A Secure Mind

Thank you. If you have your Bible, if you've turned with me to

Philippians chapter four. You know, we have been in a series in the

Book of Acts for a while, and we've kind of was there for a

while, and we took a few Sundays, or I've taken a few Sundays,

and I really just you know, one of the things as we preach

through books and preach through books of the Bible is very important just for us

understanding the God's word. And that's something we've done. But one thing that

happens when you've preached through books, a lot of times you don't address issues

because particularly it's maybe not in that book. It doesn't mean the Bible doesn't

address it. It just means that in that book that you're studying, it

may not address that issue. And so I wanted to take a break to

really address some issues that are in our world today that are really prevalent issues

I think that we as a church need to address. And one of the

things that we're really seeing on the rise in our world today more than ever

is mental health issues. Anxiety depression are up in a great amount since COVID

seen a huge just influx of anxiety and depression that has that has risen even

this week is we saw that in the news. Our Attorney General actually I

think six days ago, within the last seven days, he actually wants to

put a a a label on social media, he says this week. This

is what he said. He said today, the threat of social media poses

to children requires action, and he demanded Congress to put a label on apps,

just as there's a label on cigarettes, on alcohol about the dangers of

social media. This is his words. In quoting him today, he says,

the mental health crisis among young people is an emergency, and social media

has emerged as an important contributor. He said in this this week, as

he's pushing Congress to put a label on social media. In twenty nineteen,

the Medical Association did a study and in that study, it says teams who

spend three to four hours or three hours or more on social media double the

risk of depression. And yet so just think about that. According to that

study, teenagers who spend more than three hours on social media, they double

their chances of struggling with depression. Gallup tells us that studies show us that

the average team is spending not three hours but five hours a day on social

media. So we see that in our world there is a huge rise of

anxiety and depression among teenagers, among children, among adults. And today I

want to look at how do we secure our minds? How do we we

battle again? It's anxiety and depression and worrying and fear. So I've got

a little illustration I want to show you, and so I'm gonna ask Jace.

Jase Johnson is going to come up and show me. And you probably

wonder what this rope is, so I want you to just think about.

So, Jace, come on and grab an other side of the rope,

and this is This is a rope that I got from our school. So

this is just you probably can see it. I don't know if you can

see it from the pull pit. Jase. Let's come this way so they

can see the whole thing. Yeah, there we go. So you just

a tug war, right, So you know how this game works. Tugle

war. We kind of got this intersection. And the way this game works

is on the count of three, don't do it, Jason. On the

counter of three, we count down and then we pull. Now, if

you look at this today and what you look at what's happening, you say

this is pretty fair, right, one on one. Right. You may

say it's not fair because Jason is a lot younger than me, but I

think it's pretty fair. I'm just saying so, but one of versus one,

So that's a pretty fair thing. Now I'm going to ask Rick,

Rick, you come up, and Mike Ceiphers if you come up. I've

asked them to be volunteers, and if you'll get on Jasu's side, if

you will, and now let's see things a little different. Right now,

if they get a piece of the rope, now, don't count to three,

but don't pull. Okay, all right, If we count one,

two, three and we pull, what's gonna happen? Well, bye bye,

preacher. Right, that's what's going to happen. And the reason why

is this is not fair. This is no longer fair. Why right?

Because there's more of them than there is of me. Right, And although

I know I am older by still and I look pretty buff, I can't

take on three right right now, I want you to see this. If

you guys will back up a little bit, and Mike, if you'll flip

that piece of paper over when we have anxiety and depression, and we have

worried. What happens is our hope? When we have more we have more

anxiety than we have hope, what's going to happen. We may have hope

in the Lord. We may say I'm a believer, and I believe in

the Lord, so we we have some hope. But if we have more

anxieties, then we have hope. What's going to happen? We're gonna get

pulled all over emotionally. And that's the imagery that we see in this today's

passage. Thank you, fellows, you can be seated. Thank you for

not pulling to the word in scripture for anxiety, to be anxious actually means

to be pulled in different directions. So when we look at the passage today

and impulses, don't be anxious for anything. He's talking about this imagery that

when we're anxious, our fears have overtaken us and they are pulling us along.

