SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Silverdale.
SPEAKER_00: So excited that you are all here worshiping with us today.
SPEAKER_00: I'd like to welcome all of you here at this campus, but also like to welcome all of you at all of our campuses and venues.
SPEAKER_00: So our church, Silverdale, is one church, but we're in multiple locations.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're so thankful that whatever location you're worshiping at, we're glad that you're with us.
SPEAKER_00: If I haven't had a chance to meet you personally, I'm Tony Walliser.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the pastors here at Silverdale.
SPEAKER_00: And I have the privilege today to share with you God's Word.
SPEAKER_00: So this is what I encourage you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Go and take your Bibles, open up in the New Testament to the book of Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: You can turn to Philippians chapter 4, and then also do this.
SPEAKER_00: You can take out these Bible study outlines that we provide for you.
SPEAKER_00: We give these outlines so you can follow along and take notes as we study God's Word together.
SPEAKER_00: As a church, we're working our way through the book of Philippians, and we're in Philippians chapter 4, and the series we're in through Philippians 4 is called 30 Days of Joy.
SPEAKER_00: And what the Apostle Paul is doing is he's talking about those joy crushers, those um those happiness busters in our life.
SPEAKER_00: How do you overcome these different things?
SPEAKER_00: And so today, the Apostle Paul is going to address a very important issue, and that is how do you experience peace in the place of anxiety?
SPEAKER_00: I did a lot of reading on anxiety recently, and I learned that anxiety disorders is the most common mental health problem in America.
SPEAKER_00: There's over 40 million Americans that have some type of anxiety disorder.
SPEAKER_00: That's 19% of our adult population.
SPEAKER_00: Over the last three decades, anxiety disorders have jumped, listen to this, 1,200%.
SPEAKER_00: It's astronomical.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, one psychologist, Robert Leahy, said the average high school student has the same level of anxiety today as psychiatric patients had in the early 1950s.
SPEAKER_00: We're just rampant with anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: The World Mental Health Organization did a survey of 14 troubled countries, like in Lebanon, Ukraine, Nigeria, and they discovered that the anxieties in those countries are less than anxiety we have in the United States.
SPEAKER_00: We're number one, right?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the fact is we won a lot of gold medals in the Winter Olympics.
SPEAKER_00: We are number one when it comes to anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, there was another study, Institute of Preventative Health, says that 70% of our trips to the doctor are because of stress and anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: Stress, anxiety, worry.
SPEAKER_00: Those are the things the Apostle Paul addresses in our passage today.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the most practical passages in the entire Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I've memorized these verses.
SPEAKER_00: I have used them through the decades to help me overcome stresses in my life, and I believe it can help you as well today.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at our passage.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians chapter 4, beginning verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.
SPEAKER_00: And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now, a lot of people can read those verses and go, well, that just seems too simple.
SPEAKER_00: That's just too simplistic.
SPEAKER_00: It can't work.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let me tell you, remind you, who wrote this?
SPEAKER_00: This is the Apostle Paul.
SPEAKER_00: He's in a Roman prison.
SPEAKER_00: He's facing a possible execution by the Emperor Nero.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what stress is.
SPEAKER_00: This is not, you know, theory.
SPEAKER_00: No, this works.
SPEAKER_00: It's tried and true.
SPEAKER_00: It may seem simple, but it's not simplistic.
SPEAKER_00: It is God's prescription of how to overcome anxiety and experience peace.
SPEAKER_00: So, what does that look like?
SPEAKER_00: There's several principles I want you to jot down on your outline today.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, first of all, you've got to learn to release your burdens.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to learn to release your burdens to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The fact is, is you got burdens, I got burdens, all God's children got burdens, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm going to illustrate the burdens that we have with this backpack.
SPEAKER_00: Inside, I've got some rocks here.
SPEAKER_00: And so this, you know, is our burdens.
SPEAKER_00: And though I can't see your backpack and you can't see mine, the fact is we go through life, we carry this around with us, right?
