Skip to content How to Overcome Anxiety - Chris MacEwin Dec 29 · 40 min ...more
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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 You are listening to Waters Church podcast. Waters Church is a multisite, multigeneration community of faith on the East Coast of America. Now for a message from our pastor.0:13 I would like to welcome everybody watching online. If you are in South Carolina at Harold and Marguerite's house, welcome. If you are with Brandon and Michelle in Orlando, Florida,0:25 welcome. And if you are our family members in Apollo Beach, Waters Church, let's give them a big welcome from North Attleboro. We are so happy that you're here with us. Today, we're0:37 gonna go over how to calm anxiety. Anxiety, it's big this time of year, isn't it? A lot of people have been anxious. Are you still anxious about that credit card bill that you're gonna get in shortly from all those0:47 presents that you've been spending all your money on? I'm not because I didn't spend that much this year, and I don't have kids. But anxiety seems like it's a epidemic for many people, especially this time of0:59 year. So what are you most anxious about? Most people, it's politics, health, relationships. Money's a big 1. How about drones? I'm really1:11 anxious about these drones. Look, TikTok tells me it's either the government or it's aliens. I don't know what it is, but I really wanna know. I really wish somebody would tell me. They've been going around for months1:22 and months, we have no idea. So, actually, I'm not really an anxious person. I used to be. Before Christ got a hold of me, I used to have panic attacks so bad, they would be debilitating. I remember the1:34 last panic attack I ever had, maybe a month before I came to Christ, and I was driving down Route 1 around this time of year, and I had to pull over on the side until it subsided. It just eventually went away.1:45 But since then, since coming to Christ, I haven't received a panic attack in about 15 years. Praise God. Now, like I said, I'm not really an anxious person unless pastor Tim comes to me and says, I1:57 want you to preach in front of everybody, and then all of a sudden, I get very anxious. And my wife wonders while I'm walking around the house 2, 3 days before I have to preach. And she asked me, what are you preaching2:07 on this this time? And I said, anxiety. She's like, then why are you so anxious? I'm like, don't you know preachers preach to themselves a lot? So that that's probably what's going on here. God gave me a word.2:20 So like I said, I don't really get anxious anymore, but I do have something called irrational fears. Maybe somebody can relate with me. If I'm ever driving over a bridge, I'm really anxious that it's gonna2:31 collapse. It's irrational, but it's it's fearful in my mind. Or if I'm at the third floor walking at the mall, I have to walk on the side of the stores. I can't walk on the railing because I'm2:43 really afraid somebody's gonna just come by and push me over. It's irrational, I know, but it it's it's something that's in me, and I gotta work on that. But the main reason that we're anxious is because it's something2:55 that we can't control. And a lot of us are control freaks, and that's what we need to worry about and work on. But this is nothing new. People have been anxious since the beginning of time, especially our characters in3:06 the Bible. Right? Adam was anxious about what God would think after he ate from the tree. Hannah was anxious and longed for a child. Elijah was anxious and felt burnt out. Job, after3:18 losing everything, was anxious. David showed many emotions including being anxious. Jonah was so anxious, he wanted to take his own life. And the bible tells us Jesus3:30 himself, while praying for the burden to be taken away, was so anxious that he was sweating drops of blood. Anxious is nothing new. Being anxious is3:41 nothing new. But it seems like it's gaining traction more and more. 2024, I read a survey that said 43 percent of adults have anxiety3:53 issues. Now that's up from 37 percent in 2023 and 32 percent in 2022. So why are we getting more and more anxious? And what are we4:05 anxious about? Top things we're anxious about in 20 24, it says 70 percent of adults are anxious about current events. Drones, anybody? 77 are4:16 anxious about the economy. Hopefully, we'll get that fixed this year. 68 percent are anxious about keeping their family safe. 63 percent on keeping their identity safe.4:28 63 are anxious about their own health. 