January 11, 2025 • 52 mins
Today's episode of Sunday Service by Pray.com features Kenny Luck.
Discover how faith confronts fear in this message from Luke 12, as Pastor Kenny Luck unpacks Jesus' teachings on anxiety and the assurance of God's unfailing love. Join us to explore how we can live free from worry and embrace the peace and purpose found in Him.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray that the gentiles should be fellow heirs
of the same body and partakers of His promise in
Christ by the Gospel Ephesians three six. Thank you, Lord
for making your glorious salvation available to the gentiles, and
not just the nation of Israel. You wanted the whole
(00:21):
world to have the opportunity to know you, not just
the God of Israel, but the one true living God
over all people. You showed your sovereignty first through your
chosen people, but when they rejected you, the gentiles were
given a divine opportunity. You do not want any one
(00:42):
to perish, and have made all people who accept the
promise of Christ equal partakers in his inheritance. Your goodness
is without measure, and your love is unconditional. You are
the power connection to abundant life. Amen. Thank you for
(01:05):
listening to today's daily prayer. For more inspiration and an
incredible message from our feature pastor, stay tuned to pray
dot COM's Sunday service.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
What a word from the Lord from Ephesians chapter three.
There's a longing in the heart of the apostle, Paul.
That's just like you got to get this. You got
to get this to know the height and the link
and the width and the depth of God's love.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And that's where we're headed today. My name is Kenny Luck.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I'm one of the pastors here at Cross Line Church,
and I want to welcome everybody watching online, everybody on
our campus.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
We're in a series called the Master's Teaching.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Jesus said, teach them to observe all that I commanded you.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
He said that to his followers.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
But to do that, you have to unpack the Master's
Teaching so that we know what he said, so that
then we can observe or apply or put into practice
what Jesus says.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Now. Isn't that essential Christianity? Right there?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Jesus said, whoever hears these words of mine and puts
them into practice, that person is like a wise man
who built his house on the rock. Do you know
that God this morning wants your life to be solid,
But it's not going to be solid unless you open
your heart, in your ears and your spirit to the
words of Christ himself. And then you seek in your life,
in your context, in your relationships, in your lifestyle and
(02:34):
your flow to apply and observe what he says. Now,
I believe Today's theme from Luke chapter twelve. It strikes
at the very heart of what God wants us to apply,
and it strikes at the very heart of this cultural moment,
you know, this last year. And I'm going to say
words that you're really familiar with right now, of quarantining,
(02:56):
social distancing, distance learning, working from home, shutting down of
gap rings, shutting down of sports, all youth sports, all
professional sports, all social gatherings. I mean, it's almost like
Christmas got almost shut down, and then when you live
on the West Coast, everything gets shut down more.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
But anyway, the supply chain lines at the grocery store.
You remember the lines at the grocery store.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Do you remember the panic? Like I bought there was
so little meat in the meat section. I bought a
whole turkey, and like I came home, you know, and
I have like Dino bytes, you know, those the fake
chicken dino bytes that you eat when you're a kid,
you know, and that mothers served to their kids.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
You know, it's just I bought all this crazy stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I remember those those lines outside of Trader Joe's, Oh
my gosh, like wrap around the building. But there's a
ripple effect that has happened in every dimension of our
lives that has caused this a little bit of stress
and anxiety. Amen, all right, So I'm glad we're all
on the same page. And while some people might claim
(03:59):
an upside to the pandemic Amazon, the pandemic right magnifies
every challenge that we already had, right, I mean, life's
hard enough, right, I mean Jesus said, in this world
you'll have tribulation, but take courage. I've overcome the world.
So there's already a baseline of tribulation and stress and
(04:20):
concern over the future and all of those things. Right,
But when this hit, you know, a world event, massive
world event, massive cultural phenomenons, right, political divides, cultural divides,
racial divides, ethnic tension, all this stuff hitting all at
(04:40):
once in the middle of a very isolating, stressful, unusual
time that no one had any context to experience a
little bit of stress with that. And then it's on
our families, It's on our relationships, it's on our education,
it's on you who have to go out and make
a living.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
It affected the professional.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Market, and what it did it was like, you know,
how like volcanoes have magma underneath the surface, like it's
just kind of boiling and percolating in there and then
just you know, then the pressure below exceeds the ability
of the surface to keep the pressure down the boom.
And as a pastor, as a mental health worker before
(05:25):
I was a pastor, man, it all came out. I mean,
there were health concerns and there were physical concerns about
spread and all that stuff. But you know, your pastoral team,
you know what weird you with massive depression, massive anxiety,
massive loneliness and people trying to hold it all together
(05:48):
in the middle of it. Now, can I just say,
as a pastor, with my spiritual glasses on, that.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
All those negative.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Emotions that the last year has created, you know who's
really invested in those negative emotions?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Evil?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Because when you're vulnerable and you're walking around with all
this stuff, it's easy to believe things. It's easy to
want to relieve that stress and loneliness. It's easy to
just go, I'm out because you believe things are fatal
and final. Right, And so this is really timely what
(06:26):
we're talking about now. And it's timely that we talk
about anxiety because the Bible talks about anxiety. You know,
if I were to add up all the times the
Bible says don't fear or don't worry, or talks about
the subject of anxiety. We're into almost a thousand passages
of scripture, so it's a big theme, right, And I
want to distinguish right up top, just so that we're
(06:49):
all on the same playing field. There's a difference between
thinking anxiously and living anxiously, all right, And we're talking
in this message from Luke twelve what to do with anxiety.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
We're not demonizing anybody.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Who has an anxious thought, because then everybody would get
demonized because we all have anxious thoughts.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Amen. All right, So just so that we're all on
the same page. So here's where we're going.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
We're going to define what it is really clearly, and
I think everybody will just go, yep, that's what it is.
And then we're gonna get Jesus' mind on anxiety, and
then we're gonna talk about Jesus's desire when I feel
that way, and then we're gonna talk about what it
means to us personally and as a community of believers
as we reach out to others and to a dark
(07:36):
and watching culture.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
All right.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
So let's get right into it, Luke, Chapter twelve. We're
gonna break it up into three sections. This is our
only text, Luke twelve. And it's Jesus and he's having
a conversation with the disciples. All right, Then, Jesus said
to his disciples, Therefore, I tell you, do not worry
about your life what you will eat, or about your
body what you will where. For life it's more than food,
(08:04):
and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens, they
do not sow or reap, They have no storeroom or barn,
yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you
are than birds? Who of you by worrying can add
a single hour to your life. Since you cannot do
this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Now?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
The reason I started with the passage is that I
wanted to let Jesus define sort of what the dynamics
are of worry and anxiety. But I did put a
definition on your notes if you're following. It's a feeling
of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event
(08:48):
or something with uncertain outcomes. Causes of anxiety include big events, trauma,
or life experiences or build ups of smaller stress filled
situation that trigger anxiety. Can we finish that definition together?
Things happening that you cannot control?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Everybody in agreement.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, Because I was talking with our pastoral team as
we were working this message out together, and uh, and
we were sitting there and it just it dawned on
me as we were talking about this that all the
people that come into our offices and and and ask
for counseling and so forth, and they're they're battling anxiety. Well,
they're battling anxiety because they're taking on something.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
That doesn't belong to them. You know what it is,
the future? All right.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
If you take on the future like it says here, uh,
things happening that you cannot control.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
You're gonna experience anxiety.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And I think in that regard, we're all in the
same boat, and we're all in the same bucket. But
let's unpack Jesus's mind on our anxieties. And the first
thing that we see is that write this down. It's
a human tendency, all right. So you know that's why
we don't shame anybody for feeling anxious, and and and
and and on the spectrum. All right, it's it's a
huge human tendency. You know, when you do a message
(10:02):
on anxiety, you want to you want to figure out
what the smart people say. So you go to UC
Berkeley Department of Neuroscience and you dive into this journal
that's talking about how there's the emotional brain in the
cognitive brain.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
You know, those two parts of.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yourself where there's the emotional side and then there's the
kind of the rational side, and it's actually God has
built our brains to manage anxiety and worry.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
We manage that tension.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
There's a part of your brain which is the cognitive side,
which is kind of the rational side, and then there's
your I'm gonna I don't even know if I'm saying
this right, just.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
You know, it sounds like a leafy vegetable.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
You're a migdala maybe because it sounds like arugula. But anyway,
You're amygdala is in the deep part of your brain
and that's your emotional side. And so what's interesting is
that all neuroscientists go, you know what, there's parts of
your your frontal lobe and your cognitive brain that kind
of can turn down or can turn up what's coming
out of your emotional brain? Right, and and so there's
(11:00):
this battle. But you know how who wins that battle, right,
the emotional brain or the cognitive brain. It kind of
depends on what you're feeding your brain. Okay, It's how
you think, it's how you work. And so when Jesus
is saying, hey, don't worry about your life, okay, he's
he's really just pointing out a human tendency.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Secondly, Jesus's mind on our anxieties, it's rooted in scarcity.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It's rooted in scarcity.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Do you notice the contrast here is like, hey, there's
a limited supply stuff out there, and you need that stuff,
and then you're worried about you having enough stuff that
will meet your need. Okay, just think toilet paper during
the pandemic. You know, you walk down every aisle you know,
and there's you know, everything's full, and then you walk down.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
A desert in Aisle twelve. It's like, what am I
gonna do?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
How?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
What are we gonna do?
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I knew it should have gone when there were four
rolls left in the garage and the aisle's empty.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
But anxiety is rooted in scarcity.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And it's not just the scarcity of food or clothing,
the scarcity of attention. It's a scarcity of approval, it's
a scarcity of visibility, it's a scarcity of jobs.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Anxiety is rooted in scarcity.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I have needs and the culture says there's a limited
supply of that stuff. Well, you better get on it,
you better submit that resume, you better get visible on
social media, you better get to Aisle twelve and get
some toilet paper before it runs out. But it's rooted
in scarcity, all right. Third, Jesus observes that my anxiety,
(12:41):
look at this is misplaced energy. Hello, just think of
all the time and effort and mental energy that we
are spending anxious over the things that culture says are scarce.
