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The Tranquili Tree- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Declared war on worry we are envisioning a day in
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  Speaker 1: which anxiety is a thing of the past in which
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  Speaker 1: we come out of the valley of fret and live
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  Speaker 1: more days marked by peace and diminishing panic so grateful
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  Speaker 1: that you could be a part of this service today
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  Speaker 1: whether you're watching online many of you in the overflow
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  Speaker 1: rooms and the rest of you right here in the
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  Speaker 1: auditorium are so grateful that you could be with us
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  Speaker 1: The Apostle Paul has given us a prescription for anxiety,
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  Speaker 1: and in just a moment, we're going to read it together.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, on this, the last installment of the series,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to ask us to all, in just a moment,
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  Speaker 1: to stand up and read it together out of respect.
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  Speaker 1: for the Lord's word. But before we read that passage,
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  Speaker 1: let me thank you for this honor that is mine
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  Speaker 1: as we bring the last message of the series to you. Actually,
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  Speaker 1: this is the last weekend of my preaching season. at
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  Speaker 1: Oak Hills for this calendar year. We've done three series together,
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  Speaker 1: starting with Traveling Light in January, and then Hundred Happy People.
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  Speaker 1: And now, spring and summer, we've been finding a way
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  Speaker 1: to battle anxiety. Sometimes I think God is partial to me.
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  Speaker 1: I really do. I think it's almost unfair how kind
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  Speaker 1: He is to me. I not only get to preach,
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  Speaker 1: but I get to preach at the greatest church in
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  Speaker 1: the history of humanity. The Oak Hills Church. And you
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  Speaker 1: guys are just, you're spectacular. And I can't tell you
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  Speaker 1: how excited I am every weekend to have this privilege.
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  Speaker 1: I'm very excited about what Randy's going to lead us
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  Speaker 1: into for the remainder of the year. And I want
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  Speaker 1: you to know that as I now enter into a
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  Speaker 1: time of travel. Wherever I am, whatever city I'm in,
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  Speaker 1: whatever coast I'm on, I'll be thinking of you. You'll
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  Speaker 1: be on my mind and in my heart. And so
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  Speaker 1: I deeply, deeply love you and appreciate you. Now, one
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  Speaker 1: final time, let's recite the God's antidote for anxiety. But
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  Speaker 1: this time, let's all stand up. Fill your lungs with air.
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  Speaker 1: Fill your hearts with hope. Say it like you mean it.
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  Speaker 1: Put your shoulders back. Put a smile on your face.
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  Speaker 1: The words will appear on the screen. Many of you
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  Speaker 1: don't need them, though you've memorized the passage. But if
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  Speaker 1: you need them, here they are. Let's say it together.
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  Speaker 1: Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice.
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  Speaker 1: Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord
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  Speaker 1: is at hand. Be anxious for nothing.
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  Speaker 2: But in everything, my prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
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  Speaker 2: your request.
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  Speaker 1: Be And the peace of God will guard your hearts
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  Speaker 1: and minds through Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: In anything praiseworthy,
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  Speaker 1: meditate on these things. Way to go. Thank you, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: again for this beautiful scripture. Please grant that we might
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  Speaker 1: receive it. Forgive our speaker. His sins are too many
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  Speaker 1: to count. Help us to see Jesus. Just Jesus. Through
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  Speaker 1: Christ we pray. And all the church said, Amen. Good job.
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  Speaker 1: Please be seated. It's 2.30 a.m. And you cannot sleep.
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  Speaker 1: You pound your pillow, you adjust your blankets, you flip
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  Speaker 1: first to this side and then the next. Nothing helps.
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  Speaker 1: You really need to get to sleep. Everyone else is asleep.
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  Speaker 1: Your spouse snores like a grizzly in hibernation. Not a
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  Speaker 1: peep from the kids' room down the hallway. Even the
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  Speaker 1: dog is curled up in a lump At the foot
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  Speaker 1: of the bed. Everybody else is asleep. Everyone that is
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  Speaker 1: except you. And you really need to sleep. Because in
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  Speaker 1: six hours. You're starting a new job. You'll be at
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  Speaker 1: a new office. A new chapter. You'll be entering a
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  Speaker 1: new world. You'll be the rookie on the sales team.
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  Speaker 1: And you're wondering if you made the right decision. You've
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  Speaker 1: been told that the boss is demanding. You know the
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  Speaker 1: economy is declining. You know the economy is declining. The
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  Speaker 1: competition is increasing. Besides, you're 23 years old right out
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  Speaker 1: of college. This is your first job. You're 33 years
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  Speaker 1: old with two kids to feed and a family to
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  Speaker 1: care for. You're 43 years old, the latest victim of
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  Speaker 1: layoffs and downsizing. You're 53 years old, not the ideal
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  Speaker 1: age to change careers. You're 63 years old. What happened
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  Speaker 1: to retirement plans and seeing grandkids? Here you are starting over.
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  Speaker 1: Here you are wide awake. No matter the age, the
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  Speaker 1: transition comes. The questions fall like hailstones. Will I make
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  Speaker 1: enough money? Will I make any friends? Will I have
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  Speaker 1: a cubicle? Will I be able to learn the software program?
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  Speaker 1: Will I learn the sales pitch? Will I be able
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  Speaker 1: to find the bathroom? You can't go to sleep. You
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  Speaker 1: feel a twitch in the back of your neck. That
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  Speaker 1: twitch welcomes a whole new strain of worry. Do I
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  Speaker 1: have cancer? Is that a tumor? Granddad had a tumor.
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  Speaker 1: He had chemo for a year. Oh, no. New job
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  Speaker 1: and chemo? How will I be able to... Oh, man.
