Wednesday Night Recharge | March 18th, 2026

Hello. Good evening. Welcome to

Recharge. You made it out of the rain.

We've had a lot of rain here this week.

I want to invite you to come on in.

We're going to get started in about 30

seconds here and uh we'll sing together.

We'll read some scripture and we're

going to hear from God's word.

Well, it's a a spring break for some.

How many of you have people in your

family who are on spring break this

week? Anybody in this room? Yeah, I see

a couple here. I see one right here.

Matias, are you on spring break, buddy?

That's so exciting. Our kids were on

spring break last week. Um, it is good

to gather together. And so, because of

spring break stuff that are that's going

on outside of Sheridan Hills Christian

School, we've got everybody all together

in here. We've got young young people

joining with us. And so, I want to

invite everybody to stand up and uh this

is an appropriate verse uh for a week

when we've got adults and kids all

together. Look at this. It says in

Ephesians 5:1 and2, "Therefore, be what?

Ephesians 5:1

>> Be imitators of God just like beloved

children." Think about how a child sees

its parent and begins mimicking exactly

what the parent does. And so, in the

same way, we're supposed to imitate God

as beloved children and walk in love as

Christ loved us and gave himself up for

us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice

to God. And so in just a moment, we're

going to sing about the way that we are

the children of God and uh in the way

that we can follow and mimic and imitate

him. And so I want to invite you to bow

your head and let's pray together. And

then we'll sing and lift up our voices

to God. Father in heaven, we praise you

for the God that you are. We praise you

that we can belong to you as your

children. And on a night when it's

dreary outside, I'm thankful for the way

that you've renewed our hearts on the

inside. I'm thankful for the body of

Christ in my family who's here with me

tonight um spiritually. And so we ask

all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's

sing together.

All praise [music] to him, the God of

light who [music] the mountains

[singing]

by his might. All praise [music] to him

who makes the stars [singing] that sing

his fame and skies above.

All [music and singing] praise to him.

Who reigns in love. Who guides the God

sees [music and singing] above yet to

hear our everywhere [music]

with sovereignty. [singing]

[music]

All praise to him who love

[music and singing]

Christ the son will serve [singing] me

who left behind [music] his glorious

[singing]

to the ransom for his own. All praise

[music and singing] to him. Who humbly

came to bear our sorrow,

sin [music and singing] and shame. Who

let you die? Who died [music] to rise?

The all sufficient [singing]

sacriice.

[music]

All praise to him whose kind [singing]

hearts. The love of [music] God within

[singing] our hearts. The spirit of

[music] all truth and peace. The

fountain of joy and holyness.

To father son [music and singing]

and spirit now. Our souls we live. Our

wills we [music] bow. To you the tri

[singing]

with loving hearts our song

[music and singing]

of praise to father son and spirit

[music and singing]

now our souls we lift our wills we bow

[singing and music]

to you the triune

god we race with loving

[music and singing] hearts our song of

praise

No [music] wisdom [singing] says I have

not.

No [music and singing]

virtues

I pursue.

No wisdom.

I [singing and music] am not like can

myself

a place for you. Oh Godful

to me. I am a s [music]

through and through. My only hope

[music]

of [singing] rightousness.

It's not in me.

I [singing] only you.

[music]

No humble grass, no fing [music] prayer,

no lifted hands, no tearful song, no

resitation

of [music and singing] the truth can

justify

a single wrong. My rightousness

is Jesus died. [singing]

My [music] death was made by Jesus

death. My [music and singing] weary love

was born by him and [singing] he alone

can [music]

rest.

No separation [music]

from the world, no work [singing] I do,

no gift I give [music]

can cleanse [singing] my conscience,

cleanse my hands, [music]

I [singing] can cause my soul to

Jesus [music] died and rose [singing]

again.

The power [music]

of death is over the throne. My God

[music and singing] is merciful

to me and merciful

in Christ alone. [music]

My rightousness [singing]

is Jesus life. My death was made by

[music] Jesus death.

My [singing] weary love was [music] born

by him and [singing] he alone

can give me rest [music and singing] and

he alone

can give me [music] rest.

>> Amen. You may be seated. What great

encouraging songs this morning or this

evening, Pastor William and team, thank

you very much. I hope you're encouraged

by that. How many of you got wet coming

in? Anybody get wet coming in? All

right. Anybody get up get I guess some

of you guys came in or or uh you got

going early this morning when it was

raining then, too. So, uh we've needed

the rain terribly and uh finally we're

getting it. It seems like we're getting

it all at once. So, it's great to see

you tonight. Hope and pray that you've

had a good day. We're going to uh have a

great time as we dive into God's word.

Uh if you didn't get a sermon outline

for tonight, lift your hand and we have

Eli Aras and these a lot of people. We

we missed you. Be patient. They're going

to get to you. So here comes Ivan. Just

get your hand up whenever. Come on

forward all Ivan and then work your way

back. Um few things. First of all,

Easter outreach. All these boxes are up

here in the front. And maybe some of you

were not here Sunday morning and you

didn't see this. we have some great

invitation things uh for you to give to

your neighbors and uh just put this on

one of their one of their doors or

something like that. And there are uh

postcards in the seat pews right there.

Pass those down if you would. Grab some

of these, invite these. Um I I just

really want to encourage you to invite

folks to come for Easter. We're going to

have a great time. It's a wonderful,

wonderful day. Uh those of you who have

been to an Easter sunrise service on the

beach with us, you know, it's really

cool. Um we pray for good weather. You

never know what the Lord's going to

give. Sometimes it's awesome. Sometimes

it's a little dicey. Um it's kind of

weird. A couple of years ago, we saw

this storm coming up and we're like,

"Lord, please let it go north. Let it go

north. Oh Lord, please let it." But you

know what? There was another sunrise

service going on north of us. So I don't

know how to pray about that. Um,

so, uh, I think, uh, Calvary Chapel,

Fort Lauderdale had a service going

north of us, so it was the battle of who

prays harder, I guess. I don't know.

But, um, no, we we just have a great

time inviting folks for a great Easter

time. Good Friday service will be very

powerful and meaningful. Um, we observe

the Lord's supper on that evening,

remembering that he died for us. And um

then on Easter Sunday morning, we

celebrate that on the beach uh with a

rich time. And not only the beach

service, but also the 11:00 service

here. If you need to be baptized, we

have a long list. Listen to this. We

have 31 people on the list to be

baptized. And so we're we're just uh

really looking forward to that. And uh

we still need volunteers. I invite you

to volunteer. Um it's a great time to do

that. And uh we we we need help

welcoming people. There's going to be

thousands of people there on the beach

and we need help with that. So, join us

for um something good to drink and eat

immediately following tonight. So, this

is probably the last evening of cool

weather for the uh for the year, I don't

know, or at least until the end of uh

fall uh next year or not next year, in

the fall. And so, we're going to enjoy

that tonight and uh get something to eat

right out there in just a minute. So,

well, this last Sunday, what was the

message about this last Sunday? Does

anybody remember what was the message

about?

