know we used to work together and we used to be friends and connect, but I literally cannot stand you anymore.

And hearing all that, is it any wonder or surprise that you might be feeling anxious or angry or exhausted? And that's not even mentioning all the hard crap in our own personal lives. On top of that, this last week I mentioned on our phones and social media is only making things worse. It's throwing gasoline on the fire. I mean, whether it's TikTok or Facebook or Instagram, they all have algorithms that are only feeding us the things that it knows will keep us engaged. Like, it's only showing us the things that it knows we'll want to hear. And so if the average person is spending seven hours a day on their phone, 49 hours each week, that means the average person is currently being discipled and shaped and formed not by a mentor, not by Jesus, not by scripture. No, they're currently being discipled and shaped 49 hours each week by an algorithm that's telling us exactly what we want to hear. Lord, have mercy. Really? You see, this algorithm, it doesn't want what's best for you or me. It doesn't want what's true or right. All it wants is to keep you and I engaged. Just getting this crazier and crazier and crazier, adding more and more and more chaos. Just for the record, my current algorithm is a bunch of angry Cincinnati Bengals fans and old men recording themselves while driving their old cars.

The second one I want to. I highly recommend. It's fantastic on every level. It's amazing how fast time goes by when you're driving a Model T. Okay, but friends, all joking aside, in the midst of all the chaos in our world, what are we supposed to do? Because as we already know, the typical response is to get really loud. The typical response is to be nervous basket cases. The typical response has become more divided. The typical response is to stay in our nice, safe, comfortable algorithms. But for you and I, not other people, for you and I, how are we supposed to live and thrive and react not only as people, but how are we supposed to face the chaos as followers of Jesus? Not the standard for everybody else, but the standard for our life. How are we supposed to face the chaos as followers of Christ? Right now, we are in a series called on Earth as it is in heaven. And for these two weeks, we're looking at the most well known prayer of all time. The prayer that Jesus himself taught us to pray the Lord's prayer. And before we go any further, I just want to mention last week, I had more people than normal reach out to me and just share that the message really connected with them. And it was a message that they needed to hear, which I'm so grateful and thankful that it resonated like it did. But the truth is, I just want to acknowledge I need this series myself, like all the feelings of anger, frustration, craziness.

I'm wrestling with the same exact things, too. And so just know that I'm on the journey right along with you. Thankfully, we have a guide and his name is Jesus. And so don't follow me, follow him. And I'd love to join you on that journey of following Jesus together. Speaking of Jesus, at one point, Jesus is with his disciples. He's with his close friends, his followers, and he's teaching them on all these different, hard, really messy topics. It's something called the Sermon on the Mount. If you want to be challenged, just go read that this week. But he's talking about all these different things. And then he gets to the topic of prayer. And he says kind of how to pray and how not to pray. And then Jesus says this. And just to note it again, this isn't like an Instagram influencer. This is Jesus, the son of God. This is how you should pray. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not in temptation, but deliver us from evil. So last week, we looked at the first part of this prayer. Today, I want to shift and look at the second part of this starting where Jesus says this. Give us today our daily bread. Give us today our daily bread. Now, I think this is super cool. Maybe it's just the nerd in me that says this one.

When Jesus spoke these words, the people listening to him that day, they would have immediately had a story come to mind. You see, in the Old Testament, after the Israelites were freed from slavery for 40 years, they wandered around in the wilderness, and they had no food to eat. And so each day the Lord provided for them. Well, how did he provide for them? Well, every single day, the Lord provided manna, which is bread. And every morning, the bread, this manna, it showed up like dew on the ground. Listen to what happened when it began to show up. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. They were puzzled by this manna, this bread. What is it? They asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, it is the food the Lord has given you to eat. These are the Lord's instructions. Each household should gather as much bread as it needs. Pick up two omers, which is like roughly three pounds of bread for each person in your tent. So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over. And those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.