And the reason why Jesus can say it, of course,
because he's God, but secondly, because he knows that he
(13:07):
has an unlimited supply of what you need. Culture says
limited supply. Jesus goes, no, Father's Son and Holy Spirit,
we got exactly what you need. You can chill, man,
don't get anxious about that scarcity stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Because I'm bigger.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
I'm the one who supplies it all I'm the chief
supply officer of everything.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
What a great title, right, Yeah, I'm the chief supply
officer of what everything? That's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
You should know Jesus by the way, if he's the
chief supply officer of everything?
Speaker 3 (13:42):
All right?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Third or fourth, my anxiety's cloud reality. The cloud reality,
and that's where you see this energy. It's just like
Jesus like, don't worry, don't worry about that little stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
The reality is is that you're valuable and you're on
my list and I see you now. Is my timing
always your timing?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
No?
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Because usually we want what we want when we want it,
and in the forum that we want it.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Can we have a cup of honesty right now? Okay?
But God's got everything that we want.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
But you know, like a loving parent, like a loving father,
like a great coach or mentor, God doesn't give us
exactly what we need, what we want when we want
it in the forum that we want it, because He
is more interested in our insides than our comfort.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
He wants us to grow. Okay, So Jesus is mine
on our anxieties. It's human tendency, it's rooted in scarcity,
it's misplaced energy, and it clouds the reality of God.
And I want you to see in that first picture
of how Jesus makes a compare in contrast, he says,
(14:57):
you know those black birds that you see all around you,
very common, sometimes annoying, make noises, travel impacts. God takes
care of them. And then he says, this, how much
more valuable are you than none? Everybody say valuable? Okay,
(15:22):
think about what's valuable to you, okay. So anxiety scarcity,
it's a tendency that we have. It shrouds reality regarding God.
And then God comes in to earth and he's just like,
let's talk about this, and here's what I want you
(15:43):
to know. You are more valuable than these animals that
I take complete care of their whole ecosystem I'm in
charge of that. You're way more value if I feed them.
Do you think I'm gonna feed you? If I close?
Do you think I'm gonna clothe you? If I provide
for them? Do you think I'm gonna provide for you?
And what he's doing is he's replacing the perceived loss
(16:06):
that we're all anxious about with himself.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Who does that? God does? God?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Can you know that thing you're that thing in your
future that you're all worried about. God sees that that's
way ahead of you, and he's already there. And so
that's really what I want you to see, is that
when when anxiety, which is called in psycho in the
psychological community, a blinding emotion, When anxiety blinds our emotions,
(16:35):
what does it blind us to? It blinds us to
the reality that there is God and he created you,
and he's over you, and he's gonna meet your needs
and we miss him. But if we listen to Jesus
as he talks about his mind on aering, we can
start to get a little different perspective on where it
(16:57):
comes from, how we should deal with it, and what
it does. Because Jesus saying, yeah, while it is normal,
there's no scarcity when you're in relationship with me. While
it is normal to put a little bit of energy
into it, don't put a lot of energy into it. Why,
Because the reality is is that I am present. I
understand you're valuable. You know my kids speaking of I
(17:21):
am present and they're valuable.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
My kids never asked me, Dad, are we gonna eat
breakfast tomorrow? Dad?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Are there apples or bananas in the refrigerator. Dad, are
we gonna have.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Dinner this week?
Speaker 2 (17:43):
You know that space parents, where it's just like, of course,
it's like, my kids are valuable to me. I'm gonna
make sure they're fed, and they it doesn't even hit
It's not even it wasn't even a blip on their radar. Now,
I understand that in the world economy that's not always true,
but I'll tell you what that space that they lived
(18:04):
in of it didn't even wasn't even a second thought. Folks,
this is the space God's calling us into. My kids
never got anxious about scarcity when it came to food
and clothes. Why because I was present. You know, God's
saying to some of us right now, you need to
remember who I am and that I'm present, and don't
(18:29):
let anxiety cloud that reality because when you do, you're
going to start trying to solve your own anxiety and
feel better or different. And guess who's waiting on the
other side to help you solve that problem of anxiety,
evil culture, and your worst impulses. So you see the
spiritual battle that we're in right now over all this stuff,
(18:49):
all right, So that's Jesus's mind on our anxieties. Let's
go to the next the next little picture, and instead
of words in Luke chapter twelve, verses twenty seven to
thirty one, consider there's that word again, which we'll come
back to. Consider how the wildflowers grow. They do not
labor or spend. Yet, I tell you not even Solomon,
(19:10):
in all his splendor.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Was dressed like one of these.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
how much more will he clothe you? You have little faith,
and do not set your heart on what you will
eat or drink, or do not worry. Let's finish this
passage together, for the pagan world runs after all such things,
(19:40):
and your father knows that.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
You need them. Wow, so you've got this first picture right.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
It's consider the ravens and how much more valuable are
you than they? Which is intended to show you your worth?
And when you know you're worth to God, you have
peace through God. Say that with me, when I know
my worth in God, When I know my worth in God,
I have peace from God. There you go, So it's
(20:09):
how much more? How much more valuable are you than they?
Now I'm making this conscious connection between God, me and
my worth that He gives to me. In this part,
you see another what consider right, which tells you where
the battle for anxiety is, which I told you neuroscientifically.
But Jesus is just saying practically, it's between your ears.
(20:29):
And he's trying to get you to think a little
bit different about this topic.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
And so he goes look at the wild flowers.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Beautiful, right, They're more beautiful than you know Solomon dressed
in Valentino. All right, they're more beautiful than any lace
making custom brand designer. That flower, which is organic, is
more beautiful than anything man can make.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
But here's the point.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Then he goes down the road and that's so beautiful,
but it's temporary.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
It's here today, gone tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Then here comes that next repetitive phrase, how much more
will God clothe you? So the first how much more
is about worse value?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
I care that.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Should deliver some peace into your heart. God sees me,
I'm visible, I'm valuable, He's able, all right. Then you
have the second little section where he's like, Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
God makes beautiful things.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Beautiful things are temporary, but then he just says, how
much more will God clothe you? And it doesn't have
to do with scarcity, It has to do with God's capacity. Right,
your valuable is the first messages. And then it's I'm
able and I have capacity. Right, those things go away.
(21:56):
Everything you're worried about, a lot of it you can't
take with you. There's no no hursts right, carrying a
dead person, pulling a U haul you can't take it
with you. And then God saying, hey, you know what,
how much more will he clothe you? And this gives
us a sense of the dimension that God wants us
to live in when it comes to trials, tribulations and
the anxieties that come with the events of your life.
(22:19):
He wants you to get into that how much more space?
He wants you to have? How much more thinking? He says, consider?
And then he gives a picture. How much more? Consider?
He gives a picture? How much more? Can I just
ask you a question? Are you living right now in
the how much more? It's like stranger things living in
(22:39):
the upside down?
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Right? Are you in the how much more? Because I'll
tell you this, If you're living in the how much more?
Speaker 2 (22:46):
And you understand who God is, who you are, and
how much he loves you, and how valuable you are,
and what his capacity is. When you put those two together,
you're in the helmet much more.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Amen. This is really important, folks, because this is.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
The space that Jesus wants you to live in, versus
the alternative, which is how little God thinks of me,
which is how little he can do for me, which
is I have to take care of myself because if
God doesn't consider me worthy of attention, then I have
to make myself worthy of attention. If God won't provide
(23:27):
for my needs, then I have to go out and
it's all on me.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
I have to do it all. And that creates boatloads
of anxiety.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
So let's unpack now from this second section Jesus desire.
When I'm anxious, the first thing he wants us to
do is internalize my worth Emotionally.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
He's connecting personal.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Worth and your perception of your personal worth to your
level of peace. It's a really important connection. Peace is
connected to my perception of my worth. I know this personally.
I'm the navy brat, last of seven, son of a
third generation alcoholic. I tell people I was raised by
(24:10):
the wolves right, because there was five year separation between
me and my closest sibling, and because of some of
the issues going on in our home.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Dad wasn't in the home. My dad was a ghost.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Mom was at Bingo Saint Joseph Archbishop Midy Church of Ascension.
That was her escape. And so I was just kind
of hanging in the middle, right. And you know what
a lack of time and talk and touch does in
the heart of a little child, in the middle of
a family, you question your worth. So that creates a
(24:44):
baseline folks of anxiety inside the heart of a child
that goes, I gotta go get some So I just
worked that out when I was with people. The problem
was is that I had such a deficit.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
I didn't know. It's like, please, will you talk to me?
You know? Is that I talked in class?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
My third grade teacher on my report card said, Kenny's
a bright student, but he has diarrhea of the mouth.
Aren't you glad that the Holy Spirit can take a
childhood weakness and turn it into an adult strength?
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Here I am right, he said, I'm coming from a
better place. I'm not.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
I'm not worried about what you think anymore. I know
I have my worth and it's in.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Jesus, God loves me. I'm cool.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
The fight's over, but the fight wasn't over for a
long time. And so what you'll see in my high
school yearbook is Kenny Luck, Life of the Party. What
am I working out? I'm working out my worth. I
have a lampshade on my head, I have a big
thing of beer in my hand. I have a fake
cigar in my mouth. And it should have said Kenny Luck,
best actor dying for some worth and approval. But you see,
(25:52):
the human soul is hardwired like a heat seeking missile.
