Transcription
It's good to be back. Will you join me in turning to God's holy word, to the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verses 6 and 7? And as you do, you can know this: the passage we are going to be studying this morning is the most highlighted passage in all Kindle e-readers, according to Amazon. And it's for good reason, friends. Today, as we journey through Philippians, Paul addresses anxiety, and so we're going to address it too.
The truth is, the anxiety stats are alarming, and Christians aren't immune. Even in preparing this message on this passage, I found myself experiencing anxiety. I wanted to talk; I wanted to dive deep into it; I wanted to understand it. And isn't it crazy? Turns out you can't. In fact, as I wrote multiple, multiple messages on anxiety—I thought they were pretty decent—but friends, as I wrote multiple messages on the topic of anxiety, a lot of them went into the trash because I kept finding myself trying to understand something that's simply not understandable. Because truthfully, I wanted to take it away. I felt this weight and this burden to stand before you and, in just a few moments, open up God's Word and somehow fix things. Friends, I can't. I so appreciated a few weeks ago Pastor Steve getting up here and even beginning to dive deep on clinical versus situational and starting to really understand the complexities of both depression and anxiety. These really heavy topics—at the minute you bring it up, some of you right now know that's your real-life experience—and it's deep. And I'm so grateful to God that he chose, through this book, to address it.
To: when he says this, "Do not be anxious about anything." Easy enough, right? But in everything, in every situation, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. I've been diving deep into the topic, and the reason a lot of those messages went into the trashcan is because I was trying to understand it. I was trying to say, "Why do we feel so anxious? What is it about our culture? What is it about our surroundings? What is it about the way our brain is working? Because the effects of social media..." And I found myself again getting more anxious as I wrote a message trying to heal anxiety, so that didn't work.
But then I sat with my husband, who works in an emergency room, and on one of our drives we were discussing it, and he says, "Can I tell you what I do when someone is hospitalized for it? When I see that it's actually working up in them and it feels uncontrollable and they can't even look, they can't think, and it feels like they're wondering, they don't even know what they're thinking about; they can't seem to arrive." He says, "This is what I do: I ask them to look me in the eyes, and then they do, and then he says, 'Hello, my name is Randy. I'm a staff nurse here at this hospital, and I'm really good at my job.' By the way, my husband's not a boaster, especially not in himself, so the fact that he said that—I want you to actually say that. He goes, 'Oh, I look him in the eyes and I tell him how good I am in my job, and then I tell them that in a couple of minutes we're going to get there slowly, but we're going to journey together. Things are going to get better, and here's what I need you to do: I need you to keep looking at me. I need you to keep looking at me, and I need you just to—and I'm going to have you do this with me—would you just take a really deep breath in? You can let it out, but let it out slowly. Breathe in. Would you just smell the flowers? I'm looking at your charts, and things are slowing down, by the way. Isn't it a gift just to slow down a little bit? You're welcome. Breathe it in, breathe it out."
And friends, I think it's precisely what Paul's doing in this passage. He's letting us know that God Himself is asking us to take our attention off of maybe the topic for a moment, to look him in the eyes, fix our eyes upon him, and to get to breathe again, to tilt our heads up. Why? Because he's really good at his job. Now, friends, I'm here to tell you, I'm probably not going to fix much. God could do absolutely anything, anything he wants. Let's not limit him, especially don't just limit him by your beliefs about him; he's much more expansive than that. He can do absolutely anything, but I'm not here to play psychologist; I'm not here to play any other part than someone that's going to say this: let's just begin to tilt our head upward. And that's exactly what Paul does. He says, "Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything go to God." In everything go to God. When anxiety begins to knock on your door—and maybe for some of you, yes, anxiety resonates, but some of you it's just worried, and you hear that knock—what Paul's inviting us to do is simply to go to God. It's almost like that warning light in your car, you know the one that says "Check your engine," the one that we tend to ignore way too long. And when we ignore it, when we don't address the problem, it doesn't fix itself, does it? And that's why Paul's urging us to say, "When it ups, when it knocks, when it begins to knock, go to God. When it's been knocking for years, go to God."