63 percent are anxious about paying their bills. So we're all anxious about a lot of things. Actually, 60 percent of people that claim4:40 anxiety as an issue also claim depression as an issue. Now the difference is depression is worrying and feeling guilt about things that happened in the past, and4:51 anxiety is worrying about things that may or may not happen in the future. Now, what if I got in my car, I didn't put the seat belt on, and I started to drive5:02 straight into traffic? I shouldn't expect anything good to happen. Right? That's not what anxiety is. Anxiety is about the what ifs in the future. It's about not knowing what could possibly5:14 happen. It's not about anticipating the future because nobody can do that. Anxiety is about anticipating an imagined future. It's about living so much in an imagined5:26 future that we're fearful today in this moment. And whether we believe it or not, that fear is real and we have to deal with it. But Jesus teaches and Paul writes to not live in fear5:38 of an imagined future. Don't worry about the what ifs. What if I lose my job? What if I can't pay my bills? What if a family member gets sick? We can't worry about the what ifs because it's out of our5:50 control. There's no way we can possibly know what's gonna happen in the future. But again, that doesn't make the fear any less real. Anxiety is being so fearful about an imagined future,6:02 it affects the way we live here and now. Now the world has its solutions, therapy and drugs being at the top of the list. And I'll admit for some people for some time, those can be effective. But I6:13 wonder if there's a better way, and we're gonna get into that today. But first, I I'd like to try something that the world might teach us in therapy. Everybody have a pen? If you're watching online, you can either use a6:24 pen or a remote control, nothing breakable. Grab your pen for me. Do this. Put it in your hand, in a fist, and hold it out. Now close your eyes. Imagine all your deepest fears6:35 and anxiety in your shoulder. Now in your bicep. Now in your elbow. Now in your forearm. Now in your wrist.6:47 Now in your fingers. Now release all that anxiety into the pen. Now drop the pen. I love that sound. Who feels6:59 better? You do? Well, you're easily tricked because that's what the world will teach us how to do it. I wanna learn it God's way, and that's what we're gonna do here today. Last 27:11 services, nobody said yes, so I'm sorry that you did. But how can we learn to combat anxiety, depression, and all forms of mental health? I wanna say by7:22 reading, studying, and learning from the word of God. There was another study done that showed that reading scripture most days of the week can change your mental health. It showed that loneliness drops7:34 38 percent. Anger issues drop 32 percent. Bitterness in relationships drop 40 40 percent. And a positive outlook on life is increased7:46 by 60 percent by reading your bible. How does this scientifically work? I don't know. But let me ask you this. If you eat a banana, what happens?7:57 Your body absorbs potassium. If you eat an orange, what happens? Your body absorbs vitamin c. We don't know well, some people scientists know how this happens,8:09 but I don't understand how that works. And for years, nobody understood. They just knew if you eat fruit, you stay stay healthy. There's even a saying, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I got a better saying, read8:21 your bible every day and keep the devil away. Read your bible every day and keep anxiety away. If you read this book multiple times a week, it's gonna have a positive effect on your mental8:33 attitude. And just like you might not understand, as I don't, how eating a banana absorbs the minerals and vitamins that I need to live a healthy life, you don't have to fully understand how reading8:45 the bible can affect you mentally in a positive way. You just have to do it. Look, if you need vitamins, eat some fruit. If you need a positive change in your attitude, read the bible.8:57 So it should be clear from the scripture that Paul is telling us not to be anxious. Well, thanks Paul. It's not that easy. I wonder, was he ever anxious? Well, yeah. Let's look at Philippians 2 28. He9:09 said, I am the more eager to send him, talking about Timothy. Therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and then I may be less anxious. He also wrote in second Corinthians9:21 11 28, and apart from other things, there is a daily pressure on me of my anxieties for the church. Well, Paul, so you show that you have some anxiety. The difference is9:32 Paul's anxiety wasn't centered on himself. He was worried about other people, the churches that he planted. In fact, Paul had every right to be depressed. He had every right to be anxious. He was locked up in a9:44 prison, not knowing whether he would live, or whether he would die, or ever be set free. Yet, he wrote this book that we call today the letter of joy. Instead of wallowing in depression and9:56 anxiety while in prison, Paul writes about joy, about