You know what heat seeking missile is, right, So two.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Planes are flying.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Once presses the red button, and then a heat seeking
missile deploys from the wing and it starts seeking the
heat of the engine in front of it until it
gets to it's target. Your soul is like a heat
seeking missile. It's designed by God to seek worse and
until you find it, you're gonna be anxious until you're
calmed down by the eternal, everlasting, wonderful, beautiful, peace making
(26:26):
love of God. And so when we look at this,
there's a battle going on over that in every human
soul for their worth. And if you're not sure about it,
if you're not sure you matter, Like a heat seeking missile,
(26:47):
you're gonna find a way to make sure that you matter.
You're gonna figure it out. You're gonna turn to peer groups.
You're gonna turn to other families. Maybe you didn't belong
in your family, so I turned to my other families.
It's like peer group. That's my posse. So I got
my identity. They told me how to be and believe
and behave, and I belong and I would do things
that were harmful for me because I long for the
(27:08):
intimacy and worth of that connection. We do silly things
when we're anxious. We make bad decisions when we're anxious,
but we make the worst life decisions when we're anxious
about our worth. And there are some people here right
now you're anxious about your worth.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
You don't know that you're okay. The fight isn't over
for you.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
And I'm here to tell you, as someone who knows
the journey, that you're valuable to God and that he
loves you. And then he has an intention for you
and you're fighting it. Maybe some of you are raised
in a Christian home, and your parents has been telling
you your.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Whole life, God loves you.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
God loves you, God loves you, but you haven't figured
that out for yourself. And you know what, you're withdrawn
from them, or you're anxious and you don't know what
the future and you're not sure if you have what
it takes, and so you just withdraw because you know
you can be anxious about stuff and chase worse, or
you can just give up. That's called depression. That's why
(28:13):
anxiety and depression go together. And so do you see
the spiritual battle Jesus is dealing with right here? Just
talking about story. You don't need to be anxious, but
you're gonna keep being anxious if you keep me at
arm's legs in your life. And it has nothing to
do with how you grew up, or who your parents are,
(28:33):
or what your circumstances are. It has everything to do
with you recognizing that you're created by God, you're loved by.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
God, you're made for God. In one day, you're going
back to God some way.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And if you don't understand that, forget the whole piece equation.
Because culture doesn't provide peace. Culture provides anxiety because the
goalposts are always moving. Amen, So you got to internalize
you're worth. My good friend Nick Voyachitch, who's been here
at this church, he has no arms, he has no legs.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
You know what he says, never live out of what
you lack.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
So I'm staring at a guy who has tiny, tiny feet,
no arms. You know what that guy does. He doesn't
lives out out of what he lacks. He lives out
of what's been given to him by God, and he
reaches billions of people around the globe. He's the most
inspiring person you've ever met. But he lacks certain things,
(29:43):
but he doesn't live out of what he lacks. I'm
speaking to some of you right now. You're living out
of the lack of identity. Your identity is in culture,
it's not in Christ. And you get encouraged to come
into Christ, and there's something inside of you. And it's
usually a lie that says, well, if I give my
life to Christ, then I don't know what that means.
(30:05):
But Jesus says it's okay because I'm the Way, the Truth,
and the Life. I'm Life, and I'll give you the
life you were created to live. So you have to
internalize your worth emotionally. Secondly, you got to recognize his
ability practically. In this passage, he says, how much more
will he clothe you? God says, you know that future
that you're so worried about, He's got that, that scarcity,
(30:31):
what you lack, what you hope you'll have, that dream
that you hope you'll achieve.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Jesus going, I got that. How much more will he
clothe you? You can calm down.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
But there is a future that all of us are
concerned about, every one of us.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
But God's over it. God has a plan for it.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
And God's telling you right now, in this moment as
we're together, I got you.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Please, you don't have to live anxiously anymore. I got it.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
You know how comforting it is when someone with capacity
shows up, You know, when someone who like has the
all excess passed and says he's with me, or someone
who who has to supply, and then all your your
you're like, all your concerns about supply just went down,
and she's like, awesome, dude, how's everything all right. It's
(31:26):
like my neighbor Gary, he has every tool known to mankind.
He has more tools than home depot when it comes
to a fix it project.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
At my house. I have total peace. Why because Gary
has capacity? Right, Just like Gary, you got this size.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Nut bolt thing, jigger, miter thing, saw whatever. He's like
cheer and you walk in his garage and you're like,
I don't feel like a man. I'm not a man anyway.
I don't know where that came from. Maybe an anxious insecurity.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I'm working it out with you, right, we're all together
in this.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
My name's Kenny, and I'm a tool deprived person, all right,
So internalize my worth emotionally, Jesus saying, and then recognize
his ability practically. When you recognize someone has capacity, and
God has unlimited capacity, say that with me unlimited capacity.
Then you stop being anxious and you start having a
(32:32):
little more peace.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
But you got to connect with it, and you got
to risk trusting it.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Third, Jesus is saying in this second section, reset my
heart on the Father. Notice in the passage it says,
and do not set your heart on what you will
eat or drink. Do not worry about it, for the
pagan world runs after all such things, and your father
knows that you need them. So there's reset my heart
my Father knows that I have need. How do I
have to reset my heart? Well, I have to act
(32:57):
like somebody who knows God. If you're here and you
have a relationship with God through the person and work
of Jesus, and you've said yes, you've said I've crossed
the line. I believe that Jesus was God. I believe
that he died from my sin. I've received that person
and that work for me.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
You're in, So don't lack like people who are not in.
Everybody's a creation of God, not everybody's a child of God.
You become a child of God after being a creation
of God when you.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Say yes to God's son. But when you're in the family.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
It's a battle, and Jesus is speaking in the mouths like,
don't set your heart on that, because that's what the
world does. You're chasing after culture. That's not what Father wants.
So you replace culture with Christ. There are some of
you listening to my voice right now, and you're fighting
replacing culture with Christ.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
You just can't believe.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
That if you do things God's way, that the deep
longings inside of you and your dreams can be accomplished. Man,
is that limited thinking. I'm just telling you right now,
you're limiting yourself. I used to think that way. I
used to think God was a buzzkill. Was I the
(34:18):
most absolutely, unequivocally wrong person that ever walked on planet Earth.
I started doing things I've never done before. I started
feeling things I've never felt before. I started seeing things
I've never seen before. I started seeing transformations that I
never thought what happened. I've seen relationships come together and
reconcile that I never thought would come together and reconcile.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
I saw my family fall like Domino's to the power
and love of God, like boot boo boo boo boo
boo boo boo boo boo boot.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
But you know, the Devil is really interested in keeping
you in this principle of scarcity. Evil wants you to know, Hey,
if you do it God's way, you're gonna miss out.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
You know who is.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
The author of the original Fomo constitution. Satan read Genesis
chapter three. Yeah, you could do it that way, but
if you do it that way, then you're.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Gonna miss out.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
He says to Adam and e some of you are
thinking that way, and I'm here to tell you the truth.
Your impulses won't tell you the truth. The culture won't
tell you the truth. Your emotional brain is not going
to tell you the truth. But I'm here to tell
you the truth. And the truth is is that God
loves you, and you need to internalize your worth in Him,
and you have to begin to open yourself up to
(35:32):
the reality that this God who loves you also holds
Earth three spots from the sun, perfectly balanced with perfect
chemical components, and the very breath that you breathe is
by the grace of the one who created you and
loves you.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
He has capacity. You have to get that. You're sitting here.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
You're sitting here and you're listening, and the sounds of
my voice are going in your ear, but you don't
want to listen. It's just like, No, I've lived my
life one way. I kind of dug in my feet.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
I've made a position for myself.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I've declared things, I've said things that I really believe.
I've gotten emotional about the things I want to do
and I don't want to do.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
Well.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Guess what, You're going to have to put your pride
on the shelf, and you're going to have to humble
yourself if you want to experience life the way.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
God want it. So what's Jesus saying in this next passage?
Speaker 2 (36:29):
You're saying, internalize your worth, recognize his ability, reset your
heart on the Father, and then risk living out your
truest identity. I won't camp long on this, but he says,
if you're a Christian and that's who you are, you're
a christ follower, all right, then why don't you live
like one instead of living like an unbeliever who's trapped
(36:53):
and in bondage to overwhelming stress and anxiety.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
And start mining.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Okay, it's a processes, but start mining what this means
to be created by God and to be seen by God,
and to be visible and to be valuable, and to
grasp the height and the depth so that you can
have power. The Bible says in your inner being. The
passage pastor Greg read is followed by so that you
(37:21):
may have power. Everybody say power, power in your inner being.
A lot of you came to church today and you
lack power. You want to get some power in your life.
Understand that you're valuable, Understand that you're visible. Understand that
God has capacity. Understand that God sees you. Not only
does he see you, he has a plan for you,
(37:41):
and you have to humble yourself before.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
You're maker, not.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Your parents, not some religious institution. You're maker, and you
can risk living out of that identity versus living as
a Christian.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
But like the could. Sure you know what this.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
World needs right now Christians who live like Christians. And
part of Christians being Christians is that they have this
conscious connection to God that gives them an abiding peace,
not in the absence of adversity, but right in the
middle of it.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
That's true peace. True peace isn't.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
All my problems resolved and my life is going great,
and true peace is witnessed and observed when everything's going
wrong and you're okay. The world needs to see that
in us men and women. Needs to see it in me,
needs to see it in you, needs to see it
in this community.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
All right? You with me? All right? Let's go to
this last passage from Luke twelve. So Jesus two pictures.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Consider, you gotta think different if you want to live different.
You gotta think differently if you want to not live anxiously.
And then he says this, but seek the seek his kingdom,
and these things will be given to you as well.
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has
been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions
(39:05):
and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that
will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will
never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Let's finish it together, for where your treasure is there,
your heart will also be. Do you see the transition
of Jesus speaking to the individual to speaking to us
(39:25):
as a community. Don't be afraid, little what flock. So
it's like, hey, don't you be worried. You consider the ravens,
you consider the flowers. How much more valuable are you?
