Everyday Courage • Part 3 with Tyler Thigpen

Welcome to the Southside Church Podcast, weekly content that inspires all of us to follow Jesus.

Join us each week for a message from one of our fantastic communicators that provide practical ways to grow our faith, challenge ourselves, and to love others more.

And now, this week's message.

Good.

How are you?

How y'all really feeling?

Y'all uh y'all ever seen this baby before?

The feelings wheel.

Uh this is the top half of the feelings wheel right here.

This is the uh the bottom half of the feelings wheel.

The feelings wheel was made by this guy, Dr.

Robert Pluczyk, in 1980, and a couple years later was popularized by Dr.

Gloria Wilcox.

Um here's how it works.

So a couple weeks ago, uh my wife and I went on a hot date with a uh a couple here from Southside, Steve and Jana.

Actually, we went out to a great uh local restaurant in Peace Free City called uh the Beirut and had some, y'all been to Beirut?

Uh had some great food, uh delightful, and uh I was and I felt happy just to like be on a date and be with friends.

I felt super curious about Steve and Jana and their story uh because they're just really interesting people, great people.

I felt thankful for the chance to have money to be able to go out uh you know to a nice restaurant.

Um and because it was a long week of work, I actually also felt tired.

And so when the whole night was over with, I knew I knew exactly what I needed.

I needed some sleep.

So when I got home, I crashed uh and got some good rest.

Here's another example.

Uh so a couple weeks ago, I made the mistake of really, really overscheduling myself uh basically back-to-back meetings on the very first week of school for the school that I lead.

And they were great meetings, every one of them, but I had no margin.

And so I ended up feeling out of control.

Uh, I felt overwhelmed because I just didn't have space or time to, you know, I I honestly felt frustrated at myself for like having done that.

I was like, I'm never gonna do that again.

And I felt anxious because I was like, man, things are like you know, drop through the cracks.

Um, and so what I did was I actually texted my wife uh during one one like in the middle of the week, and I was like, babe, like I need some tonight.

I know we had these plans, but I need to like get organized.

I like to need to redo my calendar.

Uh and she was like, me too.

And so we just took the night and and went our separate ways and did that, and it was great.

A buddy of mine that I've played tennis with for six years, every Saturday, Sunday, I just found out he has cancer.

And uh he was sharing this with me, and I felt sad.

Um I felt uh because he's a good friend, and the prospect of him not, you know, this being impactful for him is not a good, a good uh a good thought.

I felt afraid about what could happen.

Uh, but I feel hopeful.

Um I feel hopeful that you know that he can beat it.

And so I realized that what I needed was I just needed some like self-expression, you know what I mean?

I needed to mourn a little bit this news and what my friend was going through.

And I also needed to contribute.

And so I bought my buddy this mug uh and gave it to him, and it's true.

Uh cancer picked the wrong dude.

Uh, so we'll see what happens.

But as we play, uh every Saturday, Sunday morning, we play in downtown Tyrone.

Um, and there are these geese.

If y'all know downtown Tyrone, this park, you know what I'm talking about?

They're these geese on Saturday, Sunday mornings, like in the early morning dew that come off the lake and they're just chilling in the field for a long time.

And somewhere around 9 a.m., typically what'll happen is they will all just decide we're out and they will start to cross the road, and uh they're like they don't care about the cars, and so all the cars will stop.

I don't know if you've been stopped by these geese, but all the cars will stop and they'll get backed up.

And it's just like a really lovely, beautiful moment.

And honestly, like when I stop and think about it, I just feel a sense of awe.

It's just like 50 geese, you know, stopping traffic, and everybody's kind of stopping watching them.

And I feel a sense of, I feel peaceful when I'm doing it.

And I also, if I'm honest, sometimes feel annoyed because some people start like laying on their horns, and like it's while my buddy and I are playing tennis, and I'm like losing focus.

And in those moments, I'm like, Tyler, you just need to chill, man.

You just need to like be self-aware, you need to be present in the moment and focus.

That's how the feeling wheel works.

You name the feeling, you figure out why you're feeling it, and then you decide what you need.

You feel me?

Does that make sense?

Uh, I want to make this a little interactive.

I want to invite you to introduce yourself to the person next to you.

And if you do not, if you already know them, then you know, reintroduce yourself.

Uh and just tell them, like, how are you feeling this morning?

And why are you feeling that way, and what do you think you need today?

Just take a couple minutes and do that with the person next to you.

Go for it.