gratitude, and about rejoicing in the Lord. This tells us that Christ was actually working in and through Paul to show him and those10:08 that he loved to show us that in the midst of difficulty, we can still rejoice and have joy in God and not be filled with anxiety. So the Bible tells us not to be anxious, but10:19 even better, it tells us how to deal with it. That's great. Don't be anxious. Now what do I do? It's like telling your kid, don't touch the hot stove, and they touch the hot stove. Now what do you do? You have to also10:30 teach them how to deal with the burn. So we have to learn how do we deal with anxiety if and when it comes. So I've got 5 points for you. Go ahead and take out your notes. If you're watching online, you don't have10:42 notes, you can go to waters church dot guide. You definitely wanna take notes because I'll be judging you from here if you don't. But number 1, how do we overcome anxiety? Number 1, we overcome anxiety by10:54 rejoicing in what God has done and is doing. By rejoicing in what he's done for us and what he's still doing for us. Philippians 4 says, rejoice in the Lord always.11:06 Again, I say, rejoice. Paul doubles down here. He says the word rejoice twice in 1 sentence. And then when does he tell us to do it? Always. What's always mean?11:18 Always. Always. Even when it's hard, even when it's tough, always rejoice. It's repeated in first Thessalonians 5 16 where he writes, rejoice11:29 always. Now depending on the translation that you go by, the word rejoice can be found in the bible between 304 hundred and 30 times. Clearly, God is trying11:41 to make a point. He doesn't want you to have anxiety. He wants you to rejoice. Look, you need some of us, and me particularly, you need to speak joy over your life. Look, I'm stuck in11:53 traffic. Joy. My kids are screaming. Joy. I'm dealing with health issues, but I choose joy. I lost my job. Joy. They broke up with me. They broke my heart.12:04 Joy. Everything seems to be falling apart, but I choose joy. Joy is a choice. Paul chose in prison to be joyful. We, if you fall call yourself a follower of12:16 Christ, can choose joy even in the toughest times. Jesus said this in John 15 11. He said, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that12:28 your joy may be full. Jesus is telling us who he is and who we are in him. He tells us we can rejoice even in a dark, hard, sinful12:39 world. Yes. Life is hard. But if you call yourself a follower of Christ, and somebody needs to hear this today, you are loved. You are a beloved son and daughter of the most high God, and12:51 that is something to be joyful about. We need to take our focus off ourselves and put our focus on him, rejoice in him, what he's done, and what he's doing. Amen? Amen. Number 213:03 way to overcome anxiety. We overcome anxiety by the power of prayer. By the power of prayer. Prayer is a powerful tool given to us by God almighty.13:15 Philippians 4 6 says, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer. By prayer, we come to God and ask for this to be taken away. We cast our13:27 anxieties on him, and he takes them away. First Peter 5 7 says, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you, because he loves you, because he doesn't want you to13:38 have these anxieties, these negative thoughts, depression. He wants them taken away. He wants all good things for you. What do you do when you feel anxious, depressed, or lonely? Do you give it to God? Do13:50 you get on your knees, or do you wallow in it? Do you nurse the feeling? Look, that pen can't absorb your anxiety, but the cross can. So lay it on the feet of the cross.14:02 I remember when I was a teenager. I have 2 younger sisters. They're 8 and 10 years younger than me. And every time they wanted a snack, they would they would whine, they would cry, they would beg my mother to give them a14:14 Lunchable. They and and me, I was a teenager, so what did I do? I walked right over to the fridge, and I took what I wanted. Did that mean that I was disrespectful to my parents? No. I knew who I14:26 was in the family. I knew that when my parents went to the grocery store, they shopped for things that they knew I would want, and I knew they wanted good things for me. So I took them. So much so,14:38 God wants good things for you. He wants to give them to you. He doesn't want negative things for you. He doesn't want bad things for you. So when you pray, remember who you are. You're part of the family. If you're in14:49 Christ, you're a loved son and daughter of the most high God, and he wants to give you good things. Also, when you pray, hear me on this, give God your full attention. Don't15:01 drift off. Look, so many of us drift off. And I wanna say if you if you get distracted, start over. Father God, who aren't in heaven, who's gonna win the