And then it kind of transitions and he's like, Okay,
here's the transition. Your misplaced energy is not going to
go into a new place, and you're gonna seek the
Kingdom of God. And guess what, when you aim at heaven,
(39:47):
God throws earth in.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Did you get it? Seek first the Kingdom of.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
God and his righteousness, and then all these things will
be added to you.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
Do you get that? It's like a gift with purchase. Ladies,
you know what I'm talking about right, go to the
cosmetic counter.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
They're just like, thank you for buying that compact in
that makeup, and guess what, we have a nice tote
that was cheaply made, but it's your gift. With purpose,
you aim at heaven, God throws earth in. You want
more joy, you want more peace. And if you're aiming
at earth, you know what, you get anxiety. That's what
(40:28):
Earth gives you. But you aim at heaven, you get
God and you get this new purpose, and you get
this new team, and you get these new plans, and
you get the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
You get power and you're inner being.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
You get joy and love and peace and patience and kindness.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Does the world need that? Yes it does. It needs
it from you, and you get earth thrown in.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
I live more abundantly than I ever would if I
was just aiming at Earth and then living out of anxiety.
So you can make the choice this morning yourself. You
can aim at heaven and get earth thrown in, or
you can aim at earth and live in your anxiety,
because that's what culture will do. Want to know why
it doesn't solve your anxiety when all your circumstances resolve
(41:09):
around you. Listen to me because the problems inside of
us cannot be solved by things outside of us. The
dilemmas within us cannot be solved by another rearrangement of
your circumstances. You know what, Scrambled eggs and eggs over
easy and running eggs are eggs. But you think in
(41:33):
your brain, because you're believing a lie, that if I
re scramble my eggs and kind of put a little
big old spice on it, or some siracha sauce or
some tabasco or some salsa, or have some avocado and tomato,
that the core thing is gonna change. Nope, you're still
eating wavos rancheros. My sister, it's eggs. But we think
(41:57):
that if we just you know, if we can move
the chest peace, if we can create a little different
outer circumstance in our lives, if we can just then
somehow by a mystical osmosis, that I'm going to have
more peace and my anxiety goes away. I'll say it again,
the dilemmas inside of you cannot be solved by things
outside of you. You need the love of Jesus in
(42:20):
your heart. You need to know your maker through him,
super important. So what does it mean for us? On
your notes, I said, a people of peace in a
world of panic. You know what the world needs to
see right now? People of peace. I wont know why
because they're living anxiously. And you know, it's really different
when you have a non anxious person who is present
(42:43):
with anxious people, you have every reason to.
Speaker 3 (42:46):
Be at peace. I understand.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
I know that life has difficulties and losses and traumas
and all of those things. But you know a redeemer,
and if God can redeem the confusing disillusion unjust doesn't
make sense torture and crucifixion of his son, he can
redeem what you're going through. I know what trauma is.
(43:10):
I know what suicide in my life is with two brothers.
I know what it's like to live alone in a
family of nine, to be completely and totally alone. I
know what it's like to have three miscarriages in a
family and feel hopeless. My wife is getting wheeled on
a journey. I know all those feelings. But you know what,
(43:35):
when I think of how I'm gonna deal with it,
I just go You know what, God, if you can
redeem what Jesus went through and everybody looking at that
just went, m No, this is wrong, This is unjust,
this is unfair him. He's such a good man. Love
your neighbor as yourself, love God, touching lepers, breaking the
rules to love people.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Why him? This is so disillusioning.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
Was God present? Yes he was. Was God securing your salvation,
yes he was. Was God securing your future?
Speaker 3 (44:06):
Yes he was.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
Because God is a redeemer, So we need to be
a people of peace in a world of panic. What
does that mean?
Speaker 3 (44:13):
Write this down?
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Secure in God's love means we're free to risk for God.
In our pastoral team, we were talking about this and
I said, guys, I think that that third section is
the and I got the first few letters of free
out and as I was, I was this looks like
a fury, and Pastor JP goes, that's exactly right, before
I even got the words out.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
That's a free person. They know who they are, and
when they know who they are, they know what to do.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
And when they know who they are and they know
what to do and they're secure in God's love, they're
free to seek the kingdom.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Why Because God said I got all that, So why.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
Don't you put a little energy into the kingdom, and
then I'm gonna provide everything you mean, keep aiming at heaven.
I'm gonna throw earth in. That's a free person. Secondly,
secure in God's love means we're free to sacrifice for others.
Look at Jesus turn a corner and he just goes, Hey,
don't be afraid of little flock.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Seek the kingdom. God's pleased to give you the kingdom. Right,
who doesn't want the keys to the kingdom? Come on.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
God's like, I'll show you a world. Here's the keys.
Unlock that door.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Seek me.
Speaker 2 (45:16):
And then he said, sell your possessions and give to
the poor. Provide persons for yourselves that won't wear out.
You see how the free person secure in God's love
is free to sacrifice for other people. But if you're
anxious about what you don't have, if you're discontent about
what I don't have, if you live out of the gaps,
if you're living out of what you lack and you're
nervous about getting what you lack in the future, you
(45:36):
will not serve other people.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
We got to take care.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
Of this, just like I would tell my kids I
got it. Then they would just go, mmmm, are we
going to in and out?
Speaker 3 (45:47):
Are we going to in and out? Yes, we're going
in and out M because I have capacity.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
I'm the one who gives them the ATM card at
that little window. And then we all proceed to eat
footballs and we put it inside and we go Wasn't
that great? We're free to sacrifice for others. Jesus is
painting this picture of people who are free from worry
and into other people. Third, secure in God's love means
(46:16):
we're okay when the oceans rage. And this is really important.
You know that song we say, I don't have to
be afraid, right because I know that you love me.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
Your love never fails.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
And when the oceans rage, I don't have to be
afraid because I know that you love me.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
How comforting is that?
Speaker 2 (46:41):
Because the oceans are going to rage, Jesus said, the
oceans will rage. In this world, You'll have tribulation, take courage.
I've overcome the world. So the oceans are going to rage.
But I'm going to be with you in it, with you,
loving you, working out my purpose until we get together
face to face forever. Look at your notes on the
bottom there, Psalm ninety four, verse seventeen Let's read that together,
if you have your notes. If God hadn't been there
(47:03):
for me, I never would have made it. The minute
I said I'm slipping, I'm falling your love, God took
hold and.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
Held me fast.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
When I was upset and beside myself, You calmed me
down and cheered me up. You know how we like
to say sometimes for those of us who have seen
and experienced God's peace in the midst of the ocean raging,
you say to yourself, Man, I don't know how people
do it without God.
Speaker 3 (47:30):
You ever said that to yourself.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
Jesus agrees with you. God agrees with you. He does
not understand. It does not compute to him when he's
available for you that you would choose willingly to do
life without his love because He made you to experience
love and to experience his care as your heavenly father.
Look what it says in John one seventeen. Let's read
(47:55):
that together on your notes. God's unfailing love and faithfulness
came through Jesus Christ. Very important concept. You'll read in
the Psalms, and you'll read in the Gospels how God's
love is unfailing. Everybody say unfailing. Okay, In other words,
God's love is a fail safe.
Speaker 3 (48:14):
Guys, know what a fails safe is.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
It's something that activates in the event that something else fails.
In fact, on your notes, I have a definition of it.
It's a secondary safety system or backup that comes into
operation in the event of a breakdown. There's people breaking down, malfunction,
there's really people malfunctioning and something going wrong.
Speaker 3 (48:34):
So much going wrong right now.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
My question is, is God's fail safe of his love inside
your life?
Speaker 3 (48:45):
Do you have a backup.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
That becomes your primary and you start not living out
of what you lack, but you start living out of
what you're full of, full of God's purpose, full of
God's presence, full of God's spirit, full of God's word.
Is God's fail safe in place in your life? So
(49:11):
here's what we do. We don't want anybody to live anxiously. Amen,
But they have to have God's love present inside of
them and become secure on the inside. Remember, because the
things outside of us don't solve the dilemmas within us.
God's presence, Almighty God, God, the Father inside of you.
Speaker 3 (49:33):
That'll calm you down a little bit.
Speaker 2 (49:37):
We all need to reaffirm or maybe for the first time.
We need to put the fail safe of God's unfailing
love inside it because we're failing. We're failing to stop anxiety,
because we're trying to seek solutions outside of us while
not taking the solution God wants to plant within us.
So we're going to pray right now, and the words
(49:59):
are going to be on the screen. They're in your notes.
And I want safety in this place. I want you
to feel safe praying this, whether you haven't prayed in
a long time or never to you pray every.
Speaker 3 (50:14):
Day and every minute.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
I want everybody to feel safe, which is why we're
all gonna pray this prayer out loud, all right, So
I would like everybody.
Speaker 3 (50:23):
To just kind of stand to your feet.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
And as a community, as a community of people, we're
just gonna declare this okay. And then Pastor Greg's gonna
come up with a closing word. So look at the
words on the screen and let's say them together. Ready,
Father in Heaven, let's say together, I am ready for
(50:47):
your love to take over how I view myself, my past,
my present, and my future. I am ready to give
the fullest access to my inner self so that any
fear known or unknown, can be defeated and replaced by
your love for me. I want to grasp every dimension
(51:08):
of your love for me, so that every purpose you
have for me will be fulfilled. Begin the process now, Father,
of breaking down all my defenses, all pride, and all fear,
so that I can receive your power and experience your peace.
(51:28):
I want to be free, along with my brothers and
sisters in Christ, to risk for you and sacrifice for
others in this important moment of time.
Speaker 3 (51:39):
I ask for this freely with all faith and hope
in your son Jesus. Amen, you will be like God
human unity.
Speaker 2 (51:51):
God was severed and through it all God's promise remain true.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
Follow me, Apri I would make you great.