What'd y'all what'd y'all think about that?

Did you hate it or love it?

Some of y'all are like, I love that.

Uh did anybody learn anything about themselves?

Like maybe something they need to do?

That you'd be willing to share?

Anybody?

Yeah?

Did I see a hand?

Nope.

Nope.

No, no?

Alright, fair enough.

Just keep it to yourself.

It's fine.

Now listen, uh, I I want to say some of y'all, some of y'all don't need a wheel.

Okay?

You don't you don't need a feelings wheel because you are in touch with your feelings.

Uh you naturally know uh what you are feeling.

You can name it, and you probably have uh no issues telling the rest of us about it.

Uh you might fall into the category of someone who does not need a feelings wheel if people regularly ask you how you're doing and they get a real answer.

Or if you can easily tell the difference between disappointed, hurt, lonely, or angry, or if you've ever said, like, I need to process what I'm feeling, and you actually meant it.

You know, you know, you know who you are.

Uh you know what's going on inside of you, you have words for it, and you are generally not afraid to use it.

But others of us, we need a wheel.

Can I get an amen?

Can I can I get a wheel?

Can I get a witness from the congregation?

Um, I need I need a wheel.

Uh I need like words or pictures or colors.

Just give me some kind of clue to help me make sense of like what in the world I am feeling.

Um I was asking my my dad, my dad's here.

I was asking my dad a few years ago how he was feeling.

I was like playing around with the wheel, the feelings wheel, quite a bit and trying to dig in deeper.

We were on his back porch and I was like, How you doing, dad?

He was like, I'm good.

I was like, How else are you feeling?

He's like, I'm good.

I was like, Yeah, but what else are you feeling?

You feeling content?

You feeling curious?

You feeling sad?

He was like, I'm starting to feel angry.

If you remember that.

But some of us like don't just play, we don't really play in our feelings uh a whole lot.

And I put myself in that category.

I was actually introduced to the feelings wheel by this guy, Bob, uh, Dr.

Bob Goodman, about 12 years ago.

Uh he was my executive coach and he was coaching me.

He was like, Oh, Tyler, you are avoiding some feelings, bud.

And I was like, What are you talking about, Bob?

And he was like, You think that some feelings are bad.

And I was like, Bob, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bob, what are you?

I was like, what are you talking about?

And he said, Well, what feelings do you not like and do you not want to be experiencing?

And immediately I thought, oh, uh, anger, fear, uh, and sadness.

And he was like, see what I mean?

He was like, you think that some feelings are bad.

And I was like, Well, what's the other option?

You know?

And he said, Tyler, do you like surfing?

And I was like, Yeah, uh, but I'm no good.

And he said, Feelings are like waves, man.

They're coming.

Uh, you just gotta ride them out.

You can't sweep them underneath the rug, it doesn't work.

I thank God for Bob.

After some years of practice, I can surf all the fields now.

Uh I mean, I'm not winning any tournaments, but I can hang.

When I was in school, there was a lot of focus on like intellectual intelligence, you know, IQ.

In recent decades, you know, emotional intelligence and EQ has gained a lot of steam.

And from an EQ standpoint, the goal is not to avoid hard feelings, but it's to understand them and to respond wisely.

And it's helpful when we work through our feelings and we figure out what they're trying to teach us, you know, what they're trying to tell us about what we need.

But it is it is not straightforward and it is not easy.

If you are anything like me, sometimes you will figure out what you feel, you will identify what you need, and you'll actually, like some of you just did, you'll make a plan to get that need met, but you will make a plan that depends on somebody else doing something that is outside of your control.

And when they don't, that's when anxiety sets in.

It's almost as if you've handed them the keys to your peace.

It's possible for us to tie our peace to another person's choices.

Let me show you what I mean.

So a few years ago, I discovered that a staff member in my organization had stolen over$10,000 from our organization.

And I remember feeling angry because I leave uh school, a nonprofit that uh serves kids and families, and I was like upset that this individual was robbing from an organization like that, just robbing in general, but also especially from an organization like that.

And I also felt betrayed because I had hired, excuse me, I had hired this individual and uh you know had been kind to them and generous to them, but they stole from us.

And I thought when this happened, I thought that what I needed, number one, I thought I needed the money back, I thought that I needed this person to take responsibility, I thought that I needed to understand how this actually happened, and then I also thought that I needed to know that it would never happen again.

I needed that commitment.

But there was a problem, and the problem was I could not control any of those things.

