How to Have Complete and Total Victory Over Anxiety, Worry, and the Cares of This World — Part 1

Actually, don't turn yet. Actually, we're not

going to have a title slide yet. I'm not going

to get you to turn to the passage. Let me ask

you a couple of questions. Matthew 6 .33 is one

of the most well -known verses about the kingdom

of heaven. Can anyone quote for me Matthew 6

.33? Alright, raise your hand. You can quote

Matthew. Okay, Michelle, you're the first hand

I saw. Could you stand up and quote loudly to

the best of your ability? Boom. Great job. For

those of you online who didn't pick that up,

Matthew 6, 33, but seek ye first the kingdom

of God and His righteousness, and all these things

will be added to you. One of the most primary

verses about the kingdom, In my opinion, and

this is just my opinion, it's one of the top

four commands of the New Testament. In my opinion,

these are the top four. Jesus said, the greatest

command is love the Lord your God with all your

heart, soul, mind, and strength. That's number

one. Number two is like it, love your neighbor

as yourself. then I believe this command on seek

first, because Jesus is describing a primary

focus of our life. Seek first the kingdom of

God and His righteousness. And then in my opinion,

fourth is the last words Jesus left on the earth.

Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father, the Son, and

the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey my

commands. These four things are so primary in

the life of the believers. And if you are just

kind of coming in contact with the gathering.

You may not know, but we've spent at least five

years allowing God through the Scriptures to

build in us a kingdom identity in which we are

becoming kingdom people with the king in our

focus and the purpose of our lives, no matter

what our career is, family life, all those things

are mere tools. to advance the kingdom of heaven

on the earth, so that the whole world may know

Him as Savior. Amen? And this is our reason for

existence. I am absolutely convinced why Jesus

talks so much about the kingdom. Because it is

the reason of our existence as the New Testament

church to represent the King. And to let the

kingdom of heaven flow out of us everywhere we

go. Alright, so back to Matthew 6 .33. But, seek

ye first. Alright, who can tell me the context

of Matthew 6 .33? What is Jesus talking about

just before that passage? And what is He talking

about directly after that passage? Does anyone

know? Raise your hand. Without cheating, don't

look. Okay, well, you're a pastor, so we're going

to disqualify you. Alright, Tim, go for it. What's

the context of this kingdom verse? Worry. That's

the context of the kingdom verse. Jesus before

and after is talking about worry. Talking about

you worry about all these things. You worry about

all these things. He says the pagan world chases

after these things, and in the midst of his teaching

about worry, he says, but you seek first the

kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all

this will be added to you. And then the next

words out of his mouth are, so do not worry.

So I want you to know that one of the most primary

verses, well -known verses about the kingdom

of heaven, and rightly so, is in the context

of Jesus exhorting the church not to worry. Now,

would you turn with me to Philippians chapter

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

4? We're going to spend at least the next two

weeks here, because I want to be sensitive to

the time today, and I want to be sensitive to

the children. They're wonderful and patient,

and we want to keep them that way. Philippians

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. And let's read together verse 4 through

9, and then we're going to focus on 6 and 7.

Verse 4 of Philippians chapter 4. Do you mind

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

following along as I read? Rejoice in the Lord

always. I say it again, rejoice! Exclamation

point. Let your gentleness be evident to all.

The Lord is near. And do not be anxious about

anything. But in everything, by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ

Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever

is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, If

anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think

about such things. And whatever you have learned

or received or heard from me, this is the Apostle

Paul saying, or seen in me, put it into practice,

and the God of peace will be with you. Alright?

Now let's go back to just verse 6 and 7, our

focus for the next few minutes. Do not be anxious

about anything. But in everything, by prayer

and petition, with thanksgiving, present your

request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends

all understanding, will guard your hearts and

your minds in Christ Jesus. Okay, with that being

said, let's go ahead and, if we can just put

up our title slide today. Okay, so maybe we don't

have, so here is the title if you're taking notes.