>> Okay, anxiety. Um, anybody have any in

particular things that uh the message on

anxiety um did how many of you the

message on anxiety gave you anxiety? Did

any did it give anybody anxiety?

I'm serious. When I was preparing the

message, I was praying for our church. I

was praying for all of you. Um, now most

people wouldn't be that anxious, but you

know, some people are really caught in

the in the vortex, caught in the storm

of anxiety.

And just talking about the idea of

anxiety could could trigger some

anxiety. And that word trigger, isn't

that a key word in these present day and

time? You know, we have all these lingo

in our present moment. But God cares.

Um, and freedom from anxiety. Um, if you

have your sermon outline and if you guys

can give me one of them, I would

appreciate that. If if there's there

should be one up here. Sorry. Okay.

Let's go not to the first page and the

second page, but go to the next one

there. Just which is really the one from

this last Sunday. And remember with me

that we did review that first page, the

one that has a one at the bottom of it.

Um, we did review the whole message of

Peter and then we dove into, if you turn

the page again, uh, and so this would be

on your page, too. These are the notes

from Sunday with all the answers. Um,

but notice in the box up there at the

top of the page, this is what got us

going. And tonight we're going to ask a

key question in just a minute, but look

at the box um in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse

1 Peter 5:6

6 and 7. So that's what we're going to

go to is the scripture. 1 Peter 5 6 and

7. Look what it says. It says, "Humble

yourselves therefore under the mighty

hand of God so that the proper time he

may exalt you." Look at verse seven.

casting all your anxieties on him. And

read it out loud at the end. What does

it say? Because he cares for you. That's

amazing. Verse seven is an amazing

verse.

Casting all your anxieties on him

because he cares for you.

Um,

what I sought to do Sunday morning was

remind us and underneath number one, we

see here these are the closing thoughts

of Peter's letter. And these ideas are

narrowing down to the very important big

picture items on how to what to

persevere well in a broken world. And

he's he's acknowledging I have there the

on the ground realities. And here's the

idea of the fall, the fact that the

world's messed up. And so because the

world's messed up, we have anxieties.

But God has a reset for the world.

It's from the heavens. And who came from

the heavens? But Jesus Christ.

God, for those who are being saved, is

sustaining and restoring his goodness.

This is right there in the middle of the

page where it says from the heavens,

reset. God resets everything. Jesus

Christ is the one antidote to the

brokenness and curse of sin. Number

three, Christ's death and resurrection

makes the reverse of the curse possible.

And number four, true Christians live in

Christ's great reset by faith and and

obedience. And that's what Peter's

trying to get at. He's trying to help us

live in the new life in Christ.

And um it's really kind of amazing what

he does. Um and it starts with our

humility before God. That's in verse

six. Humble yourselves under the mighty

hand of God. Flip the page. Notice that

there's a re a reward. Uh there's the

promise of a reward. This is verse six

as well. It says, "So that at the proper

time he may exalt you." We talked about

the fact that he um he calls us to to

humble ourselves now that later he will

exalt us. For those who are prideful, he

will humble. For those who are humble,

he will exalt. It's kind of amazing that

box in the middle of the page. Human

posture. If we're prideful, God opposes

us. God's not prideful. He could be

prideful. He's powerful, but he's

humble.

and he calls us to be humble. And then

look at that um God's response

uh is he opposes us. Look at human

posture, self-exaltation. God humbles us

and then humility, brokenness,

obedience, seeking him. So God just

invites us into be with him in the right

spirit and he brings us into that spirit

by his grace. Um then number four,

notice the real privilege of real relief

from anxiety. So he really wants us to

be free from that. Casting all of our

cares upon him because he cares for us.

Um you know, Sunday morning we looked at

all those graphs.

We looked at all those graphs about the

reality of our culture and the fact that

anxiety is just getting stronger and

stronger and stronger. And it has to do

with so much information. And it has to

do with so much busyness.

It has to do with so much pressure upon

us.

And we looked at the fact that we're

looking for escapes from this anxiety. I

I am very concerned about those things.

Back up a couple of those graphs. Go

back one more. Right there. This is

everybody across the board. Um ages 18

to 25 most anxious. And then a little

bit young, a little bit older, 26

through 34, next most anxious. And these

are 100% increase um just in the last 15

years. And then um ages 35 to 49.

These are these are very real issues

um for us. I am very concerned. The next

one does show the the impact that

anxiety has on girls. Girls are far more

susceptible to anxiety than boys. Um,

and there's a lot of different reasons

for that, but um, especially in light of

media, um, girls, you know, are are tend

to be more concerned about appearance.

And part of what a mir media is all

about. It's just you got to look like

this, you got to look like this, you got

to look like this. Um, boys are just

ugly and that's just the way it is.

Girls are pretty and, you know, guys are

like, well, there's nothing I can do

about it. I am what I am. And you know,

we we but but no, really, God has made

it. So, um I mean, that that's part of

the thing about um a woman is the idea

of beauty and and so because that's out

there and it's so strong with all of the

media, it has a greater impact. And and

then we we we looked at this last graph

and this is a bit of fresh air in that

if we're really living our Christian

faith,

our Christian faith should be having an

impact upon our anxiety.

And so we the whole message was how can

I be free from anxiety? So um look at

that last page um that is there. It's

has to do with number four, the real

relief. But um look at the top of that

on the last page. God invites us to

bring every anxiety to him without

exception. He says, "All your anxieties,

give them to me." All of them.

Um there's nothing too small for God's

attention. There's nothing too large for

his ability. So he cares about the

smallest thing and he's able with the

biggest thing.

Um letter C there God himself is the

place where our anxieties belong. Peter

doesn't say cast them away. He says cast

them on him.

And the Christian life is not anxiety

suppression.

It's anxiety relocation

that we give it to him. The gospel does

not um teach us to deny our burdens but

to redirect them. And then I love point

number five the most quite honestly

because this is really well the gospel

where the gospel is.

Why are we commanded to give cast our

anxieties on him? Why? Because he cares

for you. God actually cares. We live in

a world that cares less and less and

less about the individual about the

person standing in front of you. You

know, we live with all these used to the

customer was always right. Used to there

was great priority on how the customer

has the experience used to all that. And

these days it's come in the store, get

your stuff, get out. I mean, the the

restaurant is this is just the way it

is, you know, whatever. That's probably

one of the most shocking things when I

moved to Europe.

