God's Answer to Fear, Worry and Anxiety, Part 1 (With Greg Laurie)

hey everybody thanks for watching our YouTube channel we're constantly updating it with new content and never-seen-before content so if you want to get the latest from harvest hit the subscribe button John 14 Matthew 14 the title of my message is God's answer to fear worry and anxiety before I start I want to make sure I'm talking to the right people how many of you deal with fear anxiety and worry raise your hand a boghei how many of you don't you don't have any issues you're just always calm and because you're liars if you're or or you're mentally disturbed or I don't know what you are but you're not normal that's for sure why is it 3 o'clock in the morning it's the moment that many of us wake up at least it is for me 3 o'clock in the morning it's a magic number and all of a sudden I'm awakened by a dream or something or some fears some anxiety some worry sort of grips me and then you start playing that what-if game you know what I'm talking about oh no what if this happens and the water that happens and all of a sudden you find yourself filled with deep fear intense worry and crippling anxiety well that's what I want to talk about in this little series I'm gonna do on God's answer to fear worry and anxiety you know when a child is afraid of the dark they need someone to reassure them and the best thing to do is turn on the lights so they know there's actually not a monster under the bed if there is no boogeyman there is no threat to them they need the reassuring words of an adult that can help them get a proper perspective well in the same way like little children but we're frightened when we're scared we need the reassuring words of our Heavenly Father to help us in times of anxiety and you know we all deal with fear what I'm amazed by is how if there's not enough to be afraid of we pay money to be frightened right well the new scary movie oh it really scary and then the scariest scene of the scariest movie comes on and what did we do we cover our eyes how many of you have seen the film jaws John's been around forever anyway uh it's hard for you to believe now but back in that movie came out people were freaking out in movie theaters no one wanted to go in the water people didn't even want to take baths after they saw jaws and there's this one scene where the captain of the little boat is swallowed alive by this shark now when you look at it now it is so fake looking that's like the fakest shark ever but somehow when I saw that scene for the first I was like oh it's horrifying you know so they're scary movies and then there's amusement parks and these crazy rollercoasters people can get on I just decided a while ago I'm not going on another roller coaster I don't know if I ever enjoyed it even when I was a kid I went to Disneyland not long ago with my son Jonathan and Levi Lesko and we brought along some of the little kids Levi brought his daughter Daisy and Jonathan brought Allie and Christopher and so we're talking about rides ago and they decided they wanted to go on the new guardians of the galaxy ride over a California adventure now I've been on that ride he used to be called The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and I hated it because I hate to drop quickly so I had already done it I said I'm not gone so Christopher and Levi and of all people I'm excuse me Jonathan and Levi and Christopher little Christopher went on this ride and I took the little girls over to mater's junkyard Jamboree and even that nauseated me a little bit there was a lot of Swing in there and a lot of hearing leaders voicing get er done get er done right by the way the guy that is the voice of mater Larry the Cable Guy is a Christian who is listen to our radio broadcasts all the time so anyway so I've decided I'm tired of paying money to be sick to my stomach and to be scared but then there are things that really are frightening in life heard the story of the hitchhiker a man in a pickup stop for him and the hitchhiker jumped in the back and as it turns out the man driving the truck had a coffin in the back that he was delivering so the hitchhiker was sitting there and it started to rain and he didn't want to get wet so he climbed in the coffin and the hum of the engine caused him to fall asleep well unbeknownst to him the truck driver stopped and picked up two more hitchhikers so they claimed in the back of the truck and they're cruising along and then the rain stopped and the guide fallen asleep opened up the top of the coffin and sat up the other guys jumped out needless to say now that's scary that's scary but so there's a place for a rational fear and that we actually want to have that fear like I'm here in your edge of a of a cliff it's good to have fear and step back a little bit I'm not talking about rational fear I'm talking about irrational fear that gnaws at us over time the fear of the unknown the fear of losing something we have the fear of losing control the fear of the future and there's a lot of things that stress us out and one of the reasons is because we get our information on demand now so quickly there's threats of war we open up the newspaper oh very few people read newspapers anymore you go to your favorite new society your news feed on your phone or on Twitter and you're reading the headline just scrolling through and oh wow we might have a conflict with Iran oh there's a terrorism threat over here another terrorist attack in another place and all those things and then