July 17, 2025 • 26 mins
A study on overcoming anxiety.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to K Waves Pastor Spotlight featuring the Bible teaching
of our local Southern California pastors. This week we're pleased
to bring you the Bible teaching ministry of Doctor Mark Ambrose,
senior pastor of Pacific Coast Church, where Mark has been
the pastor for 30 years. Pacific Coast Church has been
a vital part of the San Clemente community for over
(00:21):
60 years, reaching multiple generations for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You know, stress and anxiety seems to be an ever
present part of our lives these days. It happens to
all of us at moments, but while anxiety can be
a momentary part of life, as followers of Jesus, anxiety
must not be a way of life. Today, Pastor Mark
(00:41):
Ambrose invites us to take a look at the Lord's
commands in the Sermon on the Mount for how to
find relief during anxious times. Here's Pastor Mark.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It's an understatement to say we live in anxious times.
There's unrest everywhere.
There's unrest in our own country. There's unrest abroad. Our
country is divided.
Um, our neighborhoods are divided.
Our relationships are divided.
(01:13):
Not to mention the media.
Constant fear, constant worry.
Everywhere you look, it's a nail biter.
And what's interesting is, as Christians,
Scripture tells us
Not to be anxious.
OK.
It's easy to say that, but how is that possible
(01:35):
when everywhere you look, it seems like things are falling apart.
How do you
Do that. I will say this. So we're gonna study
in the beginning, we're gonna study what Jesus has to
say about it, and we find ourselves in the sermon
on the Mount. We've talked about this before. We studied
through the Gospel of Matthew, so I won't give you
(01:56):
a ton of background other than to say it was
a sermon where Jesus was giving and ah it was
a mixed crowd that was watching. It was his disciples.
It was this kind of Jewish population as well as
the religious leaders.
And a lot of it was focused on legalism because
don't forget the Jews were all about laws, obeying laws,
doing laws. And so it's called the sermon on the Mount,
(02:17):
but I've often called it the sermon of the heart,
because Jesus was addressing the heart behind the law. He
would say things like, you've heard that it was said before,
do not commit adultery. But I tell you, and then
you talk about if you look at a woman lustfully,
you're committing adultery in your heart.
In other words, it's not just about the end act
(02:38):
of adultery, that's the issue. You just didn't wake up
one day and, and get there. It's, it's
Steps along the way of compromise and allowing your mind to, to,
to entertain thoughts and before you know it, bam, but
it's the thought life. He talks about, you know, you've
heard it said before, do not commit a murder. But
I tell you, if you hate somebody, you're committing murder
(03:01):
in the heart. So in other words, somebody doesn't wake
up one day and say, I'm gonna kill somebody, it's
unchecked bitterness, hatred over time that leads to that. So
he's delving down into the heart.
In the context of our passage this morning, he's talked,
he just talked about money.
Talk about how money can become an idol.
To us, think about what money provides. A lot of
(03:24):
things we talk about God provides, provides power, provides happiness,
provides fun, provides freedom.
And so if we're not careful, money can become an idol.
And so he talks about how it's, it's important to
know basically, if you own money.
Or money owns you. And the way you can check
(03:46):
that is if you're
Is your ability to be able to let go of money.
Because if you can let go of money,
Then it doesn't own you. But if you can't, it
owns you and potentially is becoming an idol. Now, by
let going money now, you potentially trigger anxious thoughts because
(04:07):
of the culture of the day. So let's dig into
the passage and see how God guides us. Matthew 6:24.
No one can serve two masters, for he will either
hate the one and love the other, or he will
be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money.
(04:29):
No middle ground there. So it's a priority check. But
this priority check may cause anxiety. So that's why he
dives into it and says, therefore I tell you, do
not be anxious about your life. Now,
If you could just pull the slide down real quick.
I just want to focus on the word anxious real quick.
(04:50):
So we know what we're talking about, super important. This
word anxious literally means to be torn apart. Mind grind.
Gut grind, preoccupied, not general concern. General concern's probably good.
It's responsible to be concerned about different things, but this agarrizo,
(05:12):
it means just to be torn apart. OK, so just
want to make that clear that we're not just talking about,
oh yeah, I'm worried about something. Well, if you're just
worried about something, maybe that's a good thing, maybe that's
a bad thing. If you're being torn apart about it,
now we're talking about that kind of stuff, OK? So
back to our passage here real quick.
Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious, torn apart,
(05:34):
mind grinding about your life.
What you will eat or what you will drink.
Nor about your body and what you will put on.
Is not life more than food.
In the body more than clothing.
No.
Not really.
(05:56):
He just named a couple of things, eating and drinking.
Kind of keeps you alive.
If you don't eat and drink, you're dead.
Clothing
Give and take. But you gotta eat, you gotta drink.
And he's saying, isn't life more important than that?
