Bulletins - Church On The Rock-Abilene (TX)

The Lord Will Provide
THE FATHER'S HOUSE
Mighty Name of Jesus
God Turn It Around
GOODNESS OF GOD
NOTHING ELSE
Matthew 6:25–34 NKJV
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Opening Prayer:
Lord, we are grateful that You woke us up this morning. We are grateful to be gathered together in worship today.
Lord, You know even more than we do that this is Your Church. We ask that You would have Your way in this place today.
Open our hearts to the Word of God that will be opened before us today.
Lord, be with the preacher this morning. Use my lips, and I ask that You would speak through me today. Help me to feed Your people.
Lord, we also ask that You would be with the hearers of the Word this morning. Help them to understand that they were not meant merely to survive, but to thrive.
You desire to use these people to show Your grace and power in this city. You desire to use these people to strengthen this Church, and You desire for this Church to minister to the needs of this community.
And Lord, we know that You do not expect us to accomplish these things in human strength alone. Rather, You call us to surrender our strength to You, so that You might add Your power to our weakness and reveal Your glory through our lives.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Introduction:
Good morning!
Pastor Deadra sure enough preached her heart out last week, and I am grateful for the Word she deposited into us.
Today we come to the next stop on our journey.
A few weeks ago, we began this series, Walking the Journey of Faith. In that first message, we talked about the difference between talking about faith and actually walking it out. We challenged ourselves to stop pretending, stop hiding behind “Sunday School answers,” and begin honestly walking with God.
Then, in Overcoming Divine Disappointment, we looked at the life of Naaman and talked about how unmet expectations, hurt, and confusion can affect our ability to trust God. We were reminded that many people become stuck in moments of pain and disappointment instead of continuing to walk in faith.
Last week, in The Just Shall Live by Faith, Pastor Deadra reminded us that faith is not just a moment of belief—it is a lifestyle of trusting God. We talked about learning to live differently, allowing our salvation to show up in the way we live our everyday lives.
And now we come to the next step in this journey:
Learning to trust the Lord with our daily needs.
Because at some point, faith must move beyond church services, songs, and sermons—and begin shaping the way we live Monday through Saturday.
The truth is, many of us trust God with eternity more than we trust Him with tomorrow morning.
But the Lord cares about our lives, our families, our work, our future, and our daily needs.
And today, we are going to talk about what it means to truly trust Him.
God loves His people and provides for their needs.
Matthew 6:30 NKJV
30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
“Oh you of little faith…”
This is exactly what we have been talking about.
As we learn to walk in faith, we are going to confront the flesh.
Most of us provide for our daily needs by working. We have jobs, we use our skills, and we receive payment for our labor.
And there is nothing wrong with that.
But Jesus asks a deeper question in verse 30:
“Do you trust the Lord for your daily needs?”
Or, like many believers, have we simply been handling it ourselves?
Now let me be clear—I am not suggesting that we all move out to Cedar Gap, the highest point around the city, and sit there waiting for God to pay our bills.
That is not faith—that is irresponsibility.
What I am saying is this:
There is a difference between working faithfully and living as though everything depends entirely on us.
Working and being fruitful are part of what we were designed by God to do.
Genesis 1:28 NKJV
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Like everything else in God’s creation, we are called to be fruitful.
Fruitful — Hebrew Word: פָּרָה (parah) — Genesis 1:28 Definition: To bear fruit, to produce, to flourish, or to bring forth increase.
Expanded Preaching Definition
“To be fruitful means to produce life, increase, and beneficial results from what God has placed within you.”
Very Tight Version (Best for preaching)
“Fruitfulness is producing what God designed you to produce.”
It’s through our labor that The Lord provides for our needs.
1 Thessalonians 4:11 NKJV
11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,
Ephesians 4:28 NKJV
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 NKJV
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
The Lord would not command us to work if He had not already built within us the ability to provide for our needs and bless others.
1 Thessalonians 4:11.The Bishop Rob Nichols Version would say it like this: “Stay away from drama, take care of your own business, and get to work with your hands—just like we taught you when we were with you.”
Ephesians 4:28. In contrast to who we were before Christ, we are now called to bear fruit through our work so that we might become a blessing to others.
2 Thessalonians 3:10. If a man will not work, neither shall he eat.
Proverbs 22:6 NKJV
6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Bishop, this is a strong section already. I’ve just polished it for flow, grammar, and preaching clarity while keeping your structure intact.
Proverbs 22:6 — “in the way he should go”
Hebrew Phrase: עַל־פִּי דַרְכּוֹ (al-pi darko) Definition: According to his way, manner, path, or disposition.
Preaching Insight: The phrase carries the idea of training a child according to the way God has shaped and directed them, while still guiding them in wisdom and righteousness.
God has set aside work for you to do.
Ephesians 2:10 NKJV
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
The Lord cares about you and your needs.
The Lord commands us to work.
The Lord commands us to give to those who are in need.
And the Lord has uniquely designed you to do the work He has called you to do.
So let me ask you this question:
Are you simply working a job to meet your needs, or are you walking in the work God designed you for?
This is where walking in faith begins to take root.
We begin by answering the two questions I asked earlier.
And I want to be clear:
God cares about the things you care about.
In fact, the Lord may be the One who placed those desires in your heart. He may be waiting for you to step out in faith, develop those gifts, and begin doing what He created you to do.
There may be things you will not fully see until you begin walking in obedience to what He has called you to do.
There are a handful of people in this room who have started businesses. All of those people have employees. God has used them to provide jobs and opportunities for others.
All of us matter, and all of us affect other people.
What you do for work blesses someone—I promise.
And if you are a blessing even while not fully walking in what God designed you to do, imagine how effective you could be if you were fully living in what you were created for.
Maybe you are here this morning, and you are already doing what God has called you to do.
But are you on autopilot?
Are you still allowing the Lord to lead and guide you?
Are you striving for excellence and allowing your gifts and talents to grow, or have you settled for where you are right now?
Conclusion
Trusting the Lord with our daily needs is about far more than money.
It is about learning to trust Him with our lives.
It is about believing that the God who created us also knows:
what we need
where we belong
and what He created us to do.
The world teaches us to strive, consume, compete, and worry.
But the Lord calls us to something different.
He calls us to:
trust Him
walk in obedience
be fruitful
and live with purpose.
Some of us this morning are exhausted because we are trying to carry things God never intended for us to carry alone.
Some of us are surviving—but not thriving.
And some of us have settled into routines and autopilot, while the Lord is still calling us deeper.
But the good news is this:
God has not forgotten you.
He knows your needs. He knows your gifts. He knows your struggles. And He knows the work He created you to do.
The question is not whether God is faithful.
The question is: Will we trust Him enough to walk in what He has called us to do?
Because faith is not just something we say.
Faith is something we live.
- - Matthew 6:25–34NKJV
- - Matthew 6:30NKJV
- - Genesis 1:28NKJV
- - 1 Thessalonians 4:11NKJV
- - Ephesians 4:28NKJV
- - Proverbs 22:6NKJV
- - Ephesians 2:10NKJV