Speaker 2 (52:02):
This is the Chosen People.
Speaker 3 (52:08):
Listen to the Chosen People at the Chosen.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
People dot com. That's the Chosen People dot com
Let us pray that the gentiles should be fellow heirs
of the same body and partakers of His promise in
Christ by the Gospel Ephesians three six. Thank you, Lord
for making your glorious salvation available to the gentiles, and
not just the nation of Israel. You wanted the whole
(00:21):
world to have the opportunity to know you, not just
the God of Israel, but the one true living God
over all people. You showed your sovereignty first through your
chosen people, but when they rejected you, the gentiles were
given a divine opportunity. You do not want any one
(00:42):
to perish, and have made all people who accept the
promise of Christ equal partakers in his inheritance. Your goodness
is without measure, and your love is unconditional. You are
the power connection to abundant life. Amen. Thank you for
(01:05):
listening to today's daily prayer. For more inspiration and an
incredible message from our feature pastor, stay tuned to pray
dot COM's Sunday service.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
What a word from the Lord from Ephesians chapter three.
There's a longing in the heart of the apostle, Paul.
That's just like you got to get this. You got
to get this to know the height and the link
and the width and the depth of God's love.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And that's where we're headed today. My name is Kenny Luck.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I'm one of the pastors here at Cross Line Church,
and I want to welcome everybody watching online, everybody on
our campus.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
We're in a series called the Master's Teaching.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Jesus said, teach them to observe all that I commanded you.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
He said that to his followers.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
But to do that, you have to unpack the Master's
Teaching so that we know what he said, so that
then we can observe or apply or put into practice
what Jesus says.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Now. Isn't that essential Christianity? Right there?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Jesus said, whoever hears these words of mine and puts
them into practice, that person is like a wise man
who built his house on the rock. Do you know
that God this morning wants your life to be solid,
But it's not going to be solid unless you open
your heart, in your ears and your spirit to the
words of Christ himself. And then you seek in your life,
in your context, in your relationships, in your lifestyle and
(02:34):
your flow to apply and observe what he says. Now,
I believe Today's theme from Luke chapter twelve. It strikes
at the very heart of what God wants us to apply,
and it strikes at the very heart of this cultural moment,
you know, this last year. And I'm going to say
words that you're really familiar with right now, of quarantining,
(02:56):
social distancing, distance learning, working from home, shutting down of
gap rings, shutting down of sports, all youth sports, all
professional sports, all social gatherings. I mean, it's almost like
Christmas got almost shut down, and then when you live
on the West Coast, everything gets shut down more.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
But anyway, the supply chain lines at the grocery store.
You remember the lines at the grocery store.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Do you remember the panic? Like I bought there was
so little meat in the meat section. I bought a
whole turkey, and like I came home, you know, and
I have like Dino bytes, you know, those the fake
chicken dino bytes that you eat when you're a kid,
you know, and that mothers served to their kids.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
You know, it's just I bought all this crazy stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I remember those those lines outside of Trader Joe's, Oh
my gosh, like wrap around the building. But there's a
ripple effect that has happened in every dimension of our
lives that has caused this a little bit of stress
and anxiety. Amen, all right, So I'm glad we're all
on the same page. And while some people might claim
(03:59):
an upside to the pandemic Amazon, the pandemic right magnifies
every challenge that we already had, right, I mean, life's
hard enough, right, I mean Jesus said, in this world
you'll have tribulation, but take courage. I've overcome the world.
So there's already a baseline of tribulation and stress and
(04:20):
concern over the future and all of those things. Right,
But when this hit, you know, a world event, massive
world event, massive cultural phenomenons, right, political divides, cultural divides,
racial divides, ethnic tension, all this stuff hitting all at
(04:40):
once in the middle of a very isolating, stressful, unusual
time that no one had any context to experience a
little bit of stress with that. And then it's on
our families, It's on our relationships, it's on our education,
it's on you who have to go out and make
a living.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
It affected the professional.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Market, and what it did it was like, you know,
how like volcanoes have magma underneath the surface, like it's
just kind of boiling and percolating in there and then
just you know, then the pressure below exceeds the ability
of the surface to keep the pressure down the boom.
And as a pastor, as a mental health worker before
(05:25):
I was a pastor, man, it all came out. I mean,
there were health concerns and there were physical concerns about
spread and all that stuff. But you know, your pastoral team,
you know what weird you with massive depression, massive anxiety,
massive loneliness and people trying to hold it all together
(05:48):
in the middle of it. Now, can I just say,
as a pastor, with my spiritual glasses on, that.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
All those negative.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Emotions that the last year has created, you know who's
really invested in those negative emotions?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Evil?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Because when you're vulnerable and you're walking around with all
this stuff, it's easy to believe things. It's easy to
want to relieve that stress and loneliness. It's easy to
just go, I'm out because you believe things are fatal
and final. Right, And so this is really timely what
(06:26):
we're talking about now. And it's timely that we talk
about anxiety because the Bible talks about anxiety. You know,
if I were to add up all the times the
Bible says don't fear or don't worry, or talks about
the subject of anxiety. We're into almost a thousand passages
of scripture, so it's a big theme, right, And I
want to distinguish right up top, just so that we're
(06:49):
all on the same playing field. There's a difference between
thinking anxiously and living anxiously, all right, And we're talking
in this message from Luke twelve what to do with anxiety.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
We're not demonizing anybody.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Who has an anxious thought, because then everybody would get
demonized because we all have anxious thoughts.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Amen. All right, So just so that we're all on
the same page. So here's where we're going.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
We're going to define what it is really clearly, and
I think everybody will just go, yep, that's what it is.
And then we're gonna get Jesus' mind on anxiety, and
then we're gonna talk about Jesus's desire when I feel
that way, and then we're gonna talk about what it
means to us personally and as a community of believers
as we reach out to others and to a dark
(07:36):
and watching culture.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
All right.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
So let's get right into it, Luke, Chapter twelve. We're
gonna break it up into three sections. This is our
only text, Luke twelve. And it's Jesus and he's having
a conversation with the disciples. All right, Then, Jesus said
to his disciples, Therefore, I tell you, do not worry
about your life what you will eat, or about your
body what you will where. For life it's more than food,
(08:04):
and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens, they
do not sow or reap, They have no storeroom or barn,
yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you
are than birds? Who of you by worrying can add
a single hour to your life. Since you cannot do
this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Now?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
The reason I started with the passage is that I
wanted to let Jesus define sort of what the dynamics
are of worry and anxiety. But I did put a
definition on your notes if you're following. It's a feeling
of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event
(08:48):
or something with uncertain outcomes. Causes of anxiety include big events, trauma,
or life experiences or build ups of smaller stress filled
situation that trigger anxiety. Can we finish that definition together?
Things happening that you cannot control?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Everybody in agreement.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, Because I was talking with our pastoral team as
we were working this message out together, and uh, and
we were sitting there and it just it dawned on
me as we were talking about this that all the
people that come into our offices and and and ask
for counseling and so forth, and they're they're battling anxiety. Well,
they're battling anxiety because they're taking on something.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
That doesn't belong to them. You know what it is,
the future? All right.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
If you take on the future like it says here, uh,
things happening that you cannot control.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
You're gonna experience anxiety.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And I think in that regard, we're all in the
same boat, and we're all in the same bucket. But
let's unpack Jesus's mind on our anxieties. And the first
thing that we see is that write this down. It's
a human tendency, all right. So you know that's why
we don't shame anybody for feeling anxious, and and and
and and on the spectrum. All right, it's it's a
huge human tendency. You know, when you do a message
(10:02):
on anxiety, you want to you want to figure out
what the smart people say. So you go to UC
Berkeley Department of Neuroscience and you dive into this journal
that's talking about how there's the emotional brain in the
cognitive brain.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
You know, those two parts of.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yourself where there's the emotional side and then there's the
kind of the rational side, and it's actually God has
built our brains to manage anxiety and worry.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
We manage that tension.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
There's a part of your brain which is the cognitive side,
which is kind of the rational side, and then there's
your I'm gonna I don't even know if I'm saying
this right, just.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
You know, it sounds like a leafy vegetable.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
You're a migdala maybe because it sounds like arugula. But anyway,
You're amygdala is in the deep part of your brain
and that's your emotional side. And so what's interesting is
that all neuroscientists go, you know what, there's parts of
your your frontal lobe and your cognitive brain that kind
of can turn down or can turn up what's coming
out of your emotional brain? Right, and and so there's
(11:00):
this battle. But you know how who wins that battle, right,
the emotional brain or the cognitive brain. It kind of
depends on what you're feeding your brain. Okay, It's how
you think, it's how you work. And so when Jesus
is saying, hey, don't worry about your life, okay, he's
he's really just pointing out a human tendency.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Secondly, Jesus's mind on our anxieties, it's rooted in scarcity.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It's rooted in scarcity.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Do you notice the contrast here is like, hey, there's
a limited supply stuff out there, and you need that stuff,
and then you're worried about you having enough stuff that
will meet your need. Okay, just think toilet paper during
the pandemic. You know, you walk down every aisle you know,
and there's you know, everything's full, and then you walk down.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
A desert in Aisle twelve. It's like, what am I
gonna do?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
How?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
What are we gonna do?
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I knew it should have gone when there were four
rolls left in the garage and the aisle's empty.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
But anxiety is rooted in scarcity.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And it's not just the scarcity of food or clothing,
the scarcity of attention. It's a scarcity of approval, it's
a scarcity of visibility, it's a scarcity of jobs.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Anxiety is rooted in scarcity.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I have needs and the culture says there's a limited
supply of that stuff. Well, you better get on it,
you better submit that resume, you better get visible on
social media, you better get to Aisle twelve and get
some toilet paper before it runs out. But it's rooted
in scarcity, all right. Third, Jesus observes that my anxiety,
(12:41):
look at this is misplaced energy. Hello, just think of
all the time and effort and mental energy that we
are spending anxious over the things that culture says are scarce.