Not if you're just talking about physical life here and
(06:16):
now life. Now, if you're talking about a spiritual life,
if you're talking about yourself through the spiritual realm and
the physical realm, yes, then life is more important, the
spiritual life is more important, there's more things to consider
because we got eternity and you'll be a dead a
lot longer than, than, than, than when you're alive. And
and so in that broader perspective, which is how Jesus
(06:38):
was always addressing people with spiritually speaking, then he's saying,
isn't
Your spiritual condition, eternity, all that bigger than this thing
that you're worrying about. That's basically
What do you say? Now, let me just kind of
set the landscape for their worry. We, we talk about
what's going on in our life, but in the ancient world,
(07:01):
These people, these Jews were under Roman domination, OK? Which
means they were taxed. They paid a tax rate of 40%
to 50%.
So you think your taxes are high? They didn't have
deductions either. 40% to 60%. And there were day wages.
People would work, they would get paid, they would eat,
(07:21):
they'd work, get paid. It wasn't a lot of surplus
at a 50% tax rate, hand to mouth. And so,
you know, if a, if a crop didn't produce or whatever,
a lot of stress, a lot of stress.
So that's the backdrop why he's talking about staying alive, eating, drinking, clothing,
because this is the things that were obsessing them. These
(07:42):
were the everyday practical needs of life.
But I don't want you to miss the obvious.
And sometimes we can just blow right past it.
Jesus gave them a command.
He said, Do not be anxious.
(08:04):
There's a command
What does that mean?
That means you got to decide.
Whether you want to be anxious or not.
You have a say in the matter.
(08:24):
I put it this way, how to find relief during
anxious times recognize you have a choice.
Just to set the foundation for this discussion about anxiety.
You have a choice to engage in it or not,
and we often think about anxiety is something that comes
upon us or happens to us, and we have no control. Well,
(08:46):
Jesus highlights otherwise. He says, you do have control. You
do have a say. You do have a decision.
Yeah, but I can't help it. No, you can help it.
No, but I can't. No, you can.
You may not know how to help it yet. We're
just talking about the idea of whether the decision is possible.
(09:07):
Or not.
Paul highlighted this to a church that was freaking out,
the Church of Philippi. He was in jail, he was
in prison, and, you know, they're like, our pastor, Paul
is in prison. What are we gonna do? Oh no,
oh no, Nero's, you know, Nero's the emperor, how are
we gonna da da da da. And Paul writes to them,
a letter of joy. That's what Philippians is called, the
(09:29):
letter of joy, and he wrote it from a prison cell.
And look at what he's told them. Philippians 4:6, Do
not be anxious about anything. Another command.
In other words, don't let whatever is tearing you apart
tear you apart.
We're not talking about how yet.
(09:49):
This is probably an adjustment for a lot of us
when we view this.
Emotional thing because we think it just takes over and we,
we can't do anything about it. No, Jesus is suggesting
you you can't.
Let me just ask you this.
What is causing you anxiety today?
What is kind of tearing you apart?
(10:12):
If you say nothing, great.
Then what we're talking about, you just keep in mind.
Because it'll happen.
Now, I wanna make another disclaimer because this is gonna
be a very, I, I can't even remember the stats.
I'll find them, but it's like a lot of people
struggle with anxiety. kissing cousin to that is depression when
(10:32):
you're talking a clinical level.
So I wanna make sure that you understand we're not talking.
Maybe you struggle out there today with GAD.
Generalized anxiety disorder.
And maybe that's been your prognosis and it's a clinical
condition and you're on medication.
(10:53):
We're not talking to you.
But we are talking to you, because here's the deal
with GAD, it usually gets to the point where my,
now my brain chemistry is thrown off. Now I need
balance clinically speaking, but often this happens because there hasn't
(11:14):
been management early on pre-GAD.
And so over time, it can become clinical.
So even when you're clinical,
It's important to understand these principles.
To help with the clinical. So I, I just want
to hear that this isn't some, you know, you have
no idea. I'm on medication, you know, and I'm under
(11:35):
doctor's orders, psychiatrist's orders, and, and you think I could
just say, no, not talking to you. OK? So we
good on that?
Because otherwise it'll sound oversimplified.
And not loving.
And that's not the goal here. I'm just trying to
get to the base of what Jesus was telling these people.
(11:57):
And he told him, You have a decision.
Over what you're obsessing on right now. You have a
decision over what you're allowing yourself to, to, to process and,
and it's eating you up.
You have a decision, that's all.
And we have a lot of triggers today.
(12:18):
We have an election in 2 days.
Maybe it's at work, it's triggered. Maybe it's in your relationships.
There's some anxiety and triggering. Maybe it's about your retirement,
maybe it's over your kids, maybe it's the wars around
the world.
A lot of options.
Do we have to make a decision about where we go.
(12:40):
Or not.