there's the personal things we worry about losing our health losing our job even worse losing a member of our family and this is not limited to older people when you're young you worry all the time you worry about your future you wonder will they ever get married I'm so old I'm like 20 and I'm not married yet or am I ever gonna pay off my college debt or am I gonna have a career what will it be like to be an adult and then when you're an adult you look back in your childhood and say man I wish I was young again those were the good old days I didn't have a worry in the world right and I actually read the other day that Millennials are the most stressed generation of that's interesting the most stressed generation ever they say they're even more stressed than what is called the greatest generation that's a generation that came through World War two and I think there's a two-word answer to why Millennials are stressed avocado toast you know there's something in it it's messing with your minds just stop I actually read her headline a millionaire gave advice to Millennials he said stop buying avocado toast if you ever want to buy a house right no seriously the stress has caused clearly by these things that we all have how many of you have a cell phone how many of you every most of you yeah okay how many of you don't have a cell phone you might be the smart one so you know because the only flashlights on how about that look at that okay but you know we carry these things around and I was very excited when this technology came to be because I'm old enough to remember when the first cell phones came out and they were very large they were called the brick and they were made by Motorola and they really were like a brick they were massive they had a battery life of like eight minutes but yeah we were so excited to be able to carry a phone around but now these phones are causing so much stress they've said that the most stressed people are called constant checkers these are people who are attached to these devices just flipping from one screen to another you've seen people do this you might even be one of these people you come to a light you reach impulsively for your cell phone and you just start flipping flipping flipping Instagram you know what look you know what's going on over in Twitter or your newsfeed checking your emails or whatever it is and they say that these constant checkers report feeling isolated because of Technology even when they're with their families it's been said that Millennials are the loneliest generation of all you know I saw an interesting trending term right now it's hashtag social media didn't exist excuse me if social media didn't exist interesting question what if there was no so so media so of course we go to social media to talk about what it would be like if there was no social media ceremony where people wrote one person wrote of social media didn't exist everyone would be so much happier and I think there's some truth to that because I remember what it was like to not have it and yeah we had things called answering machines and when you got home you'd turn it on and you'd hear all of the messages for the day but the rest of the time in some ways ignorance could be blessed another person said well we would have a lot more productive people another person said we would have to make friends the old-fashioned way a girl named Veronica said if social media didn't exist people wouldn't be constantly comparing themselves to guys or girls they see on their feed which the majority of time are people who have been photoshopped that's right - I wish I could look like them you say they don't even look like them you see it's sort of an illusion another person said I have social media didn't exist I'd have to track my cat from door to door to show people the funny stuff he does I like that what is with all these videos and pictures of cats I don't understand it so I had to jump into the fray and I wrote if social media didn't exist I would have more time to be more productive but at the same time I would not be able to offer hope from a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and many that really need it that's what I try to do with my social media platform but now it's become lethal we have death by selfies I just heard on it like an hour ago about a young University student 22 years old fell off a mountain after she stepped over a retaining wall to take a selfie a daredevil in China was filming himself hanging off the side of a building had a camera set up at a distance and fell 62 stories a young lady who liked to take selfies of herself on snow-covered mountains in her bikini continued to do so until she fell to her death and so some of yours you know I actually was very happy after that time of worship but you so stressed me out with everything you've said well it stress is a serious problem which is connected to worry in anxiety because the National Institute of Mental Health reports a significant increase in the number of Americans who fears have moved into full-blown anxiety disorders and phobias now we've all heard of cluster phobia the fear of small spaces but there's other phobias and these are real I'm not making any of them up I don't even know if I'm pronouncing this one right katha sneh phobia it's the fear of city I hope you don't have that phobia because you're sitting even worse a blue - phobia the fear of bathing I hope you're not sitting next to someone that has had fear this one I know must understand dental phobia