How to have complete and total victory over anxiety,

worry, and the cares of this world. How to have

complete and total victory, might I add, for

the rest of your life, over anxiety, worry, and

the cares of this world. Do you think this is

a big deal for the kingdom's sake? There's a

reason why this kingdom statement is in the middle

of the teaching about worry. In my, you know,

few short years in ministry and being about the

church and being in Christian life and working

outside the church and the world, I don't know

about you, but anxiety, worry, and this whole

distraction by the cares of the world taking

over our lives, has become an epidemic in the

culture in such a way that if we're not allowing

the correction of the Holy Spirit, the kingdom

of heaven can be neutralized in the church. In

fact, when Jesus is teaching about the kingdom

in Matthew 13, remember, we went through this

for several weeks, the seed and the sower. And

Jesus said, and the seed is the seed of the kingdom.

It's the kingdom seed. And he said, this seed

is thrown out. You remember when it talks about

that the seed falls on rocky soil, right? And

it says the seed quickly sprouts up. But what

robs the kingdom seed of fruit? Does anybody

remember? The cares of the world. And there's

a tendency in our lives For the kingdom of heaven,

I think most of us have this inward desire. Yes,

I want to be a kingdom person. Yes, I want the

kingdom of heaven to flow out of my life. And

that's our intention, our desire. But when we

get into actually living life, anxiety, cares

of this world, worry tend to choke out the fruit

of the kingdom in our lives. I can't tell you

how many times I have this conversation with

Christians over and over about this exchange

with God of worry for the peace of Christ. And

so over the next couple of weeks, I want to lay

out a biblical understanding of how we can have

complete and total victory for the rest of our

lives. For those of you who are thinking, hey,

Jesse, I'm just going to check out for the next

two Sundays because I'm not a worrier. It's not

my deal. I'm not an anxious person. I'm not a

worrier. I would say that that's not really who

I am as a person either. Worry, anxiety, fear,

things like that. But could we just for a second

look at the Greek word here used in the passage,

merom nao? The word here used in both Matthew

6, 33. And several times here in Philippians

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 about being anxious and worried is

the same word. And listen to these definitions.

Number one, it means to be anxious. We get that.

Number two, to be troubled with cares. Number

three, you ready for this? To seek to promote

one's self -interest. Now that's an interesting

definition. The word used for anxiety or worry

is the cares of the world, being anxious, but

it's also this tendency to desire to promote

our own interest. And with that being an understanding

of what Jesus is teaching against, Paul is teaching

against, that hits all of us. Raise your hand

if you never struggle with promoting what you

want in your life. All right, we got one. I mean,

for the majority of us, we have a heart that

desires to follow the Lord. We struggle with

the application of His kingdom being the primary

focus of our lives. So this is important. So

this message over the next couple of weeks is

not just for those who feel crippled by anxiety

or fear, but I absolutely believe God's going

to do an amazing work in you through His Word.

But it's also for those of us who tend to let

life choke out kingdom fruitfulness, or we long

for increased fruitfulness for the kingdom. Alright,

does that make sense? Alright, number one. It's

got a couple of truths here. Number one, do not

water down the eternal holy word of God. God

clearly commands, do not be anxious about anything.

Are you with me? Do not be anxious about anything.

I was on my, you know, Blue Letter Bible app

and I was looking up, you know, just in the studying

and I did a Bible comparison with, let me bring

it up here, Bible comparison with all the The

popular versions of the Bible because I wanted

to see how this is spelled out in all the different

versions. You ready? NIV. Do not be anxious about

anything. Coleman Standard Bible. Is that right?

Christian Standard Bible. I'm sorry. Don't worry

about anything. King James Version. Be careful

for nothing. New King James Version. Be anxious

for nothing. ESV. Do not be anxious about anything.

New Living Translation, don't worry about anything.

Spanish Translation, por nada estes afansansos.

I'm assuming that means don't worry about anything.

What I'm saying is like, we tend to think, oh

man, this is... this is god's word i know he

doesn't want me to be an anxious person or to

be a person who worries but i mean come on jesse

this is real life this is part of our world and

what i would like to do is be sobered would you

allow the holy spirit to take these words pierce

into our hearts and the holy eternal word of

god says do not be anxious about anything period

And it kind of takes a little bit of the compromise

that we tend to sway with. And let it sober us.

