Wide Open, Week 3: Worry
Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
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.
Discussion Questions
Gabby opened by asking, "When was the last time you truly had time?" Sit with that question honestly — when was the last time you weren't rushing toward the next thing, and what did that feel like?
Kasey suggested that busyness and worry feed each other in a cycle — worry keeps us busy, and busyness keeps us worried. Where do you see that cycle playing out most clearly in your own life right now?
Nathan pointed out that Jesus was speaking to people under real, grinding hardship — not people who just had full calendars. How does it change the weight of "do not worry" when you remember who Jesus was actually talking to?
The story from Haiti asked a simple but piercing question: do you believe God gives everyone what they need to live? How would you have answered Wilkins — and how do you answer that question today?
Wilkins responded to a complicated theological answer by simply pointing to the heading of the passage: "Place your trust in God." Is there a place in your life where you've been overcomplicating something that might actually be that simple?
Caleb's story of the Chilean miners described 33 men who, despite every reason for despair, never doubted their rescue. Where in your life do you find it hardest to maintain that kind of trust — and what makes it difficult?
The sermon connected God's provision to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, suggesting God meets us at every level — not just survival, but belonging, purpose, and home. Where have you seen God provide for you in ways that went beyond just the basics?
Hanley closed with the idea that making space for God doesn't have to look a certain way — it can happen in the car, doing dishes, folding laundry. What's a small, ordinary part of your day where you could realistically invite God in?
Five teenagers stood up and spoke honestly about doubt, disconnection, and the struggle to believe. What would it look like for you to be that honest about where you actually are in your faith right now — and who in your life could you have that conversation with?
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