I'm sure you can figure that out what do you think that's the fear of dentists I don't like the sound of those drills I was at my dentist the other day and they're doing a teeth cleaning and I don't like it because they're looking for trouble you know and then oh we have a little problem here and then she calls it down here we go you know it and of course it was something that needs to be dealt with but I'm not dealing with it because I have dental phobia no I'll get to it eventually I have procrastinator phobia - I think there's automaton phobia I'm not making this up automaton phobia the fear of ventriloquist dummies when would this fear be experienced exactly I can't think of many ventriloquist dummies I come into contact with their hope you don't have this one pal the phobia it's the fear of baldness and Paul people now my favorite is phobophobia that's the fear of phobias here's another one glossophobia it's the fear of public speaking that is the number-one fear number two is death so basically what you're saying if you go to a funeral you'd rather be in the casket then saying a few words about the deceased right so all these things can lead to high levels of stress literally being filled with anxiety and fear can cause you to have ulcers depression obesity nervous breakdowns even cancer one expert said that 80% choosing 90% of all doctor visits in the USA are triggered by stress-related illness okay so what's the answer well as always the Bible has answers doesn't it so let's read some words from Scripture John chapter 14 a very familiar passage one that I really love Jesus says then let's get the context of who he was saying it to he said this to his disciples in the upper room this is after it had become known to them that he was going to be crucified and he was going to be leaving them so needless to say they were very stressed they were filled with fear and deep anxiety so with that backdrop Jesus says these words let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself there where I am you know and you may be there also where I go you know and the way you know we'll stop there the word that Jesus used us here for trouble is a picturesque word it means don't let your heart shudder you ever had your heart shudder just really bad news something that just was a shock to your nervous system he says don't let your heart shudder Jesus did not say worry and get super stressed a mull over your problems rather he said don't be troubled and hey life is full of troubles no matter how much money you make or where you live or or what you do for a living you'll never be able to create a trouble-free life Jobe says in chapter 5 verse 7 people are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire I hate to break it to you but it's always gonna be something it's always gonna be something just when you get through that one conflict or that one difficulty or that one hardship or that one trial he another one's coming I don't say that to depress you I say that to prepare you so you understand that troubles may come and what you need to do when those troubles do come there's big things that seem to overtake us and they're small irritating things but know this while there are reasons to be trouble there's a greater reason not to be Jesus says in verse 10 from the New Living Translation trust in God Trust also in me in other words she's assisting look I haven't brought you this far to abandon you now I know what I'm doing so I'm asking you to believe I'm asking you to trust me here's something to consider what I don't understand what is happening fall back in what I do understand let me say that again and directed toward you when you don't understand what is happening fall back on what you do understand so what don't you understand well whatever it is you're facing whatever hardship difficulty why-why-why we ask ok fall back on what you do understand what do I know well if I'm a Christian I know my sin is forgiven right if I'm a Christian I know that one day I'll go to heaven if I'm a Christian and I know that God is in control of my life and if I met Christian they know that God loves me and if I'm a believer I know that all things work together for good to those who love God another called according to his purpose so though I don't understand these circumstances I'm gonna fall back now and what I do understand and I have found the windows what if questions start rolling through your mind I like to go back to what I do understand what I know is true so here's something to consider I love this little verse so much packed into one verse of scripture Luke 12:32 Jesus fear not little flock Eddie it is your father's good pleasure to give to you the kingdom we learn a lot from that verse number one if you're not little flock so my point is this God is our Shepherd and we are a sheep you know I don't know how much you know about sheep I don't know a lot about him but I've read some things and I held them occasionally but I'm not real familiar with them but I know they're basically pretty defenseless creatures sheep don't bite sheep can't run very fast sheep don't even have claws honestly a cat has more going on in the Sheep does we have this little cat that walks around our neighborhood I actually like this cat he's like the exception to cats for me cuz he's just kind of his own little cat and he was standing in the middle of the street who does this this caps are coming to sit here and I don't care everyone go around me he's just sitting there and a dog is yapping