And how do you know that when God commands something

so important about His kingdom like this, there

is no doubt that He provides everything you'll

ever need to be obedient to it. If today you're

struggling with worry, anxiety, or the cares

of the world choking out the fruit of the kingdom

in your life, I want you to hear the very voice

of God to you say, do not be anxious about anything.

And don't let it drive you into some kind of

condemnation or shame. Let it be an empowering

work of God's grace that if He says, Jesse, don't

be anxious about anything, this is the life I

can live. I'm inviting you into a lifestyle with

no anxiety, no worry, no fear, no being overcome

by the cares of the world. And if that's not

the truth, then the Word of God is not true.

And there's part of this compromising lifestyle

that we have to be sobered back to the truth.

I think you're going to love this. The word that

is translated anything or nothing in the Greek,

medais, you ready? It's extremely complicated.

Nobody, no one, no thing. When God says don't

be anxious about anything, that's exactly what

He means. There's not one thing that it's okay

for us to play around with fear and anxiety.

Worry. I have this statement up there. I just

felt like the Holy Spirit put it in my heart,

so I wrote it down. The devil has suddenly whispered

lies about worry and distraction for so long

about so many things, this is the key, uncontested

by the Christ follower, that we have become convinced

that it's a natural and inevitable part of the

Christian life. No. It's not true. I get it,

man. There's all kinds of whispers and lies going

on. And the devil, he's consistent. He's consistent

in those lies. And if we're not careful, we come

to think of worry and anxiety and fear in a distracted

lifestyle as just the inevitable, natural, lifestyle

of a Christ follower and it is not true let me

ask um all right I need a child I'm going to

go with 10 years or younger 10 years or younger

raise your hand and tell me all right you might

want to listen to the question before you raise

your hand all right I want you to tell me one

thing that you find yourself anxious or worrisome

about? Oh, it's no longer raising a hand. One

child, 10 -year -olds or younger, that says,

this is something that I'm scared about or I'm

worried about or I have anxiety about. No one?

All right. Ford, I'm not putting you on the spot.

I'm coming back to Gus. He raised his hand. It

doesn't count if your dad raises his hand for

you. Gus, what's one thing that you might have

some worry about sometimes? My new church. All

right. His new church. All right. So if you didn't

know, Tiffany Bronson are heading out in August

to plant a new church in Mineral Wells. And Gus

is saying, hey, it's kind of a big deal. I'm

tempted, right, to be worried and concerned about

that. All right, I need an adult above the age

of 10 years old. Any adult above the age of 10

years old that would raise your hand and just

give me something that you worry about, that

you have anxiety about. The point of the message

is not that none of us struggle, okay? All right,

so raising your hand for yourself and not your

son. Okay, that what? You're not leading? I'm

not leading my family well enough. Man, definitely

struggle with that one. Anybody else? Yeah, we

don't need this. Just want to throw something

out that you struggle with anxiety about or it

kind of tends to get you wrapped up and chokes

kingdom out of you. Finances. Okay. Yes. Bad

habits. Anxious about being a good friend? Yeah.

New school year? Ford? Yeah. What's that? When

things don't go the way I want them to. Amen.

Out of the mouths of babes. Can I just exhort

you according to the Word of God, these things...

Some big, some small, some unique, some very

common to mankind. It is the will of God by the

Holy Word of God that we be anxious about nothing.

Nothing. For some of you right now, anxiety and

worry and being consumed with the cares of the

world, are so much a part of your identity that

you are fearful of how you would exist without

it. I see it all the time. And I'm believing

by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word

of God, there's some shifting going on. Can we

just close out this part by asking the question,

why is anxiety and worry and the cares of the

world being distracted by that? Why is that so

devastating to the kingdom of heaven on the earth?

