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James Gudgeon

Cast all your care upon him.

1 Peter 5:7
James Gudgeon • May, 6 2026 • Video & Audio
261 Sermons
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James Gudgeon
James Gudgeon • May, 6 2026
261 sermons
The sermon centers on the transformative power of casting all anxieties upon God, grounded in the assurance that He personally cares for each believer. Drawing from 1 Peter 5:7 and Scripture's portrayal of God as a loving, sovereign Father, it emphasizes that true prayer is an act of humble surrender—acknowledging human weakness and trusting in divine strength. The message calls believers to reject pride and self-reliance, instead finding refuge under God's mighty hand, likened to a hen sheltering her chicks or a father hearing his child's cry. It underscores that anxiety, rooted in fear of the unknown, is overcome not by human effort but by daily dependence on God through prayer, thanksgiving, and faith in His sustaining grace. Ultimately, the sermon invites the believer to come boldly to the throne of grace, knowing that God's care is personal, His power is unshakable, and His promises are sufficient for every present need.

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So you can once again, with the Lord's help, I'd like you to turn with me to verse 7. Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. As Peter closes his letter, as he seeks to encourage the church as they're passing through much opposition and difficulty, he gives them the means by which they are able to obtain that comfort. that there is a throne of grace, that there is a way of prayer, that there is a risen saviour seated at the right hand of the Father, that there is a God who knows and is aware of the present conditions of the Lord's people and he tells them to be aware also of the way by which Satan seeks to entrap the Lord's people, to be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

And so he tells them to humble their selves before, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt them in due time. Their situation was a time of persecution and yet God still remained upon the throne. and that they were not to become proud or arrogant or seeking self-ability to overcome these problems but to rest under the mighty hand of God, his hand. Though they were experiencing opposition, that didn't mean that the Lord's hand was against them, his hand was always for them and protecting them. His hand is symbolic as to his his power.

We know that God is spirit and he has no physical limbs, as it were, and so the scripture uses these words to help us to grasp the way that the Lord helps his people. And so it's like he's saying to them, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, hide yourself under the hand of God, his His power is unchanging, his mighty hand, those fingers that created the stars also to take shelter under his hand. It is a hand that cannot be moved. As Hezekiah said, no man can stop his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?

And the believer is called then to humble himself under that mighty hand, under his care, under his power. We think of a loving heavenly father, as we saw on Sunday afternoon, that even when the Lord is chastening his people and the multitude of rods that he uses to chasten them, the hand that holds that rod is always a hand of love. and a caring, loving Heavenly Father. And so the believer is to humble themselves under this care of a loving Heavenly Father, resting in his almighty power, resting in his boundless love and care and his unlimited strength and his protection and his authority over them.

As I thought of this afternoon, you think of the example that Jesus uses about Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and it seemed to me that Peter is saying, you know, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, come and gather yourself under the protection of the mighty hand of God, just like a hen gathers her chicken, her chicks, under her wings.

They have to humble themselves. They can't be proud out there out of her protection. They must humble themselves and run under her protection and to trust and to rest in her strength. in her care and in her ability to shout to them from the danger. And so Peter writes to them, run under the loving hand of a heavenly father, humble yourself under his hand, and then the time will come when he will exalt you.

God resists the proud, but he gives grace, sustaining grace to the humble. And so it gives me that picture of a believer humbly sheltering under the hand of a loving heavenly father, but casting all their care upon him. Sheltering is casting. Sheltering is casting yourself under the care of God. He becomes your security. He becomes your protection. He becomes your authority. He becomes your carer. If you think of an orphan, as we looked at on Sunday afternoon, it says that if you're without chastisement, then you're an orphan. You're without a father.

And so these orphans, as they run to God, run to Christ, they cast themselves into his protection. They cast themselves under his authority, under his care, under his security, that in his hands, under his wings, there is that protection and that security. but also casting is praying, it is casting your care, it is laying it out before the Lord, it is telling your cares and your concerns.