Like I couldn't force repayment, I could not create remorse, I could not undo the past, I couldn't even learn fully about the past because it was part of it was on a laptop and I didn't have access to that laptop.

And I could not guarantee the future.

It was not in my locus of control.

I didn't have the ability to manipulate any of those outcomes.

And in fact, this individual disappeared in another state and became unreachable.

I got none of what I thought I needed.

None of it.

And here's what I experienced.

The more I believed that I needed those things to happen that were outside of my control, the more anxious that I felt.

I was giving over my peace to this individual who had done that act.

I had tied my peace to their actions.

Now that's a that's a pretty dramatic example, but the same thing happens to us in simple ways all the time.

So have you ever needed a friend to text you back before you could stop worrying?

Or have you ever needed somebody to apologize before you felt like you could move on, but they won't apologize, and they just don't understand you, they don't understand where you're coming from, they don't understand your side of the story, and so it just lingered for you, and you couldn't let it go?

Or have you ever needed your child to be okay before you could be okay?

Like maybe they're sick or they're in danger or they're struggling, and so you were struggling?

Or have you ever needed to like get the job or make the team or be accepted into the school before you could just relax?

Or have you ever needed the doctor to give you good news before you could be at peace?

Or have you ever felt afraid of being alone and you thought you just needed someone around you?

Like you, and especially like a certain certain person or a certain group of people, you just needed them around you, but for whatever reason, people were not available to you.

It's like we're trying to get the outcomes that we want, but we can't.

And so we feel anxious.

It's like we're saying, I need somebody else to give it to me.

Or I'll be good, I'll be okay as soon as they change, or this happens, or this gets resolved, when my kid starts making better choices, when my bills get paid, when my parents say that they're proud of me, when my friends start treating me like I matter, but then enough time goes by and we're like, shoot, I cannot control whether or not I get this.

Sometimes we make our peace dependent on things we can't control.

We put our sense of okayness in somebody else's hands, and we tie our contentment to an outcome that we cannot guarantee.

And that is literally the definition of anxiety.

It's the stress we feel when something important feels uncertain, scary, or out of control.

I mean, what about you?

Do you often feel anxious?

Y'all, this is not just an individual problem.

Anxiety is everywhere in our nation and in our culture right now.

It is it is the water that we swim in, and it is how we see, many of us, the world.

It's in our homes, it's in our schools, it's in our workplaces, it's in our public spaces, it's in our relationships, it's in the way that we imagine the future.

Jonathan Hait's great book, if you've read it, The Anxious Generation, argues that a whole set of different forces like smartphones and sleep loss and social disconnection, a lot of other things, have made it harder for us, and especially for young people, to feel secure, to feel connected, and to feel at peace, to feel comfortable in your own skin.

He argues that we are living in a nation, we are living in an environment that constantly gives us reasons to feel like something important is uncertain or threatened or outside of our control.

As a school leader, I see it every day.

I see parents and caregivers who are anxious and they come to education with anxious mindsets and anxious strategies, like trying to fix problems for their kids or micromanage their kids' choices and panicking when their kids have setbacks.

I see anxiety in young people in the next generation who feel uncertain about their future, whether they belong, whether they're going to be okay, whether they're going to get a job in this job market.

And I see it in the silent and the boomer generations who have lived through enormous change and now face a world that feels increasingly unfamiliar and who feel uncertain about their own health, about retirement, about the changing culture, and about the world that our children and our grandchildren are inheriting.

And y'all honestly, I think I can spot this because I personally have walked in this.

I have experienced it.

I used to feel anxious a lot because I used to think that I could orchestrate most, if not many, of the outcomes that I wanted for my life personally and professionally.

And I will say I'm midlife, despite being and meeting some of the goals that I set for myself personally and professionally, I have now lived long enough to know that at times I have been completely unable of achieving some of the personal goals that I've set for myself, and completely unable to achieve some of the professional goals that I've set for myself.

I have come to appreciate that I am not in control.

And before figuring that out, I felt anxious a lot.

Striving.

And y'all, it is, if you're there, you know, it is not a great place to be.

Like in the long term, it's bad for your health.

You know, in the short term, it is very tempting to want to cope and to want to deal with it with stuff that just makes you feel better.

Like YouTube or TikTok or doom scrolling or alcohol or drugs or overworking or overeating or overspending or overworking out or isolating yourself or just chasing approval or even starting to hang out with people who, for whatever reason, really are not good for you.

Just something to like help with the anxiety and to address it.

