Freedom from Anxiety (Matthew 6) | Pastor Dan Lian

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Come on, if you love Jesus, put your hands together for King Jesus.

So good.

So good.

Well you all congratulate seats.

Thank you so much for that warm Orlando welcome.

Thank you so much, team, for serving us so well today in song.

And and uh hey, how you doing?

It's so good to uh meet many of you and maybe reconnect with a few of you.

If uh if we haven't met before and you're a little confused, let me explain.

Uh my name is Dan Lee Ann, and I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia.

That's the reason I sound this way.

Uh my mother and father are Chinese, that's the reason my face is this way.

My soul is actually Puerto Rican, that's the reason I dress this way.

And uh nine years ago, my family and I moved to Anderson, South Carolina.

So I'm a southerner, go Tigers.

Uh that's the reason I'm a southerner.

I take I have uh type 2 diabetes, I really do.

I uh drive a truck, I take college football specifically, our Clemson Tigers, way too seriously, and it's an absolute joy uh to serve at a great church called New Spring Church, where I'm one of the teaching pastors.

But as a part of my role, I get to travel around this blue rock, God made, talking about Jesus.

And uh I've done that for 30 years now, and I think about like 12, 14 years ago, I got to connect with Pastor Keith and uh made an immediate friend and brother, and it's so cool to see with my own eyes what's happening here at Celebration Orlando, and there's a sense that God is just getting warmed up for a brand new season that y'all are gonna be stepping into.

Uh, thankful for your leadership.

I'm thankful, thankful for uh your leadership culture here, uh, the team here.

How about you put your hands together and thank God for just the amazing people who serve us so well here at this great church?

I don't want to hold you up for too long.

I got told that if I stick to time in this service, I'm gonna get taken out for sushi.

Uh the only thing better than sushi is sushi someone else is paying for.

And so, in our few minutes together, I want to bring a word uh that's specific for this service.

Uh, if you, I don't know if you're gonna catch the last services uh message online, uh, but for this service specifically, uh, I I felt that God simply wanted to break the stronghold of anxiety in this room.

There's a cycle of constant worry that you've been experiencing and it's ending.

Jesus is speaking the words, peace be still, over your panic attacks.

That heavy cloud of depression is lifting, that tightness you carry in your chest is being released.

God is opening the windows of your homes, and that heaviness is being cleared.

Anxiety medication will not be your story for the rest of your life.

It will not be your children's story.

I believe God is calling Celebration Church in a brand new season to be an oxygen tank for Orlando.

So, my friends, breathe in deep and breathe out.

And hear your friends say, You don't have to worry.

Would you turn to a neighbor, let him know you don't have to worry so much, bro?

You worry way too much.

Would you turn to another neighbor and say, hey, second choice?

You don't have to worry either.

I know you got a little bit of anxiety why I didn't turn to you first, but you don't have to worry either.

I just believe that this church was meant to be a gift to this city.

People who need hope will find hope here.

People who need freedom will find freedom here.

People who need help will find help here.

It will be like people who are gasping for air and they'll find deep refreshment in their soul here as they hear their friend Jesus say, you don't have to worry.

Let's pray and we'll jump into this word, and then I'm gonna find out from you the most expensive sushi in town.

Let's pray.

Dear Jesus, help! Amen.

You don't have to worry.

This has been a word for me because I found myself worrying more today than I ever have before the last couple of years, have told the story of a constant anxiety that I have felt that I cannot shake.

It was never my story.

Growing up, I was always the happy-go-lucky kid, the glass half-full kid, the silver lining kid, the positive outcome is coming, kid.

I was always the one within our marriage with where I'd always try to spin things to a positive.

But for the last couple of years, I have found myself in my thoughts.

I've found myself ruminating on the worst case scenario time and time again, to the point where minutes are burnt, hours are wasted.

I find myself at night lying in my bed, staring at a dark ceiling, wondering what trouble awaits.

I found myself worrying more today than I ever have before.

Have you felt that?

I thought I just started worrying because I got old this year.

I told the first service that I turned 50 this year.