And he's saying we have a choice. It's a perspective.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
You're listening to Kwave's Pastor Spotlight featuring the Bible teaching
ministry of Doctor Mark Ambrose, senior pastor of Pacific Coast
Church in San Clemente. To learn more about PCC, visit
Pacific CoastChurch.org. And now let's continue with today's study on
how to find relief during anxious times. Here's Pastor Mark.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
He goes on verse 26. Look at the birds at
the air.
They neither sow nor reap nor gather in the barns,
so they don't have jobs. They're not working. And yet,
your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
Rhetorical, obviously, and which of you by being anxious can
(13:31):
add a single hour to his lifespan.
So it's highlighting the
That anxiety doesn't help anything.
If it did, then you wouldn't be anxious.
Right, cause you'd be anxious over something and you would
and then it'd go away, but it just keeps going,
(13:51):
which means it's not productive.
It's not going to help anybody. It's certainly not going
to help you.
By definition, to be anxious means it's out of your
control anyway.
When you think about the things that cause your an,
it's cause you don't know and it's out of your
control and you, you can't, and here's the, here's the
interesting piece. The more educated the culture today, the more
(14:15):
they struggle with anxiety.
Cause the more you know, almost the more it messes
you up to process things that you don't know. I
remember I experienced this for the first time in the
mission field. I was with a dentist and I was
assisting him on his dental work.
And I'm watching what he's doing.
Oh, that's what that looks like. Oh, the needle goes
(14:38):
into the gum. Wow, that's it goes in 2 inches. Well,
what's that bubble next to it? Oh, that's the Novocaine.
That's a big bubble thing. And then I'm watching them
drill and do whatever and rip and
I'm telling you, man, the next time I sat in
a dental office, I was like, uh, is that bubble there?
You know.
(15:00):
So it's not a knowledge thing either, because we'll always
get to the point where the more we know, then
there'll be the more that we don't know.
Alright.
And why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
They neither toil nor spin. So they're not, they're not
(15:20):
making themselves look good. They're not staining themselves and making
them colorful. No, yet, I tell you, even Solomon in
all his glory, whatever he had going, he didn't compare
to any of these.
But if God so clothed the grass of the fields
which today is alive, and tomorrow's thrown in the oven,
in other words, it's temporary. If God so clothes the
(15:40):
grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow
is thrown in the oven, will he not much more
clothe you? Oh you of little faith. Therefore, do not
be anxious. There it is again, saying, what shall we
eat or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?
In other words, God's got your back.
(16:02):
It's a promise.
Don't be anxious.
But he has a little conditional thing, oh you of little.
Faith
That's interesting, and that's revelatory. When you think of anxiety,
you're anxious.
When you're putting your trust, when you're putting your faith
(16:24):
into something that isn't producing, that's why we have anxiety.
If your faith is in you and your abilities and
you're freaking out, it's because you don't have the ability
to change it.
If your faith is in a candidate, if your faith
is in a, a stock market, if your faith is
(16:47):
in an economy, if your faith is, these things are moving,
they're unstable, they're up and down, there lies your anxiety,
up and down. If your faith is in God that
doesn't change, that doesn't move, that is stable, and by
the way, promises you food and clothing.
(17:11):
No more anxiety.
So this becomes this issue of faith. So how to
find relief during anxious times, #2.
Refocus on God for stability.
Refocus on God for stability. You'll find that as your
anxious thoughts go, go out there, you're focusing on things
(17:31):
that are unstable, that aren't gonna, aren't gonna change anything.
And that's why you gotta take that thought and, and
you bring it back to God, cause these are all
patterns that we have, right, when we, we're afraid or
whatever it triggers, and then we go to a place.
And usually that place won't provide stability, calmness and peace,
(17:52):
like God will.
You may have your techniques, you may have your somatic exercises,
you may do some things that are, that are very
good and very healthy, but as Christians, we have the
benefit because we can go to God. The question is,
do we?
And how often
Do we?
One pastor put it this way, anxiety is like practical atheism.
(18:17):
Interesting. I thought it was an interesting statement, huh, yeah,
because deep down in what I'm saying is I don't
believe God cares. I don't believe God changes. I don't
even believe that God is there for this thing that's
causing me anxiety, so I'm not going there, provoking.
Provoking thought
(18:38):
But the apostle Paul
What I would argue had
A lot of anxious times.
But understood himself.
And knew what it took.
To avoid those tearing apart sleepless nights.
(19:00):
Because he did it one step at a time. 2
Corinthians 10:5, we destroy arguments against every lofty opinion raised
against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought
captive to obey Jesus.
This is about us taking our thoughts, cause that's what
anxiety is, our thoughts and making them captive, measuring them,
(19:22):
looking at them, analyzing them rather than just letting them go.
How often do you do that? Well, it depends.
I think it was a lifestyle for Paul.
It's interesting because I, when I'm watching the World Series,
you know, sometimes they do interviews with some of the players.