The word for worry actually comes from the English group means to strangle.

So today, as we come to this passage scripture, we're going to see

what steps you and I to take to secure our minds. See the solution

to an anxious mind. The solution to worry is to secure our mind in

something greater than our worries. And that's what I want to see today as

we looked at this passage of scripture. Three steps to secure our minds.

So you stand with me, and let's read on God's word. It's Philippians.

I think I told you to turn to Philppis. I'm sure if I

told you what chapter. It's chapter four. And when we're starting verse one,

and we'll read through verses nine here and the Bible says, Therefore,

my beloved and whom I love and long for my joy and crown, I

stand firm. Thus in the Lord, my beloved, I treat Udia and

I treat Syntica to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you,

also, true companions, help these women who have labored side by side with

me in the Gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers

whose names are in the Book of Life. Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again, I say, rejoice. Let your reasonable and be known to everyone.

The Lord is that hand. Do not here's that word. Do not

be anxious, Do not be pulled to infirm about anything, but in everything

here's the steps. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,

lecture, quest being known to God, and the peace of God,

which just passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ

Jesus Finally, Brothers, whatever true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, what is commendable, if there's

any if there's any excellence, if there's any thing worthy of praise, Think

about these things and what you have learned and received and heard and seen in

me. Practice these things, and the God of Peace will be with you.

You may be seated. So three steps to a securer mind. Three

steps to a secure mind. First we secure our minds through faithful praying.

We secure our minds through faithful praying. Because you come to Philippians chapter four,

Paul's writing to a letter to a church. This is one of the

churches he started on his first missionary journey. The church is called the Church

of Philippi. Actually will also see this church reference in the Book of Revelation.

This is the church that Paul loved as Paul, the church that Paul

started. This is actually the first church that Paul started in Europe. If

you're a history buff. He loved this church. This church loved him,

and that's evident to them. He's writing a letter to them. And there's

some issues there, there's some anxious there's some worry in the church, and

Paul's writing to address that. And I love that Paul comes here and Paul

doesn't say, Hey, you need to stop it. I know you're worried.

I know you're anxious, and you just need to stop. You just

need to get over it. No, Paul explains that he himself battles anxious

thoughts. Paul himself battles worry, and he even describes that even through all

these letters, these different ways that Paul was struggling with things that battles in

his own life. First we see then in chapter one, and we see

also in chapter in verse two here is that there was a division in the

church. There were people who are arguing. We see that these two Uti

and Sindica are battling, and so there's conflict. And so there's a battle

between people in the church. There's conflict in the church, and so there

was a struggle there. And I can't really describe to you as a pastor

what it's like to have conflict in the church and for you to really see

what kind of struggle and stress that puts on a pastor. But I'm telling

you it is something that's very troubling, is very disturbing. You see that

in your family. It's probably the best way I can relate that to you,

as you ever had a family member who are at our odds and who

are fighting, and it makes Christmas very difficult, doesn't It makes Thanksgiving very

difficult. You dread going to that event with your family because they're at odds

with one another. Now, imagine that's happening every week at church, okay,

And imagine you are the parent in the middle between the two siblings trying

to get them to work it out. And the stress of you as a

parent trying to get your loved ones to come together. And that's what Paul

was feeling here. He's got these two church members and he's the one called

in the middle, and he's trying to bring them together. Not only Paul

is worried about the conflict within the church, but Paul's also worried. He's

anxious about personal attacks and Philippians one fifteen that talks about how there are people

who are outside of the church, the people in the community, and they're

personally attacking Paul. They're doing things just to get at Paul, just to

attack him personally. You ever struggled with someone attacking you, saying some things

about you, accusing you of different things, wanting to do things just to

get at you. I'm telling you, it's difficult, isn't it. Whether

you're a teenager and you're in school when you've got someone in your school who