Why? See, friends, I think if we can't answer the question, "Why go to God versus try to solve it ourselves or try to understand?" Because if I'm honest, sometimes when that anxiety door knocks, sometimes I'm like, "Why, come on in. Let me make you a meal. Let me entertain you for a while. Maybe you and I can figure this whole thing out that we've been trying to figure out for years." And I spend time with it. We're God, in through this word, as saying, "No, no, no. Go to God. Allow that check engine light to recognize something's up. Let's get it checked out." And what? How to go to God? Why go to God? Because he understands; he actually knows the plan. Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. Do you know what I wish it said? I wish it said this: "For I know the plans I have for you, and I'm planning on telling them to you." Anyone else? It doesn't say that, and I think we expect it to. And I don't know why we expect it to, but maybe it is part of our day and age where we're not used to not knowing. How often have you been in the middle of a conversation and then, less the conversation, not knowing the answer to something because we ask Siri, we ask Alexa, who's now another person in our home? We're not used to not knowing. In fact, I did a survey of 200 youth, middle school and high school students, and one of the questions we had on the survey was this: "Why don't you talk to your parents about spiritual things?" Do you want another number one answer? I Google-searched my questions. Can I just say, older generation in the room, that's on us, that we stopped asking for wisdom; we started going to quick answers. Paul's saying, "Go to God." Why? Because God knows the plans.
And there's something else about the plans Paul talks about in Romans 8:28 when he says this: "And we know—here's what we can know—we know that in all things God works for the..." There you go, "...of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." But friends, that verse can be a little confusing if you don't know God's definition of good. Because my definition of good, of God working all things for good, would be that my life would become more comfortable. God working for good would be that there wouldn't be any hardship in my life. Friends, thank God—quite literally—Paul continues writing, verse 29, where he defines God's definition of good when he says this: "For those God foreknew, He also predestined"—by the way, don't get caught up on predestined; it simply means predestined—"for those God knew, He also predestined to be conformed"—by the way, don't get caught up on predestined; it simply means predestined—"to be conformed to the image of His Son." Do you want to know God's definition of good? It's to form you more into the likeness of Christ. That's His definition. So with that definition in mind, if God's going to work all things for good, the God that has the plan is the one that actually understands and knows what's going to happen. And maybe a reason why we can step back and actually go to God is because He will use everything. He will use even anxiety; He will use anxious environments. In fact, if you're finding yourself too overwhelmed by worry and anxiety and fear, can I tell you, you're in really great company in the scriptures. Think about it: people who are being formed into the likeness of Christ, because God didn't just save them from hardship, He saved them through hardship. God's good plans—the definition of good being forming you more into the likeness of Christ—God's good plans are not exempt from trial. I don't know where it was that I thought that God promised a safe and easy life. Did anyone else think that they heard that at some point? It's not in here. How do I know? Because God did not save Noah from a flood; He saved him right in the midst of the crashing waves. I love that merit of, by the way. I love all the little details about it. I love the fact that in the midst of the narrative He gives us our part, God Himself, and then He also tells us His part. Our part, by the way, is to trust Him. He says, "I want you to build this thing—you know it's never really been a thing—but I want you to build it, and just trust me. I know people are going to think you're crazy, but will you trust me?" And by the way, He even gives them all the dimensions: "Here's how to do this; here's the type of wood," and He goes through it all. Do you know what He doesn't even bring up? He doesn't even bring up a rudder or a steering wheel. He's just inviting the trust, but God's showing him along the way that He's there. There's another little verse in the new narrative where He taught—where He talks about—He says, "Don't worry about the animals; they're going to come to you." You ever catch that one? That one's a little confusing. Can you imagine Noah just walking down the street? Two squirrels are like, just start following. He's like, "Hey, God was right!" But if he missed those details, if he missed the kangaroos that were following down the road, he might miss the fact that God's showing up and giving him little details to see, "I'm still here. Will you trust me with the big things? Start to trust me with really small things. Just say yes. Go to God. Don't just go to yourself. Don't just try to fix; don't just try to understand. He's the one with the plans; He knows that He's working all things for good."
Another little scripture in the Noah narrative when it comes to God's part, God's physical part in the ark—are you ready for it?—Genesis 7:16 says this: "The animals going in were male and female of every living thing as God had commanded Noah. Then God—then the Lord shut him in." Do you want to know God's part in the Noah story, in the ark? God shut the door. I always thought God just opened them. Anyone else? And I like open doors. Can I tell you that God uses absolutely everything, even a closed door? And some of you are experiencing closed doors in your life: job opportunities, good Bahai relationships broken, and you're feeling all this. I can tell you that God has a plan for it, and He will use all of it to make you more into the likeness of Christ. But that might change your question in response to God from "Why me?" to "God, what might you have for you?" Do you see how that question would change your perspective? And it wasn't just Noah. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—remember those guys? God didn't save them from a fire; He saved them through the flames. In fact, He even joins them in there. And you remember how they went to God right in the midst of standing before the consequence for obedience to God? Here was what they said: "Our God can do anything, but even if He doesn't, we will not follow you; we follow Him." And those two words, "even if," are very different than the words we tend to say when it comes to anxious environments. We tend to say, "But what if..." My friend Mike Foster brilliantly said that the question "what if" breeds fear; "what if" breeds anxiety. "Even if" breeds faith. "Even if" allows you to get to a place of peace. "Even if" your "what if" comes to pass. Remember Daniel? The beasts were at his side. He didn't save him from the pit; God saved him right in the midst of it.
