Well what a huge honour and privilege to
speak to you. Thank you for joining us online at church. I am really expecting
that God is going to speak to you wherever you are, whatever your
circumstances, whatever your situation. We live in troubled times but, Jesus said, in
this world you will have trouble. Troubled time shouldn't worry us, shouldn't
surprise us. He said take heart, I have overcome the world .I'm believing that
this message is going to help us take heart in these troubled times. So if you
have a Bible why don't you find that or grab it. If you have a notebook you can
get that ready or maybe you take notes on your phone, well why don't you get
ready to take some notes because I'm believing that one or two of these ideas
that I'm going to share with you tonight, are gonna really speak to you in your
situation and in your circumstance. So before we begin let me pray for you and
let's pray that God comes into your room, your car, wherever you're listening to
this and I pray that the Spirit of God who is real and is able to change you
makes His presence felt in your life. So let's pray to that end. Father God thank
You very much for these wonderful people who are listening online tonight. I pray
that this message will speak to every circumstance, every situation. I pray that
an idea, a phrase, a concept, a principle, will get into our spirits to help us
live better kind of lives. The kind of lives You want us to live. We pray it in
the Name of Jesus. And everybody said Amen. I can see all or hear all the
Amen's from all around the world. Well I moved as you can tell by my accent from
England to Australia. I've been living in Australia now for thirty years but when
I moved in 1990 from England to Australia I
assumed Australians spoke the same language as me. I assumed they spoke
English but actually they speak Australian. So as soon as I arrived what
I discovered was their new words they were using, new idioms they were using
that I had absolutely no idea what they meant. Now every now and again I would
hear someone say something that would just take me by surprise and I remember
in the first few days, of being in Australia, someone said to me "No worries,
she'll be right. No worries, she'll be right." I didn't know who she was
and I didn't understand fully what no worries meant. So I decided to look it up
in an Australian dictionary and it says no worries is a unique Australian
expression used at times of extreme anxiety and stress and someone, the
illustration the dictionary gave, was that it was 43 degrees celsius in the
shade and you're at the cricket and a beer is run out and you turned your
friend and they say, no worries, she'll be right, and they turn to their neighbour
and steal a couple of tinnies from their esky. That's literally what the
dictionary said. I had no idea what no worries were or she'll be right. I didn't
know what a tinny was and I didn't know what an esky was. But here's the thought.
No worries may be exactly the kind of expression we need in these troubled
times. Worry has been consuming the world. I read recently, that in Australia, the
anxiety levels are going through the roof. And in the UK where they've had a
terrible time with this coronavirus, anxiety is at extreme levels. That one
survey said that of the adults surveyed 46.9%
of English adults said that they were going through extreme levels of anxiety.
Well it's hardly surprising, it's totally understandable. People are worried about
getting sick, they're worried about their finances, they're worried about losing
their jobs and they're even worried about possibly losing a loved one. Worry
is a normal part of our life and totally understandable in troubled times. So this
expression, no worries, seems totally inappropriate. How can you
say to someone going through such an awful crisis, no worries, she'll be
right, unless of course it's a biblical idea. I can't preach from an Australian dictionary but I can preach from the
Bible and I'd like to just read you a couple of verses that struck me this
week. It says this in Jeremiah chapter 17 and verse 7. Let me read it to you. It
says, "But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him."
Do you have confidence in God? "They will be like a tree planted by the water that
sends out roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes; its leaves
are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear
fruit." Here it is in the Scripture, the Prophet Jeremiah is saying the man who
trusts in God is blessed and is like a tree that has no worries. Is it possible,
do you think that we can live without anxiety even when we're going through
these extraordinarily difficult times? Well, the Bible gives us some clues in
Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6 it says, "Do
not be anxious about anything." Now the Bible never asks us to do something that
God doesn't give us the ability to do. So when it says don't be anxious about
anything that's exactly what it means. "But in every situation, by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of
God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus." That simple passage tells me that when it comes to difficult times,
the troubled times that Jesus promised, we have a choice not to worry. But we
don't just have a choice, we have a solution. The peace of God, the opposite
of anxiety and these difficult times is the peace of God. But how can we access
the peace of God? Well that's what I want to talk to you about briefly tonight. But
before I unpack that passage in Philippians, I'd like to share a few
thoughts about anxiety that will show you perhaps how damaging it is. Three
things that I'd like to say about anxiety. Firstly, anxiety suffocates our
spirit. In this passage that I've just read in Philippians chapter 4 and verse
6 it says, don't be anxious about anything but the peace of God will guard
your heart. That's equivalent to our spirit, anxiety suffocates our spirit. In
fact, the Old English word for anxiety means to strangle and isn't that what it
feels like on occasion when you're suffering from worry or anxiety,
it just restricts your breathing, your your chest is tight, you feel as though
sometimes you're going to die. Well what does the Bible say? It says in Psalm 94
in verse 19. "When anxiety was great within, your consolation
brought me joy." Or Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 25, "Anxiety weighs down the
heart, but a kind word cheers it up." Have you ever been in those situations where
you feel as though you can't breathe? Have you ever had a panic attack? I've
had panic attacks at night sometimes when I wake up maybe at 2 in the morning. Suddenly I think maybe there's somebody
in the house, I can hear a noise. A few years ago I had some possums in my roof.