Something to feel better in the moment.

It's like reaching for an oxygen mask for a quick hit of relief, only to discover that while it feels good in the short term, it does not last in the long term.

And y'all, this is why what Paul writes in the book of Philippians is so relevant and is so important for us even today.

If you uh have are someone who brought a Bible, I encourage you to open to Philippians 4, or if you're using it on your phone.

If not, I'm gonna have it on the screen.

But the individual who wrote the book of Philippians is the Apostle Paul.

Paul was a person who planted churches, and he was imprisoned towards the end of his life in Rome for having talking about and sharing about the person of Jesus and for planting churches.

I went to Rome about five years ago.

This is the church that sits above the prison where Paul was in Rome, and this was the prison where he actually wrote this book, Philippians.

It is thought that he wrote this book of Philippians from.

Philippi was an important Roman colony in what's now northern Greece.

And Paul had planted a church there, and a few years after that, he wrote a letter to this church.

And this letter, if you read it, if you've read it, you know, I mean, it's saturated with like joy and peace and contentment.

But the first part of the letter talks about him being in jail and what that's like.

And he's giving the church at Philippi encouragement to keep following Jesus, even through suffering and through uncertainty.

And then in chapter 4, he says this verse number six don't be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to your wife.

My boss, my bad.

That is that is not what the Bible says.

It says your husband.

This this is what Paul wrote from prison.

Uh, you know, just if you have those requests, make sure you tell tell your husband.

Uh no.

Your kids?

Present your request to your kids.

Uh that's not it.

What about your parents?

You know, don't be anxious.

Present your request to your parents.

Put it on them.

Maybe it's your best friend.

Maybe it's your boss.

I mean, y'all see what I'm doing here.

Present them to God.

And the peace of God, which is beyond understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus.

Yeah, Paul?

Easy for you to say, Paul.

Except it wasn't.

I mean, he is not writing this from a Cush life.

He's writing this from prison, and he's about to die.

So when Paul says don't be anxious about anything, he is not saying that nothing bad is gonna happen.

Bad things were already happening.

His message is more like when something threatens your peace, don't pretend like it doesn't matter.

But give thanks for what you have.

And make your request to God.

Let me tell you a story.

There was once a man who had a magical kitchen.

It was an incredible kitchen because whatever he wanted to eat, he had.

If he wanted steak, there was steak.

If he wanted fresh bread, there was fresh bread.

If he wanted pizza, there was pizza.

There was always enough.

And because there was always enough, the man was generous.

People could come to his house and eat.

He didn't have to hoard his food.

He didn't worry about whether or not there would be enough tomorrow.

His kitchen provided everything that he needed.

And then one day there was a knock at the door.

The man opened it.

And standing there was another man holding a pizza.

And the stranger said, Look at this pizza.

Check it out.

I'll give it to you.

But there's a condition.

If you want my pizza, you have to do what I say.

You have to please me.

You have to become the person that I want you to be.

The man with the magical kitchen laughed.

He said, Why would I do that?

I have all the pizza I could ever want.

In fact, come on inside, man.

I'll make you some pizza.

The stranger had nothing that the man needed.

So he didn't compromise himself to get the pizza.

He didn't self-abandon.

He didn't give away his peace trying to get something from someone that he already had.

But now imagine another man.

This man had no magical kitchen.

This man, his kitchen was empty.

He was starving.

He had not eaten in days.

And one day there was a knock at his door.

He opened it, and there stood the same stranger holding the same pizza.

I'll give you this pizza, but there's one condition.

You have to do what I say, you have to please me.

You have to become the person I want you to be.

And this man looked back at his kitchen.

And then he looked back at the pizza and he thought, I need that pizza.

So he agreed.

And now the stranger had power over him.

Not because the stranger was powerful, but because the starving man believed that the stranger possessed something that he desperately needed?

This story comes from an author by a guy called Don Miguel Ruiz, who writes this awesome book about love, and it begs this question: what changes when you realize that your deepest needs in life may not depend on someone else's response at all?

Y'all, this week I had a Zoom call with the Gates Foundation at our school.

We're trying to build the future of learning.

And I've been in talks with this foundation for a few years about how we might improve K-12 schooling.

So, Bill, at the moment, my understanding his uh net worth, which is a public fact, is over north of$100 billion.

Can you imagine for a minute?

Imagine having a meeting with Bill Gates and him saying to you, hey, what do you want?

I got you.

What do you need?

I'd really like to help you.

And can you imagine responding to him?