This is my favorite part. Then Moses told them, do not keep any of it until morning. But some of them didn't listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. So this is powerful. Every single day, the Israelites, they had nothing to eat. And their future and even their day was totally uncertain. Yet every single day, the Lord provided for them this bread. And everyone had enough, like every family was taken care of, but they were specifically told that they couldn't store it up. Well, of course, some of them tried. Okay. I read the story, and it's like this stubborn mule would have tried. It's like, I got to worry about tomorrow. I mean, I got to feed my family. We're on the middle of a flipping wilderness, and we don't know how long we're going to be here. I would have been the person trying to gather as much as I possibly could. But if they did, it all went bad. And so every single day, they needed to gather this daily bread. And so when Jesus says, give us today our daily bread, they would have immediately had this picture of God providing for their people. That's powerful, isn't it? Friends, when it comes to all the chaos

going on in our world, when it comes to all the uncertainty of what might happen tomorrow, how can we face the chaos? Friends, you need to trust God for what you need today. Again, with all this chaos, with all this uncertainty of what might happen, how can we face it? You need to trust God for what you need today. You need to trust him. And so for all of us, just a simple question, what do you need today? What are you anxious about today? This week, what's been keeping you up this week? What is it? Maybe you are scared about all the chaos going on in our world. Okay, ask God for his peace today and trust him. Or maybe more practically, you're trying to figure out where your next paycheck's gonna come from. Okay, that's a legitimate concern. Ask God for what you need today and trust him. Maybe you're worried about your kids and the decisions that they're making. Ask God for his wisdom today. And also ask God to help your kids get caught really quick whenever they do something stupid. But genuinely, ask God for his wisdom and ask God to lead your kids and trust him.

I'm not sure about you, but I often do a lot of worrying and also a lot of complaining. But I don't always do a lot of trusting God. I don't. And yet so often, so much of our anxiety and anger in our world is because we're constantly focused on the future instead of focusing on today. It's like we're constantly thinking about what might happen and what this next news story could mean for our family and where the world might be heading, running through all these horrible worst case scenarios. And obviously it's not bad to look ahead. It's not bad to plan for the future, but we shouldn't worry and be consumed with what might take place. Because you and I have today. And today has enough to do and to think about in itself. Jesus literally tells us, don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself. Friends, let me just press this a little bit further. If you're a person right now, when it comes to our world, that's just like, I mean, anxious ridden about the world and the government and everything that's taken place. If you find yourself just constantly fired up, you and I, we shouldn't be anxious. As Jesus followers, we shouldn't be anxious and consumed with the chaos. We shouldn't be. And that might seem impossible,

but it's literally what Jesus commands us to do. But Adam, what about our world? What about our government? What about our morals and our kids and our future and the crime and the economy? Yes, all important stuff, but what do you need today? Because Jesus himself tells us to pray. Give us today our daily bread. And again, this picture, this story would have immediately come to mind of the Israelites in the wilderness. They literally had nothing to eat, total uncertainty. And yet God provided for them every single day. Friends, trust God that he'll provide enough bread for you. Trust him that he'll provide enough bread for your family as well. You can't store it up. You can try, you can't store it up. Instead, focus and trust God for what you need today. Going back to this prayer and the words of Jesus, Jesus goes on to say, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. So the first part of this, Jesus says again, forgive us our trespasses. This is so important for each of us. We need to ask God to forgive us. We need to ask God to forgive us of all the times and areas that we've fallen short. All the times that intentionally and unintentionally we've screwed up, like we need to acknowledge them.

We need to recognize these times. We need to confess these times. We need to grieve these times, the times that we haven't followed God's will, asking him to forgive us, asking him to wipe our slate clean, asking him to hit the reset button on our lives. Just to say it, I haven't met a single human yet who deep down doesn't long to be forgiven. Who doesn't long to have their slate wiped clean. If you're here right now and you're hearing my voice online and you've never asked God for forgiveness, do it now. Literally ask him. As I'm sharing the rest of the time, just tell them, Lord, forgive me. Lord, I believe that you died on a cross and you rose from the dead. And because of that, because you are perfect, fully God, fully man, you are able to forgive me. You are able to give me a brand new life. You're able to put me on a brand new path. Please forgive me. Just tell them. So important. But then there's a second part, the part that I wish we could just kind of skip over. Where Jesus goes on to say, as we forgive those who trespass against us, once again, we need to ask God to forgive us of our sin. But then Jesus says that we need to forgive others as well.