at him and kind of it coming toward him he's just like come on bring it on you know I thought I liked that cat cats have more going on than sheep because at least a cat can claw or a cat can climb a tree and run but sheep they're just like leg of lamb for the taking they ought to just carry mint sauce around with them like Here I am eat me now I'm delicious yeah that's where the Sheep is a sheep is totally dependent on its shepherd wife let's be a kind and just put it this way delicately they're really stupid they run in flocks they do what the other sheep do they're easily frightened they're skittish and there have been more than one occasion where one sheep goes off a cliff and the other sheep follow him off the cliff so no wonder the Bible says all we like sheep have gone astray big picture you're defenseless big picture you can't really defend yourself ultimately you need the Shepherd's care that's why David was sitting around one day when he probably wrote Psalm 23 and you know he was a musician as well as a warrior and ultimately a king and he's maybe just kind of you know strumming some chords gcd look he's the kinetise flock and he sings you know what these sheep are dependent on me and the Lord he's my shepherd I shall not want he makes me to lie down in green pastures he leads me beside the still waters he restores my soul he prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies and my cup runs over and yay goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever and even though I go through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because he's with me that was the picture he was painting for us that just as those sheep need me I need God fear not little flock it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom God is our Shepherd and we are sheep number two God is our Father who loves us and cares for us notice he says that your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom so why should I not be afraid because he is my shepherd watching over me but he's also my father caring for me and I can approach him at any time with whatever it's troubling me and he will listen but not everybody can call god father people will say today well I believe in the brotherhood of man and we're all children of God sons and daughters of God actually that's not true at all we're not all children of God we're all created by God we're all made in the image of God and we're all separated from God by our sin but the only way to become a child of God is you must be adopted into the family and the Bible says for as many as received him he gave them the power to become sons of God but once you believe in Jesus you can call God Father after Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead he appeared to Mary Magdalene at the garden tomb at the empty tomb I should say something it is the garden tomb in Israel but there at the tomb Jesus speaks to Mary and and he says to her don't cling to me some translations put it don't touch me but I think she was holding onto him so tightly and he says for I not yet ascended to my god and to your God into my father and your father that was a revelatory statement that that was a radical thing to say to a first century Jewish person and especially a Jewish woman because women were looked down upon in that culture you know people like this a Christianity oppresses women nothing could be further from the truth Christianity and the Bible elevated women to their proper place made in the image of God so he says to this woman who was once possessed by many demons I'm going to my god and your God I'm going to my father and your father Mary guess what he's your father now you can call him father now not just me we get the fact that jesus calls god father but now we can because of what he did now calling god father hits us in different ways because a lot of it depends on what kind of an earthly father you had right I never had a father really growing up so when I thought of God his father I just had a big blank like I don't even know what that is to have a father some of you I had fathers that were cold in distant others have you had fathers that maybe left you when you were young some of you may have even had fathers who were abusive and harsh with you or maybe in communicative but it was not a loving image of a father but then others have you got a warm loving hands-on involved dad how many of you had a really good dad growing up oh god bless you for that how many of you did not have that experience raise your hand okay they did so I understand what that's like my wife Kathy are her father Richard Martin just went to be with the Lord we had the service for him here at church just the other day and he lived to be 95 years old and he was a very very good father and I think because of that one Cathy and her three sisters and her brother heard the gospel they were there very quickly embraced God as their father they had such a great father figure and so this is family that they lived in the far east Richard Martin was very educated very smart guy very successful guy and so there there's a very cultured family great manners and then one day Kathy brings me home to meet the parents it looked like something that drat the cat drug in right I have long hair past my shoulders thick red beard you know and like here's my new boyfriend dad and he didn't take to me very well but nor did his wife Pilar but so finally we decided we wanted to get married and so I I took a walk with him I said well mr. Martin I want to marry