And I know I don't look 50, I know I'm aging well.

Because you know how they say black doesn't crack.

Well, Asian don't raise it, and you know what I'm saying?

And so I'm like, I'm aging well, but trust me, and MRI will reveal knees that have done 50 laps of the sun.

And I just thought you start worrying more when you got old.

I remember when I was younger, I would hang out with older people and they would just worry about stuff.

I just thought it just comes with age.

When you get old, do you worry more about money stuff?

Have I made enough?

Have I saved enough?

Have I invested early enough?

Will I be able to retire?

Uh you worry about health stuff more because you hear stories all the time.

Do you hear about so-and-so and so-and-so?

And you hear all these horror stories.

I'm going to more funerals now than weddings.

Everything about me seems to be breaking down.

I'm at that age where I'm waking up with injuries I didn't go to sleep with.

Seriously, any older men here in the room know that feeling?

You're laying in bed at night feeling good about yourself.

You didn't hurt anything at the gym, you didn't pop anything on that run.

You wake up to find that you tore a hamstring, had a vigorous dream, and now you're hobbling around all day long.

Every lump, every bump, every mole, every freckle I fixate on.

The other week I found a freckle with a hair growing out of it.

And I play with that hair all day long.

And I couldn't resist.

You know what I did to that hair?

I plucked that hair.

And my wife yells at me, you can't be pulling hairs out of a freckle.

That is bad for your health.

So I had to Google whether or not it is detrimental to one's health to pull the hair out of a freckle.

And the first three articles told me, No, it is not detrimental to one's health to pull the hair out of a freckle.

But that fourth article I read, raised some questions.

You know what I'm saying?

It's so I'm worried about health stuff.

I'm worried about family stuff.

So much is happening in my family.

I can't slow things down.

There are way too many things changing.

My 22-year-old daughter got married two months ago.

And it was horrible.

It was a terrible day.

It was the worst day of my life.

It was like the movie taken, unfolding in slow motion.

And somehow I got left with the bill.

Like it's.

But now my 22-year-old daughter has just graduated.

She did so well at school.

She she's a graphic designer, and and uh she's trying to find meaningful work.

But every job she's gone for in the last couple of months, she's found 20 other people who are equally qualified.

And she's finding it hard to find work, and that makes her worry.

And how many parents know when your kids are worrying, you're worrying.

I've got a 20-year-old son now who's worried about whether or not he's chosen the right degree because he's scared that he won't be able to find meaningful work.

I've got aging parents.

I never knew that I would find myself worrying about my parents.

But my father is 76, my mother is 74, they're in Melbourne, Australia, on the other side of the world, and I feel I'm not close enough for them.

And I worry.

What do you worry about?

Is it money stuff?

You don't need an economics degree to explain inflation now.

A dollar today doesn't go as far as it used to yesterday.

Are you worried about whether or not uh you have found yourself in an industry where you'll be able to even just make ends meet, survive, let alone thrive?

Maybe you're worried about your work situation right now, it's a little unstable.

And something you used to enjoy a couple of years ago that used to bring so much satisfaction to your soul now is a grind.

Maybe you're worried about some business stuff right now because those headwinds are real.

A couple of years ago it felt like it was quite a smooth and easy ride, but now everything is a challenge.

Maybe you're worried about some health stuff right now, that illness, that sickness, that disease, that cancer that went away that you're fearful about returning.

What are you worried about?

Maybe you're worried about some culture stuff right now.

You're just seeing a world that seems to have gone crazy, and as soon as you think the world has got as crazy as it's gonna get, what does the world go ahead and do every time?

The world says, hold my beer and watch this.

We're all knit together by this common thread, this side of eternity.

Mortal beings limited in power, looking towards God, asking you the question, where to from here?

Because right now I'm worried.

And if you have felt that tightness and you have felt that weight, if you know that anxiety, I want you to know three things.

Number one, you're not alone.

That's the reason it's so good to come to for no other reason, it's good to come to church just to look at a bunch of other people who are messed up as we are.

Just to look people in the eye and go, You going through it?

