WHEN WILL GOD FIX MY ANXIETY?! // Judah Smith

all right tonight we're going to I want to tackle a a subject I want to tackle a question that tackle like footballs on the brain clearly that is to me a really really significant question and even if you've never asked this question or thought about this question I'd like to kind of show you why I think it's important and why it could possibly perchance matter to you and maybe it should matter we've been talking about anxiety now for approximately four weeks I want to talk about that subject again tonight these fears these worries it's oftentimes anxiety is the result of when the unknowable and the uncontrollable seem to collide and it's like is things gonna work out am I gonna be okay what's gonna happen and there's so many things that are fragile in our world today do you guys hear music or is that just me you did okay I was like man I tell you what forties been rough you know I'm starting to hear music it's like classical too like in my mind it's like it's like classical ballroom dancing I'm like I we we do ballroom dancing in the lobby before church that's weird here's the question I want to address tonight when is God going to fix my anxiety when's that gonna happen I think a lot of people in this room let's just take the last four weeks maybe for you it's been four years maybe for you it's been four months maybe for you it's been 40 years you have had something like anxiety something like fear and terror that has been a significant part of your human experience for an extended period of time and you're starting to ask the important question why doesn't God fix it why doesn't God take it away I had an extended breakfast with a friend today who's gone through some physical ailments and I looked at him and I mean if you ask the question why doesn't God just fix you you know you got to get surgeries you got to go to doctors have you ever you just yeah why doesn't God just fix me and maybe we started a series like this and if you're like me I'm like I'm kind of hoping when we do a collection of talks on a topic that it actually produces change progress transformation in your life particularly in the area that we're talking about and so yeah yeah make no mistake about it when we tackle a subject the idea is that we would find traction and progress and growth and that there would be some significant adjustment at least in our life and and maybe by now maybe just maybe four weeks later the fear that seems to be crippling you has only doubled down and got worse so if you're a very normal person you got to ask the question what why why if God is so big and so powerful and so good and so gracious and loving and kind and caring and considerate why doesn't he just take it away when is God going to fix it when is God going to fix me now again you can apply this to anything in your life maybe you always wanted to be six foot right and you're like why why God why 5a why why you know I know I'm 28 Lord but you can still give me those last few inches you know whatever it is it could be it could be your height it could be your eye color it could be your career it could be a gig it could be a relationship it could be the dad you never knew why why God couldn't you have fixed that I want to say this and this may not be incredibly pleasing or fulfilling but ultimately ultimately a question like this has a lot to do with mystery mystery of course is what allows us to admit that we are not God and much of God we we do not understand we will understand someday but we do not understand on this day but I do believe that there are some extraordinary answers in the story of God that we're gonna find it out I'm not going to guarantee that you'll entirely love them but I'm gonna give them to you for your own consideration why why has God not fixed my anxiety that's where we're going this is I think part for my cousin my redheaded cousin from Idaho was last week I'm gonna if you were here for Chris Wylde who is the smartest Christian I have ever known scratch that the smart is human being I have ever known still uses words that I just not ago yeah for sure that's what I was thinking out you know but I don't really know what he's talking about go Hawks okay Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 & 7 then we're gonna go to first Peter 5:7 and where if you don't have a Bible it's gonna be up on the screen I'm gonna read two passages we've already covered and I'd like to read them again and in an effort to understand why why has God not fixed my anxiety this is Philippians this is written by Paul Paul is writing to a church and living an ancient city called Philippi and he says this about anxiety he says do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and this is what will happen as a result if you give your anxiety to God the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus so here's Paul's take on anxiety why is Paul an important figure he's probably the smartest Christian we've ever had other than Jesus who is the Christ Paul like I had to clarify that he is the Christ I don't know where my tempo is coming from tonight Jesus who is the Christ but Paul writes more than half of the New Testament the next writer we're going to go to is Peter Peter was one of the twelve disciples the oldest of the twelve Peter and Paul end up becoming the two most considerable leaders in the very first church so these two men are very very significant writers and voices and early Christendom and Peter has also statements to say about anxiety Peter says this cast all your anxieties on God because he cares for you cast all your anxieties on God because he cares that's where we're gonna start tonight but here's what I want to draw your attention both Paul and Peter when when when given their most direct writings on the subject of paralyzing fear known as anxiety the same anxiety that has evidently existed for