Like, alright, we're kingdom people. It's our

goal. It's our desire. Why is this anxiety, worry

being wrapped up in the cares of the world? Why

is that so devastating? Okay? We're going to

go on a backpacking trip for those of you who

are brave enough to accept the mission. I think

it's August 4th or 7th this year. A couple of

years ago we opened it up to moms who were complaining,

rightfully so, for several years that it was

men and children only. And so there's going to

be a group of us. You're all invited. You might

want to be getting in shape for it. It's quite

a hike, but you're all invited. We're going to

put on backpacks. We're going to climb the mountain,

Elk Creek, Colorado. We're going to spend two,

three, four days up on the mountain. And it's

going to be a wonderful time. On our way to our

camping site, when we're almost at our campsite,

you come around this corner into one of the most

glorious, beautiful postcard pictures of this

meadow. And there is literally... a stream snaking

through the meadow. The mountains are sprayed

across the back of it. And if you pay attention,

in one mountain, there's a waterfall. And it's

like, you pause right there and you're like,

alright Jesus, I'm ready. I mean, it's just like,

it is the most captivating beauty. And at some

point, usually one or two solid days in, we're

going to hike to that waterfall. And as we hike

to that waterfall, you're just captivated by

the beauty of it. It's a tall one. It's a big

one falling off a rock face. You can see it from

way far away. But then as you get close to it,

because it's starting to get hot, bugs, everything,

as you start to get close to it, the spray from

that waterfall changes the temperature. Like

you literally feel the temperature getting cooler.

And then when you get close enough, all that

spray splashing on you, it's life -giving, it's

water, it's what you drink, it's what you live

in. And then for those brave enough, you will

climb up the mountain to the top of the waterfall,

and before it falls off the cliff, there's a

little two -man pool up there. And you will get

into the snow melt. With your child. And you

will bathe them because they will need it by

that point in time. And I'm saying, I want to

make this comparison. When Jesus said, if anyone

is thirsty, come to Me and drink. And out of

him will flow rivers of living water. There is

a destiny. On each of our lives. For us to be

such a flow of the living water, the Holy Spirit

of God, that one, people stagger at the beauty

of God. But more importantly, as people come

closer, that it refreshes them. And for those

who are coming and experience Jesus, they're

washed clean, they're given light. This is the

reason that we exist to be this flow of living

water. And why anxiety is so devastating is because

what it does is it takes your eyes off the King

and His kingdom and the people who deeply need

the flow of the Spirit coming off of you, and

it turns it on you. And when your eyes are on

you, you cease to flow outward to all those that

are in need of you. Does that make sense? Does

anyone experience this? Alright. Let's just pause

right here. Do not be anxious about anything.

If you need to repent, which means just change

the way you think and come into agreement with

God, Let's just pause and do this. If maybe you've

accepted anxiety or you've settled for these

things in your life and you're saying, I hear

Your Word, God. I want to change the way I think

regarding this. And could I pray for your heart

and mine? Lord, for those of us who can't even

see it, It's become such a part of us that we

can't even point it out. I'm asking, Holy Spirit,

would You come? And over this week, would You

just begin pointing out areas in our life where

we've compromised? And Lord, we just ask that

You would give us strength in our hearts to be

people that refuse to be anxious. Alright? Amen?

Alright, number two. Number two, do not water

down the eternal holy Word of God. Pray about

everything. Pray about everything. Again, this

word translated everything in the Greek. It's

the Greek word pas. You're going to like this.

Deeply, it's so intellectual. The word means

each, every, any, all, everyone, all things,

always. Pretty simple. The Scripture says don't

be anxious about anything. Nothing. But in everything,

bring your petitions to God. Are you with me?

The holy, everlasting, eternal, heaven and earth

is going to pass away. but His Word will never

pass away. His Word says, do not be anxious about

anything and pray about everything. You want

to be set free from a lifestyle of worry, fear,

and anxiety? Learn to develop a lifestyle of

communion with God through prayer about everything.

Everything. This is revolutionizing my life.

I'm in a discipleship relationship with one of

my good friends right now. And he actually, was

reading this book and he recommended it to me.