are saying things about you that is ugly, or whether it's in the workplace

and someone questions you and your ability to what you do at work, or

whether it's a loved one or a family member who questions you and what you're

doing in the family. When you get personal attacks, it weighs on you,

and it's weighing on Paul. There's conflicts in the church, there's people

who are making personal attacks. That gets Paul. But lastly, and maybe

not even the greatest thing that Paul is even facing at this moment is Paul's

in prison. Paul's in Rome. And if you follow through the Book of

Acts, which we will eventually get through, we'll see Paul's journey and Eventually

how Paul is arrested by the Jews and he's put in prison, and then

he appeals to Rome, and he gets all the way to Rome as Roman

citizen. He appeals to Rome for his final judgment, and he's in prison,

and Paul now is in the last stage. He's on it, just

before his last trial. And then Philippians one, Paul says, he says

these words, read them to you in twenty chapter one, twenty through twenty

one. It's my eager expectation. I hope that I will not all be

ashamed, but with full courage. Now is always Christ be honored in my

body, whether by life or by death, for me to live as Christ.

And the dies game what Paul's talking about. Paul basically saying, listen,

I'm about to go on trial, and I don't know if I'm going

to live or die. I don't know they're going to send me to death

or whether they're going to let me live. And Paul's in prison waiting for

that, and he's waiting just to see what will be his final outcome.

So all these things, you can imagine three different things coming against me,

Three different things were coming to Paul and Paul's solution was not to worry or

be anxious. But Paul's solution is how that secure my mind when all these

things come against me. As I wrote this sermon, actually many months ago,

I was given this passage scripture by ten Or. I was preaching to

our students on a in a chapel service and I was given this pastor of

scription. I worked with them, and as I was thinking about sharing this

Pastorge of scripture, I thought about what am I going to share with teenagers?

And what are things that they struggle with? And what were things that

I struggled with as a fourteen year old. It's a fifteen year old,

and I again began thinking about and kind of going back just a few years

ago. Now, I started going back in my mind and what was my

life as a fourteen year old. I remember as a fourteen year old my

parents separated, and it is years in high school, middle school. I

struggled with division between my parents, fighting conflict between my parents, coming from

a broken home. I struggle with seeing my mom, who'd been married to

my dad for twenty years, start dating someone else. I struggle with being

alone. I struggled with being the only Christian really that I really knew at

school and going to school to every day and feeling like I was living a

total opposite from anybody else. At school, I struggle with wanting relationships and

trying to find happiness in relationships. I struggle with with grades. I struggled

with My grandfather had a heart attack. I remember watching him and struggling with

seeing his health decline, struggle with sin. And I thought about that as

I looked back, and I thought, as a fourteen year old, I

had a lot of anxieties and worries. And you know, as a fast

forward to now forty six, you know, things doesn't change, does it.

Those anxieties and those worries that were then or just replaced with a different

worry and a different anxiety now. And so today, as you come to

this place, I promise you, as you walk in this door, as

you're listening to me, whether you're a teenager or whether you're a senior adult,

you all are being pulled in different directions. Some of you are it's

the end of the month, last pay period. You're coming to the end

of the month, Whether you're going to have enough money at the end of

the month, and so financial worries and anxiety. Am I going to be

able to make it through the end of the month. Some of you are

worried about health issues. You've got some tests that were been taken, You've

got some bad results, and now you're waiting for a diagnosis. That's pulling

at you. Some of you are worried about your children. They're fighting among

your children, They're fighting among you and your children. They're living in a

way that you don't approve, and that's pulling at you every day. There's

some of your students and you're worried about relationships. You're worried about social media.

Says, am I pretty enough? Am I good enough? Can I

have that girl? Or can I date that person? Where I'll be smart

enough, where I'll be good enough in the sport this year? And you're

being pulled with pressure of being good enough no matter what you are, where

you are today, I promise you you've got more fear than you have hope.

So Paul says, what a solution? What solution for me? What's

is your solution? Not to you and I? And he says that in

this passage of Scripture and in Philippians four, listen he says. Fine.

He says, in verse four, let's read four and go into five.

Rejoice the Lord always, I say, rejoice, let your reasonable be known

to everyone. The Lord is that hen do not listen, do not be

anxious about anything. But in verse four, listen, but in everything my

prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. What

is the first step that securing our mind? Our first step is faithful prayer.