SPEAKER_00: And it weighs us down.
SPEAKER_00: It does.
SPEAKER_00: But just imagine, let's say you have a student and he literally is carrying a backpack every day.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever that student comes home, what does he immediately do?
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't wear the backpack at home all night, right?
SPEAKER_00: No, he sets it down at the door or in his room.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't go to have dinner, you know, hunching over, you know, like a hunchback, you know, trying to eat his dinner with a backpack on.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't go to bed, you know, carrying the backpack.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: What does he do?
SPEAKER_00: He's learned, okay, first thing you do, you just lay down your backpack, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's exactly what we've got to learn as well.
SPEAKER_00: How do you lay down the burdens that we all have?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the Apostle Paul gives us three very important things to do.
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
SPEAKER_00: Jot them down.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, first of all, you got to make a choice.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about anything.
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: Stop worrying.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're a worrier, like, that's crazy, right?
SPEAKER_00: There's no way.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the fact is, I got too many things to worry about, to worry about, stop worrying.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: The fact is, is the apostle Paul is not the first one to say, don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: He's actually quoting Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is talking about how we need to trust God in our life.
SPEAKER_00: And he, six times in 11 verses, basically says, stop worrying.
SPEAKER_00: Look at him.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, Don't worry about your life.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you worry?
SPEAKER_00: So don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul takes the command of Jesus and brings it here and commands us and says, Hey, don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: Now, did you know that worry is a sin?
SPEAKER_00: You go, No, I can't be.
SPEAKER_00: I do it all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Exactly, right?
SPEAKER_00: Now, why is it a sin?
SPEAKER_00: Because when you worry, you are in essence saying, I can't trust God.
SPEAKER_00: God's not in control.
SPEAKER_00: God's not big enough to handle this.
SPEAKER_00: I've got to handle this on my own.
SPEAKER_00: And so what happens is we start making excuses for our anxiety and our worry.
SPEAKER_00: And yet what can happen is that we can become anxiety addicts, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's just like any other addict.
SPEAKER_00: We become fixed on anxiety all the time and all the worries that come with it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we would never excuse other, you know, addicts.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got a drug addict or an alcohol addict, right?
SPEAKER_00: You wouldn't excuse that.
SPEAKER_00: And yet we somehow excuse worrying as, okay, that's okay to do that.
SPEAKER_00: Because what we'll do is we'll say, well, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: It's not as destructive as those other addictions.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it is.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
SPEAKER_00: Um, Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Alexa Carroll, Nobel Prize winner, said this quote, Medical science has proven that worry kills.
SPEAKER_00: Worriers die sooner from every disease more than those who do not worry.
SPEAKER_00: Worry is life-threatening, it is steel joying, it is an addiction.
SPEAKER_00: So you go, what can we worry about?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Paul tells you what you can worry about.
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
SPEAKER_00: Look again, verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about anything.
SPEAKER_00: There it is.
SPEAKER_00: That's what you're going to worry about.
SPEAKER_00: You go, but that's impossible.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's not impossible.
SPEAKER_00: Again, Paul's in jail.
SPEAKER_00: This is not theory.
SPEAKER_00: This is how he experiences peace.
SPEAKER_00: The reality is that so many of us are held hostage by our worries and our anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: Satan has stolen from you too long.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I love this quote.
SPEAKER_00: Look up it on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: Worry can't change your past.
SPEAKER_00: Worry can't control the future.
SPEAKER_00: Worry can only ruin the present.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: It's true.
SPEAKER_00: Worry can't change the past.
SPEAKER_00: Can't control the future.
SPEAKER_00: It can only ruin your past your present.
SPEAKER_00: And so, God says, don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what I love about the Word of God is that anytime God says to stop doing something, he immediately tells us what we do in place of it.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And so rather than worrying, what are you supposed to do?
SPEAKER_00: Well, don't worry about anything, but jot this down.
SPEAKER_00: Pray about everything.
SPEAKER_00: God has a replacement therapy for you.