I'm good.

I'm good.

That's basically exactly what David, who wrote the book of Psalms, said in Psalm 23.

He's like, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Another translation, I will not be in need.

Another translation, I lack nothing.

Another translation, I have all that I need.

What did David know that allowed him to be able to say this?

What did Paul know that allowed him to be able to say, like, hey, don't be anxious about anything?

This is actually a theme throughout the whole Bible.

This verse in 2 Corinthians is emblematic of this theme, and it says, God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

For centuries, people who have followed Jesus have tried to make sense of this theme and understand what it's all about.

And theologians call this the providence of God.

And what they mean, just the language that we've come up with to try and understand this, is that God is present, God is providing, and our lives ultimately remain in God's care, even when we cannot control what happens next.

That's the providence of God.

This idea is connected to another idea in the scriptures, an incredible promise that God isn't just caring for us from a distance, but God is actually with us.

And God is actually in us.

Scripture says in Hebrews, keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, I'll never leave you.

I'll never forsake you.

Jesus said in Matthew 28, I am with you always.

1 Corinthians, don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?

Galatians 2, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

Somehow, somehow, Christ is in me.

If you are not a Jesus follower and you're wondering like what it means for God to be with or in a person, basically, the way that Jesus followers have made sense of this is that when we put our faith in Christ, God doesn't just forgive us and then leave us on our own.

He actually comes to dwell with us through his spirit.

And his presence goes with us wherever we go.

That's the theology of it.

Now, in practice, it looks like this by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

Let me go back to a few of these examples.

So just imagine the doctor calls and says that they found something on the scan.

So the temptation in that moment, that's very human, very normal, and I've been there, the temptation is needing the doctor to give me good news so that I can have peace.

But instead of that, we can say, God, I'm scared.

I want to be healthy.

Please help me.

Please heal me.

Please give the doctors wisdom.

And God, thank you for the doctors.

Thank you for the care that's available.

Thank you for the life that I have today.

And then I can do what I can, what I have control over.

Like I can make the appointment, I can ask good questions, I can follow the treatment plan.

And then I can entrust to God what I cannot control.

And in that situation, if you were in that situation, you might have a legitimate need, like I would, for comfort, and you might have a need for peace in that moment because that's tough news.

But you can't make the doctor give you good news.

The good news is that God can help you meet that need, whether it's by taking a long prayer walk, sitting quietly with Scripture, or journaling your fears and your prayers to God.

And if you are a Jesus follower and you have ever done this before, like I have, then you know and you have experienced that God will meet you there.

And God will give you what you need.

And the longer that you do it, the more confident you become that that kind of blessing is always available to you.

Another example, let's say that a friend has pulled away and they're not responding because of some conflict.

You know, instead of believing, they have to text me back.

They have to explain themselves, they have to reassure me before I can be okay.

I can say, God, I feel hurt and I feel lonely.

I want this friendship restored.

Please help us reconnect and show me how to love them well and thank you for the love and the friendship and the companionship that I've had with this person thus far.

And then what I can do is I can actually reach out honestly.

I can also give them space, I can be a good friend, but I can release their response to God.

And in that situation, I might have a need for companionship, a real need for companionship, because I'm human.

And I might have a need for connection, but I can't make my friend respond.

The good news is that God can help me.

I can go on a walk, I could talk with God, I could take God somewhere that I enjoy.

I can invite God into that time.

I can journal to God honestly, just as I would with a close friend, and I can learn more about God.

You see what I'm getting at?

God's providence isn't just something that we believe in.

It's actually something that we can live from.

It's not passivity.

And it's not just like thinking or believing something.

It's doing what you can, it's trusting God with what you can't control, it's thanking God for what you already have.

It's requesting God for what you still need, and it's staying at peace in the meantime, knowing that whatever happens next, God will still be with you and will still have and help you ultimately with whatever it is that you need.

Y'all, I've I've had the chance to marry uh over 75 couples over the course of my life.

Uh weddings are so rad.

Uh I mean, what other event can you can other than your funeral can you convince most people to show up at the same time in the same place?

You know what I'm saying?

I mean, this is a sweet event.

Um, you just can't enjoy the funeral.

The wedding you can enjoy because everybody's showing up there.

Um, I don't know, maybe you can enjoy the funeral.

That's uh that's a different sermon, I guess.

Um But many of the people that I've married are Jesus followers, and for those that are Jesus' followers, I say that I say to them, I give them a charge, like some encouragement.