And I was like, man, I get recommended a lot

of books. I try to read them all. It's the never

-ending list that I never get to. But he was

so impacted that I kind of put it at the top

of my list. And the book's called Praying Like

Monks, Living Like Fools. Praying Like Monks,

Living Like Fools by Tyler Statton. I would highly

recommend it. It has been such a blessing in

my life right now because what He does is He

goes through the Scripture and He's teaching

about a lifestyle of never -ending prayer. Did

you know that the Bible commands us in 1 Thessalonians

5 .17 to pray continually? To never stop praying?

I mean, I know we've all read it. We know it.

But who here is going to spend the next 24 hours

in the prayer closet? I mean, it would change

your life. I highly recommend it. When's the

last time you spent 24 hours in a prayer closet?

It will radically change your life. But most

of us can't do that every day, 24 hours a day,

365 days for the rest of our life, right? Because

we've got things God's called us to do. But isn't

it interesting that the antidote that God gives

us for anxiety is intimacy. Don't be anxious

about anything, but instead, talk to Me about

everything. That's His invitation. Talk to Me

about everything. Do not worry about a single

solitary thing, big or small. Instead, talk to

Me about it. That's what God is instructing us

to do. I think it's interesting that right before

this, I don't know about you, but this is one

of the most powerful and helpful and practical

promises in Scripture in my mind, this whole

exchange of worry for peace through prayer and

thanksgiving. We're going to get real practical

about it in the next week or two. But what's

interesting is What is the phrase right before

this passage? Right before this verse? Right

before it says, do not be anxious about anything,

what does it say? The Lord is near. The Lord

is near, so don't be anxious about anything.

Instead, pray about everything. The word near

here means to be at hand, close to, ready, just

what you expect. But it comes from a root word

that means to squeeze. To squeeze. That's the

root of this word to be near, to be at hand.

To squeeze or to throttle in your hand. Can I

have just real quick a man volunteer up here

just quickly? Man volunteer. I promise you don't

have to take off your shoes this time and I won't

touch your face. In any way, shape, or form,

I know that really took it out of some of you.

Alright. Okay. Thank you, Jimmy. She threatened

you? Alright. Here's what I want to do. Are you

okay if I give you a hug? Alright. Love you,

Jimmy. Thank you. Thank you. You did great. That

was it. That's how near God wants to be. To squeeze.

He is so far from a mystical being. that's just

waiting to thrash you for being disobedient.

He is a Father, a good Father, who wants to be

near you, at hand, throttling you, squeezing

you. And honestly, the reason why anxiety and

fear and these things have become such an epidemic

is we've lost the understanding of intimacy.

He's a God that we talk about on Sundays, but

refuse to talk to as a lifestyle. Listen, He's

not a deity to be kept at distance. That was

the whole point of the cross. He is a Father

to be embraced, to converse with. Let me tell

you what, there is nothing that a good Father

doesn't want to hear you talk about and want

to talk about with you. And some of you struggle

with that. Some of you struggle with the fact

that God wants to hear what's going on in every

area of your life. He's deeply concerned. He

wants to talk with you about it. Did anybody

else have kids that talked so much when they

were little? that you really struggled with staying

engaged, or is that just me? All right, so there's

a few of us. When my children were small, honestly,

they would go to a two -hour movie and then come

home and spend three hours telling me about a

two -hour movie, everything that happened. Like,

how is that possible? And to be honest, Adam,

you know, who's a grown man now, but back in

the day, he was captivated by Minecraft. Game

where they build stuff. And for Jill, is this

not true? Hours. He would just want to tell us

about what's going on in Minecraft. And you're

like, be a good dad, be a good dad, be a good

dad. And you're just trying to engage and like

10 ,000 other things are in your mind and they're

talking about it. And then I built this and they're

like, no, no, stay here. Be a good dad, be a

good dad. You know? If you don't have children

yet, you will, and you'll know what I'm talking

about. But you know, now that my son has grown

up and has left the house and gone into the world,

he has a special ringtone on my phone. And it's

the kind that breaks through no matter what.