Yeah, I'm going through it too.

Let's hug and cry a little bit.

Number two, you're not weird.

The statistics show right now that especially in North America, there are people who are dealing with constant worry, crippling anxiety, unlike any other time of recorded history.

And thirdly, I want you to hear that our friend Jesus has got something to say to your situation right now.

You've heard the thoughts, you've heard the opinions, you've heard the podcasts, you've heard the YouTube experts, you've heard the social media influences.

Now let Jesus speak directly to your worry and bring you healing and peace.

Can someone say a good amen to that?

Because I've heard his words, I have found his grace and his sustenance, I've found his power and his perspective and his provision in this season.

And I stand before you here, not just a pastor with a sermon, but a brother with a testimony.

That as we've walked through this season, as we have travailed through this valley of constant stress and worry, I have known the power in the presence of my friend Jesus.

And his words have made not only a difference, his words have been life.

One of the great worries in our family's life is connected to our immigration status.

Now we're here legally, it's all good, so put your phone away.

Don't be texting that hotline, bro.

Chill.

But long story short, in 2020, as a family, we feel caught, we felt called to stay here long term.

So we went to a lawyer and they said basically, if we give up our temporary visas, we can apply for many of you will know about this, permanent residence in the form of a green card.

There is a little bit of a limbo period that should be about six months to 12 months for the kind of green card that we're going for, unless something crazy happens.

So we give up our temporary visas in January 2020.

And then the craziness.

So here we have been for the last seven years in limbo, not being able to make any long-term plans because we can receive a letter tomorrow that gives us seven days to leave the country.

In the last couple of years, every airport visit has been especially anxiety-building.

Because in my line of work, as I travel around, I hear story after story of people in similar situations finding themselves in a dark place really quick.

And so this is the reality that my wife and I have had to process for the last six, seven years.

It even built to a point where I experienced a couple of panic attacks late last year and early this year.

In the shower, feeling like I'm burning up, even though the water is cold, laying in bed feeling like I'm having a heart attack, not able to catch my breath.

And so, what's been life-giving to me is this journey that I've had to walk with this beautiful Christian counselor.

Actually, he was the man who led me to the Lord when I was 17 years old.

He was a youth pastor, and then he met me, led me to the Lord, then left ministry.

That's how bad a person I was.

I messed up a perfectly good youth pastor's life.

But as I've journeyed with Glenn again for the last year, the word of God and the Spirit of God has been literal life for my soul.

And all I want to do in my remaining 20 minutes and 42 seconds with you is I want to share with you what the Holy Spirit has done for me.

As I've opened up the word of God and let Jesus speak to my worry.

My friend Glenn encouraged me to study this piece of scripture every day for a week.

And I've been doing this now non-stop coming up to a year.

So if you have your Bibles, would you go with me to the book of Matthew, chapter 6?

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

You knew where we were going.

Matthew chapter 6, verse 25.

Matthew 6:25

A time when Jesus was hanging out with a group of his friends, knowing that he would be overheard as he whispered, sweet and beautiful life, giving truth to those he loved most.

Jesus Christ, the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the end, the one who was outside of time, understood that he'd be right here in this time, knowing that his friends would be leaning in with the same questions that his friends wrestled with then.

Fear of the things going around, storms of uncertainty swirling in the sky, floods of stress rising around our feet.

Jesus would clear his celestial throat and he would speak.

And he says in verse 25, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life.

What you will eat or drink about your body, what you will wear, isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Hey, look at the birds of the air.

They do not sow or reap or store away in barns.

And yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?

Jesus is saying the reason a lot of your worry is because you think it helps.

That if you keep playing that worst-case scenario in your head, that worst case scenario won't happen.

But the irony is not only does it not help, it wastes hours, you never get back.

Come on, anyone brave enough to admit that you've wasted whole hours of your life worrying about something that God's already got.

Come on, stressing about something that Jesus has already spoken to.

Worry doesn't add value to your life, it robs from your life.

He continues on in verse 28 and he says, And why do you worry about your clothes so much, Dan?