We secure our minds through faithful prayers. Paul describes three different ways that

we pray here. He says, we pray with prayers, and that's praying

through adoration, devotion, worship, supplication. That's sharing our needs before and

our problems to the Lord. And then thanksgiving and that's giving. That's praying.

And just like we did a minute ago, I bless your name praying

prayers with God. I just thank you for what you've done in my life.

But Paul says, a solution for you and I to secure our mind

when we're anxious, when we're being pulled in different directions, The first step

is faithful praying. Don't choose, just think about something for a minute with

me. If you think of my most powerful person in ours United States,

who has more authority, who has more power, who has more pull orlance

to make changes in our world. You would say that individual in our world

is a president of the United States. Now, whether you agree with the

president or whether you like the president, that's irrelevant. That person is the

most powerful person in the world. Now, imagine you got a phone call,

or you got an email, you got a text message, and a

White House called and says, hey, I want you to come to the

White House, and the President of the United States wants to meet with you,

and he's going to give you thirty minutes for you to share concerns that

you have, problems that you have, things that you really could think that

he could do for you to bring about real change in your life. Now,

I imagine as if they've given you a week's time to get up there,

and you have a week, and for the entire week you're going to

be thinking. You're not just going to think, well, you know,

really, the bow Jangles is really good and Bethesda, but I really think

it'd be good for a Bathesa to get a Chick fil A. That's not

got me on your life list. Right when you go into the meeting the

president, You're going about thinking about real issues, not just comfort issues.

You're going to think about real issues that impact the way you live your life

every day. And you're going to write those things down. And when you

come in, he's going to give you thirty minutes. And for that,

I promise you you're not going to say I want to just get just ten

will be fine for me. No, for thirty minutes, you're going to

pour out everything you have to him. Now, I tell you today,

listen to me. Listen to me, because it's very important you have access

to one who has more power than the president. And his name is Jesus,

and listen to me. He's right beside you today. He's right in

this room. And just as much as you would want to pour your heart

out to the president, how are you taking this issue that you're having with

your finances, your issue you're having with your relationship, your issues that you're

having with your health, issue as teenagers to find your identity and being good

and being good enough? How much are you taking that and saying, God,

I need your help. God. This is pulling me everywhere. I

can't get off my mind. I feel like I'm always at odds. I

feel like I'm always unsettled. Instead of saying God, I'm I'm being pulled.

Lord, I want to take this and lay this at your feet.

One of the most beautiful prayers in all the scriptures, First Samuel, chapter

one. You remember that story. Bible tells if it's a woman, her

name was Hannah, and she couldn't have children. You know what she did.

The Bible says she went into the church house and there she she got

before the altar and she was praying. The Bible says she is praying.

She was just moving her lips. She's praying audibly, and old Testamon's tell

when you pray, you prayed out loud. The priest looked at her and

says, oh, she's drunk, and she went up. He went up

to Hannah and said, Hannah, you need to put away your wine,

put away your alcohol. And she says, oh no, no, no,

pastor, oh no no, priest, don't don't misstate me. I'm

not filled. The imagery if you fill yourself up with alcohol, right then

that takes over your being and makes you say and do things that you shouldn't

do. She's saying, no, I'm not filled. With alcohol. Actually,

I've taken all my cares, everything, all the burdens I have,

and I have poured them all out to the Lord. Can I ask you

today, you battling with worry, anxious mind, anxious thought, when's the

last time you, like Canna, maybe even came to this altar on a

Sunday morning and just said, Lord, I'm just letting you all have it.

God. I don't want to just keep a little bit of it.

God, don't want to give it all to you. We secure our minds

through faithful praying, and we secure our minds. Listen the second step.

We secure our minds through faithful thoughts. Through faithful thoughts, look at verse

eight. Here he says, do not be anxious about anything but in prayer

and supplications. Let your request being on to God. The peace of God

we should has. It's all nerdsany will guard your hearts, in your minds,

and Christ Jesus Finally, Brothers, whatever's true, whatever is honorable,

whatever's just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, what is commendable.