Friends, will you—will you hear God's word for you this morning? God has a plan, and He will use—He will work all things for good. He doesn't want to remove trial from your life because maybe it's how He's planning to transform you through it. Will you let Him? He is going to work all things for good. If you find yourself in the desert, maybe you find yourself in the fire, and the flames feel like you're drowning, maybe you're wondering about God's promises. I can tell you, maybe He's closing a door, not to keep you from a promise, but to keep you from drowning on the other side. That's our God. In fact, don't believe you're angry; don't believe God is angry with you if you're in one of those environments. God's good plans are not exempt from anxious environments; He's not saving you from them; He wants to transform you through them. And friends, I don't just know this from Scripture; I know this in my own life. As I was preparing this and asking God, "When is the times I've had to go to you?" They're not my favorite stories because one of the times I've informed most into the likeness of Christ—to be honest with you—aren't my victories. It's not when everything seemed to go really well; it's through the fire. In fact, I remember being in a really important room with lots of important people—and not even weirder because what the reason we were all gathered was to get around—and then what the first prompt was was to go around—didn't say it this directly—but they went around and said, "Why don't we prove while you're important and you deserve to be here?" By the way, have you ever been in a room like that? You felt like you were the ones supposed to serve the coffee? Have you been that? That's what I felt like. And I remember, and they gave a prompting of like, "Tell us about you," and everyone just starts just with their credentials. By the way, what would be yours? What's that thing you put your—"This is who I am; this is this is what I have to offer the world." I believe God wants to break those things down in us so that we have Him, the best thing to offer the world. The friends, it started with the first person. She basically said something I was paying attention to but kinda, and so she said, "You know, I used to be a nobody, but then recently I was promoted to somebody, and man, it feels good." I'm thinking, "Wow, that was nice." And then the person to her right went next, which meant I'm last. I'm like, "No, you know it's so..." Suddenly the second person's like, "I used to work for so-and-so, big-name company, and then now I work for a bigger-name company, and can't wait 'cause pretty soon I'm going to work for the best-name company, you know," and they just started going on. Or have you been in one of these rooms? I've never walked into a room and felt like he needed to prove while you were worthy to be there. Have you ever—ever walked in and felt the need to be interesting? Yes. And so here's what I did. I knew I could be anxious, and is what I chose to do. I went to God. I heard the knock. Okay, what makes me worthy to be in this room? Oh, He's... And then I went to God. I said, "God, what would you have me say?" And then He kind of nudged me with, "I'd like you to tell that one story." I'm thinking, "I'm good, mmm," because what you don't know is that one story is my biggest failure. I think that—don't—that one doesn't make sense 'cause that doesn't prove anything about movie, and it kept getting the nudge, and I'm thinking about credentials, and it's this fight, right? Friends, I obeyed His voice, and I wasn't proud of it, and I'm not proud to stand in front of you and obey it either, as I was preparing. And so it got to me, and all the eyes turned to me, and I said, "I went to jail once." And everyone... And I proceeded to tell the story. Truth was, I had some friends in college, and they just started making bad choices for them; they were just—they were stealing from stores, clothes. I knew right from wrong; I was a good Christian girl that made all the good Christian decisions my entire life, and suddenly they invited me to go with them one day, and I don't know why I even said yes. And in most of the stores I just distracted the person at the front, and then in one store they go, "You got a try," and they threw some stuff in my bag, and then the alarm sounded, and they ran, and I stood there, caught. But I wasn't just caught stealing; I was caught putting my trust in myself, and I was caught pleasing people instead of pleasing the Lord. I was caught going to people to try to find accolades; I was caught going to people to find importance. Can you relate? I got caught that day, and I went to jail, and they had kept me in this little holding cell, but man, it was scary for about four to six hours. And then I remember the moment that knock came: "Your parents are outside." I was 18 at the time; I'd never been terrified. And I remember walking out, and I'm grabbing my head down, and I remember looking up. You know, I remember—I remember seeing my mom first, and this is how she responded: "Does this look familiar in church?" And I went, "Mom, I don't deserve that." And my dad said something profound. He said, "Oh, my girl, you never did." And he did the most brilliant things. He said, "There's nothing you could do that would make me love you any more, and there's nothing you could do that would make me love you any less. I just love you." Some of you may feel like you're anxious