See how the flowers of the field grow?

They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you they're not even Solomon in all of his splendor, was dressed like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith?

So do not worry saying, What shall we eat, and what shall we drink, what shall we wear?

For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

What's happening here?

Jesus Christ, the great physician, the great counselor, is diagnosing the source of a lot of our anxiety, our stress, our worry, and tired.

And what he's doing as the one who created the heavens and the earth and knit you together in your mother's womb, therefore understanding you better than you understand yourself, he is giving you a pathway forward.

He's prescribing a practical way towards freedom.

He's promising you a supernatural move of his Holy Spirit to untangle that which is so tangled in our thinking and in our soul.

So, what's happening here?

I said this in the first service, but if you're writing down notes, you can pull out your leather-bound journals and scribble some things right now.

I'm not saying that you need to take notes to get into heaven.

I'm just saying, why take a chance?

You know what I'm saying?

You might get to the end, it might be an open book quiz, there might be some extra credit.

I'm gonna mess around, that's not true.

Don't write that down, please.

Don't write that down.

That's messed up heresy.

Don't write that down.

But I've always found in my spiritual journey that review has been so helpful in me getting revelation deep into my spirit.

Secondly, if you have an iPhone or an iPad, you can open up the note app and thank the Lord Jesus for Steve Jobs as you do so.

That's a wonderful piece of technology you have right there.

Anyone else anyone got an Android device?

Sean's got an Android, you can put it away.

I've got nothing for you and for your friends for the rest of our time together because you mess up our group texts with that invasive, presumptuous green bubble energy.

You know what I'm saying?

We all on the same page, we making plans, we all hanging out, we're gonna be you know, we chilling, we cruising, like it's all blue, boom, boom, boom, and then Shazam, the whole thing goes green, because Sean over here is cheap.

You know what I'm saying?

All that kind of Raymond James.

I work like you know, I got like, you know, money, money, money, like kind of economics, blah, blah, blah.

He still couldn't bypass that deal at that Verizon at the strip ball.

Messing around.

You can write some stuff down too.

What Jesus here is calmly doing is he's identifying the source of a lot of the stress and the worry that festers in your soul.

And he lovingly prescribes a way.

First and foremost, what he's saying is that you're the stress because you feel overlooked by God.

You feel lost in the wash.

You feel so tiny in the grand scheme of everything unfolding in this chaotic universe at any given time.

You're holding on with all of your strength, but your strength feels insufficient, and so you feel overwhelmed.

And it's easy to feel lost in the crowd because there are 8.4 billion people on planet Earth all going through similar things.

It's logical for us to think that God must be tied up looking at other things more pressing than this right now.

So when you find yourself isolated and alone in the middle of a dark universe, unable to hold on, that creates a lot of anxiety in one soul.

So, what does Jesus say?

Okay, here's the remedy: call a timeout, go outside, and look at the birds.

That's not just metaphoric.

That's literal.

And that's what I've been doing for the last year.

Every single morning, I'll open up the sliding door at the back of my house, looking into my little backyard, and that little backyard has become a bird watching sanctuary.

I am now a birder.

A nerdy birder.

I've got four custom-made bird houses.

We had bluebirds this last spring nest in there.

I've got two squirrel-proof bird feeders because birds are from heaven.

Uh squirrels are from hell.

Like, so like, and I'll look at birds.

You know why?

Because Jesus said, look at the birds.

And let me tell you about that bird.

That little bird that you overlooked this morning was not overlooked by God.

This bird that you didn't even pay attention to had the attention of heaven.

In fact, this morning, that bird got fed breakfast by God's hand.

That bird got to eat breakfast on God's Ubereats account.

This bird was not forgotten by God.

So how dare you think you were forgotten by God?

That bird is seen by God.

Remember, you were seen by God.

God provided for that bird.

He will provide for you because that bird wasn't made in God's image.

But you were.

Jesus' blood was not shed for that little bird.

His blood was shed for you.

That bird doesn't have an eternal soul.

Child of God, you bear an eternal soul.