Who in this room has lived in Europe?

Has anybody lived in Europe? I Fabio

has. Miss Colin Bay. Yeah. See, it's

hysterical.

There was this guy that picked us up

from the airport as missionaries. He

said a few things. Okay, here's a few

points of illustr of of orientation.

Number one, do you have an American

Express card? I said, "Yeah." And he

said, "You might as well leave home

without it. Nobody takes American

Express car here." I'm like, "Oh, okay."

And then he went on to say several

things and one of the things he said

was, "You're in France now. Just so you

know, the customer is always wrong in

France.

And it's so true. I mean, it is it is so

true. The customer is 100% wrong. I

mean, you you can go and say, "Excuse

me. Um, this isn't this happened." And

they're like, "No, sorry." Um, that's

just the way it is. I mean, and

customers. So, the you have to really go

through relationship and all that thing,

get things fixed. I bought a juicer for

Marcy when we first moved there. And um

I took it home, took it out of the box,

and it didn't work. And so I took it

back to the store and I said, "Hi, um

this thing didn't work. I need to go get

another one." And the lady goes, "No,

no." And I said, "Well, no. I just

bought it. I mean, look, the receipt. I

bought it today and it doesn't work. I

can I just go get another one?" She

goes, "Oh, no. We'll have to send this

off to be fixed."

I said, "What?

She said, "Oh, no." I said, "Well, how

long is that going to take?" She said,

"Normally two months." And I said, "I

just want my money back." "Oh, no, no,

no, no, no, no. We don't do that."

Literally is true. That am I lying, Mike

Todd? I mean, you and Lily live there.

You lived in the same town where that

happened.

>> You got to make sure that they enjoy you

as a customer. And if you can make sure

that they're enjoying serving you,

they'll spend all day with you. But you

got to stay on their good side.

Yeah, if you go in there demanding

anything, forget it. Now, what I learned

was I could go in there and I could say

two things. I would say bonjour,

I am a new student of French. And then I

would say,

"My French is a huge catastrophe."

And then I would say,

Devotra,

I need your help. And they would go,

what do you need my help for? And then

once you went through all of that, you

could say, I bought this thing and it

didn't work.

And then they might go, okay, well, we

can find a solution. You know, anyways,

we live less and less in a world

of care.

We live less and less in a world of

care. Here's the thing. God never

changes. He's the same yesterday, today,

and forever. And you know what the Bible

tells us? He cares for us. And that's

the reason we can give him our cares.

So we there on that last page, we notice

his heart. Number five, his trusting

care. Notice his heart. We we Anxiety

grows when we doubt God's care. Peace

grows when we rest in his care. or the

antidote is um the anxiet the antidote

to anxiety is not control but it's

confidence in the care of God. So um a

question came up when the pastors were

were dealing with this um you know how

do we how does our church deal with

anxiety?

Are we part of that graph that maybe is

less?

I don't know.

Um, sometimes we are, sometimes we

aren't. Uh, because we all are

susceptible to anxiety.

Any comments on Sunday's message? Was

there was there anything that was

helpful to you on Sunday's message? Did

anybody have anything that was helpful

to you uh as you review this, as you

look at this? Any thoughts about that?

Anybody?

>> Nobody.

No. No help to you.

>> I like the idea of casting your

term.

>> Yeah. But other than that, the entire

sermon was helpful.

>> Well, thanks a lot, Sharon. That's

great. She said casting the idea of

really throwing it off onto him is

helpful. That's good. That's good. Yes.

>> Okay.

take it to him and take it right back.

He's still there.

>> Great point, Cassandra. Cassandra said,

"Well, a lot of times we'll cast it on

him, but then we take it back." Have you

ever done that?

And then, but he's inviting us to

continue to cast it upon him. That's a

That's really good. Who else? Somebody

else. Sorry. Yeah.

>> It's interesting.

>> Real loud. Real loud. It's interesting

how you chose

an

>> okay um Gabby is pointing out something

really important

in verse six. It says humble yourselves

which is which is the opposite of of

pride.

But verse six and verse 7 are connected

where your anxiety actually comes from

pride.

And so if you want to be if you want to

be free from anxiety, stop being

prideful. But that's counterintuitive

because we think no prideful people tend

to not have any anxiety, right? No it

that's that's a that's a false view of

pride. What we need to understand is

sometimes our anxiety is a sign of our

pride.

And I think that's what you're saying.

Is that is that what you're saying?

Yeah. So that's really really good.

Okay. This side's kind of done. All

right. This side. Matthew.

probably to go back and reread the text

in it context and I notic

my relationship to my brothers and

sisters here

myself

with all the cares that I have.

>> Yeah, that's good.

As I explained to Pastor Lawler

yesterday, I might be frustrated about

not finding a fulltime job, but it's not

going to stop me looking for some way

serving.

That's still

>> That's good.

>> Yeah. Yeah. That's good. That's good.

And that actually when we serve others,

when we get our focus off of oursel,

Matthew, what I hear you saying is, "My

anxiety goes down when I minister to

others."

I saw a report one time

about

people in professions

that are serving others

that where their life involves in

helping others in their problems.

And the survey was was saying the stress

levels

of people that are involved in serving

others when there's it was talking about

high stress people from all different

walks of life. High stress people. And

it was talking about the difference in

high stress when you're kind of doing it

for yourself

versus high stress when you're doing it

for others. when it, you know, maybe

involving doctors, maybe involving

uh social workers, maybe involving other

things. Did you know that

I I what they talked about was crisis

health is lower among people who live

high stress lives serving others versus

high stress lives in profit for

themselves.

Does that make sense? When you are doing

high stress life for yourself or for

your profession or for your paycheck,

you tend to have crisis health.

But when you spend your life, even under

high stress, serving others, you have

less crisis. There's less disease. Yeah,

Rick,

>> I can testify.

>> Okay, say it real loud.

>> I can testify that when you see the

issues of other people face health

issues, let's say that are devastating

and you're serving them and helping them

getting them through them and you can

see them getting

you look at your own life and you see my

comparison

as long as you're there

see

that Yeah.

>> Amen. That's a that's a that's an

encouraging, relieving thing. And I'm

not saying, Dr. Beth Court, that doctors

don't have crisises, that they don't

have heart attacks, they don't have

strokes, they don't have that. I'm sure

that they do. But this study was just

saying when you live stressed out for

selfish gain, you're going to have

you're going to crash more. When you

live stressed out to help others,

there's a freedom there. That is a

beautiful thing. Somebody else started

to say something. Yes, Michael.

>> Real loud, brother.