And it pretty much every sport.
(19:42):
When you talk to the team that lost,
There's, there's this hope.
of, well, you know, we'll just put this behind us.
You know, we, we got more ahead and we just
got to get back to our game. We got to
get back to the basics.
We got thrown off. They're a good team, but we're
(20:03):
here because, you know, we the basics, back to our game,
thrown off. It's almost like self-talk. It's almost like they're
coaching themselves. I think we probably need to do more
of that. Self-talk.
Do you ever do that? Probably good not to do
it out loud all the time. I'd be a little wonky, but.
(20:25):
The psalmist, it was a practice of the Jewish people.
Psalm 4211. Why are you cast down, oh my soul?
And why are you in turmoil within me? Look at
that self-talk.
Hope is hope in God, for I shall again praise Him.
My salvation and my God.
(20:47):
Look at the self-talk. Why is I, why am I
so down?
What's going on, me?
This turmoil. Don't you forget, don't you remember? God's in control.
He's my salvation. You know what? And I'm, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna praise him.
Self-taught.
Coach, coaching. So this is about constantly reminding ourselves and
(21:10):
about knowing yourself, and I would just say this as
we kind of just skim this topic right now. This
next week, I would just suggest that you try to
understand yourself a little better. Try to pay attention to yourself.
What triggers your anxiety? And then what are you feeling?
How are you handling that or not?
(21:33):
Cause the more we learn ourselves,
About our ourselves.
The better we'll be at this, the better, and those
are those deeper places that we find the Lord. Every
time I teach something, God likes to bring it to
me personally first, which is OK sometimes, sometimes a real bummer,
(21:54):
depends on what we're talking about. And this was a
real bummer. So I found myself.
Waking up at 2 a.m., ever done that? Right, show
of hands.
And then when I woke up, boom.
Right?
And then I watched my thoughts. I started to worry.
What if that plane I get on is canceled?
(22:19):
Who would I get to preach?
And then
I wouldn't, and then I wouldn't. And then, and before
you know it, I'm.
My heart's doing this.
Now, me personally, I'm fine. I'm in a comfortable bed.
(22:43):
I got my head on the pillow. My wife's next
to me.
The temperature's great.
So
I'm good, but I'm not good because I'm always, and
that's another thing about anxiety. It's never now. It's always
in the future about the what ifs, worst case scenarios, right?
(23:05):
But what did I have to do? Oh, that's right.
I'm studying this stuff.
OK, recognize that I don't have to stay here. Yup,
I don't.
Oh, I wish I could go to bed.
Wish I'd close my eyes. Am I gonna be up
for the next 5 hours? Start the up ending again.
(23:29):
No, I got a decision now.
And I'm gonna refocus on God. And what do I
know true about God?
If these things happen, he'll take care of it. If
these things end up panning out, maybe it's for the good,
and I don't even know yet. And if they never
pan out, then it was useless to even go there.
(23:49):
So
Do the right thing
Close your eyes
Cause when you close your eyes, you go to sleep.
And it was weird. Next morning wasn't even there. Thoughts
weren't even there. Worry wasn't even there. It just came on.
And I know a lot of you know what I'm
(24:10):
talking about.
Cause I talked to enough of you to know that
a full night's sleep is a gift from heaven.
And so a lot of this is preventative.
But also if you're in it, it's to prevent it
from growing as well.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And with that we bring today's study titled How to
Find Relief During Anxious Times Part one to a close
here on Pastor Spotlight. Doctor Mark Ambrose will be back
tomorrow as he continues on the same theme from the
Gospel of Matthew, so we invite you to be here
with us at the same time tomorrow. You know, you
and your family are invited to join Pastor Mark at
Pacific Coast Church this next Sunday morning. PCC is conveniently
(24:54):
located at 2651.
Frontera in San Clemente. Sunday morning worship service times are
at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. Pacific Coast Church is here
to help everyone know and follow Jesus in an honest
and transparent way. Their mission is to reach people for Jesus,
grow followers of Jesus, and connect together in Jesus. At PCC,
(25:17):
you'll find a safe place to pursue Jesus, no matter
where you are on your spiritual journey.
On Friday night January 31st, Pacific Coast Church invites all
men to the men's summit. You're gonna be encouraged and
inspired by special guest speaker, Michael Franzese. Michael Franz is
a former New York mafia boss who now travels the
(25:38):
world sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sign up now
for your spot at the Men's Summit on Friday night,
January 31st by going to PCC's website at Pacific.
PostChurch.org/men and we invite you to join us right here
at the same time tomorrow for another time of growing
in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ right here
(25:58):
on Pastor Spotlight, we'll feature more from the Bible teaching
ministry of Doctor Mark Ambrose, senior pastor of Pacific Coast
Church in San Clemente. We hope you'll join us. Pastor
Spotlight is a production of Kwave Radio sharing life, delivering truth,
giving hope.