We need to forgive others. We need to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged us. We need to extend forgiveness to those who have trespassed against us. Now, if you grew up in church, you're like, of course, pastor, I've heard about Jesus telling us to forgive pastor. There's also an other verses about Jesus saying how many times that it's 7 times 70 times. I've heard this before, but I just want to stress this one of the most important things that you and I can do. Seriously. This is so important as Jesus followers. One of the most important things that we can do is face the chaos in our world with forgiveness. How can we respond to the chaos in our world? How can we approach the chaos in our world face the chaos with forgiveness? Friends, forgiving others is a defining mark of a Jesus follower like one of the core elements of our faith. Like one of the core things that we hold on to as Christ followers is we are called to forgive. It's what we do. We forgive. It's not what I do, pastor. Actually, as a Jesus follower, it is what you do. Just think about how much power there is in forgiveness. How the world typically works is someone does something bad to you. They hurt you. They talk poorly about you.

They wrong you. And so what do you do? Well, you decide I need to get back at them and I'm going to talk about bad about them behind their back and I deserve justice and I was wronged. And so I for an eye, I'm going to hurt them. And so you return their offense and in response, what do they do? Well now they've been hurt and sure they're the ones who started the whole thing. But now they've been hurt. And so they do something to hurt hurt you back and it just creates this cycle ever seen it. It's your life. It creates this cycle of going back and forth back and forth and not just hurting the other person. But now you unintentionally start hurting other people as well. And now they're hurt. And so they start to hurt others as well. And it just creates this this cycle the cycle of sin. And now if you zoom out to see even a little bit every single day this cycle, it just doesn't happen between you and I are between you and another person. No, it happens millions of times thousands of times all over our world. Between friends and family members. Maybe it's in your own family right now and and co-workers and strangers and and enemies and ethnic groups and political parties and countries every single day. It's the cycle of hurting and hurting and hurting. And thinking about that again, not just in your own life, but

zooming out. Is it any surprise that we have so much chaos in our world? But now listen to this. What is forgiveness do? Forgiveness that breaks the cycle. What is forgiveness do? It's it stops the cycle. I mean when I've been wrong when I've been cheated when I've been someone stabbed me in the back when someone's treating me poorly intentionally instead of giving even and trying to find revenge when I choose to forgive it breaks the cycle. And this never-ending cycle of chaos and crap. It stops. Listen again to these these words from Jesus and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against his friends. These words from Jesus are so brutal to live out. But if we do so. They are game-changing. They are family shifting. They are Earth shaking. I cannot overstate the impact of forgiveness and maybe you're like it is. That's how you respond to the cast forgiveness. Really? Listen to this as Jesus is hanging on the cross, even though he's perfect and innocent. He's been wronged over and over again. He's been accused and spit on beat and whipped. He's been nailed and hung on a cross to die as Jesus is hanging

on this cross. What does he say? He says father curse them. What does he say father annihilate them? What does he say? These these imperfect humans have screwed me over father. Destroy them because they deserve to be destroyed. No, he doesn't say that. Some of us we've heard it so often. It's like, of course, he doesn't know that's not normal. What does he say? Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Jesus, he breaks the cycle. He doesn't get even instead as he's hanging on the cross, not hours later or days later when he forgets about it as he's being killed. He chooses to forgive the cycle. It ends with him. Now, if you know the rest of the story, it's like, well, it didn't pan out very good for Jesus, you know, dying, didn't he? Pretty sure that's how it happened. He did. These words from Jesus and him choosing to forgive along with his death and resurrection. It impacted his friends and his followers so much. They began to take this this message. Of Jesus and forgiveness and grace and mercy and they began to share it with others.