your daughter and I wanted to ask for your blessing and he looked at me and said well no uh he was very calm no no and can I ask why mr. Martin he said well you don't have a stable income and and we're concerned about that and concerned for the welfare of our daughter and I reassured him it'd be okay and he said no again but uh so but ultimately when we got married he gave his daughter away but it just the experience happened when Kathy was younger she is the middle daughter she has her older sister Mary and then there was Dodi and then there's Kathy and then her younger sister Jackie and then finally her brother Ricky so uh so she had an uncle this was the wife she's me the brother of Richard Martin's wife Pilar and he was not able to have children with his wife and so he came to Apple are his sister Wendy and said you know you already have two daughters now you have a third one can can we just have your daughter and interesting request and so she said let me talk to my husband about it this shocked Kathy like you went to talk to dad about this like this was on the table but fortunately Richard ed said no and but he eventually gave her away to me on our wedding day and I'm thankful for that but here's the good news what when you are a child of God no one is gonna take you out of his protective care and we're afraid oh what if I lose my salvation or what if the devil gets me are you kidding me you're a child of God and Jesus said in John 10:29 I will give them eternal life they'll never perish and no one can snatch them away from me God is your shepherd God is your father and finally he is your king because jesus said fear not little flock it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom notice he says it's his good pleasure I think sometimes we think of God as stingy God doesn't want to give you that God doesn't want to bless you God wants to hold all the good stuff back and just kind of make your life hard nothing could be further from the truth it's his pleasure to give to you the kingdom but also when we think of God as king of reminds us of the sovereignty and the power of God so when you're filled with anxiety and fear and worry because of a problem you're facing consider this God is bigger than your problem and if you have a big God you have a relatively small problem and if you have a big problem do you realize how big your God actually is that is what in the Lord's Prayer Jesus taught us to pray our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven and then ultimately we get to their requests give us this there at any bread but effectively Christ is saying when you pray just contemplate the awesomeness and the greatness of God before you start firing off your petitions it's okay to ask God for things you should it's okay to call out to the Lord for help but remind yourself of the power majesty and greatness of God and it puts your problems in perspective have you ever wondered why when you leave church a lot of times you feel better than when you came in the reason is is because of amazing preaching by other pastors here at harvest no I think the preaching plays into it but I don't think it's any person I think what is it all about I came in and what do I spent a good part of my doing that I'm doing magnifying God magnifying God and so as I'm thinking of God's glory in his power and I'm sort of casting my problems aside and I'm I'm worshiping him then I hear a message hopefully that reminds me of God's love and this sovereign teen this power and all those things I need to be reminded of and I leave and now that I have the same problems leaving that I had coming in but all of a sudden I don't see them in the same way it's all about perspective isn't it and so he's your king who's in control of your life one day jesus said to his disciples let's cross over to the other side and they got in the boat made their way across the Sea of Galilee which is actually a massive freshwater lake and then a huge storm came and the waves were beating against her little boat but Jesus was asleep they woke him up and said master don't you care that we're perishing and he arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea peace be still and the wind stopped and the water was calm and Jesus turned to them and said why are you so afraid don't you have any faith say what they saw was Jesus had the power to stop nature's havoc if he chose to when he said peace be still and sometimes Jesus will come into the midst of your problem and say stop and it stops and other times he's just with you as you face your problem but I look at it this way better to be in a storm with Jesus and anywhere else without him if Jesus um is um board my boat then I'm okay and by the way Jesus said let's cross over to the other side he didn't say let's go out to the middle of the Sea of Galilee and I'll die he said that I would not have gotten on that boat he said let's go to the other side he did not promise them smooth sailing but he promised them a safe arrival and the same is true for us he has not promised you smooth sailing in life but he has promised you a safe arrival you will get to the other side well I want to look at one last story this is also on the Sea of Galilee it says also about Jesus out there during a storm but this one's a little different it was a stormy night and the disciples were on the boat but Jesus was not on board with them in that particular occasion and then they turn and saw Jesus walking over the tops of those waves and that brings us to matthew 