Pride always keeps us from the throne of grace. Pride always keeps us dealing with our own problems our way, but God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, casting all your care upon him.

Philippians 4 tells us there, verse six, be careful for nothing or don't be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication or requests with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and so here it says casting all your care upon Him, and don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and request, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. true prayer. We know we can have proud prayer. We know we can be elevated in pride and pray. And we know that when we do so, we pray with our own selves.

That prayer never reaches to glory. God resists the proud. God holds back from that prayer because it is a person self-puffing up, self-elevating, like the Pharisees that we see praying on the street corners. they prayed with themselves, they were only interested in the response that they got from men, they were only interested in what people said about them, but true prayer is humbly coming before God and unburdening our hearts before him and casting our care, our anxieties before him. independence upon him with humility. The very act of prayer, it denotes a begging posture.

We pray, we beg, we ask, we speak to our Lord about the things that we can't do. We can't come to Him and say, you know, I'm doing this and I'm doing that. I'm going to achieve this and I'm going to achieve that. You come to the Lord humbly asking Him, I don't know where I'm going. I can't do this on my own. I need help. And so the true prayer comes humbly before the Lord, casting our care upon Him, independence upon Him, in humility before Him. asking for help and for direction and for forgiveness.

We acknowledge our sin and it says we're thanksgiving. We thank him for all that he has done thus far. We thank him for his sustaining grace up to that point or up to the present point. We give him thanks that we have not been left to ourselves and we give him thanks that we're able to come boldly to the throne of grace through his beloved son. the Lord Jesus Christ and so true prayer is this, I can't but you can.

It is casting that burden on the Lord, it is casting our care, our anxiety upon him. Anxiety The word here, remember Paul says, upon me is the care of all the churches, the weight of all the churches, the anxiety that I hold for the churches. And here he says, casting all your care upon him.

Our anxieties and our cares and our burdens come in very many different shapes and sizes. We are all different. We all have our own different personalities and one anxiety and one care and one weight may not be the same for each of us. Some people are afraid of one thing or anxious about another thing whereas another person wouldn't be and so it is your care. Cast your individual care upon the Lord for he cares for you as an individual. He knows your makeup and your frame. He knows the things that you are concerned about and the things that you are anxious about and the things that you are afraid of.

And looking at this word care, which can also be translated as anxiety, if you think of this word anxiety, anxiety is really the byproduct of fear. Fear or being afraid is the response to an immediate situation. Something happens and you are immediately filled with fear and you may run away or you may deal with it in a certain way. But anxiety is the byproduct of fear. It is being afraid of something that has not yet happened. The unknown future. It is being overly concerned with something that might not even happen.

And the Bible warns us about that, that we as believers are not to be afraid of tomorrow. We're not to allow tomorrow to destroy today. we're to come to each day as the Lord gives it and gives this strength and ability to face it. In Matthew chapter 6 and verse 34 it tells us there, take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. It doesn't mean that we are not to plan or prepare for tomorrow, but it means that we're not to be overly burdened and concerned and afraid of what tomorrow may bring because, as the scripture tells us, that we don't even know if tomorrow will come. And if we spend all day being hamstrung about worrying about tomorrow, then we've destroyed the present.

God has given us the means to help us in this present day, at this present moment, to help us with our anxiety and with our fear. And that is to come to him. come to him at the throne of grace. And he has promised to give sufficient strength. He has promised to remove the fear. He has promised to remove the anxiety for tomorrow and to deal with it all today. He says, cast all of your care upon me. for he cares for you. Matthew chapter 10 tells us of the closeness of the relationship that the Lord has to his people. He cares for us.

There is nobody on earth that cares for us like the Lord Jesus Christ. There is nobody on earth that knows us and has the ability to help us like the Lord Jesus Christ. Even our parents are not able to deal with all things like the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 10, it tells us there, verse 29, Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall to the ground without your father knowing? But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

And so he gives us the example, remember this is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking, he gives us the example of a sparrow, a bird that is probably quite insignificant, A bird that if we saw dead by the side of the road, we wouldn't have any concern about. It would drive on. If we hit it with our car, we wouldn't be concerned. We may feel sad for a little moment, but we would just press on with our journey and forget all about it.