Welcome to K Waves Pastor Spotlight featuring the Bible teaching
of our local Southern California pastors. This week we're pleased
to bring you the Bible teaching ministry of Doctor Mark Ambrose,
senior pastor of Pacific Coast Church, where Mark has been
the pastor for 30 years. Pacific Coast Church has been
a vital part of the San Clemente community for over
(00:21):
60 years, reaching multiple generations for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You know, stress and anxiety seems to be an ever
present part of our lives these days. It happens to
all of us at moments, but while anxiety can be
a momentary part of life, as followers of Jesus, anxiety
must not be a way of life. Today, Pastor Mark
(00:41):
Ambrose invites us to take a look at the Lord's
commands in the Sermon on the Mount for how to
find relief during anxious times. Here's Pastor Mark.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It's an understatement to say we live in anxious times.
There's unrest everywhere.
There's unrest in our own country. There's unrest abroad. Our
country is divided.
Um, our neighborhoods are divided.
Our relationships are divided.
(01:13):
Not to mention the media.
Constant fear, constant worry.
Everywhere you look, it's a nail biter.
And what's interesting is, as Christians,
Scripture tells us
Not to be anxious.
OK.
It's easy to say that, but how is that possible
(01:35):
when everywhere you look, it seems like things are falling apart.
How do you
Do that. I will say this. So we're gonna study
in the beginning, we're gonna study what Jesus has to
say about it, and we find ourselves in the sermon
on the Mount. We've talked about this before. We studied
through the Gospel of Matthew, so I won't give you
(01:56):
a ton of background other than to say it was
a sermon where Jesus was giving and ah it was
a mixed crowd that was watching. It was his disciples.
It was this kind of Jewish population as well as
the religious leaders.
And a lot of it was focused on legalism because
don't forget the Jews were all about laws, obeying laws,
doing laws. And so it's called the sermon on the Mount,
(02:17):
but I've often called it the sermon of the heart,
because Jesus was addressing the heart behind the law. He
would say things like, you've heard that it was said before,
do not commit adultery. But I tell you, and then
you talk about if you look at a woman lustfully,
you're committing adultery in your heart.
In other words, it's not just about the end act
(02:38):
of adultery, that's the issue. You just didn't wake up
one day and, and get there. It's, it's
Steps along the way of compromise and allowing your mind to, to,
to entertain thoughts and before you know it, bam, but
it's the thought life. He talks about, you know, you've
heard it said before, do not commit a murder. But
I tell you, if you hate somebody, you're committing murder
(03:01):
in the heart. So in other words, somebody doesn't wake
up one day and say, I'm gonna kill somebody, it's
unchecked bitterness, hatred over time that leads to that. So
he's delving down into the heart.
In the context of our passage this morning, he's talked,
he just talked about money.
Talk about how money can become an idol.
To us, think about what money provides. A lot of
(03:24):
things we talk about God provides, provides power, provides happiness,
provides fun, provides freedom.
And so if we're not careful, money can become an idol.
And so he talks about how it's, it's important to
know basically, if you own money.
Or money owns you. And the way you can check
(03:46):
that is if you're
Is your ability to be able to let go of money.
Because if you can let go of money,
Then it doesn't own you. But if you can't, it
owns you and potentially is becoming an idol. Now, by
let going money now, you potentially trigger anxious thoughts because
(04:07):
of the culture of the day. So let's dig into
the passage and see how God guides us. Matthew 6:24.
No one can serve two masters, for he will either
hate the one and love the other, or he will
be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money.
(04:29):
No middle ground there. So it's a priority check. But
this priority check may cause anxiety. So that's why he
dives into it and says, therefore I tell you, do
not be anxious about your life. Now,
If you could just pull the slide down real quick.
I just want to focus on the word anxious real quick.
(04:50):
So we know what we're talking about, super important. This
word anxious literally means to be torn apart. Mind grind.
Gut grind, preoccupied, not general concern. General concern's probably good.
It's responsible to be concerned about different things, but this agarrizo,
(05:12):
it means just to be torn apart. OK, so just
want to make that clear that we're not just talking about,
oh yeah, I'm worried about something. Well, if you're just
worried about something, maybe that's a good thing, maybe that's
a bad thing. If you're being torn apart about it,
now we're talking about that kind of stuff, OK? So
back to our passage here real quick.
Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious, torn apart,
(05:34):
mind grinding about your life.
What you will eat or what you will drink.
Nor about your body and what you will put on.
Is not life more than food.
In the body more than clothing.
No.
Not really.
(05:56):
He just named a couple of things, eating and drinking.
Kind of keeps you alive.
If you don't eat and drink, you're dead.
Clothing
Give and take. But you gotta eat, you gotta drink.
And he's saying, isn't life more important than that?