SPEAKER_00: When worry comes, replace that with prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what it says again, verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Pray about everything.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what we typically do, we reverse that.
SPEAKER_00: We worry about everything and pray about nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Your only two options, those are your only two options.
SPEAKER_00: Either you're going to worry or you're going to pray.
SPEAKER_00: You got the choice, right?
SPEAKER_00: One or the other.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God says, don't worry in place of that.
SPEAKER_00: You need to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what's real interesting here is the Apostle Paul, he uses four descriptive words of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: First word, prayer, is just a general usage of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: But then he says, petitions.
SPEAKER_00: You go, what is that?
SPEAKER_00: Petition is a detailed list of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: It's laying out.
SPEAKER_00: The problem with a lot of us is we're too vague with our prayer life.
SPEAKER_00: And so we really don't share what's on our heart and our mind to God, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because we're not detailed enough.
SPEAKER_00: I love the Phillips translation of this verse.
SPEAKER_00: It goes this way Don't worry over anything.
SPEAKER_00: Tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Tell God everything that's going on, all of the needs that are in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, how do you do that?
SPEAKER_00: Well, let me just go back to our backpack here.
SPEAKER_00: So, we've got these problems.
SPEAKER_00: We've got these worries in our life.
SPEAKER_00: They're represented by these rocks in here.
SPEAKER_00: So, how in the world do I release them to the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Well, you do it in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And so this cross right here represents what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus accomplished so much for us on the cross, right?
SPEAKER_00: But did you know that whenever Jesus died on the cross, he didn't just die for your sins?
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that Jesus died for all your worries and all your troubles and all your sorrows and all your griefs?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, look what it says in Isaiah 53.
SPEAKER_00: It says this, surely he has bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.
SPEAKER_00: And so you have a choice.
SPEAKER_00: Either you're going to play God and carry these burdens that you were not designed to carry anyway, or you're going to release them and trust them and say, Lord, you've already carried this.
SPEAKER_00: I'm giving it to you.
SPEAKER_00: So, here I've got different rocks here.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just say this rock here represents cancer.
SPEAKER_00: Say you got cancer.
SPEAKER_00: Can you control it?
SPEAKER_00: You can't.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, God, my life is in your hands.
SPEAKER_00: I'm releasing that to you.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, or let's just say, this rock represents my kids.
SPEAKER_00: Can't control them, right?
SPEAKER_00: So what do I do?
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, you love them more than I do.
SPEAKER_00: I'm releasing them to you.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, maybe this rock represents our addiction.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that habit, that temptation you keep giving into.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, Lord, I can't seem to overcome this in my own strength.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, you died for this already.
SPEAKER_00: I'm releasing this to you.
SPEAKER_00: And then, okay, this rock may be your finances.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I know I'm supposed to work hard.
SPEAKER_00: I'm supposed to live within my means and be frugal, but I cannot control the economy.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, Lord, I'm releasing this to you, right?
SPEAKER_00: Or, okay, this rock just represents the crazy world we live in, and it just seems to be getting crazier and crazier.
SPEAKER_00: Can you control the world?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm gonna release this to the one who's in control, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so what do you do?
SPEAKER_00: And now those are just general, but again, specific.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever's going on in your life, worry can't change anything.
SPEAKER_00: Almighty God can change everything.
SPEAKER_00: So you got to come to that place of saying, Lord, I can't control this.
SPEAKER_00: I want to release this to you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, you've already bore this on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Why am I carrying it?
SPEAKER_00: You've already carried it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm giving it to you.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know about you, but once I go through this process and I've laid that worry down, I'll go a little while and then I'll come back and I'll grab this and I'll start worrying again over it, right?
SPEAKER_00: Why do I do that?
SPEAKER_00: Because God ain't working fast enough.
SPEAKER_00: I've laid this down and he ain't doing it, so I've got to obviously handle it on my own, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, God's giving us a cue of how to not do that.