Liberals, right?

Most people it's not that

happiness

like that's

the word conservative realize

conservativeire

always.

>> Yeah.

>> Sometimes when they see numbers like

this, it makes them think there is

something

Yeah. Yeah. And hopefully when they see

us bear a terrible thing and yet

genuinely have a peace and and

struggling in the Lord. I mean, I think

about Billy John's and his death. He had

a long struggle with cancer and he was

he was in the midst of all of that long

struggle. He was he was constantly a a

rock of strength. And people would look

at that and and be I I remember being in

the hospital the last week of his life

and um talking to people who were around

him and caring for him and they said,

"Man, he's he has such peace. He has

such strength." And everybody knew that

his the end of his life was there.

People from Publix commenting on that

all the time about what a rock he was.

So those are good things. Go to the

front page. for a Christian, is anxiety

just a condition or is it or is it a

sin? And I think I Yes, I have my own

notes. I want to just share with you a

couple things. You go, you guys go ahead

and come on up. That's great. Um I I

want us to talk about this for just a

minute and uh let's move these way up

front. Yeah.

Let's look at this. First of all, number

one, Christians are commanded not to

fill it in, live in anxiety. Christians

are commanded not to live in anxiety.

Look at Philippians 4:4-6.

Philippians 4:4–6

Do not be anxious about anything. Says

it right there. Don't be anxious, but in

everything by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving, let your requests be

made known to God. And the peace of God

which surpasses all understanding will

guard your hearts and your minds in

Christ Jesus.

So if God commands, "Do not be anxious

about anything," then ongoing embrace

anxiety is actually

disobedience.

Look at Jesus's own words. Matthew

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6. Therefore, I tell you, do not

be anxious about your life.

Look down at verse 6:31. Therefore, do

not be anxious, saying, "What shall we

eat? What shall we drink? What shall we

wear?" the most basic things. For the

Gentiles seek after all these things,

and your heavenly father knows that you

need them all. And then in verse 34,

therefore do not be anxious about what?

>> Tomorrow, man.

Do not be anxious about tomorrow. How

often are we tempted to be anxious about

tomorrow?

What's going to happen? What about this?

What about this? I have this problem.

Look at the next one. Number two,

anxiety is contrasted with trust in God.

So Jesus says it in in 6:30 and this is

very similar to what we've just been

looking at above that. But if God so

clothe the grass of the field, will he

not much more clothe you,

oh you of little faith?

I love Psalm 56 in verse three. When I

am afraid, I will put my trust in you.

In God in whose word I praise I in God I

trust. I shall not be afraid. Isaiah

Isaiah 26:3

26:3, another one of my favorites. Can

you guys read this out loud together?

It's at the bottom of the page. Look

what it says. Read it out loud. You keep

him in perfect peace whose mind is

stayed on you because he trusts in you.

>> I love that. Can you circle those?

Perfect peace.

Um, I learned that in the King James.

Thou wil keep him in perfect peace whose

mind is stayed on thee, whose heart

trusts in thee. That passage right there

has seen me through many a tight spot.

There's been many times when I was

tempted to be freaking out about

something in my life. And that passage

right there

helped me to realize h

if I am super upset right now that means

that I am not looking to the Lord.

I am not trusting in God.

My eyes are on the problem. They're not

on the problem solver.

And God is calling me to have my eyes on

the problem solver. Flip the page there

and look at the next one. Anxiety can

become a failure

to cast our burdens on God. And this is

from our verses uh six and seven. Humble

yourselves therefore under the mighty

hand of God, casting all your anxieties

on him because he cares for you. So

anxiety can become this failure to cast

our burdens on God. So we're not doing

what we were told to do.

Um he actually tells us to give him our

problems,

our anxieties. Number four, anxiety as

opposed to faith and peace. John 14:27,

John 14:27

"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give

to you. Let not your hearts be troubled,

neither let them be afraid." Who said

these words? Jesus said these words.

Jesus said these words. "Peace I live

with you." Circle those words. My peace.

It's not just peace. It's his peace

I give to you. Let not your hearts be

troubled.

So that's inferring that we are to

control our hearts.

Um sometimes you would say I can't

control my heart.

Well the scripture is is encouraging you

yes you can.

U modern psychology very often will just

say to you well you can't control your

thoughts. You can't control your minds.

You know that's part of what

obsessivecompulsive

disorders are about. trying to bring

thoughts under control. Um, I think

about lots of passages of scripture. One

of them is take every thought captive

unto the obedience of Christ. You're not

just to let your mind run.

You can stop your mind from running.

You can stop it from running in fear.

You say, "Oh, but pastor, I don't think

so. I can't." And I would say, "Well,

you may be weak right now. You may

struggle with that, but let's start

building

trust and faith in him and start

memorizing scripture. And as you do

that, you'll learn to stop the thoughts

with his help.

Um, notice the next one there. I love

Colossians 3:15. And let the peace of

Colossians 3:15

Christ,

look at that word, rule.

That means be in charge in your hearts.

So you let the peace of Christ rule in

your hearts. Number five, anxiety as a

form of a divided

or a distracted heart.

Your heart can be divided in its

allegiance or distracted from what's

important.

And um we saw Martha, she comes to Jesus

and she's complaining about something

and Jesus looks at her and says,

"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and

troubled about many things,

but one thing is necessary."

That's a powerful passage right there. I

mean, look at that.

Andrew, Andrew, can you put your name in

there? Say your name twice. Are you

ready? Here we go. One, two, three.

You are anxious and troubled about many

things,

but one thing is necessary. Now, some of

you are going, "Okay, well, so what's

the one thing that's necessary?" Anybody

want to tell us what's the one thing

that's necessary from this passage?

What?

>> Jesus.

>> Yeah. Worshiping Jesus.

Being with Jesus. That's the one thing

that's necessary.

And and the opposite of that is anxiety

and troubles. And then number six,

anxiety actually

is revealing unbelief.

Unbelief and unbelief is the root issue

here. Take care, brothers, lest there be

any of you and even any of you an evil

and unbelieving heart. So, and then look

at Romans 14:23. Whatever does not

Romans 14:23

proceed from faith is sin.

So, um

this is an anti-popular psychology Bible

lesson tonight.

Popular psychology says, "Oh, you're

burdened and you know, you're anxious

and you know, there's not a lot you can

do about that. There's there's these

devices you can use and some thought

patterns that you can use to manipulate

your thought." And what we would say is

God is saying, "No, just come to me and

worship me instead of worshiping your

problem.

Be in awe." God is saying, "Be in awe of

me, not your problem.

If you'll be in awe of me, I'm going to

help you deal with your problem, and

I'll either solve your problem or I'll

give you the strength to deal with your

problem."