If there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these

things. Warren Wersby said, Wrong thinking leads the wrong feelings, and before

long the heart and mind are pulled apart and we are strangled by worry.

Think about that just for a minute. Wrong thinking leads the wrong feelings,

and before long the heart and the mind are pulled apart, and we're strangled

by worry. What's Paul's solution? Paul says, Hey, I'm full of

worry, worried about the conflict. I worry about people with personal attacks.

I'm worried about whether I'm going to live or die. And how do I

secure my mind? I've poured it all out to the Lord. How do

I secure my mind? It's through faithful thinking. Now I want to do

something, and there's a book that I want. The lady's name is Esther

Smith. It's called A Still un Quiet Mind. I want you to do

something with me. All right, everybody, close your eyes, all right.

I want you to just kind of clear your thoughts, clear your mind,

all right. For ten seconds. I want you to think about a

pink tiger. Pink tiger, pink tiger. Think about that pink tiger,

pink's all the ways down to his tail. What color is your pink tiller's

hot? Pink, bright pink light pink. Think about the pink tiger.

Nothing else. That said, the pink tiger. All right, you can

look up, all right, look up with me? And how did that

go? Do you think about pink tiger? You know what color your tiger

is? How big he is? Right? As small little? Maybe as

a baby tiger. I don't know. Right you think about the pink tiger.

Hopefully that's all your thought. Now, everybody close your eyes and for

ten seconds, I want you to think about anything but the pink tiger,

anything but the pink tiger. All right, left up now, all right,

you think about that. If you've I don't know how it went,

but you probably found that it FORBA be easy to think about the pink pink

tiger for ten seconds. But when I told you to stop thinking about it,

it's actually hard to stop thinking about it. Esther Smith says in her

book A Quiet Mind that it's easier to focus on a thought rather than focus

it a way for a thought actually studies tell us, and she brings us

up in her book that using willpower to resist a thought may help suppress a

worry, but it only doesn't temporarily if we left that pink tiger to linger

beneath the service, it will always eventually find its way back. She explains

that she argues in her book the only way to get rid of a lingering

pink tiger thought bad thought, is to replace that thought with something else.

Something else needs to focus our attention. And Paul says, here, listen,

when my mind is unsecure, when I'm full of worry or anxious thoughts,

when I'm feeling like I'm strangled by the things that are happening in my

life. What I do. I secure my minds through right praying. But

secondly, I secure my mind's through right thinking. It's not only how we

pray, but what we think about. And so Paul gives instructions, and

I'm just gonna go through these real quick of things that we are to think

about. It's not the pink tiger. What are we to think our minds

of? What do we set our focus on? And he says these.

He gives a bunch of these, but I'm gonna give you three of them,

kind of put them in categories. Number one is whatever's true we are

think about those things? What is things are true? Do you know?

Walter Cavert reported that a survey on worry. That indicated only that only eight

percent of the things that we worry about are legitimate matters and only the other

ninety two percent were imaginary things that never happened in above matters, which people

have no control over anyway. So two percent of things that we worry about

will not happen, yet we worry about them. So what should we do?

We should then focus our thoughts on things that are not what not going

to happen, instead of focus on things that are true. What is truth?

Truth is God's word. Truth is the word of God. That's what

we should set our thoughts on. And so I encourage you think about how

how often are you setting your mind to the things of God? I encourage

you. What are you listening to? You listen to you head into work,

as you go throughout the day, what are you thinking about? What

are you listening to? What music are you listening to? What podcasts you're

looking? Are you thinking about things that are truth? Are you thinking about

things that are not truth? Maybe you need to change your thoughts, maybe

you change what you watch. What are you watching on TV? You know?

The image of one of things Smith talks about in her book is one

of the issues that we're seeing with teenagers and why anxiety and depression is on

the rise is because they never give their minds a break. For the moment

they get up to the moment they go to bed, they either have a

phone, a TV, or screened in their in their hands, and so

their minds are always actively pursuing something. In ninety percent of what they're pursuing

is not truth. Not only is this happening to our teenagers, this happened

to you and I. We must focus our minds on truth, and that's

the truth of God's Word. We use a thing and for our staff and

it's called Fighter Verses, and every week we memorize a passage of scripture together.