thousands of years they're their most prominent passages you should notice as I should notice they never say give God your anxiety and he will fix them now that's where we've got to say why like I would really prefer if Paul said hey in prayer and supplication bring your worries and your anxieties to God and he'll take them all away doesn't say that can't say that Peter like Paul right Paul says give God your anxieties and you'll get peace Oh does that mean you're gonna fix my fears no you're just gonna have peace in the middle of them and Peter says give God your anxieties because he cares so he cares about them but is he gonna erase them and of course it's not entirely clear it becomes it becomes obvious to me that both Peter and Paul when speaking about anxiety aren't speaking so much about fixing but thinking they're thinking about caring and peace and I want to explain why I think this is because I think it is directly in relationship to a very important question we might have here tonight and that is why won't God just take my fears away why can't he just fix my anxiety and by the way he can do that oftentimes he does do that but what if he doesn't do that so that's what we're gonna go tonight will you join me in prayer god bless the moments bless this microphone and all that is within it Jesus thank you for the moments that we share loi we we love you thank you that tomorrow night's your football team will play the other team from LA and a pray that you would make our our young men faster and stronger and and and better thank you for that in Jesus name Amen amen amen amen I got three babies you may know this Zion is now 15 L dog is 12 and grace is eight my kids and I am obsessed with them and I've learned a lot from them anybody have kids how many people have kids here kids okay Oh a little concentration of parents right here this is wonderful that's cuz parents need to be nice and close they're in need of help I got babies get up front go go go go go go closer closer closer we need this right so parenting is real all right like if you if you're like a carefree person you should have some babies cuz they're gonna challenge your carefreeness right like when you start having babies man the fragility of life is like front and center and you're like I got I got so much invested into this this fragile little frame and I'm in love and I'll get for instance this morning my little girl came and said daddy I love you three different times and and she's riding her bike to school and she's dad dad can you come help me find my helmet wit in the garage we found her little helmet and put it on her hand it's like I love you like I love you daddy and I just kissed her and prayed for it for a second and you know what I was thinking about I was like Lord protected from the cars protected from the dogs people with these dogs people with these dogs who loved them more than their kids anyways Lord protect them I'm not embittered protect him because my little girl got in a bike rack because somebody wonder you had a dog and that don't you can't control your dog and went biting after my girl she fell down so I'm mad at your dog if you can't tell well man I thought she came to she was daddy I fell someone had a dog and the dog was barking at me and I said I am going to Lord Jesus I know it's not popular I should be like somewhere else talking about people's dogs but anyways that is my baby and your dog is not your baby but anyways anyways I'm gonna get emails but i'ma deal with it when a dog goes after your daughter and she falls down and has to come back and she's late to school and she's scared you like show me that dog Oh dogs go to heaven let's help him go fast that's how I felt case you were wondering how I felt kick your dog to heaven touch my girl one more time and see what happens anyways haha oh man god is so good oh man some you getting anxious about your dog because I'm like this is not helping my anxiety but um you know you got you you know you got you got babies right and you like you kiss him and then it's like I'm like I know she is okay the school isn't far but I'm like she's riding bike her bike right and your brain just kind of goes to all the things right that could happen here like she's fine and I'm definitely not that type of a person but when you start having babies right now another interesting observation I made about kids is that when you start raising them the definition of taking good care of them is drastically different between how they define it and how the parents define it you know I mean like if you ask little kids now my kids will get a little bit older and in fact the other day they said dad thanks for disciplining us and I was like say that again say that again I'll record that say it again what you say you know they see you know kids in a supermarket losing their mind like that thank you for it you know disciplining us and it's it's it's wonderful moments but but growing up you know have babies and the toddlers and adolescents and taking good care they'd be like dad can I have candy no he's a bad dad dad can I have a doughnut carbs no he's a bad dad dad can i watch cartoons not all day no you can't write the definition for a child like right I mean my dad's a good dad cuz he gives me candy carbs and cartoons but of course a good parent replaces candy with cauliflower I'm back in love with cauliflower right now cauliflower rice cauliflower crust cauliflower has changed my life shout out to all companies producing cauliflower concoctions dead serious wish I could dedicate this sermon to cauliflower you think I'm joking right like a parents definition of cares like I gave you clothes a toothbrush a bed a pillow and a curfew right like and the roles that write the classic roles parents and kids the kids moping around like my parents don't take care of me and when in reality the parents are like actually we take such good