because of your decisions, or maybe someone else's decisions that had a lot of impact on you, or loss. Maybe it's your fault; maybe it's not. But my friends, here's the beauty of church and why Paul is urging us—and I mean urging us—to say, "Go to God," because what it looks like is this: you get to go from that place where you have your head down, trying to figure things out, trying to understand; you tilt your head up; you get your perspective, and then you get to walk into the arms of grace; you get to walk into the arms of love, and you get to walk into the arms of power. And I got to be honest with you, He may not just fix everything in a moment; maybe He wants you to come there more often. But I'll tell you His posture—I'll tell you His posture as you come—as you go to God. And that's why Paul says, "Go to Him, and go to Him often; go to Him consistently; just go to Him," because otherwise you'll be tempted to go to others first. But can I also tell you, when it comes to this really heavy topic called anxiety, what I love is that as we go to God, He's also gone to other people's hearts and equipped them in a lot of ways to come alongside you. You don't go through this thing alone. He's equipped doctors that have this passion; He's equipped counselors that have this passion so that you don't have to go to God on your own; that they can come alongside you too. And then Paul even gives some description about how to go to God. He says this: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition"—petition basically means asking—"asking with Thanksgiving." How in the world are we supposed to thank God for the thing we are asking for? Friends, this is key. You thank God as you make the request because, in doing so, you're saying, "God, whatever You choose to do in response to my request, I trust is for good, and I'm going to thank You."
For before I even know it, even if it means when I ask you don't give it to me when I want it, I'm going to end my prayer as I ask, say thank you because I trust your timing. Or maybe even crazier is, not only does maybe, maybe God doesn't even give you what you ask, maybe he gives you the opposite. The key to understanding the piece Paul talks about in verse 7 is thanking God as you ask. You see, because we don't need to know the plans, we need to know him, so we can thank him even if the plans go sideways. Thinking God as you pray is the key to peace. Peace is not the absence of trial, but active trust in God and his plans as you go to him.
And friends, this was modeled for us in one of the most anxious environments that Jesus walked through. In fact, on his way to the cross—can you imagine the anxiety on the way to the cross?—Jesus found himself in the garden of, guess what, enemy, and listened to his prayer when he went to God, and he actively trusted as he requested. When it said this, Matthew 26:39, “Going a little further, Jesus fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.’” The cup is referencing God's wrath, the penalty Jesus was going to be paying—God's wrath for all sin being poured out onto him. He said, “If there’s another way, here’s my request; if there’s another way, may that be taken from me.” That’s Jesus’s request, but listen to the trust in the next sentence: “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus prayed with thanksgiving as he requested because he knew that not only is he to go to God and to go to God with Thanksgiving, he also knew that when he did, Philippians 4:7, God will—God is active as we pray. Paul says it this way, verse seven: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Let’s break this down into two: “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding.” I love even how our worship leader said it: it’s that peace that you know doesn’t make sense; it’s beyond our understanding—the God of peace and the peace of God. He goes to, he moves—as we turn our attention, he moves toward us—he already dwells within, but he becomes active as well.
In fact, I always thought that this line, “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding,” I always thought that it just meant that God’s peace is bigger than our understanding, which is true. The peace of God is bigger than anything we could ever understand, yes, but as I meditated on this passage and I began to pray on behalf of you, I realized not only is the peace of God bigger than our understanding, it’s also better than even understanding. And I know you want to understand, but here’s the invitation, both from Paul, also from God, also from Jeremiah back in 29:11. He continues to write in verses 12 and 13, basically this: trust God, Paul. Don’t be anxious; rather, go to God, trust God, go to God, because God will go to you too, and his peace—let his peace have an active part. Friends, if we don’t go to God, we’re just going to walk through our anxiety as nay theist. I know you may have a belief in God, but going to God allows God to go back. He wants a word; he wants to use how my God won’t be; how might God be wanting to use the very thing you’re going through to form you more into the likeness of Christ as you actively take steps of trust. He is actively moving towards peace, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts. This is how he moves; he will guard both your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus as you go to God. Go to God with Thanksgiving; God goes to—he—the peace of God guards your heart.
