Anxiety

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BeFree!

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

There is always a sense of satisfaction when a project is completed. Well…at least there is supposed to be. I think the key word is “completed.” What do you feel when you come to the end of a project (or sermon series) and you know there is more to say so that completed feeling is vague?

That is how I feel. This week is my final sermon in the series Faith Over Fear.  I know there is more to say. I also know there are people who are hurting and what I have said is just “touching the hem of the garment” for them and their healing.  I actually extended the series one week in order to try to answer the question: What now?  I gave it the title of Be Free! because of the 4th of July weekend. But, in all honesty, I am praying for freedom for some folks from anxiety, worry, fear, and yes, even depression.  But how do I conclude this series? That was my question and I decided to highlight the main thought from each Sunday and then conclude with some possible answers to “What Now?”  Here is what I have come up with:

Highlight #1: Mark 4:35-42 shows us that Jesus is always on the job…even when He appears to be asleep.

Highlight #2: Jesus spoke to worry and anxiety in Matthew 6.

Highlight #3: There are three essentials you must believe- You are not crazy. You are not alone. This will end.

Highlight #4: Slaying the giant of worry requires we do two things: 1) Pray and 2) Change your perspective.

Highlight #5: Understand the battle ground is not flesh and blood, but according to Paul in Ephesians 6, the battle is where we cannot see.

SO…WHAT NOW?

From Anxiety-Knowing God’s Peace a 31 day devotional by Paul Tautges comes the answer:

#1: Remember the Certainty of God’s Promises

#2: Remember the Grace of Salvation

#3: Remember the Care of Your Heavenly Father

#4: Remember your Dependency on Prayer

I’ll spend more time on those this Sunday (obviously). 🙂 I hope you will join me in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45. Go here to find out how to connect.

 

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#DriveaNail

Thursday, June 22nd, 2023

I have been preaching on anxiety, worry, fear, and depression (mention only) for the past two months. I have two sermons left in this series. This week’s sermon is titled Drive a Nail Through These Truths.  If we are going to win the war over fear, anxiety and worry, there are certain truths we must believe.  It is because we must believe them that I have called this sermon what I have.

There are three unshakeable truths we must believe and get a handle on.

#1: God is with you…even if you can’t feel it.

#2: God is working…even if you can’t see it.

#3: God has a plan…even if you can’t understand it.

I’ll be using the example of and words to Joshua in 1:9, 3:15, and then using the story of Jericho falling as the basis for this week’s sermon. Please feel free to join us in person or via live stream. You can find the links to the live stream at the church’s website here.

I look forward to sharing with you.

 

Posted in Anxiety, Christian living, Faith, Fear, Health, Sermon Series/Topic | 2 Responses »

#GoBacktoGoForward

Thursday, June 8th, 2023

TV shows are inundated with commercials hawking this-or-that (purpose of them to begin with) telling us our life will  be better if we do this or take this supplement. You get the idea.  “I was once where you were but since I started using (____) my life is changed.” They want to let us know that our life will improve drastically.

Don’t you wish getting control of fear and anxiety were that easy? “Here, take this magic pill or do this simple thing and all your anxiety will disappear.” While no commercial can promise a 100% success rate, neither can I claim to solve the issue of fear and anxiety with a simple formula. As I said in last week’s message, the solution to worry is not a plan, but a Person.

The 4:8 Principle (Philippians 4:8) will work well, but we still have to remember the Person behind it all.  There is another verse that plays into this: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion…and take every thought captive to obey Christ.“ The Bible reminds us that we choose what we focus on. We can focus on our problems or we can focus on Jesus who will help us deal with those problems.  The key is remembering all the amazing things God has already done in our lives. Remembering what God has done for us is a massive weapon for defeating anxiety and depression.

Joshua is the poster child for this scenario. Remember what God has brought you through and remember what God has promised you. Go back to go forward. That is my sermon this Sunday. Please join us in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45.

 

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#GiantSlain!

Thursday, June 1st, 2023

“Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” Arthur Somers Roche (Quoted in Winning the War on Worry by Louie Giglio)

If there is one common denominator among people-believer and unbeliever alike-it is the fact that worry is so prevalent. Worry is like a barnacle that attaches itself to a boat. A barnacle is a crustacean that attaches itself to another surface (the most familiar is one that attaches itself to a boat). They need to be removed because as they build they cause a drag. Some will actually attach themselves to the inside of sea life and grow, changing its “personality,” if you will. Anxiety is like that. It attaches itself to a host (us) and causes a drag on our forward motion. As it stays, it grows, and get harder and harder to get rid of.

Worry is a giant we need to slay. That is my desire for Sunday’s message I have entitled “Bringing the Giant to its Knees.” There is no doubt we live in an “anxiety-ridden” society. Life seems to assault us from all angles. What can we do? My prayer is to answer that question this week. I look forward to seeing you in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45.

 

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#EssentialsToBelieve

Thursday, May 25th, 2023

In 1816 Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to John Adams in which he said, “There are indeed gloomy and hypochondriac minds, inhabitants of diseased bodies, disgusted with the present, and despairing of the future; always counting the worst will happen, because it may happen! To these I say how much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened!” (Quote from Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer-p.12)

I’m pretty sure Thomas Jefferson had plenty to be anxious about!! 🙂

Whenever someone is going through a “down” time or depression or simply fighting their own emotions of being down, they tell themselves lies they come to believe.  In his book, Attacking Anxiety, Pastor Shawn Johnson takes lessons from his own struggles with depression and anxiety and panic to gives three essentials a person must believe. I will talking about them this Sunday:

  1. You are not crazy
  2. You are not alone
  3. This will end.

I realize those who struggle with a chemical imbalance in their system will find some of this hard to believe. And accept. But my desire is that I can give them hope that it is not a lost cause. Primary to that is what we tell ourselves. We all need to start telling ourselves, “You are a child of God. You are a loved child of God. Like everyone else, you are a slightly broken child of God.”

Please join us this Sunday live or live stream at 9:00 and 10:45. There is hope for all of us.

 

Posted in Anxiety, Christian living, Compassion, Faith, Fear, Opinion, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic | 2 Responses »

#WhoMe?Worry?

Thursday, May 18th, 2023

After a one-Sunday hiatus due to Mother’s Day, I will be back this week continuing the series I’ve entitled Faith Over Fear. This will be sermon #2 in the series and as you can see by the title of this post it is called “Who Me? Worry?” My Scripture is Matthew 6:25-34.

In Googling the “Top 10 Anxieties for 2023” the most recent statistic came from December of 2022. According to Ipsos, the top vote getter was inflation. It was followed by poverty and social inequality, crime and violence, unemployment, and financial and political corruption. Climate change tied with worry about taxes. Coronavirus is still at one of the lowest levels since it was added in April 2020. That is quite a change from the list I found from 1990: AIDS, drug abuse, nuclear waste, the ozone layer, famine, homelessness, the federal deficit, air pollution, water pollution, and garbage. Added to all lists is since 9/11 global terrorism has been one of the leading causes of anxiety.

I realize a list is just that…a list. All lives are different and our stressors and stress levels are different. But we are all human and one commonality is stress and anxiety. Different levels to be sure, but it is there nonetheless. This passage in Matthew is quite a treatise on Jesus’ ideas on worry. My hope Sunday is to enlighten us all to the truth and hope Jesus gives us when it comes to worry.

I hope to see you this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:45. If not in person then via live stream.

 

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