Now if you're not listening from Australia, a possum in Australia is like
a small cat and when it lives in your roof space it creates a huge amount of
mess and a lot of noise. And suddenly you wake up at 2 in the morning and you
are hearing someone in your house and you get terrified. Your heart starts
beating, your hands start perspiring and you think what am I gonna do? It's a
panic attack. I remember having one when I was overseas in South America and I
almost felt I was going to die. It was so, so real. Anxiety literally suffocates our
spirit. It's not good for us. We need to deal with it.
That's the first thing I want you to understand. The second thing is this,
anxiety inhibits our thinking. Anxiety inhibits our thinking. Remember in that
passage in Philippians, it says, that the peace of God will guard our heart and
our mind. That's where anxiety attacks us. In fact the Greek word that is used in
Philippians actually means to be pulled in different directions. To be pulled in
different directions. When we become anxious, we become double minded. Now when
that happens you feel as though, I can't do anything about it, but can I just
encourage you, the Bible says we have a choice and there is an answer.
Listen to what it says in Luke 21 verse 14, when you have to face difficult times
it says, "Make up your mind not to worry, make up your mind not to worry
beforehand how you will defend yourself." You and I can literally choose not to worry. James 6 James chapter 1 sorry and verse
6, "When you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like
a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." All of us have been through
those doubts and they seem to just toss us about. Our thinking gets twisted. It
goes on to say, "That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Such a person is a double-minded man unstable in all his ways."
Anxiety literally divides your mind, it pulls us in two directions. We want to do
one thing but we find ourselves doing the other. Have you ever felt like that? I
have. I don't know about you but I have the responsibility and privilege every
now and again of speaking to people and I've been doing this a long time. I've
been speaking publicly for maybe forty five years and I've been training people,
teaching people in public speaking for the last thirty years, but I still get
nervous. Sometimes just before I speak I have to rush to the bathroom. Now I know
that's not what you needed to hear but the fact is anxiety grips us. Now I know
the truth. I know God has gifted me. I know God has graced me. I know God has
used me and will use me again, but still anxiety divides your mind, makes us
double minded. So is there an answer to this? Yes there is, but before I tell you
the answer let me say a third thing that you really need to understand about
anxiety. It doesn't just attack our spirit and inhibit our thinking, it
limits our grace. It limits our grace. What do you mean
when you say limits your grace, I can hear one or two of you thinking. God is a
God of grace. I have grace all the time. Well I want you to think about this. In
Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33 this is one of my favourite verses. It was the one
that was used at my wedding on our wedding day. Matthew 6:33 it says this,
"Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will
be given to you as well." So God is saying, Jesus is saying don't worry about your
clothes, don't worry about your food, don't worry about where your job is
gonna come from, I will provide. He said rather seek first
His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. He
can provide a job for you. He can look after you. He can heal you. But listen to
this, the next verse, Matthew chapter 6 verse 34. "Do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." This
is the thought. When we worry we start putting ourselves in tomorrow. We start
thinking about what happens if this virus continues. What happens if I don't
get my job back. What happens if I get sick. What happens if a loved one gets
sick. We put ourselves in tomorrow before we've experienced it but here's the
thought. Always through the Scripture, God gives us daily grace, daily bread. Jesus
said give us, pray like this, give us this day our daily bread. In the Old Testament
they were given daily manna. They weren't meant to get manna for tomorrow and
here's the reason why. Tomorrow has its own troubles and tomorrow has its own
grace. Today has enough trouble and today you have grace for that trouble. Anxiety
is living in tomorrow without the grace of today. That is why it is so
destructive because we're living outside of the grace of God. We're living in our
own strength. We're living in our own reasoning. So I've just given you three
reasons why anxiety is a bad idea. So what do we do about it?
Well this passage in Philippians that I read earlier, I'm just going to go
through verse by verse and give you a thought, that I believe will help you
live a life of no worries. Look at the first verse in Philippians chapter
4 and verse 1. It talks about right standing, right standing. Listen to what
it says, "Therefore my brother's whom I love and longed for, my joy and crown,
that is how you should stand firm in the Lord." First before we talk about anything
else, what we do with our mind. We need to understand we are in Christ and if
you're not, if you're listening to this at any juncture of your life and you
haven't found peace in God, forgiveness in God, may I suggest this is a great
time to give your life to Jesus. And when we find ourselves in Christ, we are
seated, the Bible says, in Christ in heavenly places. And if we are seated in
Christ we can stand against trouble. Right standing is absolutely
foundational. We've got to know who we are in relation to Jesus. Once we know
that we can start dealing with the worry issues. God knows what's going on, He's
got it all under control, put your life in His hands.
So the first antidote to worry is right standing. The second antidote to worry is
right relating. Right relating in this passage
Philippians chapter 4 verses 2 to 3 it says, "I plead with you Euodia and I
plead with you Syntyche to agree with one another." Clearly in the Philippian
church, two people, we don't know them called Syntyche and Euodia were
having an argument. They'd fallen out. Well this crisis is a great revealer.