Why do we do that because we as a staff want to be thinking

as we go every day about the Word of God, not only in our

devotional life, but how are we thinking about a pastor of scripture every day?

I encourage you to do something. The app that we use is called

Fighter Verses, and it gives you a passage scripture you can memorize every week,

gives you tools to help you memorize it too. But only we think

about what is true? But whatever just and what is honest? What are

not only truth of God's word? But what are the things that are good?

What are just? He says, Third, whatever is pure and whatever

is lovely? What is commendable? Pure revolves moral moral purity. Lovely means

something that is beautiful or attractive. Commendable with something that is a good,

good report. So what are we thinking about that is true God's word?

What are we thinking about there's just not things that are not wrong, but

things that are good? And then what is pure? What are things that

we think about are pure? And then lastly, what is excellent worthy of

praise? How are you thinking about things that are worthy of praise? Now?

If you think about second just a second, we go back to our

illustration, and we talk about our hope and our fears. If we have

our hope in the Lord. But in the during the week, we're listening

thing to things right that are not just or not good right adultery. We

watch that, we listen to music that has language or our violence in at

whatever it may be. We look at at things that are not of God

in our minds, and what we're thinking about things that are not what's going

to happen? We're going to be pulled to those things. You see that

if we tire our minds to lies, if we tire our minds the things

that are not just, we tire our minds that are critical, We're going

to be controlled by what lies, things that are untrue, and things that

are unjust. I like what Warren Weersby says, So a thought reap an

action, So an action reap a habit. So a habit reap a character,

So a character reap a destiny. Paul says that we secure our minds

through faithful prayk we secure our minds through faithful thinking, but lastly, we

secure our minds through faithful living, through faithful lives. One thing that you've

probably noticed Atpathas that we have done is one thing that we have just changed

in the last few weeks. And our order of service is at the beginning

of service. If you remember, if you just noticed Van did three announcements,

is our top three announcements for this week. In just a minute,

we're going to show a video and those announcements that are going to be in

that video, and at the end before we leave, I'm going to so

we're going to repeat those three announcements and the reason why we've done that if

we've learned through studies have showed us that someone has to hear something. Think

about this, someone has to hear something eleven times before they hear it,

believe it, and recognize that's something I need to do eleven times. Here's

what we're guilty as a church that will tell you one time and you don't

get it. And when we're like, why did they not listen? Why

did they not do it? Why did they not come to that event?

The reason why is because you have heard it eleven times. You know,

studies tell us show us that someone has to hear the Gospel seven times before

they hear it, receive it, and come to Christ. So just because

you have inwardly thought something or received a truth doesn't make it a part of

your life today. You've heard this message today and you've heard it one time.

And just because you've heard that, I tell you to write the security

of minds of right prayer, to scare your minds through right thinking and secure

your minds through right living. Doesn't mean that you leave this place that you're

gonna tomorrow start praying like you should, or you're gonna start thinking like you

should. Why you're gonna have to continue to think upon, meditative on these

principles, study the Word of God, and then make them a part of

what your life. And some of that's the work of the Holy Spirit.

And so I tell you that. Paul notice knows that. And so he

says, listen, it's not just important that you pray. It's not just

important that you think, but you've got to live it. It's not right

enough, good enough. You just yeah, I know I need to pray.

Yeah, I know I need to think. I should think about certain

things. I think more about things of God. No, you've got to

do the things. You hear that, and that's what Paul is saying here,

And listen to what Paul says in this passive scripture. He says,

and Philippians. Finally, verse eight, my brothers, whatever's true, whatever

is honorable, whatever's just, what if pure, whatever's lovely, was commendable,

and there's any excellence, anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

In verse nine, what you have learned and received, heard and seen

in me. Practice these things and the God of Peace will be with you.

Listen, Paul says, Listen, I'm telling you to faithfully pray.