football game today? Start over.15:13 Father God, who aren't in heaven? That smells good. What's for dinner? Start over. However you get distracted, start over. Focus on God. Give him your full attention. Matthew 615:25 tells us this. Matthew 6 6, but when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees you in secret will reward you. Cut out15:36 all distractions. Pray at a time in a place where you know you're not gonna be distracted. About 10 years ago, I was living alone in an apartment. I had 2 small dogs. They would follow me15:48 wherever I went. I could never get away from them. Unless I went to the bathroom. For some reason, they did not bother me when I was in the bathroom. That's daddy's time they left me alone. So that's where I made my15:59 prayer closet. I prayed in the bathroom because it's the only place I could be without distraction. Now, thank God, I'm blessed to have a wife, 2 large dogs, in a house that leave me alone whenever I go to my office. So16:11 when I go to my office, that's known as dad's time. That's prayer time. Everybody in the house leaves me alone. You need to find a place, find a time, and cut out all the distractions. Turn off the cell phone. Alright?16:23 Whatever it takes, give God your full attention. And if you're filled with anxiety and you don't know what to pray, I I did some homework for you. I gave you a cheat sheet. I'm not gonna go through them all right now,16:33 but there's 12 psalms for you. Speak these over your life. Pray these daily. If you find yourself filled with anxiety, return to the word of God and find how he's gonna bless you.16:46 Prayer can be powerful, but sometimes God wants you to do something before he answers you. Pastor Jody and I and a few of the elders were constantly being asked by a lot of members of the church16:58 to pray for them, which is a wonderful thing. Not just on Sunday. Sometimes we'll be in the office Monday through Thursday, and people will either call for an appointment, send an email, or they'll just show up, and17:09 they'll ask for prayer. And we're happy to do this. But I've noticed a few people, sometimes they come back again and again and again for the same prayer. 1 time, 1 lady came in17:21 3 days in a row to receive the same prayer. I saw 1 time on a weekend where somebody came up to receive the same prayer from 6 different people. This tells me they didn't believe the prayer. They17:33 didn't believe the power of God. They didn't have faith to be healed. Jesus said, you are healed by your faith. You have to believe in the prayer that God wants to give you good things.17:44 Other times, it might be something that you're holding on to that's holding you back from the blessing that God's trying to give you. I got a lesson for this when I was a little kid. I remember I was 8 years old, and17:55 we're at my grandparents' house. My whole family was inside. They were laying down a new carpet. I was outside playing Nerf football with 1 of my best friends. And all of a sudden, while they were laying down the carpet,18:06 they brought out this big cardboard roll. You know, if you get like toilet paper or a paper towel, there's a cardboard roll inside. You know what I'm saying? Anybody with me? Okay. Well, I don't know if they still18:18 have it today, but back then, there was a cardboard roll inside of a rug. So big, long cardboard roll on the porch. And my friend and I were currently watching a show called American Gladiators.18:30 Some of you know where I'm going with this. There was an event on American Gladiators called the Log Roll. So my friend challenged me. I dare you to get up there and see how long you can log roll that. Challenge18:42 accepted. So I got up on this thing. I started to balance. I started to break the world record. It was like 3 seconds. I thought I was king of the world. All of a sudden, I started to lose my balance and come forward.18:53 Come forward on the side of my grandparents' house. The side of my grandparents' house was not aluminum siding. It was shingles, just wood shingles. I19:06 came down. I fell to my knees. I started screaming. I started crying. I looked at my palms. They were filled with hundreds and hundreds of splinters. My grandmother, my mother came running19:18 out. They went to action. They grabbed the magnifying glass, the tweezers, the peroxide, and they just started to pull away all these splinters. They get about 2 or 3 splinters in, and I just begged them, please stop. It19:30 hurts too much. I'll live with these splinters. I'll be known as splinter man. I don't care. I just just but they knew. They knew if they didn't take those splinters out of my hands, then I wouldn't be healed. So19:41 they brought me to the hospital where I actually sat in the doctor's office and received 12 shots of Novocaine, 1 in each finger, 