care of you we don't allow you to have all the candy you want you can't have all the toys in the whole wide world you can't just go to bed whenever you want once again kids can teach us a lot I think something similar is happening here when and let's go to Peter's riding first he says I want you to give God these crippling fears , the reason for that is because he cares because he cares because he cares I wonder if we define care a lot like my kids define care and God defines care a lot like parents define care and I wonder if sometimes we're like well if God cared he would give me cartoons and candy and carbs and gods like oh I care that's why I'm giving you a curfew and giving you some clothes and giving you all the cauliflower you want in the world I wonder if our definitions are different let me know that's not trying to wonder I know they're different like for instance when you hear when you hear the word care like if I told you you know God cares for you what's the first thing you think about well a lot of us probably it's like he does am I gonna have the career I want he cares for me Oh God cares about ever and what I'm telling you is true God cares about everything in your life and your thinking he does so I'm gonna marry that special someone you think like you're right because I've been talking to him in church and they still haven't asked me how but he cares you promise he cares yeah and care if we kind of shake it out and settle it down what we mean when we say God cares is God will fix it and God will he'll give me stability alright here's what I mean when I pray God take care of me here's what I actually mean let me put that prayer in a different word now you can't do this publicly in church because people be like whoa that is a selfish prayer okay but we could pray present God take care of me right you can be you can be somebody's home like hey will you pray that God just take care of me oh he's gonna take care of you sister I'm telling you brother he's gonna take care you got his faithful God it's true he's the same yesterday today and forever you let him know he's gonna take care of you give me some more I'm gonna put you on a forehead right there in the name of Jesus I'll tell you God's gonna take care of you but what we mean when we say God take care of me is Lord would you help maintain and even improve my quality of life and match it with annual inflation then my lion God when I say take care of me what I mean is I need my income to go up when I say take care of me I mean take all the stuff I don't like in my life away take care of me and then God doesn't fix it right fix it Jesus won't he do it and they were like well well I won't he just fix it I asked him then I asked him again then I told my prayer group we prayed about it my income isn't even matching annual inflation I am so uncomfortable I have so many things that are not taking care of where's God you know what let's go to that one Church I think they'll explain it to us where is in I'm gonna be honest with you now if we're not careful what we want from stages like this is for pastors to make promises the Bible doesn't make and we want preachers to tell us he's gonna take care of you and preachers like me don't want to define to you what that actually means because it's just nice to hear somebody say Oh God's gonna take care of you and you're like oh thanks I'm getting married so praise the Lord right like imma lose those 15 pounds wait you said God's taking care of me well got right I mean that's what we mean if we're if we're honest so like we know what we mean when we say care what does God mean when he say Kay when he says care cuz I wonder if like a like a child you ever had one these conversations with your friends in the neighborhood man my dad I can't stand my dad I can't stand him he is so they never let me do anything I gotta brush my teeth three times a day that's ridiculous my friend down the street doesn't even brush his teeth you know me like this is gross but when you're a child you equate care with what I want my dad doesn't give me what I want really my dad does he does you have the best dad and then you both forty and you're like you had the worst day you out of control because we defined care in our childish stage as fix it and give me what I want and the parent goes actually I'm going to not do that because that's I'm trying to see you in the big picture alright I'm gonna tell you something you're not gonna like but it's the truth okay it's the truth and it's a metaphor the truth is underlined in the metaphor let's say you're gonna live a hundred years okay you're gonna live a hundred years congratulations that's that's exciting a hundred years now I want you to think of one second within that hundred years just one second within that hundred years my brothers and sisters the discrepancy between one second and one hundred years does not even begin to describe the discrepancy between your short stay on earth and eternity now we'll give you a little bit of perspective here I heard a psychologist recently say someone consumed with ego can never get the big picture can never get because ego is now now right an ego is an inflated view of yourself that you can't see past yourself you can't see nobody nothing it's just not and and here's what happens we become one second people when God sees a hundred years and we live in in one second the Bible says life is a it's a vapor but in the we're like God take care of it you better make this one second the best he's like I'm kind of doing a hundred-year thing what I don't care in fact because you haven't been good into one second I don't believe in you anymore yeah because my first like like the 25 percent of the one second so far it's not been good I don't trust you with the next 25 percent of my second so at 22 I decide I don't believe in God Wow why cuz I know 25 percent in one second and you know the