So, um, I guys, what were some things

that we talked about this morning,

Ruben? What were some things that were

on your or yesterday? What were some

things there?

Yeah, you were mentioning one of the

things we're talking about in

conversation and there's something that

Pastor Jason mentioned is whenever the

Bible talks about anxiety, it's always

coupled with faith. It's always coupled

with trust. Um, whenever Jesus is saying

not to be anxious or receiving a command

in scripture, do not be anxious, there's

always an antidote given. There's

something else. Um, I like how you

mentioned earlier we're talking about,

you know, people say they can't control

their hearts. Well, the Bible never

commands us to do something that we or

>> lays a responsibility upon us if we were

not able to do it.

>> So, if he's saying do not be anxious,

but instead, you know, through

supplication and thanksgiving, let your

requests be made known to God. Cast your

anxieties upon God. That is the thing to

replace that action with. Um, you can't

just stop thinking about something and

then it's like, don't think about flying

elephants. Well, you're going to be

thinking about flying elephants. But if

you give your mind something else to

focus on, you stop thinking about the

one thing, right? Um if you focus on

what you're not supposed to think about,

you're just going to think about it all

the more. And in scripture, what we're

given is really the picture of Christ.

The thing what we focus on is Christ. We

focus on who he is. We focus on his

character, his love, his um just the

great care that he has for us, which is

why it's mentioned right there in the

verse.

>> Yeah. Well, I love what you just said

that God doesn't tell us to do anything

and we don't have the ability to do it.

So, anything God tells us to do,

[snorts] he is giving us the ability to

do it.

>> His holy spirit empowers us.

>> Yeah. And his spirit is what empowers

that. That's right. That's a That's a

really good word. Other key things that

you thought about from our conversation?

>> I've been thinking about that

conversation for a long time since

Tuesday. not a long time. But I um was

also anxious because I didn't come up

here with the notes. I'm at a

disadvantage. But um here I'll give you

my notes. There you go.

>> Thank you.

[snorts]

>> I since we've had that conversation,

I tried to look through the scriptures

to see if the scriptures ever describe

Jesus as being anxious.

And I cannot find any single time that

the scripture says Jesus was anxious.

Jesus did suffer in the garden. We know

that in the garden of Gethsemane and he

he dealt with a lot of sorrow. He looked

at the people of Jerusalem and wept. He

looked at the different states of

leadership in Israel at the time and he

realized that they were taking advantage

of the people.

Certainly there were descriptions and

descriptors that we could say in our

modern vocabulary. You know, Jesus was

definitely worried about this group of

people and all that.

The only problem is I can't find it in

scripture.

And that is that is the standard.

I think I know why the scripture never

describes Jesus as being anxious because

he's God. God doesn't get worried. God

knows the plan.

God is the one telling us not to worry.

And so, what a friend,

>> what a friend to have uh to have Jesus

right by your side when you're going

through some of the worst things in your

life. Uh Pastor Lucas shared this and

I've been thinking about this uh many

years ago. Some of you remember Pastor

Lucas. He was uh our music pastor and he

also did a lot of biblical counseling.

He was describing a situation in which

he got he went to the grocery store

Indie his wife had sent him and he was

going to buy orange juice. That's what

she wanted. And he knew how much money

he had in the bank at the time and he

went to reach for the orange juice. And

in his mind, as he was reaching for it,

in a quick second, he thought about how

buying that would put them under in

their budget, would deplete their bank

savings, would then result in debt, and

then would result in hardship. And then

he would have to explain to his wife why

he didn't get orange juice. She would be

mad at him and perhaps even leave him.

And after that, he would be ashamed to

ministry because his wife left him. and

he did my orange juice and and he stood

there thinking,

>> "I've let my mind run.

>> I've let it go too fast." And it's kind

of comical, but you get the point. Uh

Lucas uh in that moment was sharing how

in his weakness he failed to catch his

mind and failed to bring it under

submission to Jesus and failed to look

at Jesus as his perfect friend who never

is anxious and to entrust his heart and

his mind in his in that moment to the

Lord. It's kind of a comical situation,

but how many of us go through each day

letting our minds, as Pastor Andrew just

earlier said, control us instead of

reigning in our minds under the lordship

of Jesus. So, that's what I've been

thinking about since we had that

conversation.

>> Yeah. And I I think that that's a key

part because I think that when we let

our minds run,

>> that's when anxiety builds and builds

and builds and builds.

And when does that happen most for you?

I think everybody may be different.

For some of you, it's on the drive to

work.

>> For some of you, it's when you lay down

to go to sleep. You're laying there or

you wake up in the middle of the night.

Maybe that starts off with having to run

to the restroom, but then you're sitting

there and you're awake and you're

thinking about whatever it is

and your mind can race and especially if

you're in the midst of a storm.

You know, you you you have a particular

thing in your life that's going on,

something that happened at work and

maybe your job is at threat or there's

somebody that is driving you crazy and

you're sitting there and you're thinking

about all the things that you would say

or I'm going to say or I'm going to

write this in an email. You know, be

very careful about long emails.

What you can do is you can write the

email,

email it to yourself and then forget it.

I I mean just okay, you sent it, you

send it to yourself and then go to when

I was leaving to go and become a

missionary with the IMB.

Mark Cassay said to me, this was kind of

actually in the early days of email, but

he said, he said, "Go ahead, write your

email. Do not send it until you've slept

on it. He said, "Don't write an email

that's dealing with a problem and then

send it before you've had a chance to

sleep on it." Because there's a lot of

times you wake up and you're like, I'm

not going to send that.

In our church office, we say this, you

are never allowed to solve a problem

through email.

If you have a problem with somebody

else, you have a problem that you're

trying to work out, you have to go to

them and work it out. Do it on the

phone, do it face to face, but don't

start texting. Don't start writing

emails.

Um, can I get an amen on that?

Trying to solve things with texts or

emails very often turns it'll blow up in

your face

and it's just not the way to do it.

Humans are designed to look at one

another, read each other's face, and

hear each other's voice. And we do a

whole lot better when we organically

solve problems.

But when we are laying there at night or

when we're driving to work or when we

are walking the dog or doing whatever

we're doing and our mind is running,

I believe your flesh

wants to run in that with no bridal,

with no whoo.

M

>> this is part of the reason it's good to

walk through life with brothers and

sisters with family. This is part of the

reason you should be able to talk with

people around you so that they can say,

you know, if if I'm going off on my

problem and Angela Colomb and I are

sitting here talking about Angela can

say, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute,

pastor.

Why do you say that? That hasn't

happened yet. Why are you worried about

that?