God loves His people and provides for their needs.

“Oh you of little faith…”

Now let me be clear—I am not suggesting that we all move out to Cedar Gap, the highest point around the city, and sit there waiting for God to pay our bills.

Working and being fruitful are part of what we were designed by God to do.

Like everything else in God’s creation, we are called to be fruitful.

Fruitful — Hebrew Word: פָּרָה (parah) — Genesis 1:28 Definition: To bear fruit, to produce, to flourish, or to bring forth increase.

“To be fruitful means to produce life, increase, and beneficial results from what God has placed within you.”

“Fruitfulness is producing what God designed you to produce.”

It’s through our labor that The Lord provides for our needs.

The Lord would not command us to work if He had not already built within us the ability to provide for our needs and bless others.

1 Thessalonians 4:11.The Bishop Rob Nichols Version would say it like this: “Stay away from drama, take care of your own business, and get to work with your hands—just like we taught you when we were with you.”

Ephesians 4:28. In contrast to who we were before Christ, we are now called to bear fruit through our work so that we might become a blessing to others.

2 Thessalonians 3:10. If a man will not work, neither shall he eat.

Proverbs 22:6 — “in the way he should go”

Hebrew Phrase: עַל־פִּי דַרְכּוֹ (al-pi darko) Definition: According to his way, manner, path, or disposition.

God has set aside work for you to do.

So let me ask you this question:

Are you simply working a job to meet your needs, or are you walking in the work God designed you for?

Maybe you are here this morning, and you are already doing what God has called you to do.

But are you on autopilot?

Are you still allowing the Lord to lead and guide you?

Are you striving for excellence and allowing your gifts and talents to grow, or have you settled for where you are right now?

Matthew 6:25–34NKJV

Matthew 6:30NKJV

Genesis 1:28NKJV

1 Thessalonians 4:11NKJV

Ephesians 4:28NKJV

Proverbs 22:6NKJV

Ephesians 2:10NKJV