Not if you're just talking about physical life here and
(06:16):
now life. Now, if you're talking about a spiritual life,
if you're talking about yourself through the spiritual realm and
the physical realm, yes, then life is more important, the
spiritual life is more important, there's more things to consider
because we got eternity and you'll be a dead a
lot longer than, than, than, than when you're alive. And
and so in that broader perspective, which is how Jesus
(06:38):
was always addressing people with spiritually speaking, then he's saying,
isn't
Your spiritual condition, eternity, all that bigger than this thing
that you're worrying about. That's basically
What do you say? Now, let me just kind of
set the landscape for their worry. We, we talk about
what's going on in our life, but in the ancient world,
(07:01):
These people, these Jews were under Roman domination, OK? Which
means they were taxed. They paid a tax rate of 40%
to 50%.
So you think your taxes are high? They didn't have
deductions either. 40% to 60%. And there were day wages.
People would work, they would get paid, they would eat,
(07:21):
they'd work, get paid. It wasn't a lot of surplus
at a 50% tax rate, hand to mouth. And so,
you know, if a, if a crop didn't produce or whatever,
a lot of stress, a lot of stress.
So that's the backdrop why he's talking about staying alive, eating, drinking, clothing,
because this is the things that were obsessing them. These
(07:42):
were the everyday practical needs of life.
But I don't want you to miss the obvious.
And sometimes we can just blow right past it.
Jesus gave them a command.
He said, Do not be anxious.
(08:04):
There's a command
What does that mean?
That means you got to decide.
Whether you want to be anxious or not.
You have a say in the matter.
(08:24):
I put it this way, how to find relief during
anxious times recognize you have a choice.
Just to set the foundation for this discussion about anxiety.
You have a choice to engage in it or not,
and we often think about anxiety is something that comes
upon us or happens to us, and we have no control. Well,
(08:46):
Jesus highlights otherwise. He says, you do have control. You
do have a say. You do have a decision.
Yeah, but I can't help it. No, you can help it.
No, but I can't. No, you can.
You may not know how to help it yet. We're
just talking about the idea of whether the decision is possible.
(09:07):
Or not.
Paul highlighted this to a church that was freaking out,
the Church of Philippi. He was in jail, he was
in prison, and, you know, they're like, our pastor, Paul
is in prison. What are we gonna do? Oh no,
oh no, Nero's, you know, Nero's the emperor, how are
we gonna da da da da. And Paul writes to them,
a letter of joy. That's what Philippians is called, the
(09:29):
letter of joy, and he wrote it from a prison cell.
And look at what he's told them. Philippians 4:6, Do
not be anxious about anything. Another command.
In other words, don't let whatever is tearing you apart
tear you apart.
We're not talking about how yet.
(09:49):
This is probably an adjustment for a lot of us
when we view this.
Emotional thing because we think it just takes over and we,
we can't do anything about it. No, Jesus is suggesting
you you can't.
Let me just ask you this.
What is causing you anxiety today?
What is kind of tearing you apart?
(10:12):
If you say nothing, great.
Then what we're talking about, you just keep in mind.
Because it'll happen.
Now, I wanna make another disclaimer because this is gonna
be a very, I, I can't even remember the stats.
I'll find them, but it's like a lot of people
struggle with anxiety. kissing cousin to that is depression when
(10:32):
you're talking a clinical level.
So I wanna make sure that you understand we're not talking.
Maybe you struggle out there today with GAD.
Generalized anxiety disorder.
And maybe that's been your prognosis and it's a clinical
condition and you're on medication.
(10:53):
We're not talking to you.
But we are talking to you, because here's the deal
with GAD, it usually gets to the point where my,
now my brain chemistry is thrown off. Now I need
balance clinically speaking, but often this happens because there hasn't
(11:14):
been management early on pre-GAD.
And so over time, it can become clinical.
So even when you're clinical,
It's important to understand these principles.
To help with the clinical. So I, I just want
to hear that this isn't some, you know, you have
no idea. I'm on medication, you know, and I'm under
(11:35):
doctor's orders, psychiatrist's orders, and, and you think I could
just say, no, not talking to you. OK? So we
good on that?
Because otherwise it'll sound oversimplified.
And not loving.
And that's not the goal here. I'm just trying to
get to the base of what Jesus was telling these people.
(11:57):
And he told him, You have a decision.
Over what you're obsessing on right now. You have a
decision over what you're allowing yourself to, to, to process and,
and it's eating you up.
You have a decision, that's all.
And we have a lot of triggers today.
(12:18):
We have an election in 2 days.
Maybe it's at work, it's triggered. Maybe it's in your relationships.
There's some anxiety and triggering. Maybe it's about your retirement,
maybe it's over your kids, maybe it's the wars around
the world.
A lot of options.
Do we have to make a decision about where we go.
(12:40):
Or not.