God who thinks in a hundred years yeah yeah I got him don't need that crutch anymore oh okay so we we are relating and have been designed by our lips hips in fingertips were given to us by a beam that has always existed he is eternal and forever we are finite we are living in a finite place time and space and it is a second compared to Eternity and yet and yet we have decided to define God in a second God I need you to fix me the second means everything no son the second doesn't mean everything forever means everything so we have to get perspective for a moment now that there's much mystery in there and by the way I'm not mad at your questions I got him - I got him - i sat with my friend at breakfast this morning I was like I don't know why he doesn't fix it it's ridiculous and it is frustrating but I want us to ask the question for this one second life which is short but it also feels long sometimes some long days and some long seasons nothing compared to forever we get we understand that to a degree but why we are here and God cares about the second by the way I'm not trying to let I'm just trying to put it in in scale but he cares about the second he cares about the second he cares that you're losing your hair okay he cares that you need Invisalign and you don't wear it at all okay that's what I've been don't even know why I got these nodules on here what a waste I never wear it it's just the fact that it's there if I ever get disciplined but the point is he cares about your Invisalign all right he does but but he also cares easy ternal he's eternal he thinks he turning understand me he thinks in eternally we do not naturally think eternally we think very temporary so back to the one second life we live we're like I need you to fix this and he's like I'm gonna take care of you and you're like all right that means you gonna fix it I'm gonna take care of you now it's imperative for us to remember that the whole reason we exist is one primary reason and it's a big R word and it's called relationship and we say this about God he values relationship please hear me above all you are designed for him to be near him you are designed for his enjoyment now that may sound sadistic to you cuz like well there's a bunch of bad stuff so he enjoys the bad stuff no no that was never God's designed but he gave us free will and free will complicates the destiny design of God and in sovereignty he allows free will to an extent and it's very mysterious but nonetheless God has no intention of creating calamity but he has to allow not Pinocchios but free will freewheel free-willed beings who well we've quite complicated things haven't we but you are here for relationship now we tell ourselves we are here for career we're here for income we're here for prominence we're here for renown ironically science tells us that none of these things are fulfilling us that's ironic and yet we persist the proverbial gerbil on the wheel we persist telling ourselves I will be the one exception to the rule more money will not mean more problems biggie it will mean more money more pleasure more happy more awesome more everything more houses I'm gonna get the better I'm gonna feel in my soul right it's gonna be awesome I'm gonna I'm not gonna get married I'm just gonna have just just just girlfriends and boyfriends everywhere right I'm gonna live the dream right the same dream we've been trying to live for thousands of years and everybody just gets lean in their soul and gets emptier and emptier you were made for relationship deep committed affectionate relationship that starts first with your heavenly creator and designer that's what you were made for not career now yes purpose but your purpose is relationship first and foremost here's what I'd like to do I'd like to now we've looked at Peters writings I want to look at Paul's writings in an effort to define how God would define care here's how I think God cares and this is why I think we continue to say take my crippling fear notice what Paul says again to the church in Philippi he says I want you to know make sure about anything but in everything in everything in everything drop anything at anytime anywhere and everything pray pray say talk to God you can do it with intensity supplication means intensity and you can do it with Thanksgiving so he's like being tense about it and thank God for a ton of stuff and and and and tell them what you want tell them what you need and and here's what you're gonna get you're gonna get the peace of God now notice it's not peace it's the peace of God the definition of a peace of God is simply this it is they it is the person of peace so again Paul does not say God will fix your fears as you define fixing he says God will give you himself in the middle of your pain and in the middle of your problems and in the middle of the fears that want to you as you kiss your little girl out the door and she rides her bike down the street with people with a bunch of dogs he doesn't promise he'll take all the dogs away he doesn't promise he'll remove all the cars from the road he doesn't promise that her little skull will be fine so don't put on a helmet he says I'll give you myself I'll be with you evidently when we define care we define fix and comfortability when God defines care he defines it as himself I'm going to God I need you to fix it okay Here I am oh no I appreciate you being here I need you to fix this right here Here I am oh I know you're ever-present help in time of need that's amazing I need you to help me pay my taxes right yeah I'm here giving you giving you peace cool I feel really restful and at ease about my unpaid taxes I'm gonna need you to go ahead and give me some money and all we can think about is taxes and all God can think about is your heart and the Eternity you're gonna live in just know what his value is your value is pay my taxes God's value is be with me forever she's the