You're worrying about something that

hasn't even come up yet." Marcy

sometimes will look I'm a worst case

scenario thinker. She's like, "Ah,

whatever. Let's go." And I and I, you

know, sometimes I'm like that, but I'm

kind of paid to be a worst case scenario

thinker in order for the safety of the

church. And so there's a lot of times

where I'm sitting there thinking, well,

I need to consider what all the

possibilities are. And she's like, keep

your possibilities. I don't want to

think about that right now.

But I tend to think about those things.

But for those of you who are worst case

scenario thinkers,

that can just turn into sin

>> and anxiety.

Now, some of you, we wish you'd think

about it a little more. Um, [laughter]

but

>> yep. I was thinking um I I remember

talking about this with some students

years ago in a chapel and as I was

studying through scripture looking at

all the places where the Bible talks

about anxiety and when we're not to be

anxious and one of one of the common

threads that we see is I mean the word

in the in Greek really refers to cares

but more often than not when we're

referring to anxiety we're thinking

about fears

>> you know do not worry about tomorrow

what are people worried about what

they're going to eat you know what about

my job what about you know people say

that traffic gives them anxiety what are

you worried about that cutting you off

and hitting you. You know, it's almost

the root of anxiety. It's usually fear.

>> You know, we we may not be able to

control when you feel afraid at the

moment,

>> but do we live in the fear?

>> Do we continue to entertain the fear? Do

we continue to let that dominate our

lives? Well, scripture says, "Perfect

love casts out fear." If we know our

loving father, we know his disposition

towards us, we know how he provides, we

know his ability to protect, what reason

do we have to fear anything in the

future? know um whether we're going to

make ends meet. He's going to provide uh

what we're going to wear. You know,

what's the fear there? I mean, we don't

worry about what we're going to wear

about our clothes not being there. What

we're worried about is what people are

going to think about our clothes. We're

afraid of their opinion. So, almost

always whenever we see anxiety, it's

usually an undercurrent of fear. And so,

if we start looking at everywhere where

scripture talks about fear and how we

handle fear as children of God redeemed

by Christ, well, what does scripture say

about that?

>> Yeah. And you know that goes pastor

Rubin that goes to a good definition or

at least a maybe we can have a working

definition of anxiety. Um I I think we

have to look at anxiety at different

stages different levels. Um what you

described is a spiritual uh form of

anxiety. an anxiety that is rooted in

the unbelief of [snorts]

maybe even fear of man, fear of

circumstances, fear of uh predicaments,

fear of my own weaknesses.

I I think there's certainly uh a

definition of anxiety that has to

connect unbelief, fear, and um certainly

a seeking after things that bring

greater fear or greater uncertainty.

It's kind of a it's kind of a vicious

cycle if you think about it. Anxiety is

is such a um poison uh to follow. Jesus

says in Matthew 6, the Gentiles seek

after all these things. That is why they

are anxious.

So anxiety is a seeking. Jesus says

though, but for you seek first the

kingdom. So the remedy to anxiety is a

seeking, but it's a seeking of God's

kingdom, the first priorities of

righteousness, and all of these other

things will be given to you. It's almost

like, hey, prioritize God in your life.

All these things will melt away. Not

that troubles won't um disappear, but

they'll melt away because God matters

more. But to your point too, Pastor

Andrew, the physiological response of

anxiety, I mean, there's certainly

people that we meet with and even what

you just described, worst case scenario

thinking. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians

11, he says, "Apart from other things

for himself, there's the daily pressure

on me." Paul writes, "Of my anxiety for

all the churches." And Paul is saying,

"This is a weakness that I have." Now,

for Paul, we wouldn't say that he's

sinning here because Paul later says,

"This is causing me to go to God on your

behalf to the Corinthians." Um, I am a

prime witness to Pastor Andrew's worst

case scenario thinking. One of the

reasons why I'm a worst case scenario

thinker is because of Pastor Andrew.

>> Thanks a lot. [laughter]

>> But,

>> sorry, sorry I did that to you. But one

of the things that I've I've so admired

about Pastor Andrew over the years is

that worst case scenario his worst case

scenario thinking the brand that he's

the flavor the the type that he's

describing is one that leads us to pray.

It leads us to where Paul led us to

humility because Pastor Andrew often

says, "I have no wisdom here. Sorry,

Ben." I'm like, "You're supposed to know

everything. You're the lead pastor of

our church." And he says, "Nope.

I don't have the wisdom, but I know who

does. And we stop and we pray. And it's

important for us to do that. And it's

important for you to know that that

we're worst case scenario thinking

thinkers up to a point where we say,

"God, you're our friend and we need your

wisdom because we don't we're about to

go into a meeting

>> and we have the anxiety of this

situation

weighing heavily on our hearts and we

don't want to sin." And so th this is um

you know that that anxiety of unbelief

also the anxiety the physiological

anxiety of the reality of the pressures

of life. We have to recognize that those

um anxieties must for the Christian lead

us to trust and pray and depend on stop

what you're doing. Go to God.

>> Amen. You know we have some middle

schoolers and high schoolers in here

tonight and young people. I'd like to

ask you to just look right here for just

a minute. I want to talk to you guys for

a second because when I was your age,

and I can tell you this, when the other

two pastors on either side of me were

your age or were your age,

we all three would have been Christians

at that point.

But that didn't mean that we didn't have

things that we worried about. There were

lots of things that our mind would be

very concerned about and they would be

things about okay tomorrow. What's going

to happen tomorrow? But sometimes when I

was your age, I would think about

well what about what kind of what kind

of a man am I going to be? What kind of

a w I wasn't asking what kind of woman,

but if I was a woman, I could b ask what

kind of woman am I gonna be? What what

job am I gonna have?

What career am I going to have?

>> Um,

I see there's good fathers and there's

bad fathers.

Will I be a good father someday?

And I would sometimes I would worry

about, well, everybody else seems to be

able to find somebody to marry. Would I

ever be able to find somebody to marry?

Would somebody ever really love me?

Would I be a good husband?

And so there were things that were I was

worried about in my own little sixth

grade life or my 10th grade life,

but there were also things that were off

in the distant future that were on my

mind. And I just want to say to you,

some of these verses

were some of the verses that God used

to help me learn to trust in him and not

just live my life in anxiety.

>> You don't have to live your life in

anxiety.

You can begin to memorize passages of

scripture. Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wil keep

Isaiah 26:3

him in perfect peace, whose mind is

stayed on thee, whose heart trusts in

thee." The reason I can quote that is

because I learned it when I was starting

to see I needed it.

And learning that verse

was part of the thing that God used to

reset my mind.