And they began to share it and shared and shared and because they shared this message of forgiveness this message of grace and the cross many of them because they shared it were beat and hurt because they shared this message about forgiveness and grace and the cross and the empty tomb. Many of them were killed themselves and yet instead of starting new cycles of hurt and revenge like Jesus, they chose forgiveness and they stopped the cycle. And then some 300 years later after Jesus was killed by the hands of the Roman Empire, listen to this, the Roman Empire itself became Christian. Literally the message of Jesus and the power of forgiveness. It took over one of the most powerful Empires of all times friends just to say this really really clearly if you're convinced that nothing is going to change in our world and our government this and society that and culture this and everybody stuck in their ways and nothing's ever going to change literally the political system that killed Jesus. It became Christian. And yes, it didn't happen overnight. For you and I may not take place tomorrow or even 10 years from now. But as we said the power of forgiveness, it is game-changing. It is family shifting. If your family's a disaster the power of forgiveness. It is it is family shifting. It is Earth shaking. You and I we are called to face the chaos in our world. With forgiveness. With forgiveness makes no sense.

The powerful force. Forgiveness. Continuing on with this is prayer and the words from Jesus Jesus goes they on to say and lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Something I've noticed when it comes to the chaos in our world and my own life and the lives of so many others is we'll be so focused and consumed with what's going on in our world. Like we'll yell at our phones and we'll get all fired up about what this person saying about what this person posted will get so consumed with all these things that we have zero control over. All the while we will totally neglect our own lives and our own relationships and what's happening in our own homes. Like every day will be so passionate about what someone saying on Facebook while neglecting to be a dad. Irony like what does that make sense? Like I'm so upset. I mean, have you heard what they're teaching our kids in school? Have you heard about it? I cannot believe what they're teaching our kids in school all the while you and I were given our sixth grader a cell phone and we're letting them go up to their bedroom and close the door. What? And I'm so upset about the government and how it's spending our tax dollars my tax dollars and how they're not caring

for any of the people who need to be cared for all the while you and I were swimming in credit card debt. And we've given more money to Starbucks than we've ever given to anyone in need ourselves. Now just to stress this. I'm not saying these bigger issues aren't important. They are important. But they're not more important than what's happening in our own lives. Yes, they're important. They're not more important than what's happening. in our own marriages. So important, very important, not more important than what's happening within the four walls of our home where we have so much influence. Once again, Jesus says, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil. Friends, in the face of chaos, resist the temptation in front of you. Let me say that again, in the face of chaos, resist the temptation in front of you. For all of us, at least in my life, every single day, our lives are filled with temptation. Constantly. Yes, even for me. Every day, it's filled with opportunities for us, you and I, to do evil. You and I, we're tempted to assume the worst about people every day.

And every day, we're tempted to ignore the person that we know is being taken advantage of every day. You and I, we're tempted to check out and scroll on our phones, myself included, instead of being engaged with our kids and our spouse, our friend, our roommate, at the end of a long workday. Even if we're married, every day, we're tempted to flirt with our cute coworker. We're tempted to blur the lines, to cut corners, to fudge the numbers for the sake of a little bit more money. We're tempted to blame others. We're tempted to not take on responsibility, the responsibility we have as grown men, as grown women. Every day, we're tempted to gossip, we're tempted to tear people down. Every single day, we're yelling at our cell phone, but we're not willing to address the addiction in our own lives. Every day, we're tempted to be so busy, including Sundays, that we don't have any time or space or room or energy for God. Speaking of Sundays, every single Sunday out in the parking lot, we're tempted to hand out middle fingers like lollipops out of our minivans. You moms are intense, by the way, out in the parking lot. Dads, they got it all figured out. But every day, we're tempted to spend money we don't have. Amen?