facts does that mean he doesn't care about your taxes oh he cares about your taxes but he does not care about your taxes as much as he cares about your eternal soul he does not devalue your need to pay your taxes Jesus ironically spoke to the disciples about paying taxes but what does he value much more relationship forever God needs you to take this sickness away okay here I am okay well what does that mean I'm gonna give you I'm gonna give you peace I'm I'm right here let me show you let me show you scripture in an effort to define peace a little bit John chapter 14 I believe it is guys John chapter 14 verse 27 words of Jesus now listen to Jesus he says he's leaving soon he goes peace I leave with you my peace I give to you not as the world gives to you let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid talk about anxiety he says I'm leaving you with my peace now when I say peace of God what I do not necessarily mean is circumstantial ease and rest in your mind okay the peace that God gives is not a shift in circumstance as much as it is a sense of his person with you in it with you okay by definition it's the Hebrew we root word is Shalom now Shalom is the state of being Shalom is a way of life Shalom is how you relate to one another Shalom is how God relates to you and it is a unique piece now let me let me do this comparison when right when saying this Jesus isn't an East living with with and around under the power of Rome Rome in this historical season isn't it in the most unparalleled extended season of peace it has ever known Rome it is so peaceful well at least for Rome it was peaceful maybe bare with me they're not necessarily the most peaceful for the Jewish people but for Rome do you know how romich Eve that peace torture oppression and bloodshed that's how Rome so Jesus in this context says I'm gonna give you peace it will not come about by torture and oppression and bloodshed you know what no it will it'll be my torture it'll be my bloodshed and by that I will grant you peace and my torture and my bloodshed will set free those who would otherwise be tortured and bloodshed for their air and for their all Jesus says I'm not going to give you peace like Rome this is not circumstantial peace brought about by world powers or governmental structures now my brothers and sisters this has to be true because when Peter says give your anxieties to God because God cares for you that entire letter is written to Christians who are on the run for their life because their babies and their husbands and wives are being killed for claiming the name of Jesus and Peter says give those fears to God because he cares and if I got that letter I would say all God cares where was he when they were killing my wife what do you mean God cares why didn't he save my loved ones first of all I don't totally know but what I do know and I don't live by what I don't know I live about what I know and what I do know is one second does not compare to a hundred years what I do know is this light momentary affliction is but for a moment it's it's preparing us for a far exceeding weight of glory which we will experience an eternity what I know is this life is broken what I know is this life is caught up in calamity what I know is God doesn't kill people that's not the God of the New Covenant Jesus is the way of love and grace and peace but God does take what the enemy means for evil and he works it together for good and just because a loved one dies of cancer that mean God doesn't care can you tell them God cares and to not be afraid and people are being killed God must define care from an eternal place he doesn't peace is not like Roman peace that's gruesome but do you see how we do that when we hear peace we think United States peace God's gonna give me United States peace don't lower God's peace to the United States peace and I'm grateful for United States peace to the extent that we have it my brothers and sisters I'm talking about supernatural peace that comes from the suffering of the perfect Savior of the world and that peace cannot be matched by any governmental structure it is a pre is it a peace that comes from a person and his name is Prince of Peace listen I will be the first person in your life to pray that your invisalign works in one night I swear I will man I'll absolutely I'll be the first person to pray that your career just explodes whatever that even means anymore that should go viral you know whatever I seriously will I'll dude I'm down that you that you met you want to marry supermodel let's pray you know like I am cuz sometimes it works I don't know exactly why sometimes it does and for other guys it doesn't sometimes I dunno why but the point is haha oh man but I'll end with this story on with the story Jesus you can find this in Luke 17 Jesus rolls into a town and in and ten ten ten ten lepers we don't know if it's all men but ten lepers approached Jesus which is against the law by the way Jesus broke the law all the time because he came to fulfill it and these ten lepers approached Jesus and they said can you fix us can you fix us he said can you fix us and I don't know why this time Jesus said yeah I'm gonna fix you and just right there leprosy as they he said just go go to you to your local synagogue go to your priest and it says as they were on their way leprosy she just sort of disappearing they're like ah Jesus right and it happens it happens instantaneously fixed now that's the god I want whoa yes now over the years preachers will tell you you can have that kind of God if you believe enough then who's God the person who must there's enough faith to get what they want or the God whose sovereign does how he chooses well that's err if you just believed more brother you wouldn't you'd be fixed immediately we need to stop saying this stuff making ourselves the antidote in the healer no he's just a healer and sometimes you just