So, I think it's real important for you

to know

that you and God can control your

thoughts.

You and God can control your heart.

The world says, "Oh, there's nothing

really you can do about that. You have

this condition."

>> Well, you only have that condition if

you allow it.

they they mention as a condition.

Anxiety really isn't a condition. It's

more of a symptom. It's usually tied in

with other things. But we want so

desperately to find a label to explain

or or justify our weakness. But

scripture doesn't give us that

allowance. Um not to say that we can't

people can't be dealing with very

crippling fear and they need something

kind of help take a little bit of that

edge off in order to deal with it in a

way that's healthy. It's not just a

pharmaceutical problem. I mean, you have

to address a spiritual issue, too. And

we can't identify, oh, I'm I'm an

anxious person. What can I do about

that? No, we're we're told to not be

anxious. So, there is something we can

do about it. Not

>> are there certain personalities that are

more prone toward being anxious?

>> Absolutely.

>> I believe that that's true.

>> But that's where you realize, oh, okay,

maybe I do have a personality that's

more prone toward that. There's other

people that have a personality that's

more torn toward not being anxious but

being really irresponsible,

>> angry,

>> or maybe there's some personalities that

are a little bit more prone toward a

caleric. We call it a caleric

personality. That's a that's an angry

response, whatever it may be. There's

some people that brood a lot. That means

they think a lot. They ruminate on it a

lot. There's some people that don't. My

daughters when I was in middle when they

were in middle school they said to me

dad did you know it's been stat excuse

me it's been scientifically proven that

boys are capable of thinking about

nothing

[laughter]

I said what they said yes we studied it

today some boys are capable of thinking

about nothing

because I would always say you know

girls your mind is always working on

something the brain is very powerful He

said, "Nuh-uh. Boys are capable of

thinking about nothing. They can just,

you know, they're kind of

I don't know what the truth of that is,

but I know that they were convinced of

it, but

don't be the victim.

We kids, listen. We live in a society

that loves to make victims. And a victim

is somebody that can't do anything about

their circumstance.

Don't live in victimhood.

Jesus said, "I am the King of Kings and

the Lord of Lords.

I rule over everything.

And if you are his and you're his

servant, you're not a victim. You're a

child of the most high God and king

and he can help you as you work through

your problems.

You're you're a victim most when you're

without him.

>> But when you're with him, you're

anything but a victim.

And that's exactly what first Peter

says. Because he cares for you. Cast

your cares upon him. Why? Because the

high king of heaven cares about you.

So, does that help, guys? I I I hope

you're hearing me. I I hope you'll allow

God's word. I mean, Psalm 56, when I am

afraid, I will trust in you. How about

this one? 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 1:7

1:7

which says, "For God has not given us a

spirit of fear, but of power and love

and a sound mind." I think part of the

reason I can sit here today and not be

lost in insanity is that verse.

>> That verse saved my sanity.

Um, God's word will will save you.

Um, in Romans it says, and help me out.

In Romans, do not be conformed to this

world, but be transformed by what?

By the renewing of your mind. Well, how

do you renew your mind?

The word of God.

Let the word of God renew your mind.

So that means you're getting renew means

get rid of the old, bring in the bring

in the new. And the new is God's word.

So you're reprogramming.

Don't be conformed to this world, but be

transformed

by the reprogramming of your mind. And

how do you reprogram your mind? with the

truth of the word of God that will help

you with anxiety. It will help you

greatly with anxiety. So, okay. So, then

when we find oursel anxious and we're

upset and everything else,

>> what do we do?

>> Do we confess that as sin?

>> There may be times. There may be times

if there's been a long pattern of

letting fear dominate our lives. we we

need to repent and go back to the Lord

and confess, I haven't been trusting you

with this issue or this particular

problem. I've been relying on my own

strength, relying on my own ability to

control this, and I need to let that go.

I need to that's been wrong, and I I

need to cast that on you, Lord. And at

that point, it goes from being an a fear

thing to a patience thing. Because if

I've given my burden over to him,

knowing that he will act in his time,

well then what I do now is I wait for

him. As I was just thinking about Psalm

26 or 27:14, wait for the Lord. Be

strong and let your heart take courage.

Wait for the Lord. So after I've

repented and turned back to him and and

cast my anxiety on him. Well, now I wait

for him to act.

>> Yeah.

One of our do not daughters, one of our

nieces from California, they live in LA,

came and stayed with us for spring break

two years ago.

Uh, actually it was more like five years

ago. Sorry, time flies. And she at the

time was in high school and she at the

time dealt with anxiety

and uh she spent a week with Uncle

Andrew and Aunt Marcy and we were down

in the Keys together and we talked a

lot. we'd had dinner and we would sit

around and talk and she told

us and her sister about her struggle

with anxiety and um and I I just went I

got a big piece of paper and I wrote out

a couple of verses

and I said, "Stella, I think you ought

to memorize these."

And so Stella started memorizing those.

And I talked to Jason and Amanda, her

mom and dad, a couple of months later

and they said, "You know, something

happened on that trip to Florida."

She said, they said, "We went in

Stella's bedroom

and on the ceiling of her bedroom, she

had gone and gotten a poster, a big

piece of poster board."

And she wrote on the big piece of poster

board this verse right here, Psalm 56:3,

Psalms 56:3

"When I am afraid, I will trust in

thee." Mhm.

>> And she put that above her bed

on her room. They went in her bathroom

in her house. I mean, excuse me, in her

bathroom in her there in their house.

And they noticed on the bathroom mirror

was another poster that she had made,

smaller one. And it said, "Thou will

keep him in perfect peace whose mind is

stayed on thee." M

>> and they just noticed that she had

posted around in her room in her little

domain

>> God's word.

>> Yeah.

>> And she started memorizing it and they

said Stella is just maturing. She's

overcoming these fears and these

anxieties. Today she's in college. She's

very success. She's a senior in college

actually. and um she's she's doing very

very well, but what could have been

something that gripped her life forever

um became under control.

And so the more that you guys back there

in the back, the more that you guys can

get a hold on this now,

it will become a great strength for the

rest of your life.

You won't build huge habits of running

around afraid.

You can build huge habits of running

around trusting in the Lord. And I would

just encourage you just casting all of

your cares upon him because he cares for

you. So

>> when when I consider those passages of

scripture too, Pastor Andrew, and I I

have to process if I need to repent of a

sin, I I start with what what does Jesus

command? What did Jesus command in those

passages? He says there, you know, have

you worried about what you're going to

eat? I've worried about that. What about

what you're going to wear? I've worried

about that, too.

Are you worried about what you're going

to drink? Yeah, I've worried about that.