Tempted to try to win an argument at the sake of destroying a relationship. What? Every day, you and I, we're tempted to take another drink, we're tempted to click something, and it's like, man, I should not be clicking this. Friends, every single day, there are spiritual forces in our world, evil forces, and these forces, they don't want us to do God's will. They don't want us to follow at his best. They want us to stay as far away from God in his ways as possible. Just listen to these words from the Apostle Paul. I think this is so good for us to remember. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's not against the here and now. We think it's about the here and now. Paul's like, it's against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark, unseen world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Speaking of all the chaos in our world, I honestly think that these evil forces would just love for us to be so consumed with what's going on out there so we don't have any time to think about the evil and temptation right here. It's like, if I can just keep them distracted,

those Jesus followers, man, they just fall right into the algorithm. I just love those Jesus followers because they just get in their little safe, comfortable algorithm, and they just go focused on that all the while. They can't even see it. Gosh. Again, the words from Jesus, lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. Friends, every single day, we need to ask God for his strength, his discernment, his wisdom, his self-control. What a time to be marked by our self-control, by the way. How powerful would that be? We need to fight against the temptation. We need to see and recognize the evil in our own lives. Okay, so just to bring things back full circle, in the midst of all the chaos and the uncertainty and the algorithms, what are we supposed to do? As Jesus followers, how are we supposed to live and react and respond? Friends, as Jesus followers, we shouldn't follow the typical response of the world, the lash out, to be an anxious mess, to make it us versus them. Instead, Jesus commands us to take a higher road.

He calls us to a higher calling. And so for all of us, when the chaos comes, and just so you know, it will come. When the chaos comes, get close to Jesus and listen to his words. Get close to Jesus and remember his prayer. And in the face of chaos, do what Christians have done for thousands and thousands of years. Pray these words to our Heavenly Father over and over and over again, and let it remind you of who's in control. And as you pray it, ask for His will, not yours. As you pray it, trust God for what you need today. As you pray it, face the chaos with forgiveness. As you pray these words, resist the temptation that's in front of you. In the face of chaos, let this prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, be our guide, be our map, be our way. And so today to close, today and also the series as a whole, I'm once again gonna invite everyone to stand across campuses. If you're with us online, we're honored that you've decided to join us. I'm gonna invite you even to stand, unless you're driving a vehicle or something like that. I'm gonna invite you to stand as well. And my encouragement as we say these words,

don't just mumble through them, really, really intentionally think about them. And Holy Spirit, maybe there's one specific thing that you wanna highlight inside of each of us that's just like, hey, that's, yep, that's for you. That's for you. Would you do so out of love? And so if you would, pray the words of Jesus with me. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily breath. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever, amen. Lord, we're so thankful for who you are. We're thankful for these words spoken directly from you. Lord, in the face of chaos, would they be our guide? Would they be our roadmap? Even more than your words, Lord, would your life be our guide? Lord, would we pursue you with all that we are? Would we surrender everything, every allegiance that we have? Would we place it at your feet because our eyes are focused on you? God, would you help us? Would you give us your strength, your self-control

when we have none? Your peace that surpasses all understanding, your kindness, your love that goes from one generation to the next, would you remind us of what's true and what's not? We're not looking for our truth, we're looking for yours. And so God, would you be our guide? Would you be our shepherd? Lord, we just are so thankful for you. I pray that we'd be agents, ambassadors of your grace, your mercy, all that you are. Would before we even speak, like we've talked about last week, would we just be so clearly known as people who have spent time with Jesus, that people would see it in our own individual life, that people would see it in our imperfect marriages, in our imperfect families, in this imperfect church, that people would just be, gosh, that person, those people, they've been with Jesus. They've been with Jesus. And so Lord, we love you, we thank you. We pray all these things in your name. Amen, amen. Hey everyone, it's Adam from Embrace. If you enjoyed today's message, make sure to subscribe to Embrace's YouTube channel to stay updated. You can also click here to check out other videos. Thanks for watching.