But the God of heaven, the King of kings, the Lord of lords knows that that sparrow has fallen to the ground. Have you imagined how many sparrows, how many birds die throughout the whole world every single moment of every single day and the Lord knows all about it and he said you that are in Christ Jesus are of more value than many sparrows. And it says that the very hairs of your head are numbered.

Fear not, therefore, or don't be afraid because of this. Don't be afraid. Don't be anxious. Don't be overwhelmed with care. You are of more value than many sparrows. Casting all your care upon him. Why? Because he cares for you. And so prayer is the tool that he has given to us to cast our care upon him.

As David, as he was given the armor and he was given the sword and he was given the helmet and he said, it's too big. I haven't proved them. I'm going to take the sling. I'm going to take the stones. I'm going to fight Goliath. What others saw as insignificant, yet it was used of the Lord to defeat a great giant. And maybe you've got a great giant of anxiety, you've got a great giant of fear, a great thing that is pressing upon you. Well, then use the tool that the Lord has given. David used a sling to cast down that great giant. Well, the Lord has given you the tool of prayer and sling that tool. Pray that prayer.

Come to the throne of grace. Cast your anxiety upon him. His strength is unmeasured and his love also is boundless as the ocean. He cares for you. You've been adopted into his family by the sacrifice and redemption of his beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows you. He knows everything about you. And he is inviting you to come to the throne of grace to unburden your heart, to tell him your cares.

I can't. but you can. Now it warms the father's heart and no doubt the mother's heart when their child comes to you and says, dad, you know, I can't do it. Can you help me? It makes you feel like you're needed. And so you come and you can come and help them. And you can say that it warms the heart of the loving heavenly father when his children come to the throne of grace and say, father, I can't. but you can. And then we're able to witness that loving heavenly hand as we humble ourselves under his mighty hand as we come under that hen's wing for that protection and we experience that help and that strength.

So he says, don't worry about tomorrow, deal with today. Pray about tomorrow and see how the Lord delivers you and helps you and strengthens you because he cares for you. As we come once again into the throne of grace, know that we do have a loving Heavenly Father whose ear is open unto the cry of his people. desires upon the righteous are those that are in Christ Jesus and he cares for us and he invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain that help and grace in our time of need. Amen. The next hymn is again from hymns for worship 145.

Before the throne of God above, I have a strong, a perfect plea. A great high priest whose name is love, whoever lives and pleads for me. My name is graven in his hands. My name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart. 145. Lord of all, I have a strong and perfect belief. The great joy brings whose name is love. My name is Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary.

♪ That God in heaven bestows ♪ ♪ And all can be in praise to God ♪ ♪ He saved the world ♪ ♪ He took His throne ♪ ♪ And tells me all the things within me ♪ ♪ Of those I love and see in them ♪ ♪ Who made the heaven and the earth whole ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, I heard they sought this righteousness, ♪ Oh, I am the King of glory and of praise ♪ ♪ Oh, let this town I now call my home ♪ ♪ My soul is wounded ♪ ♪ My heart is broken ♪ ♪ My life is in the Christ alone ♪ ♪ In Christ myself alone ♪ Amen.
James Gudgeon
About James Gudgeon
Mr James Gudgeon is the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Chapel Hastings. Before, he was a missionary in Kenya for 8 years with his wife Elsie and their children.
Broadcaster:
Ebenezer Baptist Chapel
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Same Scripture

Sermons on 1 Peter 5

The God of all grace! John Newton · 1 Corinthians 15:10; 1 Peter 5:10
Two Lions James Gudgeon · 1 Peter 5:8
A Witness of the Sufferings of Christ Rex Bartley · 1 Peter 5:1
Humble under, Cast upon, God. Rowland Wheatley · 1 Peter 5:6-7; 2 Corinthians 7:8-12
The God Of All Grace Cody Henson · 1 Peter 5
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