14 verse 27 if you haven't turned there yet look at that matthew 14 immediately Jesus spoke to them saying be of good cheer it is high don't be afraid Peter answered him it said Lord of it you command me to come to you on the water jesus said come and when Peter had come down out of the boat he walked on the water and when he saw you might underline those two words he saw the win was boisterous he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried out saying lord save me well stop there so why did Peter sink because he was afraid fear makes us sink we all know the feeling everything is going great then all of a sudden we're crypt with anxiety in fear and we're practically drowning in our doubts faith gives way to fear trust to worry and when faith reigns fear has no place but when fear reigns faith is driven away why did Peter sink number one because he took his eyes off of Jesus verse 30 he began to sink and he cried out he was doing really well I mean let's give him some credit you know people critique Peter because he was so outspoken and said honestly some pretty crazy things but there's a lot of ink given to Peter he talked to Jesus and made many statements far more than any of the others and the gospel so he had a lot to say you always know where you stood with Peter and but hey he's the only guy that had the courage to actually try to on water and Jesus actually said Khamenei came and of course he began to sink he started to sink why well he took his eyes off of Jesus years ago we were in Hawaii and Jonathan was much younger than and he wanted to learn how to scuba dive so I said okay well let's put you through a little course and the way it worked is they would train you for a day and then you would go out for a dive the next day with a certified instructor so I met the instructor and they said well I'm certified too and he says oh good you can come on the dive tomorrow I said good and so Jonathan went through his whole day of training and the next day came and it was kind of stormy and all the boats were pitching out there on the water and I was hoping they'd cancel the dive and know it was on still so we all got on the boat now the problem is I had not doped for quite a long time and I was a little rusty and I'm getting the equipment on and you've got the weight belt and you've got the regulator and the mask and the tanks and the fins and everything you know and then I'm and you're sitting on a boat and the way we were to get in is just fall backwards into the water which is the last thing you want to do when you have a bunch of weight attached to you right and so I was I was a little nervous because I was hoping I would remember everything and I didn't like the way the water was moving around and Jonathan looked pretty scared so I just didn't want to show him I was scared too cuz I'm certified right I'm supposed to be you know cool and calm so uh so we call in the water and we're under a bit and and it's even worse there and I look over at Jonathan and his eyes were as big as saucers they were huge he's totally panicking and he's looking over at the instructor and the instructor says damn Jonathan look at me Jonathan look at me and then he says did Jonathan remember your training and I'm looking at the instructor two-gun okay kids I don't know what the training was when I'm looking at you how are we gonna live through this well everything was okay but I thought there was pretty good advice look at me and remember your training so what we're looking to Jesus we can do crazy things wonderful things faith-filled things seemingly impossible things but when we take our eyes off of Jesus and we allow our minds and hearts to be filled with doubt fear and anxiety we can start to sink just like Peter started to sink but when that happens here's what you need to do cry out to Jesus look at verse 30 beginning to sink he cried out lord save me there's nothing wrong with doing that what is it that is in us and makes us say well I can I can fix this oh I can get through this I can control this actually maybe you can't and really what you need to do is call out to the Lord or it's a sign of weakness I actually think it's a sign of intelligence I think it's a sign of stupidity to think you don't need God's help I love what Jesus said verse 31 immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him Peter's going down he catches him pulling him up and he says oh you of little faith why did you doubt interesting thing this word these words little faith is one word in the Greek and there's sort of a tenderness to it old little faith not two words one one word Oh little faith almost like a nickname Oh little faith buddy I know I named you Peter and I know that means rock and I know rock sink but hey man you were doing well you were on a roll why did you down when did you take your eyes off of me and then he lived some up and they walked back to the boat maybe you're sinking right now you're filled with fear and anxiety and worry and you feel defeated maybe you're in the grip of some addiction say oh I can handle it I've handled this before and then you've fallen you know you've fallen off the wagon and you're back in that same state again you never thought you'd be there again but there you are and you're wondering can I ever get out of this again I feel like I'm sinking it it's the worse that's ever been or maybe there's somebody that has a marriage that's unraveling you think I don't think there's any hope for my marriage or there's somebody else that's