SPEAKER_00: Once we've laid this down, the Bible then tells us the next thing we're supposed to do.
SPEAKER_00: Jot this on your outline.
SPEAKER_00: You need to give thanks in all things.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, if you do not add gratitude and thankfulness to this process, you'll never experience peace.
SPEAKER_00: You'll continue to worry.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: You can't control it.
SPEAKER_00: Why don't you just thank God for what he's doing in your life right now?
SPEAKER_00: Notice again what it says in verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, there it is, present your requests to God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, gratitude is found throughout the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: Over and over again, you find that we are commanded to be thankful to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Now, you can persuade some people to be thankful whenever you know the sky's blue and the new car in the garage, but how about when you're in a putrid jail cell facing death?
SPEAKER_00: Can you be thankful even then, like Paul?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, what's interesting is I did a little study on Paul's imprison epistles.
SPEAKER_00: That means those are the letters he wrote while he was in prison.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
SPEAKER_00: One thing they all have in common?
SPEAKER_00: Thanksgiving and gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: In all of them.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just read a few passages.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Thessalonians, give thanks in all circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 5, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians 3, give thanks always.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if the Apostle Paul, facing what he was facing, could be thankful, then what is our excuse?
SPEAKER_00: We've got to know excuse.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to make the choice to be thankful.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, whenever you make the choice, I'm gonna be grateful and thankful in this circumstance.
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy how it suddenly increases your capacity to joy.
SPEAKER_00: Thanksgiving is the key.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, literally, negative emotions like anger and fear and anxiety cannot coexist with gratitude and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: They can't coexist.
SPEAKER_00: Choose, go on a gratitude, you know, binge, right?
SPEAKER_00: I just need to be grateful for everything.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what do I need to do?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I got this empty bag.
SPEAKER_00: I've laid down all the burdens.
SPEAKER_00: So, what do I need to do now?
SPEAKER_00: I need to thank God.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I've got cancer.
SPEAKER_00: God, I'm thankful that you are with me, walking with me.
SPEAKER_00: You're never gonna leave me in this cancer.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I've got my crazy kids.
SPEAKER_00: I will release them.
SPEAKER_00: God, I'm so thankful for my grandkids.
SPEAKER_00: They're awesome, right?
SPEAKER_00: You can always find something to be thankful for, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, I I got this temptation, this addiction, I keep giving into.
SPEAKER_00: But God, I'm so thankful there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I live in this crazy world.
SPEAKER_00: I release that to you, but God, I'm so thankful you are Lord of all, and you are in control, and one day everything that's wrong is gonna be made right.
SPEAKER_00: See, that is a choice.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to rather focus on that, I'm gonna focus on gratitude and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the reason why you and I do not typically do that is because we take our blessings for granted.
SPEAKER_00: We've been blessed in all these different ways for so long that somehow we think we're entitled to all these blessings, right?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00: This is just this is just what I should deserve.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we should all have.
SPEAKER_00: We are some of the most blessed people on the planet, and yet we don't think we're all that blessed.
SPEAKER_00: And so what do we need to do?
SPEAKER_00: We need to say, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: I've got so much to be thankful for, and you do.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, let me put it like this What would happen if everything you were not thankful for today, you lost tomorrow?
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: Your world would be devastated, right?
SPEAKER_00: We've got so much to be thankful for.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I want us to make a declaration out loud together.
SPEAKER_00: Here on all over campuses, this is what I want to do.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to repeat after me this simple declaration.
SPEAKER_00: I am so blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
SPEAKER_00: Let's say it.
SPEAKER_00: I am so blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Let's say it again.
SPEAKER_00: I am so blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Loud and proud.
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
SPEAKER_00: I am so blessed.
SPEAKER_00: It's true.
SPEAKER_00: You are blessed beyond measure.
SPEAKER_00: You're blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Start thanking God for all the ways you are blessed.
SPEAKER_00: So, how do you release your burdens?