1 in the palm of my hand. And for 3 and a half hours, I just numbly19:53 watched my hands bleed and these splinters fully be removed. But I thank God that my mom and my grandma had enough fortitude to understand that if they didn't remove those splinters, I probably wouldn't20:05 have hands today. Sometimes God wants you to remove the splinters in your life before he gives you something great. We should never give up. We should never stop praying. Right? First20:17 Thessalonians says, pray without ceasing. Never stop. But when you pray, how are you praying? Are you a whining child or are you a love child of God? Look, God answers20:28 all prayers. People come to me all the time. They're like, God didn't answer my prayer. Yes, he did. God says yes, he says no, or he says wait. God never says maybe. God wants what's best for you, and he knows20:40 what's best for you. If he says yes, that's what's best for you. If he says no, that's what's best for you. But if he says wait, now we have to check ourselves and see, is there something in my life that I20:52 need to remove so God can change my weight into a yes? Sometimes there is. Look, some people you might be saying, but but Chris, I want an attractive Christian wife now. Are21:04 you in debt? Do you have a job? Or are you living in your mother's basement? God wants you to build a foundation before he gives you the house. Alright? And this might strike a nerve with somebody, but some of you21:16 need to work on your lust before you get your love. I had to hold on to that 1 right there. You might say, but you don't know how lonely it is. Yes, I do. I21:28 was single and saved for 15 years. But I'm telling you, you gotta put down the phone. You gotta stop running to those sites. You gotta run to God. You don't need to run to the club and go to that bar. You need to go to21:39 God, receive his blessings, and wait for his yes. Maybe you need to work on something else. Maybe you're big on gossiping. Well, maybe God wants you to remove gossiping so 1 day you'll have a healthy21:51 family life where you can speak positivity into your family and not negativity. Whatever God wants you to work on, whatever splinter he wants to remove, remove it so you can be22:03 healed and have God turn that weight into yes. So we rejoice in what God has done. We pray for his blessings. What's next? Number 3, how to overcome22:14 anxiety. We overcome anxiety by humbling ourselves before God. By humbling ourselves. Oh, but that doesn't sound very good not being a humble person.22:27 Google defines humility as a modest or low view of one's importance. That is not humility. God looks at it differently. God sees it as a strong characteristic.22:38 Look, humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less often. Alright? Putting other people first. A humble person will care about other22:50 people. And let me say this, a humble person's less likely to be anxious because you're not always just thinking about yourself. You're caring about other people. Take the focus off you. You're not the only 1 in the23:02 world. Philippians 4 6, we're go back to because it's so rich. It says, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication. Sublocation. That's23:14 a Latin word or comes from a Latin word meaning, that is, It's found over 60 times in the Bible, and it's a type of prayer. It's a petition done in humility. It's a way a23:25 Christian can come to God in a humble way. The Bible calls us to practice supplication rather than surrender to our anxiety and our fear. Christians can use supplication23:37 to praise God and cast our worries on him, releasing them from ourselves. Look, there are many ways to pray or many reasons to pray, I should say. Maybe it's to worship23:49 God, maybe to thank him, to confess your sins, pray for other people. But if you are filled with anxiety as a Christian, you need to humbly come before God and ask him to take24:01 it away. First Peter tells us, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. Casting all your anxieties on24:12 him because he cares for you. Again, we see a correlation between being humble and having no anxiety. Casting it on him. Luke 14 1124:24 says, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. What's the opposite of humility? Anyone?24:36 Arrogance. Arrogance. Some of you got that right. Nobody likes an arrogant person, especially not God. An arrogant person's no good for society because all they care about is is themselves.24:48 We need to be more like Jesus. Jesus, God came from the kingdom, humbled himself to die for your sins. If we want to be more like Jesus, if we want our25:00 anxiety taken away, we need to be humbled. We need to humble ourselves before an almighty and great God. James 4 10 says, humble yourself before the Lord and he will exalt you. You