And he's saying we have a choice. It's a perspective.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
You're listening to Kwave's Pastor Spotlight featuring the Bible teaching
ministry of Doctor Mark Ambrose, senior pastor of Pacific Coast
Church in San Clemente. To learn more about PCC, visit
Pacific CoastChurch.org. And now let's continue with today's study on
how to find relief during anxious times. Here's Pastor Mark.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
He goes on verse 26. Look at the birds at
the air.
They neither sow nor reap nor gather in the barns,
so they don't have jobs. They're not working. And yet,
your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
Rhetorical, obviously, and which of you by being anxious can
(13:31):
add a single hour to his lifespan.
So it's highlighting the
That anxiety doesn't help anything.
If it did, then you wouldn't be anxious.
Right, cause you'd be anxious over something and you would
and then it'd go away, but it just keeps going,
(13:51):
which means it's not productive.
It's not going to help anybody. It's certainly not going
to help you.
By definition, to be anxious means it's out of your
control anyway.
When you think about the things that cause your an,
it's cause you don't know and it's out of your
control and you, you can't, and here's the, here's the
interesting piece. The more educated the culture today, the more
(14:15):
they struggle with anxiety.
Cause the more you know, almost the more it messes
you up to process things that you don't know. I
remember I experienced this for the first time in the
mission field. I was with a dentist and I was
assisting him on his dental work.
And I'm watching what he's doing.
Oh, that's what that looks like. Oh, the needle goes
(14:38):
into the gum. Wow, that's it goes in 2 inches. Well,
what's that bubble next to it? Oh, that's the Novocaine.
That's a big bubble thing. And then I'm watching them
drill and do whatever and rip and
I'm telling you, man, the next time I sat in
a dental office, I was like, uh, is that bubble there?
You know.
(15:00):
So it's not a knowledge thing either, because we'll always
get to the point where the more we know, then
there'll be the more that we don't know.
Alright.
And why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
They neither toil nor spin. So they're not, they're not
(15:20):
making themselves look good. They're not staining themselves and making
them colorful. No, yet, I tell you, even Solomon in
all his glory, whatever he had going, he didn't compare
to any of these.
But if God so clothed the grass of the fields
which today is alive, and tomorrow's thrown in the oven,
in other words, it's temporary. If God so clothes the
(15:40):
grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow
is thrown in the oven, will he not much more
clothe you? Oh you of little faith. Therefore, do not
be anxious. There it is again, saying, what shall we
eat or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?
In other words, God's got your back.
(16:02):
It's a promise.
Don't be anxious.
But he has a little conditional thing, oh you of little.
Faith
That's interesting, and that's revelatory. When you think of anxiety,
you're anxious.
When you're putting your trust, when you're putting your faith
(16:24):
into something that isn't producing, that's why we have anxiety.
If your faith is in you and your abilities and
you're freaking out, it's because you don't have the ability
to change it.
If your faith is in a candidate, if your faith
is in a, a stock market, if your faith is
(16:47):
in an economy, if your faith is, these things are moving,
they're unstable, they're up and down, there lies your anxiety,
up and down. If your faith is in God that
doesn't change, that doesn't move, that is stable, and by
the way, promises you food and clothing.
(17:11):
No more anxiety.
So this becomes this issue of faith. So how to
find relief during anxious times, #2.
Refocus on God for stability.
Refocus on God for stability. You'll find that as your
anxious thoughts go, go out there, you're focusing on things
(17:31):
that are unstable, that aren't gonna, aren't gonna change anything.
And that's why you gotta take that thought and, and
you bring it back to God, cause these are all
patterns that we have, right, when we, we're afraid or
whatever it triggers, and then we go to a place.
And usually that place won't provide stability, calmness and peace,
(17:52):
like God will.
You may have your techniques, you may have your somatic exercises,
you may do some things that are, that are very
good and very healthy, but as Christians, we have the
benefit because we can go to God. The question is,
do we?
And how often
Do we?
One pastor put it this way, anxiety is like practical atheism.
(18:17):
Interesting. I thought it was an interesting statement, huh, yeah,
because deep down in what I'm saying is I don't
believe God cares. I don't believe God changes. I don't
even believe that God is there for this thing that's
causing me anxiety, so I'm not going there, provoking.
Provoking thought
(18:38):
But the apostle Paul
What I would argue had
A lot of anxious times.
But understood himself.
And knew what it took.
To avoid those tearing apart sleepless nights.
(19:00):
Because he did it one step at a time. 2
Corinthians 10:5, we destroy arguments against every lofty opinion raised
against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought
captive to obey Jesus.
This is about us taking our thoughts, cause that's what
anxiety is, our thoughts and making them captive, measuring them,
(19:22):
looking at them, analyzing them rather than just letting them go.
How often do you do that? Well, it depends.
I think it was a lifestyle for Paul.
It's interesting because I, when I'm watching the World Series,
you know, sometimes they do interviews with some of the players.
And it pretty much every sport.