SPEAKER_00: You do it through prayer, you do it through thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: But then, once you've released the burdens, you gotta then do a second thing.
SPEAKER_00: Jot this on your outline.
SPEAKER_00: Number two is this you need to learn to rest in God's peace.
SPEAKER_00: Rest in God's peace.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I got good news for you.
SPEAKER_00: If you're already a follower of Jesus Christ, the Bible says you are at peace with God.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that at the moment you surrender to Jesus as Lord, boom, the battle's over.
SPEAKER_00: You and Almighty God are at peace with one another.
SPEAKER_00: That's good news, right?
SPEAKER_00: So you, if you're a follower of Christ, you already have peace with God.
SPEAKER_00: But here in this passage, the apostle Paul says, you can experience the peace of God.
SPEAKER_00: God's peace, right?
SPEAKER_00: Check it out.
SPEAKER_00: Look what it says again, verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God.
SPEAKER_00: What's the result?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You get to experience the peace of Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: And how does Paul describe it?
SPEAKER_00: It surpasses understanding.
SPEAKER_00: That means it transcends human intellect and evaluation.
SPEAKER_00: That means you can be going through an incredibly difficult time, and yet you feel peace, and you go, This doesn't make sense why I have peace, but I do have peace.
SPEAKER_00: And not only that, the Bible says that God's peace will be like a guard.
SPEAKER_00: It'll be like a sentry, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's like here's a picture of a century here, and what do you got there?
SPEAKER_00: He's got a gun, you got a stern face.
SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna go past him, you've got to go through him, right?
SPEAKER_00: You got a guard there.
SPEAKER_00: God says his peace is a guard.
SPEAKER_00: A guard over what?
SPEAKER_00: Your heart and your mind.
SPEAKER_00: Now I believe that the ultimate emotion that God wants his children to experience is peace, right?
SPEAKER_00: God wants you to experience peace.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says the mindset on the flesh, death, mindset on the spirit, life and peace.
SPEAKER_00: God wants us to experience peace.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: But what happens?
SPEAKER_00: What happens when we lose our peace?
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like peace is an umpire.
SPEAKER_00: It's a referee.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever you do something wrong on the field, referee throws the yellow flag, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, whenever you are thinking something wrong up here or trusting something wrong here, what happens?
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's like God's peace disappears.
SPEAKER_00: And that's your cue to go, wait a minute, something's wrong.
SPEAKER_00: I'm worrying again.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, no wonder I've lost my peace.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm trying to be in control again, no wonder I've lost my peace.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm believing this lie about God.
SPEAKER_00: I can't trust him.
SPEAKER_00: I'm believing what the world says.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, no wonder I've lost my peace, right?
SPEAKER_00: And the fact is, is that peace is the emotion God wants you to have when you're connected with him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I've got to confess, I like to be in control.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I do.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to be the one in charge, but I like things going my way, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So that's just the way it is.
SPEAKER_00: And this is especially true whenever I'm driving.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And so here I am driving, and there was once, there was this some guy on the interstate.
SPEAKER_00: I was driving behind.
SPEAKER_00: I happened to be in the fast lane, and he was in front of me driving, I don't know, a couple of miles below the speed limit, and I'm like, what's his problem?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, goodness gracious, doesn't he know my life is important?
SPEAKER_00: And he is stealing precious seconds from my life right now, and so I'm getting all frustrated.
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
SPEAKER_00: I want to beat the horn, I want to flash my lights, but I got this Jesus loves you bumper sticker, and I'm like, I just can't do it, can't do it.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm just stewing, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so the thought is is why am I so stressed out?
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you why.
SPEAKER_00: Because I like being in control and I want the universe to revolve around me.
SPEAKER_00: Well, here's a shocking reality: the world don't revolve around me, the world don't revolve around you.
SPEAKER_00: I have no control, and neither do you.
SPEAKER_00: Can I just tell you something?
SPEAKER_00: Control is an illusion.
SPEAKER_00: You think you got control?
SPEAKER_00: You ain't got control.