And I'm telling you that you need to have faithful thinking. But if you're

not living it, you're going to be pulled. Everywhere you've seen that,

I have lived it. I command you brothers, live it. Pray,

change what you're thinking about, change how you live in your life, or

christ put your hope in the Lord. As we finish out this morning,

I want you to think about something. You. Imagine our illustration here.

If we have more anxieties than we have hope, then we're gonna get pulled

to now imagine if you will. I don't know if I can do this.

If I take this rope and I try to try to do this,

say, just for imagery's sake, I tie it to this building right now,

no matter how much anxiety and fear I may have. If I pull

on that, it's not moving. Why because it's an unmovable force, right,

It's an immovable object. This building is firm. It's not moving.

What Paul is showing you and I today in this passion of scripture, when

we secure our minds, listen to this, this is really good. I'm

not saying that because I thought of it as the Lord thought of it listen

to this. When we secure our minds, listen, when we secure our

minds to Christ, he is unmovable. He is what our foundation is in.

It's not in a person, it's not in a place, it's not

in a feeling, it's not in an emotion, it's not in a day.

Our minds are secured in Christ, and we secure them by saying,

God, Christ, I'm going to you in prayer. God, I'm setting

my eyes on you, Lord, and I'm thinking about you, Lord.

Lord. I'm setting my mind not only praying to you, Lord, but

thinking about you. But God, I'm setting my life to live like you,

Lord. And when I do that, there is nothing that this world's

gonna come at me that is gonna shape me, because my hope is not

in me. My hope is in You. We ask you today, what

have you secured your mind to today? You may. I told this story

at the beginning, man on a wagon and Buckie came by. He says,

come on, get on board, I'm heading you. Remember I told

you the man got on the buggy, but he's still holding on to his

burdens. Can I tell you today? The Lord is passing by this place,

and he's saying, today, would you give me your burdens today poured

out to me. Today, give me your thoughts, today, give me

your life. I love this imagery of this passage. Listen to what says

when we secure our minds to Christ. Look at verse Look at verse seven

with me, and we'll close and listen to this and the peace of God

which surpasses listen all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds. And Christ,

Jesus listen. When we secure our minds to the Lord by prayer,

by thinking in lives, Jesus stands on God of your heart, in your

mind and says, I will protect them. Jesus, listen. Scripture says

in verse nine, and what if you learned when we live it? What

if you've learned and received and heard and seen in me? Pray to see

things and the God of all peace will be with you, Lord, no

matter what comes my way. God, when I secure my mind on you,

you will guard my heart, You will guard my mind, and God

you will be with me. You pray with me or I thank you Lord

for your word. Lord, I thank you that today as we come in

this place, we can can all put on mask that tells everyone, everything's

okay, everything's fine. But inwardly, Lord, we're a mess. Inwardly

we're being strangled. Inwardly we're being pulled apart. And Lord, your word

has a way through your holy spirit of piercing to our heart and our minds

and saying, Hey, I'm talking to you. Lord. I pray there'd

be people all this room say today Lord, Lord, Lord, I really

not. I've been holding onto some things God, and I really just haven't

been pouring them out to you Lord. Or Lord, I've really not really

been thinking about things that I should have been thinking about. I've not really

been focusing my thoughts on faithful devotion or truth of your word or and Lord,

I need to set my thoughts on you, Lord, not anything else.

Or maybe there's some here today, said Lord. You know me.

I know these things. Lord, I really haven't been living it. And

my life's a mess. Lord. I thank you for the truth of your

word today that you call us to say, come all you who are weary

and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Lord. I pray there'd

be people today and sound there's my voice who are in this room or are

watching online, who will just bow before you Father. Maybe it's here this

altar, maybe it's at their seat. But Lord, today will be to

day the Lord that they just give it all to you, whatever it is.

Lord, are you calling them? Lord? They'll respond to you.

So the Lord lead us in this time invitation. I pray, but we

love you. We thank you, Lord that you know us. We thank

you Lord that you want to you want to lead us today. May we

running you a little why you may be found in your name? We pray

themsus pained and all to him