pray and like God take the cancer away gone my grandfather who I'm named after had a brain tumor his name was Elwood he was a preacher he wasn't the most integral preacher in the world but he was a preacher nonetheless and he he had a brain cancer a brain tumor and he went to a Katherine Coleman meeting who used to have meetings here in LA she prayed for him his tumor was gone has gone for two weeks what did the doctors your tumors gone you're totally here two weeks later came back worse he was dead in a month people told them Elwood you'd have enough faith now a lot of its mystery but I will say this about the story out of the ten guys who got what they wanted from Jesus guess how many came back to Jesus maybe that tells us about our nature be careful you get what you want from God and you don't get God one comes back and he says you're unbelievable Jesus says where's ninety percent of the guys and then he says and the only guy that came back isn't even Jewish your Samaritan did I tell you something man that I tell you something the Jews expected it was as if they were entitled they were entitled to it they deserved it but the Samaritan was like I don't know I don't deserve nothing I just came back to say who are you and Jesus says this he says you are well now well done got nothing to do with leprosy well done got nothing to do with your lips or your fingers or your toes which were falling out from leprosy the word well has everything to do with your eternal soul and ten guys got fixed but only one got well and I'm not telling you that God doesn't care about a skin disease I'm just telling you he cares far more about your so disease and that's where the value is with God and I don't know what my friend hasn't been fixed I don't know what my dad's not here anymore I don't know why grandpa Elwood was healed for two weeks and then he wasn't and he was gone I don't have the answers but what I do know is what I want in this story is not just to be what I want for one second I wanna be who I'm supposed to be for a hundred years and I know this one second seems like such a big deal what does it profit a man to give up his soul for the one second life he always wanted Jesus says that is not a fair trade his emphasis points to the eternal you the eternal you and that's so hard for us to quantify but I am urging you by the grace of God that you would consider it so here's my here's the only practical takeaway I can give you people always ask me that Judah would eat you know that sermon you preached it was great in everything and I was really inspired but what am I supposed to do with that well here's the only thing that has really helped me I would say the primary thing that has really helped me with this mysterious element of God God here's my one second life and I so want you to help me with my career and my spouse and my babies and my house and my taxes and my clothes and my cars and just give me one of those really good lives give me one of them good careers give me one of them you know where anxiety is out of out of control right in the first world not the third world we know that right just food for thought god I swamp take care of me if I could just humbly suggest that God might be saying something like son daughter I I do care but I wonder for a moment if you could see what I value compared to what you value maybe you could lift up your eyes a little bit lift up your eyes and realize there's so much more than the one second you're pining away for this is everything and we all feel like it is cuz that's all we've ever known but the day's gonna come this life's gonna give way and we're all dying or I'll die it's gonna come to a close and we're gonna see the light or whatever they say I've got lots of friends and family members who I've been there bedside with people that are passing away and I've had all kinds of experienced people to see in the light what I do know is that there's another life there's an afterlife there's another life there's an out life it's eternity the Bible speaks of it as a new heaven and new earth eternity we're gonna be there in in total forgiveness and utopia and mercy and love and kindness and no sin and no disease and no tears and no pain and no injustice and no oppression and no torture and we're gonna be there and I wonder I wonder when we get there we're gonna go if I only would have known maybe I would have given my one second away maybe I would have lived it not for me but for others and science as we speak is discovering that one of the great healthiest benefactors in the whole human experience is not when you live the one second for yourself but when you live it for others when you take this forgiveness and you take this piece and you start handing out of in this side I'm done and I'm done it's 47 minutes I told my friend I'd go short tonight I'm done is this short what do I say but this is Jesus says not as the world gives and then I heard that I heard that I read that I should say I read that but then I heard it you know what I mean but anyways not as the world gives not as the world gives not as the world gives and I started thinking about a community who would give too each other not as the world gives and I'd be the kind of friend out is but not as the world is a friend I would give in and buy the world it means the broken system that seeks to serve itself it is insidious it is selfish it is ingrown its obsessed it's not healthy no one's benefiting we're all anxious we're all fearful we're all worried we're all caught up in ourselves we're all struggling with narcissism and it's growing out of control Jesus says I want to give you something that this broken system cannot give you it's better than more square footage it's better than the career you want it's me and I'll give you a Shalom at the core of your being and then what if we started giving to each other not as the world gives not as the world