Uh and I say the same thing.

I give them three three three three charges.

The first is to remember the ceremony, the second is to remember and uphold their vows, and the third is I charge them to fear God all the days of their life.

To the groom, I say this: I say, as deeply as you feel about certain things, and as passionate as you are, your need for passion far outstrips its capacity to be met by your wife.

And likewise I say to the bride, your need for intimacy and your need for passion far exceeds its capacity to be met by your husband.

There is a place in each of you that is reserved for God alone, and only God can enter there.

Guard that place.

For while we have resources to support you, our resources are limited.

But in Christ, all things are yours.

Y'all.

In Christ, all things are yours.

How would your life feel if God met all your needs?

What do you think that would be like?

One of the very cool things about the scriptures is that we learn that God has made some amazing promises about how He's going to show up for us and minister to us.

For example, God has promised to love us and sustain us and provide for us, to protect us and give us a refuge.

He's promised to lead us and to guide us.

He's promised to show us how to live.

He's promised to be our friend and to be our companion.

He's promised to give us comfort, to give us counsel, to give us wisdom and to give us strength.

He's promised to transform our character and to remind us that we are his children.

You know, think about that.

Do you need comfort?

God can be trusted.

Do you need companionship?

Do you need friendship?

God can be trusted.

Do you need wisdom?

Provision?

Protection?

God has got you.

Do you need grace because you messed up?

God is there and will not give up on you.

Do you need strength to do something hard?

Do you need to know that you are loved?

God can be trusted.

Some of you, like me, you know this.

Because you have trusted God simply to do what God said He would do, and you've surrendered, and you've stopped trying to do it yourself.

And instead you've received from God and you have let God minister to you in those ways.

What about you?

Do you believe that God can be trusted to give you what you need?

Y'all, I was uh I was preparing for this message.

Tony gave me a call, I think it's like two months ago, maybe late July or late June or early July.

We were talking about this morning.

And uh and Tony, we Tony and I had been talking about this how this morning was gonna go in a particular direction.

But uh Tony was telling me a story about how he had met over the over the last two weeks from the time that I talked to him with like 17 different meetings, 17 different couples or individuals, and that what he observed was just how anxious so many people were feeling.

And I was like, this resonated with me because a lot of the people that I uh have the ability to serve also feel anxious.

And Tony was like, hey, I think we need to pivot what we were gonna talk about on what is today, August 23?

I think we need to pivot.

And I was like, you know, let's roll.

I mean, first of all, uh, what a great pastor, you know, who's like meaning we a good man with a good heart who loves this congregation and is looking out and being responsive to our needs.

But second, I think there's an invitation for us to not be anxious and to pursue peace.

My friends, we have a rich emotional life.

I've come to learn this as a grown man.

Over the course of our lives, we will feel many, if not all, of the things that are on this wheel for a lot of different reasons.

And we will need a lot of things because God made us that way.

And for all of us, there will be a temptation to look outside of God, to other people, other outcomes, or other circumstances to give us what we think we need to be okay.

But it is counterfeit.

It is like a cloud of smoke that goes away.

I think the opportunity that is before us this morning is to rely on our Creator, who made us, who loves us, and who is with us.

And y'all, I'm here to tell you, God loves you.

And God is with you, and what is meant for you will not pass you by.

Because God is so kind and God is so generous.

So let's take courage.

And may we not be anxious about anything.

But in every situation, by prayer and thanksgiving, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let us present our request to God.

And may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Let's pray.

God help us.

Scripture says you're with us and in us.

And sometimes that just feels, it's just hard to wrap our minds around.

Uh, and it just maybe it feels like you're far away sometimes.

Hard to get.

But God, you're so faithful because when we do lean in and we lean into the things that you've promised you'll do and the ways in which you'll minister to us and help us and befriend us and guide us and teach us and lead us and humble us and transform us.

You're so faithful.

You can be counted on.

God, help us to increase our faith.

Help us to believe and think the right things, yes.

But God, help us to take these steps to be thankful and to make our request to you first and foremost, and to be genuinely surprised and blessed by how you meet our needs in such creative, surprising, sufficient ways.

God, I thank you for this community.

I thank you for Tony and his leadership.

I thank you for all the people that serve here.

I thank you for these groups that are getting started.

We we just pray for wisdom for these group facilitators and leaders.

I pray for just like blessing all the homes and the places of business and work where these are going to be facilitated and led.

And we just say, not to us, oh Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness in Jesus' name.

Amen.