So if he would take care of that itty pitty tweet tweet bird, how much more does he take care of you for your marriage, your family, your children, your work, your business, your life?

He takes care of you because if he's in those details, he's definitely in your detail.

So you're gonna look at the birds.

Seriously.

I've been looking at birds.

I've got beautiful birds in my backyard.

Every state that I travel to, now in my itinerary, I make sure that I go to see the state bird.

I didn't have to do it on this trip because I've seen the state bird of Florida.

It's like it's what you did.

Anyone know the state bird of Florida?

Somebody's yellow the mosquito, it's not the mosquito.

It's the northern mocking bird, which is also the state bird of Texas, where I was last week.

Oklahoma has the scissor tail flycatcher, South Carolina, the Carolina Wren, North Carolina, the Northern Cardinal.

Um, the brown thrasher is Georgia's state bird.

Uh I was in uh Seattle, Washington three weeks ago, and I was observing the meadowlark.

So many beautiful birds, and every single one seen by God.

So the next time you feel overwhelmed in the morning, look out your window.

Find a bird.

And hear the words of Jesus.

I'm gonna feed you.

So the next time you feel overwhelmed on your way to work, the next time you wake up at three in the morning from a bad dream, the next time you find yourself sitting with your spouse at your dinner table looking at the bills, trying to make ends meet, even though the ends want to run away from one another.

The next time you find yourself going down that rabbit hole after hours of doom scrolling, bad news, bad news, bad news, stop it.

And do this.

Do what I've been doing.

Get your right hand and put it on your chest and do this.

I want you to breathe in deep and breathe out and say it out loud, God sees me.

Come on, breathe in.

Breathe out and say, God feeds me.

I've done that so many times in the last couple of years.

I am seen by God.

I am fed by God.

I am not forgotten by God.

I'm profoundly remembered by God.

The second thing he does here is he's letting us know we get stressed because we've believed the lie.

In fact, I would say our souls are sick because we swallowed a cultural lie that's been fed to us from our youngest age.

And the cultural lie is this: that you need to have enough, you need to be enough, you need to have the car in your driveway, the right address where you live, the kind of job that is the envy of others, the right position in that job, the right space for your office, the right kind of vacations when you get a little time off, the right kind of social media presence, influence following, amount of likes.

All of these things are required for the soul to rest.

But until then, you better struggle, you better strive, you better claw, you better grind, you better climb, you better climb, you better climb.

And if you ain't climbing, someone else is climbing.

If you ain't going forward, you're going backwards.

And you hear it all the time.

That's the reason Jesus says, and you're so stressed about the clothes that you wear and the food that you eat, the places where you live.

He's saying you've swallowed a cultural lie and it has made your soul sick.

And he blows that up by declaring a truth that your life is not marked as beautiful by a culture with shifting tastes.

Your life is marked as beautiful when the one who created all beauty says, Ah, I like this one.

So he says, After you've seen the birds, go outside and find a flower, look at the flowers.

So the second thing I've had to learn is look at flowers.

Now, full disclosure, I haven't become a massive flower guy.

Big bird guy.

And the flower thing I'm not as down for.

I don't buy my wife many flowers.

No, I know.

I don't see it as a good investment.

It's like fundamentally I'm buying something that's already dead that's gonna die even more.

I see, it's just as an Asian guy with just fiscal responsibility in my DNA, I just can't bring myself to doing that very often.

I like buying my wife jewelry.

My wife likes jewelry, gold is appreciating in value, Bitcoin about to have a jump, you know what I'm saying?

Like, Bitcoin is not as romantic, but it is responsible.

I'm not a flower expert, but I know this about flowers.

They're beautiful, they're intricate, that AI can try to mimic, but cannot create from nothing.

And then Jesus says, Guess what?

My dad made it.

And if he would clothe the grass of the field with lilies so ornate, and they're only here today because tomorrow they will be burnt by the Florida sun.

How much more will he clothe and cover you, O child of God?

You see, the reason we worry and we stress is because we think that God isn't good at clothing his kids.

We think that he is a hand-me-down, cheap God.

That he's the bread and water, just enough God.