SPEAKER_00: Can I tell you one phone call tomorrow can up in your life?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We have no control.
SPEAKER_00: There's only one who has control.
SPEAKER_00: And that is the Lord Himself.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is what we're going to do.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to do a little exercise together.
SPEAKER_00: And I want everyone here and all of our campuses to do this together.
SPEAKER_00: So I want everybody to stand up.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, everybody stand up right now.
SPEAKER_00: We've done this in the past, but um, everybody standing up.
SPEAKER_00: Good, awesome.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to put one hand over your heart and then raise the other hand.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to repeat after me.
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
SPEAKER_00: I, being of sound mind, do hereby acknowledge that I cannot, nor will I ever control the universe.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, I resign as general manager of the universe.
SPEAKER_00: You can be seated.
SPEAKER_00: Don't you feel better?
SPEAKER_00: Woo! Got that weight off your shoulders.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: The point is, you don't control.
SPEAKER_00: He controls.
SPEAKER_00: Your worry and doesn't accomplish anything, but trusting in the Lord, resting in his sovereignty, brings his peace to your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So, how do you experience peace instead of anxiety?
SPEAKER_00: You've got to replace it, right?
SPEAKER_00: Through prayer and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to learn to rest in God's control and sovereignty and his peace, right?
SPEAKER_00: But this third thing is very important.
SPEAKER_00: Jot this down.
SPEAKER_00: Number three is this you've got to refocus your thinking.
SPEAKER_00: You have to refocus your thinking.
SPEAKER_00: You see, your mind and your thought life, your mind is the control center of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And whoever or whatever controls your thinking controls you.
SPEAKER_00: Because depending on what you think will determine how you feel and how you act.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So you better make sure you're thinking correctly.
SPEAKER_00: And so the Apostle Paul in the next verse addresses this very important principle.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what he writes in verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever's true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever's pure, whatever's lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any moral excellence, if there's anything praiseworthy, what?
SPEAKER_00: Think on these things.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what the Apostle Paul has just done, he's given us a grid by which we measure everything we think.
SPEAKER_00: He's given us eight categories.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, choose to think about only those things that are in those eight categories.
SPEAKER_00: If a thought comes to your mind that's out of those eight categories, stop thinking it.
SPEAKER_00: Get it out of your mind.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now, our problem is that we are passive thinkers.
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: That means as soon as a thought enters our mind, we just assume it's true.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, this has got to be true.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna believe it.
SPEAKER_00: And then when we do, it affects us emotionally and it affects us how we live our life.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and so what happens is we often just put our brain in neutral and accept whatever comes in.
SPEAKER_00: Let me illustrate it like this.
SPEAKER_00: Most of you, whenever you learn to drive, when you first learn how to drive, you had to think about everything, right?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I've got to put my hands in the right place on the steering wheel, I've got to put the right pressure on the accelerator or the brake, or oh my goodness, I gotta do the blinker and I gotta look in the mirror, and you know, you had to think about every little thing you had to do when you first learned how to drive.
SPEAKER_00: But most of them have been driving for decades now, right?
SPEAKER_00: So you don't even think about it anymore.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, most of you who drove here today, you don't even remember driving, right?
SPEAKER_00: How in the world could that happen?
SPEAKER_00: It's not a bad thing, it's just a reality.
SPEAKER_00: You no longer have to think about those things, you become a passive thinker, right?
SPEAKER_00: The problem is we do that with everything in our life.
SPEAKER_00: We become passive thinkers.
SPEAKER_00: And as soon as a thought enters in, we just immediately accept it.
SPEAKER_00: That's a problem.
SPEAKER_00: There was a psychologist, his name was um Dan Harris.
SPEAKER_00: He did a study that discovered 98% of your thoughts are habitual.
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: That means the same thoughts you had yesterday are the same thoughts you have today, and the same thoughts you have today are gonna be the same thoughts you have tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: See, you're passive, right?