gives these platitudes and cliches these these aids we try to give each other to help us in the one second what if we just said bro I don't know but what I do know is this isn't home but we're going someday so gone someday so and here's and here's what here's why I said all that to say I was just trying to preach a little bit right there but I just this is it this is I'm done I'm done I'm done I promise um here's what's changed my life I I get with other people who are just like the one who came back you don't talk about they feel like they're Outsiders they feel like they don't deserve nothing they feel like God forgave them and they're so grateful when they feel like I can't believe I'm just I just know Jesus and I lost people and I feel broken and there's some things in my life I wish he would fix but but I'm if you just just give me Jesus I just said I just some love with Jesus and I just I'm glad to still be here and I think if I'm still here God's probably got something for me to do and I'm just gonna do with all my might and you know I may not be I may not be somebody to somebody and I but but what I do know is that God loves me and I'm worth his love and his affection and so and then what ends up happening is you get a bunch of these people together and they encouraging each other and they start talking to each other and they start meeting with each other and they start crying with each other and they start praying for each other and they start being there for each other and then life happens life happens and when you start experiencing the peace that comes from the person of God I'm telling you one of the telltale signs is you start wanting to be with others to encourage them to love them deeply to be known to know them things like listening to people starts to happen you're like Judah this is the same thing you've been saying every week and I'm gonna keep saying it I tell you listen I sat with my friend today who's gone through a horrific painful tragedy in his own life and he's like he said I got good friends though and I about jumped out of my seat because these friends are friends on the basis of this ridiculous for Kipnis they got from this man named Jesus and it's like change their whole social demeanor and dynamic instead of what can you give me and how can you help me it starts turning into stuff like how you doing man you ok anything I can do for you man your there's no I like you in the world I love you and I am convinced that is what this world needs tonight today today we're supposed to we're supposed to have a bond that we see in Scripture for these Christians were running for their life underground hiding out there was a bond there was a bond we need each other Church we need each other in the mystery we need each other must be those kind of people that's my short sermon for the night let me pray for you Jesus thank you so much for what you're saying and just want to stop and consider for a moment how many of my friends and people in this room are so tired because anxiety fear pain problems sickness disease tragedy has struck and it seems like you won't fix it and it's hard to understand I'm asking right now that the Prince of Peace not as the world gives but the Prince of Peace would be more present in that person's brain and body and soul than ever before God either you the Prince of Peace the peace of God are real and we are doomed in the day and the age in the culture we live we believe that you give Shalom God with us the God of peace we may not understand at all but there's gonna be assurance because you are near I love you Jesus I love who you are and I crave more of your nearness more of your reality more of your person there are people here into the sound of my voice you are in so much personal pain and I believe that the one who cares deeply and affectionately for that pain is nearer to you than your very next breath Jesus Jesus and God a for a moment you would grant us perspective from eternity to time we try to grasp eternity from time but would you give us just even glimpses of our life that we could see time from eternity grant a scale and perspective that puts everything in its place this is my prayer this is my prayer well God let this vapor of a life be put in its place in Jesus name if you're here just before we sing together and you say Judah I'd like to become a follower of Jesus I'd like to receive the free gift of forgiveness that only Jesus offers on the count of three I'm gonna ask you to lift up your hand and put it right back down wherever you are watching Seattle on the app we're here in the Saban theater the reason I ask you to raise your hands I believe when you respond on the outside till what's happening on the inside it just becomes all the more real to you you know who you are 1 2 3 if that's you just shoot up your hand say I want to receive the forgiveness of Jesus thank you god I'm forgiven forever and I'm yours we thank you that forgiveness flows freely here it has been purchased and paid for in full by the broken body of Jesus grace mercy acceptance belonging righteousness are all yours buy gift buy gift you are who you are by the grace of God you are his and once you are in the palm of his hand nothing can take you from the palm of his hand Jesus we thank you for that amen if you're willing and able would you stand with us come on let's sing together

Channel: Churchome

Views: 20,403

Rating: 4.8602619 out of 5

Keywords: Churchome, Judah, Judah smith, church, message, anxiety, depression, how to, elevation, Steven, Hillsong, oceans, sermon, the city church, church home, Chelsea smith, bobby Houston, td jakes, pastor, pastor preaching, carl lentz, Jesus, conference, guest speaker, sermon jam, worship, Justin Bieber, la Hillsong, Selena, preaching, Judah message, performance

Id: 7O6F-kL-JJA

Length: 50min 54sec (3054 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 23 2019