wanna25:12 be free from anxiety, depression? You wanna be exalted? Humble yourself first. Think about it this way. Pretend you're a boss, and you have 1 employee come to you, and he25:24 says, I'm killing it. I'm doing a great job. I demand a raise. Okay. Now you have another person, and he comes to you, and he says, you know, I just wanna thank you for the opportunity to work here. I've learned a lot,25:36 but I wanna let you know, you know, my family's growing. We've been struggling to pay our bills a little bit. If at all possible, could you give me a raise? Who's gonna receive a more positive result?25:48 The humble person, not the arrogant person. We too, when we come before God, come before God not demanding, but humbly asking and watching him exalt you. It's the attitude.26:00 0.4, how we overcome anxiety. We overcome anxiety with an attitude of thanksgiving. An attitude of thanksgiving. Going back to Philippians 4 6, do not be26:12 anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, and watch this, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. I love this verse because all26:24 God's points are here to pull us from anxiety. He tells us, rejoice, pray, have humility, and be thankful. And then we can be free of anxiety. It's all there in26:36 a road map. First, Thessalonians 5 18 says, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Being action, being26:47 anxious or even depressed is actually categorized as mental time travel. Hear me out. It's got a word. It's called rumination. When we ruminate on something, we dwell on26:59 it. We nurse that negative feeling. Right? But, research actually shows when you live in the present moment, you're happier, even if the circumstances you're going through27:11 aren't that favorable. But rumination is a sneaky habit of zapping us, of sucking away all that joy. This is where, gratitude can come27:22 in. We can actually break this mental habit with gratitude. There's something called habit reversal training. Habit reversal training is where you take something27:34 that's a competing response with the action and it's in, it's not compatible to it. For instance, if you have a habit of night of biting your nails, what can you do?27:46 Make a fist every time you wanna bite your nails. It's really hard to bite your nails when you make a fist except for the thumb, but then you can tuck that 1 away. Right? So just like that, when you start to ruminate27:58 on negativity, we should have gratitude. This is a habit that we can form, and you can train yourself to do this over and over again. Look, if if you don't think you have anything to be grateful for, go home28:10 today, make a list. Start with the smallest thing. I woke up this morning. I have running water. I have food in the fridge. I have air that I can breathe. Go all the way. I have a house to live in. I have a spouse that28:21 loves me. There are many things to be grateful for. Make a list. And when those worries start to come back to you, if you start to feel anxious, bring yourself back to the present moment by going over all the things you28:32 have great have to be grateful for. Now, if you don't call yourself a Christian, you have every right not to be grateful for everything. I understand that. But if you call yourself a Christian, you should28:44 be grateful for everything. But most of all, be grateful for what God has done. You're a beloved son and daughter. You're saved from eternal damnation. You're made right with God. There's no greater gift28:56 than the free gift of salvation. What is there to be anxious for when I know 1 day God's gonna bring me home and all things will be made new? We need to remember that. Actually,29:08 you guys tell me this all the time, and this is where I got the idea. So don't take my word for it. I want you to hear it from yourselves. Check this out.29:20 My life before Jesus was filled with fear and anxiety.29:23 My life before believing in Jesus was anxiety filled. I was anxious. I just had so much anxiety.29:33 A lot of anxiety. Had a lot of anxiety. Anxiety.29:37 Anxiety. I had a lot more anxiety.29:39 Anxiety. Anxiety. Anxiety.29:42 I also struggled with anxiety. I had anxiety.29:46 It was just bad.29:48 I had panic attacks. Attacks. Going to sleep scared, waking up scared, not knowing what was next for me.29:56 Not knowing the future.29:58 It affected a lot of things, the decisions that I made.30:01 Always worried about what everyone thought about me.30:03 I felt like I needed something, but I couldn't figure out what it was I needed. I just felt like30:11 I had to talk to him.30:12 I was sitting alone realizing that kind of there was just more than that and just kind of realized that I never gave God a chance. I never actually let him have control or let30:24 him take my life in a direction. And so