dealing with other problem but you need to call out to the Lord and remember that God is in control of your life I love Romans 8:28 I already mentioned it once but I'd like to now mention the verse that follows it 829 Romans 8:28 says for we know that all things work together for good to those that love God another called according to his purpose verse 29 for whom he foreknew he also did predestinate conformed into the image of his own dear son so here's how it works something bad happens and we quote Romans 8:28 well all things were to keep the roof good so no matter how bad it is it's gonna be good that's not what the verse says it says all things work together for good it doesn't even say that God makes all things good because some things are bad if you lose a loved one that's bad that's sad that's hard well it'll work together for good no God will bring good despite this tremendous loss there's other hardships you may be a face and don't try to think that everything has to become good God will bring good despite some of the bad things he allows us in our life but here's another big picture one day when I get to heaven I may realize that those so-called bad things were maybe actually good things I don't know that I could understand that this side of heaven but on the other side I'll say oh I get it you were using that to conform me into the image of your own dear son you were using that to prepare me for something still in my future and actually my loved one that died and I felt so bad about that they were in pure bliss and happiness but I was suffering because I missed them but now I see that you even had a purpose in that there's a lot of mysteries we're not gonna figure out this side of heaven so we just need to trust him until that day but whatever you're going through can be turned around read an illustration used by Chuck Swindoll in a book that he wrote about a man that was shipwrecked on an uninhabited island he painstakingly built little hut for protection from the elements where he could keep the few items he had salvaged from the rep and for weeks he lived in this little hut and and he would shelter himself from the storms I would come and every day he would scan the horizon prayerfully hoping for someone to come and rescue him and then he would go out for a while and search for food and come back to his little Hut and one day while he was out searching for food he came back and was horrified to find his little Hut where as few possessions were was in flames now everything that he had was completely gone he could not believe his bad fortune and he fell asleep that night thinking how badly things had gone why would this happen and then he awoke to the sound of someone's voice and it was a captain of a boat that just arrived and he said we saw your smoke signal and we came to rescue you so sometimes what we think is a worst disaster is a smoke signal leading to our deliverance the worst case scenario can actually be exactly what the Lord has ordered for your life there's one final movement in this story and I'll close as Jesus is walking to them on the water in mark's version it says any would have walked right past them I love that detail it's like here they are freaking out in the water they see Jesus walking and he doesn't even walk to them he's just kind of walking by like hey guys how's it going I'm Jesus I'm just walking around on the water because when you're God you can do stuff like this it's amazing and they're like no Lord Lord come on board our boat we need you here oh you want me to come yeah we want you to come sure here I come and I think the reason Jesus did this is he won't force his way into anybody's life you know you have your problems right now I don't want Jesus okay he won't force his way into your life go ahead and deal with your troubles in your own way freak out worry be filled with anxiety that's not gonna help turn to drugs turn to drinking turn to whatever it is you think is gonna fix it that's not gonna help you or you can call out to him but I'm telling you the moment you call out to him he will hear your prayer and he will answer your prayer the Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved and the verse that sums it all up is revelation 3:20 where Jesus says behold I stand at the door and I knock and if you hear my voice and open the door I will come in how easily you could have said I'm God you're not I'm kicking the door in so get out of the way by the way if you ever tried to kick a door in I did once we were living in a little house and Riverside and we were locked out and we couldn't get in and so I thought it would be a great idea to kick the door in and I did after like 25 kicks and practically dislocating my leg but john wayne did it was one kick right so yeah it's not so easy to do he could have kicked his way and he could force his way in says hey if you don't want me in your life I won't come in your life but if you want me in your life I'll be there I'll be there and I'll help you and I wonder if there's somebody here that's sinking maybe you're sinking in addiction you're sinking in despair you're sinking in loneliness you're sinking and anxiety and reality you're sinking in sin and your only hope is Jesus if you'll call out to him he'll reach out and pull you out but you have to ask for his help and call in his name he died in the cross two thousand years ago for you let me finish the verse I quoted earlier John 14 where he says the and the way I go you know and where I'm going you know and