I love what Warren Wiersbe said about it, cuz I think we understand when we have peace and when we don’t. This is how God moves. He says this: “If we are walking with the Lord, in other words, yielding to the Spirit, then the peace of God and the God of peace exercise their influence over our hearts. Whenever we disobey, we lose that peace, and we know we have done something wrong.” God’s peace is the umpire that calls us out. Have you experienced it? And I love that picture of an umpire, because what’s the umpire on a baseball field? What’s the umpire’s job? It’s to use the words to dictate the actions; it’s because the word of the umpire has the greatest authority. And the key, from even my husband back in the emergency room trying to look someone in the face who is struggling, he’s saying, “Make sure you pay attention to the right voice,” and God himself, through this passage, is saying, “Pay attention to the right voice,” because when you go to God, you are paying attention and beginning to listen to the—the right voice, and the right voice guards your heart and your mind. Yes, he may call you out, but can I tell you what a guard also does? What an umpire also does? He also sends thoughts and beliefs out of the game. That’s one of my favorite things they do. I know it’s—it’s unfortunate for the person being sent, but do you ever meet that one—“You’re out of there!” It’s kind of like when suddenly you’re going to God and you sense that one nudge again that goes, “You are unlovable; what you’ve done makes you unlovable.” Here’s what the umpire of your heart does: “That thought, get out of here! Get that thought out of here! You’ve made mistakes, but you are not a mistake.” And the minute your mind begins to tell you otherwise, the spirit wants to move in that thought; he wants to send it out. You know what else? What’s another famous slogan from an umpire? “You’re…” He lets us know, maybe a safe thought versus one that needs to be sent out. “You’re unlovable, get out of here!” That thought, get out of here! You are loved amidst your weaknesses, but you have room to grow. That one’s safe. Room to grow; that one’s safe. But let’s do that together; don’t try to do this alone. Go to God; go with Thanksgiving; he’ll go to, and when he does, you’ll get to see, just like the characters throughout scripture, that God knows the plans, and he will work all things for good. He even uses consequences.
Friends, I remember after I went to jail, a few months later, stood before the judge, and little did I know that my parents and everybody they knew wrote letters to the judge on my behalf. Here’s what’s true about her—that that was a miss; this is the truth of her character; this is it. “Judge, you have the authority; you have the voice in this moment to either allow this just to be a punishment or to allow this to have purpose; you can make this have purpose.” And this judge said yes, to—because this judge looked at me, an 18-year-old, who—this could have been one of those moments I could have gone a lot of different directions, and here was the consequence. He said, “For you, I’m gonna do something I’ve never done before,” and I thought, “That’s either good or bad.” He said, “For you, your charge is to speak publicly to every local high school on the topic of decision-making.” Friends, I became a communicator because I got caught. Do you want to know why I’m here years later, standing before you? Because our God really does use it all. He goes, “I’m gonna break you down before I give you the gift; I’m gonna let you know—I’m gonna let you know that I can use absolutely everything, but I want to couple that gift with your weakness, and I want you to stand before everyone, just like Paul does all throughout scripture, and go, ‘Yes, I am weak, but when I am weak, he is really strong.’ I cannot do this thing on my own, because to be honest, it’s really tempting to put my trust in myself.” And friends, no wonder we’re so anxious; if it’s all up to us, we are carrying the load that was never meant to carry. Thank God he had Paul pen these words and say, “Just don’t be anxious.” It’s that sound impossible? Yeah, it is by yourself. Go to God; go to God of Thanksgiving; in other words, trust him as you go. And when you don’t have faith, ask for more faith; even in the asking, it’s faith. Go to God; go to God with Thanksgiving, because God will go to—he’ll use it all. Friends, this is not just a message that we get to agree with; this is a message we get to respond to. A friend of mine named Brooke Andrews, a dear friend, reminded me recently—have a really lovely hymn; it’s called “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” and I want us to not just know and not just have heard; I want us to experience what happens when we go. And so here’s what I want to do: I want to sing this together. I wanted to go like this; we’re gonna sing this together, so band, but I feel if I’m gonna lead you somewhere, I’m gonna have to do it too. So just know this one’s an active obedience for me, cuz I just want us to look—see what it looks like when you get to take your head down, just get to lift it off, cuz that’s all Paul’s telling us to do when you turn your eyes on Jesus. Here’s the lyrics, and we’re gonna sing it together just a few times, the exact same portion, and it’s this: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face,” why? “Cuz he’s really good at his job,” and “the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” Friends, will you sing it with me, and will you go to God with me in this moment of worship? [Music] [Music] [Music] We’re gonna go again; would you just focus on his face? Turn… [Music] [Music] One more time together; let’s go full voices; sing it for yourself and sing it for those around you. Look… [Music] [Music]