Like shop at Ross for less, maybe goodwill kind of God.

And not like cool goodwill.

I'm talking about, you know, like we think to ourselves that our lives are just a matter of us trying to do our best to get things that will show itself as successful and arrive, but he says, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm the God who loves to bless, loves to beautify.

I'm an extra God.

Look at the flower that proves that fact.

So you think that God is some kind of, you know, discount website God, and and and because he can't be trusted with taking care of your life, you gotta take matters into your own hands.

No, no, no.

He's not.

He's a good dad.

And any and any parents here in the room know the feeling of going without so our kids can have enough?

Any parents know in the room what it's like to do our absolute best so our kids have the absolute best.

We all know that feeling.

I was ves I was vacationing in Destin recently with my family.

It was actually after my it was a graduation trip with my daughter, and we're all hanging out.

And Destin is pretty, but there's not much.

There's a beach, and then there's an outlet mall, nothing much in between.

So we're at this outlet mall, and um and Caitlin had done so well at school and said, Baby girl, I want to treat you with something.

She goes, Well, I want this coach tote bag, and I'd love to, you know, maybe have a look at this out.

So, you know what a tote bag is?

You know what a tote bag?

Because you're a modern man, show you what a tote bag is, sir.

It's like a it's like a like a Walmart shopping bag, right?

With a hole stretched out.

That's all a tote bag is.

So we go to coach, we find this tote bag, and I said, baby girl, I'm gonna get you this tote bag.

But then I look at the price tag on that tote bag, and it's$550.

Okay, I'm gonna get it for you, but so what's the discount on it?

No discount.

What do you mean there's no discount?

We're in an outlet mall, there's no discount, sorry, no discount.

Again, so being fiscally responsible as an Asian guy, it's in my DNA.

I said, I cannot buy a bag full price at a disc at a disc, this is a discount store.

So, you know, baby go, I'm gonna find a deal online.

Let dad shop around, I'm gonna find you a deal online.

So that night I went and did some research and I found the exact same bag at on a great website called Timu.

And and I got the exact same bag, but instead of it being uh$550, it was only$75 delivered.

So I ordered that bag.

A couple weeks later, it arrives.

My daughter and my son were back from college, incidentally, having dinner that night, we're all hanging out, and I presented her the bag, and she opened it up, and we knew we had a problem.

Because first of all, this big waft of gasoline came out of the box.

Second of all, it was meant to be maple brown, but it was less maple brown and more bright red.

And when you touched it, your hand went bright red as well.

Third of all, the word coach uh was spelt uh wrong.

I'm not sure, but I think I may have purchased a fake.

But my daughter grabs it, she says, This is fine, I love this.

I just want to keep this, this is fine.

It'll do what I want it to do.

I just want to carry my laptop around.

And as well as that, everywhere I go, it'll remind me of my cheap dad.

But here's the deal: I'm not cheap.

And every parent in this room knows that they would give whatever was required so your kid could have enough.

And if I know that as an earthly dad, come on, how much more does our perfect heavenly father know how to pour out the absolute best on your life?

You're worried because you think your life will only be beautiful if you can make it beautiful by your own strength and effort.

The life that is beautiful and arrived is the one blessed, come on, and covered by God.

He is not a Timu God, He's a straight from the coach factory, full retail God.

Can someone say a good amen to that?

He will bless and cover your life.

So again, so I've been doing this every day.

Get your right hand, put it on your chest, and breathe in deep.

Breathe out and say, God will clothe me.

Breathe in, breathe out, say God will cover me.

Thirdly and lastly, uh, the reason we worry, as diagnosed by Dr.

Jesus, is that we've allowed things that aren't God to become as big as God in our life.

And that has caused wrong worship in our life.

And when you allow wrong worship into your journey, anxiety is the only potential fruit that will be born.

That's what he's saying here.

He's saying you all are running around like a bunch of pagans.

What's a pagan?

A pagan isn't someone who doesn't believe in God, a pagan is someone who is down for God, but just allows a lot of things that aren't God to kind of share that position with him.