Being isolated, maybe with your partner or one other member of your family or
what other friend, can really reveal how you get on with your partner or how
you get on with your friend and sometimes what it reveals is not so good.
Can I suggest that our relationships change our fellowship with God. When we
become Christians we have fellowship with God but we also have fellowship
with each other. That's why the Bible is very clear about forgiving one another,
because our lack of forgiveness will impact our relationship with God. So if
we want to deal with worry we start by having a right standing with God and
then we start relating not only with God but relating with the people around us.
Maybe the first step for you to deal with anxiety, is to forgive someone who
may have hurt you. But here's the third antidote to worry, it's right choosing,
right choosing. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always."
Paul was isolated. Paul was in prison. Paul had been beaten. Paul had every
reason not to rejoice. You remember we find him in Acts chapter 16 with his
friend Silas singing at midnight after being beaten and imprisoned and shackles.
He understood something about joy. Joy the Bible says, is in God's presence or,
in God's presence is fullness of joy. The outcome of the Gospel according to 1 John 1 is joy. Happiness is circumstantial, joy is a
choice. You can choose joy, you can choose to rejoice,
you can choose to praise even when the nut seems to be nothing to praise about.
So right standing but also right choosing. What about this one,
right praying. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6 says, "Be anxious about nothing,
but in everything, by prayer and petition, prayer and supplication make your
requests known to God." And then here's two very important words, with
thanksgiving, and then the peace of God will guard your heart and your mind and
keep you in Christ Jesus. Can I suggest to you, thanksgiving is one of the great
keys to Christianity. One of the great keys to living peace filled lives. I
don't know about you but I don't like flights that go up and down, bad flights
and so what I do when I get onto a plane I have a mantra. As the plane is taxiing
along the runway, I say to myself thank, well I say to God, thank You Jesus for a
safe, fruitful and comfortable trip. I don't pray God help me which is often
what I feel. I say thank You Jesus and that thank you brings peace into my
situation, situation. So right praying. Right standing, right relating, right
choosing, right praying, and finally right believing, right believing. You know in
verse 7 of Philippians chapter 4 and verse 7 it says that when we give thanks
and pray the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard us. Well
where does the peace of God come from? Well the peace of God comes from the God
of peace. The same passage Philippians chapter 4 and
verse 9 says, if you follow Paul's example, which is just listed in which
we've just gone through and think on the right things and act on the right things
and speak about the right things, he says the God of peace will be with you. Can I
just encourage you in this time when everything seems to be falling apart and
you may be genuinely and understandably anxious. If you need the peace of God,
follow Paul's advice and when you seek God and not the peace, the God of peace
will bring you the peace of God. One final Scripture before we pray for every
one of you. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 7 says this, "Cast your cares on him or
cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." Do you understand how much
Jesus Christ cares for you? He cares for you so much that 2,000 years ago He went
to the cross and died in your place. To take on Himself all the things that you
and I have done wrong and to reconcile us with God. He removed the barrier
between us and God. How cool, how wonderful is that. That's how much He
cares for you. I don't know if you've ever given your life to Jesus and found
yourself in Christ but can I suggest that that's exactly what you can do now.
It's the first step toward living a peace filled life. I'd love to lead you
in a prayer if you're out there listening in any context whatsoever but
you haven't given your life to Jesus or maybe have drifted from Jesus, this
message is for you. This prayer is for you. I'm gonna pray a prayer and I'd like
to lead you in this prayer. I'd like you to say it after me and then I'm just gonna
pray for everyone generically. Are you gonna pray this prayer with me?
Say with me together. Oh Lord Jesus Christ, today I choose to put my trust in You. I give You my past. I give You my problems. I give You my sin. Please take it as You promised. Thank You that Your death means my
forgiveness. Your life means my life. Your suffering means my healing. From now
on Jesus, You are in charge. Thank You. Amen. Well what a fantastic thing to pray.
I believe that that prayer can turn your life around forever. Can I suggest that
this church and I know there are many other churches, but this church is
committed to helping you in any way that we possibly can and on the screen you'll
see how we can impact you and help you further. So if you prayed that prayer let
us, let us contact you, help us help you, support you in any way that we possibly
can. Just before I go can I just pray for all of you, that you would receive peace
in these times. Father God thank You that as we put our trust in You we have peace
with God that is our standing. But now Father we pray for the peace of God to
come and fill us and guard our heart and mind. Father we've cast our sin on Jesus,
now we cast our anxiety on Him, we give Him our worries because He cares for us.
Touch every single listener I pray and fill them full of the peace of God and
remove the worries that are robbing them of their blessing. In Jesus Name and
everybody said no worries.
God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. - Well thank so much for being part of the service today and I certainly pray that
it blesses you immensely. I want to encourage you to take a moment to click
Subscribe to this YouTube channel to keep up to date with our church services
and on-demand content that our team prepare for you. Also if you'd like to
support the ministry of Hillsong Church as always we give people an opportunity
to give and you can do so by just clicking the Give button and that way you can help us continue to reach people
all around the world. Be blessed. We love you