And the reason why Jesus can say it, of course,
because he's God, but secondly, because he knows that he
(13:07):
has an unlimited supply of what you need. Culture says
limited supply. Jesus goes, no, Father's Son and Holy Spirit,
we got exactly what you need. You can chill, man,
don't get anxious about that scarcity stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Because I'm bigger.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
I'm the one who supplies it all I'm the chief
supply officer of everything.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
What a great title, right, Yeah, I'm the chief supply
officer of what everything? That's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
You should know Jesus by the way, if he's the
chief supply officer of everything?
Speaker 3 (13:42):
All right?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Third or fourth, my anxiety's cloud reality. The cloud reality,
and that's where you see this energy. It's just like
Jesus like, don't worry, don't worry about that little stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
The reality is is that you're valuable and you're on
my list and I see you now. Is my timing
always your timing?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
No?
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Because usually we want what we want when we want it,
and in the forum that we want it.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Can we have a cup of honesty right now? Okay?
But God's got everything that we want.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
But you know, like a loving parent, like a loving father,
like a great coach or mentor, God doesn't give us
exactly what we need, what we want when we want
it in the forum that we want it, because He
is more interested in our insides than our comfort.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
He wants us to grow. Okay, So Jesus is mine
on our anxieties. It's human tendency, it's rooted in scarcity,
it's misplaced energy, and it clouds the reality of God.
And I want you to see in that first picture
of how Jesus makes a compare in contrast, he says,
(14:57):
you know those black birds that you see all around you,
very common, sometimes annoying, make noises, travel impacts. God takes
care of them. And then he says, this, how much
more valuable are you than none? Everybody say valuable? Okay,
(15:22):
think about what's valuable to you, okay. So anxiety scarcity,
it's a tendency that we have. It shrouds reality regarding God.
And then God comes in to earth and he's just like,
let's talk about this, and here's what I want you
(15:43):
to know. You are more valuable than these animals that
I take complete care of their whole ecosystem I'm in
charge of that. You're way more value if I feed them.
Do you think I'm gonna feed you? If I close?
Do you think I'm gonna clothe you? If I provide
for them? Do you think I'm gonna provide for you?
And what he's doing is he's replacing the perceived loss
(16:06):
that we're all anxious about with himself.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Who does that? God does? God?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Can you know that thing you're that thing in your
future that you're all worried about. God sees that that's
way ahead of you, and he's already there. And so
that's really what I want you to see, is that
when when anxiety, which is called in psycho in the
psychological community, a blinding emotion, When anxiety blinds our emotions,
(16:35):
what does it blind us to? It blinds us to
the reality that there is God and he created you,
and he's over you, and he's gonna meet your needs
and we miss him. But if we listen to Jesus
as he talks about his mind on aering, we can
start to get a little different perspective on where it
(16:57):
comes from, how we should deal with it, and what
it does. Because Jesus saying, yeah, while it is normal,
there's no scarcity when you're in relationship with me. While
it is normal to put a little bit of energy
into it, don't put a lot of energy into it. Why,
Because the reality is is that I am present. I
understand you're valuable. You know my kids speaking of I
(17:21):
am present and they're valuable.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
My kids never asked me, Dad, are we gonna eat
breakfast tomorrow? Dad?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Are there apples or bananas in the refrigerator. Dad, are
we gonna have.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Dinner this week?
Speaker 2 (17:43):
You know that space parents, where it's just like, of course,
it's like, my kids are valuable to me. I'm gonna
make sure they're fed, and they it doesn't even hit
It's not even it wasn't even a blip on their radar. Now,
I understand that in the world economy that's not always true,
but I'll tell you what that space that they lived
(18:04):
in of it didn't even wasn't even a second thought. Folks,
this is the space God's calling us into. My kids
never got anxious about scarcity when it came to food
and clothes. Why because I was present. You know, God's
saying to some of us right now, you need to
remember who I am and that I'm present, and don't
(18:29):
let anxiety cloud that reality because when you do, you're
going to start trying to solve your own anxiety and
feel better or different. And guess who's waiting on the
other side to help you solve that problem of anxiety,
evil culture, and your worst impulses. So you see the
spiritual battle that we're in right now over all this stuff,
(18:49):
all right, So that's Jesus's mind on our anxieties. Let's
go to the next the next little picture, and instead
of words in Luke chapter twelve, verses twenty seven to
thirty one, consider there's that word again, which we'll come
back to. Consider how the wildflowers grow. They do not
labor or spend. Yet, I tell you not even Solomon,
(19:10):
in all his splendor.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Was dressed like one of these.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
how much more will he clothe you? You have little faith,
and do not set your heart on what you will
eat or drink, or do not worry. Let's finish this
passage together, for the pagan world runs after all such things,
(19:40):
and your father knows that.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
You need them. Wow, so you've got this first picture right.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
It's consider the ravens and how much more valuable are
you than they? Which is intended to show you your worth?
And when you know you're worth to God, you have
peace through God. Say that with me, when I know
my worth in God, When I know my worth in God,
I have peace from God. There you go, So it's
(20:09):
how much more? How much more valuable are you than they?
Now I'm making this conscious connection between God, me and
my worth that He gives to me. In this part,
you see another what consider right, which tells you where
the battle for anxiety is, which I told you neuroscientifically.
But Jesus is just saying practically, it's between your ears.
(20:29):
And he's trying to get you to think a little
bit different about this topic.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
And so he goes look at the wild flowers.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Beautiful, right, They're more beautiful than you know Solomon dressed
in Valentino. All right, they're more beautiful than any lace
making custom brand designer. That flower, which is organic, is
more beautiful than anything man can make.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
But here's the point.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Then he goes down the road and that's so beautiful,
but it's temporary.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
It's here today, gone tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Then here comes that next repetitive phrase, how much more
will God clothe you? So the first how much more
is about worse value?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
I care that.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Should deliver some peace into your heart. God sees me,
I'm visible, I'm valuable, He's able, all right. Then you
have the second little section where he's like, Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
God makes beautiful things.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Beautiful things are temporary, but then he just says, how
much more will God clothe you? And it doesn't have
to do with scarcity, It has to do with God's capacity. Right,
your valuable is the first messages. And then it's I'm
able and I have capacity. Right, those things go away.
(21:56):
Everything you're worried about, a lot of it you can't
take with you. There's no no hursts right, carrying a
dead person, pulling a U haul you can't take it
with you. And then God saying, hey, you know what,
how much more will he clothe you? And this gives
us a sense of the dimension that God wants us
to live in when it comes to trials, tribulations and
the anxieties that come with the events of your life.
(22:19):
He wants you to get into that how much more space?
He wants you to have? How much more thinking? He says, consider?
And then he gives a picture. How much more? Consider?
He gives a picture? How much more? Can I just
ask you a question? Are you living right now in
the how much more? It's like stranger things living in
(22:39):
the upside down?
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Right? Are you in the how much more? Because I'll
tell you this, If you're living in the how much more?
Speaker 2 (22:46):
And you understand who God is, who you are, and
how much he loves you, and how valuable you are,
and what his capacity is. When you put those two together,
you're in the helmet much more.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Amen. This is really important, folks, because this is.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
The space that Jesus wants you to live in, versus
the alternative, which is how little God thinks of me,
which is how little he can do for me, which
is I have to take care of myself because if
God doesn't consider me worthy of attention, then I have
to make myself worthy of attention. If God won't provide
(23:27):
for my needs, then I have to go out and
it's all on me.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
I have to do it all. And that creates boatloads
of anxiety.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
So let's unpack now from this second section Jesus desire.
When I'm anxious, the first thing he wants us to
do is internalize my worth Emotionally.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
He's connecting personal.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Worth and your perception of your personal worth to your
level of peace. It's a really important connection. Peace is
connected to my perception of my worth. I know this personally.
I'm the navy brat, last of seven, son of a
third generation alcoholic. I tell people I was raised by
(24:10):
the wolves right, because there was five year separation between
me and my closest sibling, and because of some of
the issues going on in our home.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Dad wasn't in the home. My dad was a ghost.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Mom was at Bingo Saint Joseph Archbishop Midy Church of Ascension.
That was her escape. And so I was just kind
of hanging in the middle, right. And you know what
a lack of time and talk and touch does in
the heart of a little child, in the middle of
a family, you question your worth. So that creates a
(24:44):
baseline folks of anxiety inside the heart of a child
that goes, I gotta go get some So I just
worked that out when I was with people. The problem
was is that I had such a deficit.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
I didn't know. It's like, please, will you talk to me?
You know? Is that I talked in class?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
My third grade teacher on my report card said, Kenny's
a bright student, but he has diarrhea of the mouth.
Aren't you glad that the Holy Spirit can take a
childhood weakness and turn it into an adult strength?
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Here I am right, he said, I'm coming from a
better place. I'm not.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
I'm not worried about what you think anymore. I know
I have my worth and it's in.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Jesus, God loves me. I'm cool.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
The fight's over, but the fight wasn't over for a
long time. And so what you'll see in my high
school yearbook is Kenny Luck, Life of the Party. What
am I working out? I'm working out my worth. I
have a lampshade on my head, I have a big
thing of beer in my hand. I have a fake
cigar in my mouth. And it should have said Kenny Luck,
best actor dying for some worth and approval. But you see,
(25:52):
the human soul is hardwired like a heat seeking missile.
You know what heat seeking missile is, right, So two.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Planes are flying.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Once presses the red button, and then a heat seeking
missile deploys from the wing and it starts seeking the
heat of the engine in front of it until it
gets to it's target. Your soul is like a heat
seeking missile. It's designed by God to seek worse and
until you find it, you're gonna be anxious until you're
calmed down by the eternal, everlasting, wonderful, beautiful, peace making
(26:26):
love of God. And so when we look at this,
there's a battle going on over that in every human
soul for their worth. And if you're not sure about it,
if you're not sure you matter, Like a heat seeking missile,
(26:47):
you're gonna find a way to make sure that you matter.