Great Father, I thank you that we don’t have to turn anywhere else. Forgive us for turning other places first, but thank you for your patience to draw us back. I pray that we would not just know your peace, but experience your peace, and then boast in your peace. Help us remember; help us to trust; give us faith, and help us to take steps of courage to find our help. We love you; be glorified in us as we find our satisfaction in your presence. We pray, and all God’s children said… [Music] So that verse—that verse you just heard—taught, “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in every situation, every situation, make your requests known to God.” And some of you are—you’re carrying a heavy burden; you’re worried; you’re anxious; you’ve got something there. And truth is, we don’t know your situation; I don’t, but what I know is, if you’re carrying that, God says he’s faithful in any of these situations, but you’ve got to make your requests known to God. And this week I had an experience where a group of friends gathered around me, and they know something I’m caring, and they just said, “You haven’t asked for prayer, but we’re going to pray for you,” and it—it meant so much to me that they would intentionally step out to pray for me, and then just in their praying, I just felt some of that worry lessen. And that’s what prayer does; it doesn’t always fix everything, but it has an impact on you. And some of you, I think today could use some prayer to help in the anxiety in the word you have. And so in a moment the service will be done, but right down front here we’re gonna have volunteers and staff who would love to pray with you. And I just challenge you, don’t walk out the doors if you’re carrying a burden; you come right down here; just say, “Walk—done.” You can share as much or as little as you want; you can just say, “Hey, just pray for me; I’ve got a situation,” that’s it, or you could tell them a little bit more. Last night people were sharing just with me some of their story, and it helps so much just to be together. And so I’d invite you, as soon as I get done with a prayer, come right down front here, and we’d love to pray with you as well. When you walk out, you’ll get a chance to get this card, and two things on this card really—one is next steps; you’ll see it’s got a web address to our church website where some of our staff has put together resources if you or someone you love is struggling with anxiety, and that’s just a way again to educate and resource you. On the flip side though, is again the information on calling our church to talk to a pastor. We have pastors available Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00, who would love to talk to you if you are carrying a burden. The thing I tell you is, don’t walk through this alone. If you’re struggling with anxiety, take that seriously; don’t try to do this alone. And I shared this a couple weeks ago; they were saying about 20 people a day were calling, saying they’re struggling and could use some help, and we love to serve you; we’re in this with you. And so we just want to give you this resource so that you’ve got the number to call or the—the website to look at. The other thing again, we’ll have prayer right here; this is also next Sunday we’re gonna be doing baptism, so right down here will be prayer, right over there will be the baptism. If you’re a Christ follower, the baptism input mean—if you’re a Christ follower but haven’t been baptized, scripture is clear that’s your next step, so it’s gonna be a busy front; I trust you can figure that out—prayer here, baptism there. Sound good? Would you stand up, and can we close this with a word of prayer? And before we do that, one more time, can we thank Megan for blessing us—fantastic teaching, really great. Yeah. All right, so let’s pray. Can we now? God, this is my prayer for this church, for this congregation. God, I don’t know all the situations they have, but God, you do; you do. God, what I ask is this, that your peace, which we cannot explain, would be there for every person, that whatever they’re carrying, whatever anxiety they have, they could lift it to you, trust you with it, and God, you would give them peace. God, if anyone feels overwhelmed, I’d assess that they would make the intentional choice today to not carry that alone. God, to ask—they not just walk out the door and leave, but they come right down front for prayer; they talk to a pastor to get help, but God, that they—yeah, they would intentionally see how serious this is and get help. And God, we love you; we love your God who doesn’t leave us to our own worries, but who wants to help us with them, wants to relieve us of them, wants to heal us from them. God, I love that you’re a God who consistently is saying, “Don’t be afraid.” God, we love you. Now, God, I would ask that your peace and your grace and your love would overwhelm every person who can hear my voice now. God, we pray this in the name of Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen. So again, come right down front if you need prayer. Have a wonderful Sunday; we’ll see you back next week.