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Power, Love, and a Sound Mind – At the Threshold · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: The future can make fear feel reasonable.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Things change.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Family structures shift.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Technology moves faster than our ability to understand all of its consequences.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Churches change.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Work changes.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Families change.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Our bodies change.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: The world we learn how to live in does not stay still.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Fear notices all of that and says, be ready to defend yourself.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Fear can make us suspicious before we have enough information.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: It can turn difference into threat.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: It can make us cling to the past simply because it is familiar.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Fear can also push us in the other direction.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: We may chase every new promise because we are afraid of being left behind.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Either way, fear becomes the power making the decision.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Paul reminds Timothy that fear is not the spirit God has given.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: The older wording many of us remember says God gives power, love, and a sound mind.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: That is a good posture for standing at the threshold.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Power means we are not helpless before change.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: We do not have to give every new circumstance authority over who we become.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Love keeps us from turning the unfamiliar into an enemy.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: It asks what is good for people, not merely what will protect us.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And a sound mind gives us room to think.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: We can ask questions.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: We can learn.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: We can notice risk without surrendering to panic.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: We can recognize possibility without becoming naive.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: That is discernment from a settled center.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: The Love Beyond Measure series has been forming that center.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: We have been learning that we belong,
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: that Christ is our peace,
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: that the Spirit is present within us,
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: that our strength does not have to be manufactured.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now, those truths begin to matter as we look outward.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: The world does not need more frightened Christians reacting to every change as
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: though God has lost control of history.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: It needs people who can remain awake.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: People who are not easily manipulated by outrage or anxiety.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: People secure enough to listen.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: People grounded enough to say no when something diminishes human dignity
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: and open enough to say yes when a new possibility can serve life and love.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: You do not have to decide today whether everything coming is good or bad.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: You can meet it with the Spirit God has already given you.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Power, love, a sound mind.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Fear does not have to choose your future for you.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Spirit of God, change can awaken fear before I have time to understand what I am seeing.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: I release the need to react simply because I feel uncertain.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Strengthen me with your power.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Keep love at the center of what I value.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Give me a steady mind that can listen, learn, question, and discern.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let my response to the future come from your presence within me.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: As you re-enter the conversations and decisions ahead, carry this prayer with you.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: I receive a sound mind.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Fear does not direct me.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: I receive a sound mind.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.