You're gonna figure it out. You're gonna turn to peer groups.
You're gonna turn to other families. Maybe you didn't belong
in your family, so I turned to my other families.
It's like peer group. That's my posse. So I got
my identity. They told me how to be and believe
and behave, and I belong and I would do things
that were harmful for me because I long for the
(27:08):
intimacy and worth of that connection. We do silly things
when we're anxious. We make bad decisions when we're anxious,
but we make the worst life decisions when we're anxious
about our worth. And there are some people here right
now you're anxious about your worth.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
You don't know that you're okay. The fight isn't over
for you.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
And I'm here to tell you, as someone who knows
the journey, that you're valuable to God and that he
loves you. And then he has an intention for you
and you're fighting it. Maybe some of you are raised
in a Christian home, and your parents has been telling
you your.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Whole life, God loves you.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
God loves you, God loves you, but you haven't figured
that out for yourself. And you know what, you're withdrawn
from them, or you're anxious and you don't know what
the future and you're not sure if you have what
it takes, and so you just withdraw because you know
you can be anxious about stuff and chase worse, or
you can just give up. That's called depression. That's why
(28:13):
anxiety and depression go together. And so do you see
the spiritual battle Jesus is dealing with right here? Just
talking about story. You don't need to be anxious, but
you're gonna keep being anxious if you keep me at
arm's legs in your life. And it has nothing to
do with how you grew up, or who your parents are,
(28:33):
or what your circumstances are. It has everything to do
with you recognizing that you're created by God, you're loved by.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
God, you're made for God. In one day, you're going
back to God some way.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And if you don't understand that, forget the whole piece equation.
Because culture doesn't provide peace. Culture provides anxiety because the
goalposts are always moving. Amen, So you got to internalize
you're worth. My good friend Nick Voyachitch, who's been here
at this church, he has no arms, he has no legs.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
You know what he says, never live out of what
you lack.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
So I'm staring at a guy who has tiny, tiny feet,
no arms. You know what that guy does. He doesn't
lives out out of what he lacks. He lives out
of what's been given to him by God, and he
reaches billions of people around the globe. He's the most
inspiring person you've ever met. But he lacks certain things,
(29:43):
but he doesn't live out of what he lacks. I'm
speaking to some of you right now. You're living out
of the lack of identity. Your identity is in culture,
it's not in Christ. And you get encouraged to come
into Christ, and there's something inside of you. And it's
usually a lie that says, well, if I give my
life to Christ, then I don't know what that means.
(30:05):
But Jesus says it's okay because I'm the Way, the Truth,
and the Life. I'm Life, and I'll give you the
life you were created to live. So you have to
internalize your worth emotionally. Secondly, you got to recognize his
ability practically. In this passage, he says, how much more
will he clothe you? God says, you know that future
that you're so worried about, He's got that, that scarcity,
(30:31):
what you lack, what you hope you'll have, that dream
that you hope you'll achieve.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Jesus going, I got that. How much more will he
clothe you? You can calm down.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
But there is a future that all of us are
concerned about, every one of us.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
But God's over it. God has a plan for it.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
And God's telling you right now, in this moment as
we're together, I got you.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Please, you don't have to live anxiously anymore. I got it.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
You know how comforting it is when someone with capacity
shows up, You know, when someone who like has the
all excess passed and says he's with me, or someone
who who has to supply, and then all your your
you're like, all your concerns about supply just went down,
and she's like, awesome, dude, how's everything all right. It's
(31:26):
like my neighbor Gary, he has every tool known to mankind.
He has more tools than home depot when it comes
to a fix it project.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
At my house. I have total peace. Why because Gary
has capacity? Right, Just like Gary, you got this size.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Nut bolt thing, jigger, miter thing, saw whatever. He's like
cheer and you walk in his garage and you're like,
I don't feel like a man. I'm not a man anyway.
I don't know where that came from. Maybe an anxious insecurity.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I'm working it out with you, right, we're all together
in this.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
My name's Kenny, and I'm a tool deprived person, all right,
So internalize my worth emotionally, Jesus saying, and then recognize
his ability practically. When you recognize someone has capacity, and
God has unlimited capacity, say that with me unlimited capacity.
Then you stop being anxious and you start having a
(32:32):
little more peace.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
But you got to connect with it, and you got
to risk trusting it.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Third, Jesus is saying in this second section, reset my
heart on the Father. Notice in the passage it says,
and do not set your heart on what you will
eat or drink. Do not worry about it, for the
pagan world runs after all such things, and your father
knows that you need them. So there's reset my heart
my Father knows that I have need. How do I
have to reset my heart? Well, I have to act
(32:57):
like somebody who knows God. If you're here and you
have a relationship with God through the person and work
of Jesus, and you've said yes, you've said I've crossed
the line. I believe that Jesus was God. I believe
that he died from my sin. I've received that person
and that work for me.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
You're in, So don't lack like people who are not in.
Everybody's a creation of God, not everybody's a child of God.
You become a child of God after being a creation
of God when you.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Say yes to God's son. But when you're in the family.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
It's a battle, and Jesus is speaking in the mouths like,
don't set your heart on that, because that's what the
world does. You're chasing after culture. That's not what Father wants.
So you replace culture with Christ. There are some of
you listening to my voice right now, and you're fighting
replacing culture with Christ.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
You just can't believe.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
That if you do things God's way, that the deep
longings inside of you and your dreams can be accomplished. Man,
is that limited thinking. I'm just telling you right now,
you're limiting yourself. I used to think that way. I
used to think God was a buzzkill. Was I the
(34:18):
most absolutely, unequivocally wrong person that ever walked on planet Earth.
I started doing things I've never done before. I started
feeling things I've never felt before. I started seeing things
I've never seen before. I started seeing transformations that I
never thought what happened. I've seen relationships come together and
reconcile that I never thought would come together and reconcile.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
I saw my family fall like Domino's to the power
and love of God, like boot boo boo boo boo
boo boo boo boo boo boot.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
But you know, the Devil is really interested in keeping
you in this principle of scarcity. Evil wants you to know, Hey,
if you do it God's way, you're gonna miss out.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
You know who is.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
The author of the original Fomo constitution. Satan read Genesis
chapter three. Yeah, you could do it that way, but
if you do it that way, then you're.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Gonna miss out.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
He says to Adam and e some of you are
thinking that way, and I'm here to tell you the truth.
Your impulses won't tell you the truth. The culture won't
tell you the truth. Your emotional brain is not going
to tell you the truth. But I'm here to tell
you the truth. And the truth is is that God
loves you, and you need to internalize your worth in Him,
and you have to begin to open yourself up to
(35:32):
the reality that this God who loves you also holds
Earth three spots from the sun, perfectly balanced with perfect
chemical components, and the very breath that you breathe is
by the grace of the one who created you and
loves you.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
He has capacity. You have to get that. You're sitting here.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
You're sitting here and you're listening, and the sounds of
my voice are going in your ear, but you don't
want to listen. It's just like, No, I've lived my
life one way. I kind of dug in my feet.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
I've made a position for myself.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I've declared things, I've said things that I really believe.
I've gotten emotional about the things I want to do
and I don't want to do.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
Well.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Guess what, You're going to have to put your pride
on the shelf, and you're going to have to humble
yourself if you want to experience life the way.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
God want it. So what's Jesus saying in this next passage?
Speaker 2 (36:29):
You're saying, internalize your worth, recognize his ability, reset your
heart on the Father, and then risk living out your
truest identity. I won't camp long on this, but he says,
if you're a Christian and that's who you are, you're
a christ follower, all right, then why don't you live
like one instead of living like an unbeliever who's trapped
(36:53):
and in bondage to overwhelming stress and anxiety.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
And start mining.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Okay, it's a processes, but start mining what this means
to be created by God and to be seen by God,
and to be visible and to be valuable, and to
grasp the height and the depth so that you can
have power. The Bible says in your inner being. The
passage pastor Greg read is followed by so that you
(37:21):
may have power. Everybody say power, power in your inner being.
A lot of you came to church today and you
lack power. You want to get some power in your life.
Understand that you're valuable, Understand that you're visible. Understand that
God has capacity. Understand that God sees you. Not only
does he see you, he has a plan for you,
(37:41):
and you have to humble yourself before.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
You're maker, not.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Your parents, not some religious institution. You're maker, and you
can risk living out of that identity versus living as
a Christian.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
But like the could. Sure you know what this.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
World needs right now Christians who live like Christians. And
part of Christians being Christians is that they have this
conscious connection to God that gives them an abiding peace,
not in the absence of adversity, but right in the
middle of it.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
That's true peace. True peace isn't.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
All my problems resolved and my life is going great,
and true peace is witnessed and observed when everything's going
wrong and you're okay. The world needs to see that
in us men and women. Needs to see it in me,
needs to see it in you, needs to see it
in this community.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
All right? You with me? All right? Let's go to
this last passage from Luke twelve. So Jesus two pictures.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Consider, you gotta think different if you want to live different.
You gotta think differently if you want to not live anxiously.
And then he says this, but seek the seek his kingdom,
and these things will be given to you as well.
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has
been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions
(39:05):
and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that
will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will
never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Let's finish it together, for where your treasure is there,
your heart will also be. Do you see the transition
of Jesus speaking to the individual to speaking to us
(39:25):
as a community. Don't be afraid, little what flock. So
it's like, hey, don't you be worried. You consider the ravens,
you consider the flowers. How much more valuable are you?