So it can be God, but also my career.

It's God, but also my money.

It is God and also my stock portfolio.

It's God and my self-image, it's God and social media, it's God, but this political stance.

Hey, it's God, it's so let's fill in the gap.

And if you allow that to happen in your life, anxiety is the only natural landing place.

I'll tell you why.

Because whatever is God in your life now bears the responsibility to defend your soul, to delight your spirit, to direct your steps.

That's what God in your life does.

And when you allow anything or anyone that isn't God to try to do those things for you, you're in for a rough and rocky roller coaster ride indeed.

Money's good.

Money, money, money.

But it's a great tool, a horrible master.

So you know the feeling when you hold it to be the highest thing in your life, what's happening?

You got money?

Hey, no money.

Work is great, rewarding.

It helps you provide for you and your family.

It's great.

But if work is the biggest thing in your life, when work is going great, yay! When work is going, it's up and it's down and it's down and it's up.

So, what does Jesus say?

Seek first.

Everyone say first.

Say first like an American first.

Say first like an Australian first.

Say first like my dad.

First, that was a racism test, and a lot of y'all failed it.

You enjoyed it too much.

Just rank them first.

I I I mentioned college football here, because I love being in a part of America where you appreciate college football.

Who has an appreciation for college football around here?

Where's college football people?

Okay, so there's not as many, because Orlando is a very transient part of Florida.

So all the people who have moved here from Ohio, let me explain to you.

Oh no, no, higher people into college football too.

Sorry.

So all of you guys who have moved here from, let's just say, uh Indiana and Oregon, um, that you're all hanging around here, right?

So let me explain college football to you.

It's the funnest game in the world.

Okay?

Because it is not based on just pure athletic pursuit, uh, it's based on wild um men's opinions and um and it invites all different kinds of drama that other sports don't have.

See, in the NFL, you just have different divisions and everyone's playing, they do the math at the end, and if you've won the most, you get to play.

Not in college football.

College football is no matter what you do, a group of men and a couple of women will get into a hotel room somewhere and just make stuff up.

And this is how it always works.

Just so if you're new to this part of the world, so basically, no matter what your team does, Alabama will always get just shut for no other reason.

Like Bear Bryant, like kind of this we're talking like Nick said, like he's not been around for a decade, but you don't know that so so so a ranking will happen, okay?

And no matter what happens, you will be disappointed.

Okay, so that's basically how it works.

If you have worry in your life, have a meeting and redo the rankings and put Jesus one.

For the worship of Jesus and worry cannot coexist.

If you do the first, the latter will bow.

Can anyone testify to that?

I can testify to it.

It's so hard to worry about money stuff when he is Jehovah Jirah, the one who's provided before, will provide again, has given me breath in my lungs, food in my belly, a roof over my head, some gas in my tank, even though it's four dollars a gallon.

He's the one who has given a family around me, an opportunity in front of me.

My God has supplied so much.

How dare I not believe he will supply again?

Health stuff cannot rob me of my sleep because he is Jehovah Rafa, the God who has healed before, will heal again.

And no matter what unfolds, I will get my ultimate healing when I'm seeing him face to face.

Health stuff doesn't freak me out.

Culture stuff makes you scratch your head, but Jehovah Shalom is the one who quiets the storm.

I'm telling you, worship of Jesus and worry cannot coexist.

You do the first, the second will have to bow.

And this has been my testimony the last seven years, the amount of times I've rolled out of bed at two in the morning, and it's going, Jesus.

For my wife and for my kids, and we're all feeling nervousness.

But I'll worship you.

It doesn't matter if we get sent back to Australia, that's not a bad place to get sent to, side of.

You can deport me to China.

I'm not even from China, but you can deport me.

Wherever I land, my prayer has been just make sure that my soul rests, knowing that I land with you.

Looking at the birds, considering the flowers, and worshiping him forward has been oxygen for the Leanne's soul for the last seven years.

Now the good news is last Thursday we got a letter in the mail that said, Welcome to the United States of America.

And so we got our green cards last Thursday.

I'm so excited.