Thomas said we don't know the way you're going and we don't know the way we don't know he we don't even know what you're talking about he says I am the way the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by me so now he's telling us how to come into a relationship with the father through him and only through him all roads don't lead to God all religions don't pray to the same God as some would assert no we're calling on the true and living God and the only way to come to him mr. Jesus why because only Jesus died on the cross for the sin of the world no guru did that no prophet so-called did that no other leader did that but Jesus died for us and then he rose again from the dead and he's alive and he's with us here right now you know come into your life and forgive you of your sin but you must ask him to in a moment we're gonna pray and I'm going to extend an opportunity for you to believe in Jesus an opportunity for you to ask him to come into your life if you've not done that yet why don't you do it right here right now let's all pray together father thank you for loving us so much that you sent Jesus to die on the cross in our place Lord Jesus thank you for coming and laying your life down and then rising again from the dead thank you that you're here ready to forgive sins for those that would call on you help those that need you to reach out to you now know what our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying how many of you would stay tonight I need Jesus I need this relationship with God you've been talking about I want to know God as my father I want to be forgiven of my sins I want to find the meaning and purpose of my life I'm ready to believe in Jesus now if that's your desire if you want Jesus to come into your life if you want him to forgive you of your sin if you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die would you just raise your hand up right now wherever you are and I'd like to pray for you god bless you raise your hand the part where I can see it god bless you god bless you anybody else you want God's forgiveness god bless you up here in the front let's raise your hand up I'll pray for you tonight wherever you are god bless you anybody else you want Christ to come into your life you want to start this relationship with him you want to go to heaven when you die you know we don't know one life will end we may have many years ahead and we may not have so many years we don't know what's gonna happen in this crazy world of ours the Bible says prepare to meet your God because heaven is a prepared place for prepared people are you prepared anybody else here you need Jesus in your life you want him to forgive you of your sin if you haven't raised your hand yet raise it now let me pray for you saying you want Jesus Christ in your life I'll pray for you tonight just raise your hand up god bless you anybody else god bless you there in the back unless you can come bless you yes now I'm gonna ask every one of you then raise your hand if you would please I want you to stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer stand to your feet if you're raised your hands saying you wanted Jesus Christ in your life even if you did not just stand up you heard me right stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in this prayer god bless you that are standing there's a few more that need to stand I think stand up and I'll lead you in this prayer of asking Jesus to come into your life anybody else stand up now and we'll pray together even if you did not raise your hand but you want him to forgive you of your sins you want to start this relationship with him stand up I'm gonna pray together god bless you that are standing oh wait one more moment it might be a few more of you stand now and then we'll pray anybody else stand now all right god bless you yes god bless you too anybody else don't be afraid only believe that's what Jesus said I love that what are you afraid of he loves you you should be afraid of that life without him not a life with him he'll care for you and watch over you forgive you of your sins and welcome you one day into heaven god bless you but you must come you must call out to him the disciples had to call to Jesus and then he came will you call out to him this is your moment anybody else stand to your feet let me lead you in this prayer god bless you anybody else stand now god bless you alright I'm and ask every one of you that stood if you would please to pray this prayer out loud after me again as I pray pray this prayer out loud after me just pray these words Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead I choose to follow you Jesus from this moment forward is my Savior and Lord is my god in friend in Jesus name I pray amen god bless you that prayed their prayer yes that's right god bless you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 130,462

Rating: 4.8304486 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, greg, laurie, matthew 14, john 14, john 14 sermon, matthew chapter 14 sermon, how to get over stress and depression, worry and anxiety sermon, Christianity and fear, christianity and stress, dealing with worry and anxiety, dealing with anxiety and depression as a christian, how to get over crippling anxiety, what the bible says about stress, what the bible says about depression, jesus christ (deity), what is anxiety and depression, harvest christian fellowship

Id: KF7PuokkIrw

Length: 49min 35sec (2975 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 08 2019