I just kind of cried out to him.30:28 This overwhelming amount of peace came over me, and I just started crying. That anxiety and depression was alleviated.30:37 My stress and anxiety start to go away as I prayed more and read more into the bible.30:43 I have more peace and I have more joy.30:45 I'm not anxious anymore. You know, I don't have so much anxiety.30:49 I have less anxiety.30:50 I'm not anxious at all. I don't live in fear anymore.30:54 I don't have as much anxiety anymore.30:57 I don't have anxiety anymore about my future.30:59 My anxieties are gone. I find that if I get anxious at any time, I just start praying. I give my anxiety to Jesus now. I don't worry about things as much as I31:11 used to. Once I really realized that Jesus died for us, for me, and for everyone, that I don't need to feel like this anymore. And I I I do now when I if I ever do feel like a31:23 little bit of anxiety or I get nervous about anything, just I just pray.31:26 I don't have to worry about anything else knowing that he has a plan for me.31:31 God has a plan, so I don't need to worry about it.31:34 I hand it over to him, and I say it's not my life, it's his life. I have never felt so much hope or peace. I have goosebumps, like, in my entire life. It is, like,31:44 the most amazing thing ever. You realize that you don't have to walk life alone, and you feel like you have to do it in your own strength, and you don't. When you fully trust in him, then you don't have that anxiety or31:56 that worry or that fear anymore.31:59 Come on. I don't even have to preach after that. It's like they already saw my sermon or something. I get it every week, 5, 10, 15 people coming in32:10 every other week to get baptized. That's the number 1 thing I hear. Yes. God forgives you of your sins. He takes away all these other things. We hear amazing baptism testimonies. But for some reason, anxiety is32:22 huge in America today, but God is the 1 that can take it away. Amen. Alright. Point number 5, how we overcome anxiety. We overcome anxiety by remembering what Jesus32:34 has done. By remembering what Jesus has done. Philippians 4 8 9, finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is32:45 commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things to get rid of your anxiety. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and32:57 the God of peace will be with you. What's more true? What's more honorable? What's more pure? What's more lovely? What's more what's more excellent than Jesus Christ dying33:09 for our sins? What's better than that? That's what he's trying to tell us. Dwell on these things. Remember these things when the anxiety inevitably comes. When Jesus talks about anxiety in Matthew 633:21 25 through 34, he's telling the people that are listening not to worry about what you eat, what you drink, or what you wear because those were the things that were prevalent at the time that they were most anxious about.33:32 But then he goes on to say, don't worry about anything. And then he tells us how and he tells us why. He says in Matthew 6 34, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,33:44 and all things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself and sufficient for the day in its own trouble.33:56 Don't worry about the past. Don't worry about the future. Live for today. Live for today in the name of Jesus. The most important thing is that you34:08 know Jesus, that you know God. And there's 1 more thing I wanna do today. Anthony, would you bring out the board of anxiety? That's what I'm calling this. The34:20 board of anxiety. Thank you, sir. Don't go anywhere. I might need you because I only have 1 hand. So we see, as we went over at the beginning, most of our anxieties today. Worrying about money. Worrying about34:32 health. Worrying about our relationships. Worrying about current events. Worrying about work or school. When we worry about this, it becomes our life. So let's put this together like it would be34:44 our life. Auntie, would you take this, put this here, put that there? Oh, it's almost like you did this before. No? See, you gotta do this? Okay. Now bring this up.34:57 It's upside down. It's almost like you've done this 2 other times. This is good. Yep. Bring it down. Bring it down. Bring this 1 in. Now bring this 1 in.35:09 Oh, we made a puzzle. A puzzle of our life. The problem is when your life is filled with all these words, when life is filled with all this anxiety, it doesn't look like35:21 there's room for anything else. But what if I told you, Anthony, that we have to fit 1 more thing, 1 more piece of the puzzle? Think we can fit that in here? Supposed to say35:33 no. Let's try. Let's move this up. Let's move this up. Switch these. Turn that 1 over here. Yep.Show more
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