SPEAKER_00: Suddenly you just believe the same things over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: And we wonder why.
SPEAKER_00: Why do I always keep getting depressed in these circumstances?
SPEAKER_00: Why can't I get past the hurts of my past?
SPEAKER_00: Why can't I overcome those habits?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because we've become passive.
SPEAKER_00: We're not taking our thoughts captive.
SPEAKER_00: So when an anxious thought comes, we start to worry.
SPEAKER_00: When a lustful thought comes, we look.
SPEAKER_00: When a covetous thought comes, we buy.
SPEAKER_00: When an angry thought comes, we stew, right?
SPEAKER_00: We just accept them as true.
SPEAKER_00: But notice the command.
SPEAKER_00: Look at how this passage ends.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: Paul commands think about these things.
SPEAKER_00: If it doesn't fit the category of those eight things that Paul addresses, then get it out of your head.
SPEAKER_00: You see, you are the air traffic controller of your mind.
SPEAKER_00: And you got thoughts that are swirling around you all the time, and you have the power to control what thoughts get to land and what thoughts need to take off.
SPEAKER_00: You have the power and control to do that.
SPEAKER_00: And so you've got to say, okay, I've got to learn to take my thoughts captive.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the Apostle Paul gives us eight categories, and I don't have time to go through all eight categories, but I'm just gonna do the first and last one real quick, okay?
SPEAKER_00: What do we need to think on?
SPEAKER_00: First thing Paul says we think on is this whatever is true, think on these things.
SPEAKER_00: The problem is we believe a lot of lies.
SPEAKER_00: And the world feeds us a lot of lies, and and suddenly we just accept it.
SPEAKER_00: So I've got a lie about God, and that's why I don't trust him.
SPEAKER_00: I believe a lie about you, and that's why I don't love you the way I should.
SPEAKER_00: Or I've got a lie about myself, and that's why I don't meet God's great potential and plan for my life.
SPEAKER_00: Because whenever you believe a lie, it affects you emotionally and physically.
SPEAKER_00: That's just the way you're gonna be.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, think of it like this, okay?
SPEAKER_00: You're going on a hike, and as you're walking down that trail, there is a limb that's fallen in the path, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's just a little limb that's come off the tree, but it's a little wiggly looking.
SPEAKER_00: But whenever you're coming upon it, you think it's a snake, right?
SPEAKER_00: And in your mind you go, snake, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so suddenly you go, Woo! Snake, right?
SPEAKER_00: What happened?
SPEAKER_00: You thought it was a snake, so you emotionally felt a little bit of fear, and you jumped back, you reacted, right?
SPEAKER_00: And then you come a little closer and go, ha ha, that's not a snake.
SPEAKER_00: That's just a limb.
SPEAKER_00: I probably looked pretty foolish when I did that, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, here's the thing: that's the way it is about everything.
SPEAKER_00: If you're believing a lie, you are emotionally and physically reacting to that lie as though it's true.
SPEAKER_00: But it's not true.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, You'll know the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Truth will set you free.
SPEAKER_00: So you go, well, how do I know truth?
SPEAKER_00: Well, see this book right here?
SPEAKER_00: It is 100% true.
SPEAKER_00: There are very few things that I can point to and go, that's true.
SPEAKER_00: No, this is truth.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said that in John 17, 17.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Sanctify them in truth.
SPEAKER_00: Your word is truth.
SPEAKER_00: That's why every weekend when you come to church, what do we do?
SPEAKER_00: We don't teach Tony's philosophies.
SPEAKER_00: No, we teach the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Because what Tony has to say doesn't mean anything.
SPEAKER_00: But what God's Word has to say is everything.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it is true, right?
SPEAKER_00: You need a good dose of truth because you've been bombarded with lies all week long.
SPEAKER_00: And so what do you need to do?
SPEAKER_00: You need to get in the word.
SPEAKER_00: You need to read it, you need to learn to study it.
SPEAKER_00: You need to get in a small group and discuss it.