You know, if you have your phone on silent or

whatever, it just goes as loud as you can possibly

get it. Because when he calls in these days,

I want to answer. And I want to hear everything

about his life. There's something about he went

from being a kid in my house to my best friend

and then left. And now, as His Father, I want

to hear every detail of His existence. And if

the Bible compares me as an evil father in comparison

to how good my heavenly Father is, there's nothing

going on in your world that He doesn't want to

talk about. That He doesn't want to hear about.

The problem is, we've gotten so religious, that

we think He's only concerned about the spiritual

things. It's not true. Pray about everything.

Everything! You say, man, I don't think God wants

to hear that. Yeah, He does. Newsflash. If you're

thinking it, He's hearing it. Might as well talk

to Him about it. You can either worry, And it

accomplishes nothing and devastates the kingdom.

Or instead, you can say, Father, I want to talk

to You about this. And this is, I'm telling you

not as a theory, this is radically changing my

personal intimacy with God because I'm talking

to God more now than I have about anything and

everything. in my life, and it develops a closeness,

and I'm just thinking, you dummy, how long have

you been in Christendom reading these things?

I don't know, but I know this, I'm finding it

more and more impossible to be wrapped up in

the things of the world when I'm communicating

with them about everything in my life. Let me

ask you, Are you praying about everything? Because

it's not a suggestion. It's the command of the

Scriptures right here. Do not be anxious about

anything. Instead, in everything, bring your

petition to God. Alright. Raise your hand if

you're eight years old. If you're eight years

old in this room today, raise your hand. Gus,

wow man, you're rocking it. I was about to say,

you are a scrawny 8 -year -old. Alright, is there

anybody that's actually 8? Alright, we've got

8 right here. What is something that you're really

excited about in your life right now? Something

you love to do? Something fun? Can be anything.

Playing baseball. Hey, I just want you to know

that the God of Heaven wants to talk to you about

baseball. And he wants to use baseball to change

the world. Who here is six years old, Gus? Okay,

six years old. What's something you don't like

to do? And you can be honest. Your dad's going

to give you a free pass. Something you don't

like to do right now. We're not moving on until

you come up with it. No pressure. All right.

Something I don't like, 4 a .m. That's something

I don't like. 4 a .m. All right, so we go through

every child. We could go through every adult.

Ask, what are you excited about right now? What

are you not excited about? What are you most

afraid of right now? And every one of those topics,

the Father is longing to hear about and converse

with us about. And what we want to do is develop

a lifestyle in which we never stop talking to

Him. Can you imagine how glorious that's going

to be? When everything going on in our hearts

and our minds is becoming a conversation with

a good Father. Yeah, I think that's enough on

that. Man, we didn't even get to this part. We'll

pick it up next week, but I wanted the kids.

Kids, would you be excited if we made you come

back into the entire service next week? Okay.

Gotta know. Okay, well, maybe you can get your

parents to relay some things for you. It's okay.

I'll just talk to God about how my feelings are

really hurt right now. We'll be okay. I love

you. I honestly do. I love you. I give my life

the best that I can to serve you. The last thing

in the world that I want for you is to be kingdom

ineffective because of anxiety, worry, and being

wrapped up in the cares of this world. He deserves

better, and He's provided for more. And we're

going to go after it. Amen? So if you don't mind

just standing up as we close today, if you desire

just to continue to allow God to reveal and tear

these things away from our heart, if you're saying,

I would like... I would like Him to lead me into

a more conversational lifestyle. This is really,

I believe He's going to answer these prayers.

So if that's you, do you just agree with my prayer

for your heart? Lord, I love my friends so much.

I'm so grateful for them. And Father, I believe

that You're doing something through this passage

in us over the next couple of weeks. And Lord,

I just pray for each of us that You would begin

highlighting areas in which this is touching

us, in which we need to yield to You. Father,

we're asking You to do something in our hearts

that drives us into people of a prayer lifestyle

of communion, of talking with You about everything.

Father, I bless them right now in the name of

Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. You bless

them this week. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.