We found out in that letter, I'm not allowed to vote, but I am allowed to get drafted into a war.

I sent the letter back.

I said, Oh no, no, messing around.

So I'm telling you, like we've been happy the last couple of days, and we've been grateful for this green car, but as a family, we are immeasurably more grateful for the way our friend Jesus kept us free from the crippling anxiety that we knew about a year back.

And by the grace of God, for my friends in this room, that will be your story too.

It won't only be your story, it will be your testimony.

And many people in this city will find themselves face to face with Jesus.

Because they saw Jesus in your face today.

So as we wrap up our time, I just want to do two simple things.

First and foremost, I want to give a chance to somebody in the room to simply say yes to Jesus because he's already said yes to you.

That's all Christianity is.

It's not rules or regulations, it's not about jumping through religious hoops and clearing legalistic bars, it's about recognizing God loves you and comes to find you exactly where you are.

That's the reason over the last 36 minutes, some of y'all have felt Jesus knocking at your heart's door.

I'm here to let you know that he's doing that because he wants to come into your life, lead your life, love your life, and help you forward.

Now, some of you will push back, but why does he even bother?

Knocking, isn't he God?

Can't he just kick the door down?

Well, God is love, and love never forces itself.

Love presents itself.

Would you let him in?

So with every eye closed, but every heart open, if you heard that knock, would you allow me to lead you in a prayer that heaven will hear?

With every eye closed, but every heart open, if you're saying, I want Jesus Christ to be my Lord, my savior, my king, and my Friend, when I count to three, just lift your hand where you are.

Are you ready?

If you heard that knock, when I count to three, lift your hand.

Here we go.

One, two, three.

You can lift your hand where you are.

See your hands lifted here.

So good.

Hand lifted there.

Great.

Amazing.

Now, with every eye closed, but every now mouth open, let's pray this out loud together.

Let's pray.

Dear Jesus, I surrender my life to you.

I repent.

I turn from my own way.

I turn your way.

Fill me with your spirit.

Help me live for your glory.

Amen.

Can you put your hands together for those who lifted theirs?

Wow.

So cool.

If you lifted your hand, I'm gonna be hanging out in the foyer.

I would love to give you a high five, a fist bump, an appropriate side hug.

I would love to connect with you.

Now, finally, with every eye open and every head raised and everyone looking around in a judgmental manner.

I do that on purpose because the Bible says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

I'm trying to put Jesus on the hook for a promise for your life.

I've walked with Jesus for 33 years now.

He makes all kinds of promises and keeps every single one.

And there's nothing as humbling as saying, uh, that was me, with people watching.

So I'm just trying to activate a promise for your life before you leave these doors.

Because I know someone in this room needs a breakthrough in this area.

So humbly.

If this word was for you today, and you need a breakthrough in the area of anxiety, the cycle of worry, unrelenting stress, if this word was for you, would you lift your hand high in the sky right now?

If you lift your hand, okay, so you're not alone.

Keep it lifted.

Promise maker, be a promise keeper.

These hands were lifted in incredible humility.

So keep your promise.

Give my brothers and sisters an amazing grace to walk through this week, looking at the birds, considering the flowers, and keeping you first, foremost, loudest, and most important in our life.

We trust you in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Thank God for what he's doing here in this room.

I'm gonna head out there and uh I would love to meet you.

Love to give you a high five.

Sir, you got a beautiful mustache.

I'm gonna give you a hug and I might lift you off the ground and shake you around a little bit.

Okay, so just trying to give you a heads up.

Alright, it might feel emasculating, but go with it.

Alright.

Celebration, Orlando, you're a gift to this city.

And I'm excited about this new thing God is doing.

But as big as this grows, as far as this name travels, make sure that the simple gospel is always the center point to which you return.

This booming story of a God who loved humanity so much.

He sent his son Jesus to find him.

Make sure that that gospel is always the center point to which you return.

May it be like a campfire you always warm yourself by.

And by the grace of God, may many thousands of people in the Orlando area find space around that campfire as well.

God bless.

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

Follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.