SPEAKER_00: There's certain passages you need to memorize and put them on your heart, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, why is that so important?
SPEAKER_00: Because once the more you get in God's word, the more discerning you'll be.
SPEAKER_00: So when all the lies of the world come, you're able to go, yeah, they don't line up with the truth at all, right?
SPEAKER_00: So you've got to fill up on truth.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Paul gives another thing, another category.
SPEAKER_00: It's the last category in verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at it.
SPEAKER_00: If there is anything praiseworthy, think of these things.
SPEAKER_00: That means I'm going to praise God despite my circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: God is worthy of praise no matter what I'm going through.
SPEAKER_00: And can I tell you, when you make that choice, it is the path to a joyful life.
SPEAKER_00: You can see this all through the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: Individuals, followers of God, who chose to praise God despite their circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: I think one of the greatest examples is Job in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Remember him?
SPEAKER_00: In one day, he learned that all his children died in a tragic accident.
SPEAKER_00: And then a few moments later, he learns that all his wealth was stolen by these rogue raiders.
SPEAKER_00: What did he do?
SPEAKER_00: Did he melt, you know, in a state of, you know, self-pity?
SPEAKER_00: No, he chose to praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Look at it in Job 1.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord gave, the Lord is taken away.
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: Blessed be the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He chooses to praise despite his circumstance.
SPEAKER_00: We know how this church, the church of Philippi, was founded.
SPEAKER_00: It's by the Apostle Paul.
SPEAKER_00: He and Silas were in jail.
SPEAKER_00: It's like Paul goes to jail a lot, doesn't he?
SPEAKER_00: But it was midnight in jail.
SPEAKER_00: He chooses to praise the Lord, and what happens?
SPEAKER_00: The shackles fall off.
SPEAKER_00: The point is, you can praise God no matter what the circumstances of your life are.
SPEAKER_00: You may go, I don't feel like it.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care what you feel.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: But the circumstances aren't praiseworthy.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes, they are.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, here's a principle.
SPEAKER_00: I put it on your outline.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to make the choice, the positive mental choice.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna praise you, God, despite my circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: And whenever you choose to praise God, despite your circumstances, something happens.
SPEAKER_00: What happens is it restores the joy of your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: It recalibrates your soul, it renews your mind.
SPEAKER_00: I believe there's two types of people in the world.
SPEAKER_00: There are worshipers and there are complainers.
SPEAKER_00: Same circumstances, worshipers and complainers.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I've discovered?
SPEAKER_00: Worshipers can always find something to worship God about, and complainers can always find something to complain about, right?
SPEAKER_00: You got the choice, one or the other.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just tell you, this one principle of praising God, despite the circumstance and how I feel, has been probably the greatest, most important thing that God has used to give me victory and liberty in the Christian life.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever I'm struggling with a temptation, I'll start singing songs of praise to the Lord, and suddenly the temptation doesn't have as great a pull anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever I feel alone, I'll start singing praises to God, and suddenly I sense the presence of God near me.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he inhabits the praises of his people.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever I'm overwhelmed with anxiety and stress, I will start praising the Lord, and that will enable me to then lay down the burdens to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, God wants you to have peace rather than anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: He does.
SPEAKER_00: But you've got to follow this path.
SPEAKER_00: He's not gonna just do it for you.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to make choices in your mind and in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to release the burdens to him through prayer and through thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to choose to rest in his peace and his sovereign control of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And then finally, you've got to refocus your thinking, not on the lies of this world, but on the truth of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you, the truth will set you free.
SPEAKER_00: That's how you go from anxiety to worry.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you so much for your word.
SPEAKER_00: I am so thankful, Lord, for how practical this is to our lives every day.
SPEAKER_00: God, you know every person here, you know the struggles of their heart, you know what they're carrying, and I just pray, Lord, that you'd meet them, that they would realize how trustworthy you are, and that you really do care for them.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, even in this moment, will you speak, will you move?
SPEAKER_00: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.