(19:42):
When you talk to the team that lost,
There's, there's this hope.
of, well, you know, we'll just put this behind us.
You know, we, we got more ahead and we just
got to get back to our game. We got to
get back to the basics.
We got thrown off. They're a good team, but we're
(20:03):
here because, you know, we the basics, back to our game,
thrown off. It's almost like self-talk. It's almost like they're
coaching themselves. I think we probably need to do more
of that. Self-talk.
Do you ever do that? Probably good not to do
it out loud all the time. I'd be a little wonky, but.
(20:25):
The psalmist, it was a practice of the Jewish people.
Psalm 4211. Why are you cast down, oh my soul?
And why are you in turmoil within me? Look at
that self-talk.
Hope is hope in God, for I shall again praise Him.
My salvation and my God.
(20:47):
Look at the self-talk. Why is I, why am I
so down?
What's going on, me?
This turmoil. Don't you forget, don't you remember? God's in control.
He's my salvation. You know what? And I'm, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna praise him.
Self-taught.
Coach, coaching. So this is about constantly reminding ourselves and
(21:10):
about knowing yourself, and I would just say this as
we kind of just skim this topic right now. This
next week, I would just suggest that you try to
understand yourself a little better. Try to pay attention to yourself.
What triggers your anxiety? And then what are you feeling?
How are you handling that or not?
(21:33):
Cause the more we learn ourselves,
About our ourselves.
The better we'll be at this, the better, and those
are those deeper places that we find the Lord. Every
time I teach something, God likes to bring it to
me personally first, which is OK sometimes, sometimes a real bummer,
(21:54):
depends on what we're talking about. And this was a
real bummer. So I found myself.
Waking up at 2 a.m., ever done that? Right, show
of hands.
And then when I woke up, boom.
Right?
And then I watched my thoughts. I started to worry.
What if that plane I get on is canceled?
(22:19):
Who would I get to preach?
And then
I wouldn't, and then I wouldn't. And then, and before
you know it, I'm.
My heart's doing this.
Now, me personally, I'm fine. I'm in a comfortable bed.
(22:43):
I got my head on the pillow. My wife's next
to me.
The temperature's great.
So
I'm good, but I'm not good because I'm always, and
that's another thing about anxiety. It's never now. It's always
in the future about the what ifs, worst case scenarios, right?
(23:05):
But what did I have to do? Oh, that's right.
I'm studying this stuff.
OK, recognize that I don't have to stay here. Yup,
I don't.
Oh, I wish I could go to bed.
Wish I'd close my eyes. Am I gonna be up
for the next 5 hours? Start the up ending again.
(23:29):
No, I got a decision now.
And I'm gonna refocus on God. And what do I
know true about God?
If these things happen, he'll take care of it. If
these things end up panning out, maybe it's for the good,
and I don't even know yet. And if they never
pan out, then it was useless to even go there.
(23:49):
So
Do the right thing
Close your eyes
Cause when you close your eyes, you go to sleep.
And it was weird. Next morning wasn't even there. Thoughts
weren't even there. Worry wasn't even there. It just came on.
And I know a lot of you know what I'm
(24:10):
talking about.
Cause I talked to enough of you to know that
a full night's sleep is a gift from heaven.
And so a lot of this is preventative.
But also if you're in it, it's to prevent it
from growing as well.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And with that we bring today's study titled How to
Find Relief During Anxious Times Part one to a close
here on Pastor Spotlight. Doctor Mark Ambrose will be back
tomorrow as he continues on the same theme from the
Gospel of Matthew, so we invite you to be here
with us at the same time tomorrow. You know, you
and your family are invited to join Pastor Mark at
Pacific Coast Church this next Sunday morning. PCC is conveniently
(24:54):
located at 2651.
Frontera in San Clemente. Sunday morning worship service times are
at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. Pacific Coast Church is here
to help everyone know and follow Jesus in an honest
and transparent way. Their mission is to reach people for Jesus,
grow followers of Jesus, and connect together in Jesus. At PCC,
(25:17):
you'll find a safe place to pursue Jesus, no matter
where you are on your spiritual journey.
On Friday night January 31st, Pacific Coast Church invites all
men to the men's summit. You're gonna be encouraged and
inspired by special guest speaker, Michael Franzese. Michael Franz is
a former New York mafia boss who now travels the
(25:38):
world sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sign up now
for your spot at the Men's Summit on Friday night,
January 31st by going to PCC's website at Pacific.
PostChurch.org/men and we invite you to join us right here
at the same time tomorrow for another time of growing
in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ right here
(25:58):
on Pastor Spotlight, we'll feature more from the Bible teaching
ministry of Doctor Mark Ambrose, senior pastor of Pacific Coast
Church in San Clemente. We hope you'll join us. Pastor
Spotlight is a production of Kwave Radio sharing life, delivering truth,
giving hope.
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