And then it kind of transitions and he's like, Okay,
here's the transition. Your misplaced energy is not going to
go into a new place, and you're gonna seek the
Kingdom of God. And guess what, when you aim at heaven,
(39:47):
God throws earth in.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Did you get it? Seek first the Kingdom of.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
God and his righteousness, and then all these things will
be added to you.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
Do you get that? It's like a gift with purchase. Ladies,
you know what I'm talking about right, go to the
cosmetic counter.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
They're just like, thank you for buying that compact in
that makeup, and guess what, we have a nice tote
that was cheaply made, but it's your gift. With purpose,
you aim at heaven, God throws earth in. You want
more joy, you want more peace. And if you're aiming
at earth, you know what, you get anxiety. That's what
(40:28):
Earth gives you. But you aim at heaven, you get
God and you get this new purpose, and you get
this new team, and you get these new plans, and
you get the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
You get power and you're inner being.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
You get joy and love and peace and patience and kindness.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Does the world need that? Yes it does. It needs
it from you, and you get earth thrown in.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
I live more abundantly than I ever would if I
was just aiming at Earth and then living out of anxiety.
So you can make the choice this morning yourself. You
can aim at heaven and get earth thrown in, or
you can aim at earth and live in your anxiety,
because that's what culture will do. Want to know why
it doesn't solve your anxiety when all your circumstances resolve
(41:09):
around you. Listen to me because the problems inside of
us cannot be solved by things outside of us. The
dilemmas within us cannot be solved by another rearrangement of
your circumstances. You know what, Scrambled eggs and eggs over
easy and running eggs are eggs. But you think in
(41:33):
your brain, because you're believing a lie, that if I
re scramble my eggs and kind of put a little
big old spice on it, or some siracha sauce or
some tabasco or some salsa, or have some avocado and tomato,
that the core thing is gonna change. Nope, you're still
eating wavos rancheros. My sister, it's eggs. But we think
(41:57):
that if we just you know, if we can move
the chest peace, if we can create a little different
outer circumstance in our lives, if we can just then
somehow by a mystical osmosis, that I'm going to have
more peace and my anxiety goes away. I'll say it again,
the dilemmas inside of you cannot be solved by things
outside of you. You need the love of Jesus in
(42:20):
your heart. You need to know your maker through him,
super important. So what does it mean for us? On
your notes, I said, a people of peace in a
world of panic. You know what the world needs to
see right now? People of peace. I wont know why
because they're living anxiously. And you know, it's really different
when you have a non anxious person who is present
(42:43):
with anxious people, you have every reason to.
Speaker 3 (42:46):
Be at peace. I understand.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
I know that life has difficulties and losses and traumas
and all of those things. But you know a redeemer,
and if God can redeem the confusing disillusion unjust doesn't
make sense torture and crucifixion of his son, he can
redeem what you're going through. I know what trauma is.
(43:10):
I know what suicide in my life is with two brothers.
I know what it's like to live alone in a
family of nine, to be completely and totally alone. I
know what it's like to have three miscarriages in a
family and feel hopeless. My wife is getting wheeled on
a journey. I know all those feelings. But you know what,
(43:35):
when I think of how I'm gonna deal with it,
I just go You know what, God, if you can
redeem what Jesus went through and everybody looking at that
just went, m No, this is wrong, This is unjust,
this is unfair him. He's such a good man. Love
your neighbor as yourself, love God, touching lepers, breaking the
rules to love people.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Why him? This is so disillusioning.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
Was God present? Yes he was. Was God securing your salvation,
yes he was. Was God securing your future?
Speaker 3 (44:06):
Yes he was.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
Because God is a redeemer, So we need to be
a people of peace in a world of panic. What
does that mean?
Speaker 3 (44:13):
Write this down?
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Secure in God's love means we're free to risk for God.
In our pastoral team, we were talking about this and
I said, guys, I think that that third section is
the and I got the first few letters of free
out and as I was, I was this looks like
a fury, and Pastor JP goes, that's exactly right, before
I even got the words out.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
That's a free person. They know who they are, and
when they know who they are, they know what to do.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
And when they know who they are and they know
what to do and they're secure in God's love, they're
free to seek the kingdom.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Why Because God said I got all that, So why.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
Don't you put a little energy into the kingdom, and
then I'm gonna provide everything you mean, keep aiming at heaven.
I'm gonna throw earth in. That's a free person. Secondly,
secure in God's love means we're free to sacrifice for others.
Look at Jesus turn a corner and he just goes, Hey,
don't be afraid of little flock.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Seek the kingdom. God's pleased to give you the kingdom. Right,
who doesn't want the keys to the kingdom? Come on.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
God's like, I'll show you a world. Here's the keys.
Unlock that door.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Seek me.
Speaker 2 (45:16):
And then he said, sell your possessions and give to
the poor. Provide persons for yourselves that won't wear out.
You see how the free person secure in God's love
is free to sacrifice for other people. But if you're
anxious about what you don't have, if you're discontent about
what I don't have, if you live out of the gaps,
if you're living out of what you lack and you're
nervous about getting what you lack in the future, you
(45:36):
will not serve other people.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
We got to take care.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
Of this, just like I would tell my kids I
got it. Then they would just go, mmmm, are we
going to in and out?
Speaker 3 (45:47):
Are we going to in and out? Yes, we're going
in and out M because I have capacity.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
I'm the one who gives them the ATM card at
that little window. And then we all proceed to eat
footballs and we put it inside and we go Wasn't
that great? We're free to sacrifice for others. Jesus is
painting this picture of people who are free from worry
and into other people. Third, secure in God's love means
(46:16):
we're okay when the oceans rage. And this is really important.
You know that song we say, I don't have to
be afraid, right because I know that you love me.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
Your love never fails.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
And when the oceans rage, I don't have to be
afraid because I know that you love me.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
How comforting is that?
Speaker 2 (46:41):
Because the oceans are going to rage, Jesus said, the
oceans will rage. In this world, You'll have tribulation, take courage.
I've overcome the world. So the oceans are going to rage.
But I'm going to be with you in it, with you,
loving you, working out my purpose until we get together
face to face forever. Look at your notes on the
bottom there, Psalm ninety four, verse seventeen Let's read that together,
if you have your notes. If God hadn't been there
(47:03):
for me, I never would have made it. The minute
I said I'm slipping, I'm falling your love, God took
hold and.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
Held me fast.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
When I was upset and beside myself, You calmed me
down and cheered me up. You know how we like
to say sometimes for those of us who have seen
and experienced God's peace in the midst of the ocean raging,
you say to yourself, Man, I don't know how people
do it without God.
Speaker 3 (47:30):
You ever said that to yourself.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
Jesus agrees with you. God agrees with you. He does
not understand. It does not compute to him when he's
available for you that you would choose willingly to do
life without his love because He made you to experience
love and to experience his care as your heavenly father.
Look what it says in John one seventeen. Let's read
(47:55):
that together on your notes. God's unfailing love and faithfulness
came through Jesus Christ. Very important concept. You'll read in
the Psalms, and you'll read in the Gospels how God's
love is unfailing. Everybody say unfailing. Okay, In other words,
God's love is a fail safe.
Speaker 3 (48:14):
Guys, know what a fails safe is.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
It's something that activates in the event that something else fails.
In fact, on your notes, I have a definition of it.
It's a secondary safety system or backup that comes into
operation in the event of a breakdown. There's people breaking down, malfunction,
there's really people malfunctioning and something going wrong.
Speaker 3 (48:34):
So much going wrong right now.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
My question is, is God's fail safe of his love inside
your life?
Speaker 3 (48:45):
Do you have a backup.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
That becomes your primary and you start not living out
of what you lack, but you start living out of
what you're full of, full of God's purpose, full of
God's presence, full of God's spirit, full of God's word.
Is God's fail safe in place in your life? So
(49:11):
here's what we do. We don't want anybody to live anxiously. Amen,
But they have to have God's love present inside of
them and become secure on the inside. Remember, because the
things outside of us don't solve the dilemmas within us.
God's presence, Almighty God, God, the Father inside of you.
Speaker 3 (49:33):
That'll calm you down a little bit.
Speaker 2 (49:37):
We all need to reaffirm or maybe for the first time.
We need to put the fail safe of God's unfailing
love inside it because we're failing. We're failing to stop anxiety,
because we're trying to seek solutions outside of us while
not taking the solution God wants to plant within us.
So we're going to pray right now, and the words
(49:59):
are going to be on the screen. They're in your notes.
And I want safety in this place. I want you
to feel safe praying this, whether you haven't prayed in
a long time or never to you pray every.
Speaker 3 (50:14):
Day and every minute.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
I want everybody to feel safe, which is why we're
all gonna pray this prayer out loud, all right, So
I would like everybody.
Speaker 3 (50:23):
To just kind of stand to your feet.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
And as a community, as a community of people, we're
just gonna declare this okay. And then Pastor Greg's gonna
come up with a closing word. So look at the
words on the screen and let's say them together. Ready,
Father in Heaven, let's say together, I am ready for
(50:47):
your love to take over how I view myself, my past,
my present, and my future. I am ready to give
the fullest access to my inner self so that any
fear known or unknown, can be defeated and replaced by
your love for me. I want to grasp every dimension
(51:08):
of your love for me, so that every purpose you
have for me will be fulfilled. Begin the process now, Father,
of breaking down all my defenses, all pride, and all fear,
so that I can receive your power and experience your peace.
(51:28):
I want to be free, along with my brothers and
sisters in Christ, to risk for you and sacrifice for
others in this important moment of time.
Speaker 3 (51:39):
I ask for this freely with all faith and hope
in your son Jesus. Amen, you will be like God
human unity.
Speaker 2 (51:51):
God was severed and through it all God's promise remain true.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
Follow me, Apri I would make you great.
Speaker 2 (52:02):
This is the Chosen People.
Speaker 3 (52:08):
Listen to the Chosen People at the Chosen.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
People dot com. That's the Chosen People dot com
Host
Matthew Potter
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