Uh when it comes to anxiety, yeah, do we

worry about the earthly things? I I

confess I have worried about those

things. Whenever we process repentance,

we should go to scriptures and see where

have we missed the mark. I'm not talking

to non-believers. I'm talking to

believers.

>> Can you what Pastor Ruben shared about

being afraid?

Am I afraid?

I've been afraid before. My kids have

been afraid. I've seen some of you be

afraid before. Have I failed to trust

the Lord? Have I failed to seek his

righteousness first and his kingdom?

Yeah, I've failed. And so, um, I have a

friend in Jesus who I can run to and

anchor my soul. Pastor Andrew also

talked about something really important

that I I think often goes overlooked

with anxiety.

It's Have you all ever been to that

Holland outlet in Miami? Like the water

where the waves are huge and things go

up and down. Have you ever seen that

with the boats they crash the waves?

Have you ever

>> Oh, a haulover inlet. Hollowover inlet

where the where the boats go out to from

the inter coastal out to the other side.

Haulover. Yeah.

>> We're a bunch of kayaks on that body of

water.

And the fastest thing that you and I

need to do in Christ is anchor ourselves

to Christ in anxiety.

You don't just have Christ, though. If

you're a Christian, a genuine believer,

you have other brothers and sisters that

anchor you. What do I need most when I'm

seeking and my mind is out of control? I

need brothers and sisters who will

anchor me to the truth, to the beauty

and um just everlasting word of God.

If I'm a young person or if I'm an older

person, I am trying to find people to

fill my life that will anchor me

increasingly so because we're a bunch of

kayaks in the middle of a storm,

>> untethered.

And if we get tethered to Christ and to

the brothers and sisters, to the local

body of believers, we will anchor

ourselves. Our minds will be under

control. The Lord will be the lords of

our the Lord of our heart and of our

minds. So I that's what I do. I have to

repent of my sin of not trusting God,

being anxious when I should be trusting,

and then anchor myself to Christ and the

brothers and sisters.

>> Yeah, that's good. That's good. One last

concept before we go and I'm going to

ask um just for a minute if Jackie I

want to give you a heads up. If you have

a word for everyone tonight, I want to

give you that opportunity because you

have been through a lot in your life and

you have rested in the Lord. I'm going

to let you kind of think about that. But

let me give you this concept.

How many of you have ever been to the

Grand Canyon? Has anybody been to the

Grand Canyon? Over half of you, how many

of you have ever been anywhere? We're in

Florida, so this is a little different,

but have you ever been anywhere where

you were on the edge of a cliff

like the Grand Canyon? Kids, have you

ever been on the edge of a cliff? How

many of you ever had a thought of

[laughter]

whoa,

like it scared you? Did you ever feel

that way when you were standing on the

edge of something? Why did you have that

thought?

Because bad things could happen, right?

And what is it? What what bad thing

could happen?

>> Okay. You could fall

>> fall over and die.

>> You could fall over and [laughter] die,

right? That's exactly right. Good job.

So, is that a good fear or a bad fear?

>> That is a fear that will save your life.

Not all fear is a bad fear, right?

There's some fears that are good.

Let's say this.

If you are on the edge of a decision

that is a moral decision, you're you're

contemplating sinning and there's

something inside of you that is saying,

"Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it."

And there's this fear. Is that a good

fear or a bad fear?

>> That's a good fear.

So, I'm not saying that all fear is

evil. Some fear is given to you by God

to save you, to preserve you.

But I will say this,

there is a fear that doesn't come from

God.

And there's a fear that he would often

say to people around him when either an

angel would show up or God would show

up. And he would say, "Fear not.

You don't need to be afraid. Yes, I'm

awesome and powerful and right now

you're scared, but don't be afraid. I

have good news. Don't be afraid. You are

a favored one. Don't be afraid. I I have

something good for you. When I think

about this,

most of the time if you're looking at

life and you're afraid, you have these

things that is making you afraid, you're

afraid with anxiety, understand this,

that is not from God.

>> For God has not given us a spirit of

fear. If your whole life is a spirit of

fear, understand that's not from God.

1 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not

1 Timothy 1:7

given us a spirit of fear." So if you're

running around afraid, if you're running

around afraid of what's going to happen

with your friends, afraid of what's

going to happen with your job, afraid of

what's going to happen with this, afraid

of what's going to happen with that, if

you're running around

with a spirit of fear, that is not from

God. And you can take courage with this

that God says, I give you a spirit of

a

>> not of fear but of power and love and a

sound mind.

>> Yeah.

>> So be encouraged that when you have

fear, that's not from God. Unless you're

standing on the edge of the Grand

Canyon, and that's a good fear that he

gave you to preserve your life. Or

unless you're about to make a moral

decision that's going to ruin your life,

>> that's a good fear. He's given you that

fear to save you. But a spirit of fear

is not from him. So, I'm going to give

Jackie the last word. Jackie, what would

you say um to us tonight as we kind of

think about anxiety and fear and

trusting the Lord and casting our cares

upon him?

>> Well, recently I've been thinking about

all the whatifs in my life. What if uh

my son lives in a tornado alley and what

if what if something happened? What if

there isn't enough money at the end of

the month? what if uh one of the

grandkids is sick? And and so many what

ifs and I've really been trying to

concentrate on what if I trust the Lord?

What [snorts] if I hold that thought

captive? What if I um pray without

ceasing?

>> What what would that be like? So, I'm

really trying to turn that around and

stay away from [clears throat] the

whatifs and turn it to uh we know what

the answer is.

>> Amen. Good word. Thank you. Let's stand

together.

Now listen, we have something good to

eat over here. I I think a couple of

guys are going to go for a brief

meeting. And so for those of you that

need to be in that brief meeting, let's

do that right away. But for others of

you, there is something good to drink

and something good to eat over there.

There are new folks here this evening

and we want you to know that we're

really glad you're here if you're new to

us. And get to know one another. Take a

minute to say hello. What's your name?

Where are you from? Um get to know

somebody new uh tonight. Let's pray

together as we go. Father, thank you

that you have not given us a spirit of

fear, but of power and love and a sound

mind. Thank you that you don't want your

children to run around afraid. Thank you

that you care about us. I pray that we'd

be the kind of people that grow in

confidence in you. And uh Lord, that our

lives would be characterized by a

steadfast faith in you. Lord, help us to

learn from Martha and her struggles.

Martha, Martha, you've got so many

things on your mind. Lord, I pray that

we would hear that our name there.

Andrew, Andrew,

you have so many things. Trust in me.

Don't be afraid of those. Lord, I pray

that our lives would grow powerful in

faith, in confidence, in joy, and in

peace. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Love you all very much. Enjoy

something to eat.