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  Speaker 1: Will the insurance cover this? Is this a pre-existing condition?
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  Speaker 1: What am I going to do The thoughts rage through
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  Speaker 1: your mind like a tornado in Texas. And they suck
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  Speaker 1: off to the sky any last vestige of peace. Another
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  Speaker 1: hour passes. 2.30 becomes 3.30. And the green letters on
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  Speaker 1: the clock are the only light in your room. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: the only light in your world. You cover your head
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  Speaker 1: with a pillow. You feel like crying. What does all
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  Speaker 1: this mean? All this trepidation. All this unsettledness. All this anxiety.
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  Speaker 1: All this restlessness. All this insomnia. What does this mean?
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  Speaker 1: Can I tell you? It means you're a person. It
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  Speaker 1: means you're a human. It means you're born into a
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  Speaker 1: difficult world. on a changing planet, it doesn't mean that
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  Speaker 1: you're emotionally underdeveloped. It doesn't mean that you're mentally ill.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that you're a wimp or a sissy.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that you made a wrong decision. It
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  Speaker 1: doesn't mean that you're a failure. It doesn't mean that
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  Speaker 1: you don't have any faith. It doesn't mean that you're
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  Speaker 1: a jerk. It doesn't mean that you're demon-possessed. It doesn't
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  Speaker 1: mean that your parents failed you. And it doesn't mean
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  Speaker 1: that you failed your parents. And it doesn't mean that
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  Speaker 1: you're destined to spend a life in this cycle of anxiety.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that you're going to worry the rest
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  Speaker 1: of your days like your granddad did or your mom did.
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  Speaker 1: This isn't passed down from generation to generation. And this
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  Speaker 1: is important. It doesn't mean you're not a Christian. Christians
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  Speaker 1: battle anxiety. Jesus felt anxiety for heaven's sake. In the
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  Speaker 1: garden of Gethsemane on the night before his crucifixion, three
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  Speaker 1: times he prayed, take this cup from me. He prayed
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  Speaker 1: with such intensity that he pounded the ground and his
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  Speaker 1: heart pounded blood into his system with such ferocity that
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  Speaker 1: the capillaries burst and rivulets of crimson came down his face.
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  Speaker 1: He felt anxious. But he didn't stay anxious. He entrusted
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  Speaker 1: his fears to his heavenly father. And that is what
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  Speaker 1: he is teaching us to do. Anxiety comes with life, yes.
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  Speaker 1: But it just doesn't have to dominate our lives. The
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  Speaker 1: presence of anxiety is optional, is unavoidable. But the prison
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  Speaker 1: of anxiety, now that's optional. God has given us a recipe,
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  Speaker 1: a prescription, tucked away in a small four-chapter epistle called Philippians,
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  Speaker 1: written by the Apostle Paul. And it's like a prescription
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  Speaker 1: for anxiety. And as we wrap this series up and
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  Speaker 1: back away and look at the passage from one viewpoint
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  Speaker 1: instead of phrase by phrase, It dawns on us that
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  Speaker 1: this passage follows a real practical sequence. Almost like four
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  Speaker 1: steps are tucked away in these verses. Step one, rejoice
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  Speaker 1: in the Lord. Step two, ask the Lord. Step three,
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  Speaker 1: leave your problem with the Lord. And step four, meditate
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  Speaker 1: on what is good. Step one, step two, step three,
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  Speaker 1: step four. We rejoice... We make a request. We rely
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  Speaker 1: on the Lord. And then we rehearse with positive thoughts
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  Speaker 1: what he has done. Step one, step two, step three,
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  Speaker 1: step four. This has the feel to me of what
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  Speaker 1: consultants call a decision tree. Maybe you've seen a decision tree.
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  Speaker 1: When you have a question... you can Google decision tree
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  Speaker 1: and you'll see a graph. It looks kind of like
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  Speaker 1: an ancestry tree. And you start with your question and
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  Speaker 1: then option one is this answer. Option two is this answer.
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  Speaker 1: If you go option one, that will lead you here.
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  Speaker 1: Option two will lead you there. Well, the apostle has
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  Speaker 1: given us a decision tree to use on those 2.30 a.m.
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  Speaker 1: moments when we cannot get to sleep. He helps us
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  Speaker 1: learn how to think through with God's help An exit
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  Speaker 1: from the valley of anxiety. It's a decision tree of sort.
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  Speaker 1: In fact I've given it a nickname. I call it
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  Speaker 1: the tranquilla tree. Now I thought that was really clever.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously you did not. The tranquilla tree is on this handout.
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  Speaker 1: That you received as you came in. This handout says.
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  Speaker 1: is intended to give you a summary of the entire
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  Speaker 1: sermon series. I'm hoping that you'll take this and tuck
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  Speaker 1: it away someplace where you can pull it out on
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  Speaker 1: a regular basis and maybe review some of the main
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  Speaker 1: points that we've made over the last two and a
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  Speaker 1: half months. On the back, you'll see the passage that
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  Speaker 1: we've been studying, and then you'll see in bullet point
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  Speaker 1: fashion some of the promises that emerge from this passage.
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  Speaker 1: And then on this side, yes, there is the tranquilla tree.
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  Speaker 1: You've never heard of a tranquilla tree, but I bet
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  Speaker 1: you spent your share of time in the anxiety tree.
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  Speaker 1: It's got wimpy little branches. It blows and bends and
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  Speaker 1: it's hard to hold on to. And residents of the
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  Speaker 1: Anxia Tree spend all of their time holding on for
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  Speaker 1: fear of falling out. If you're ready to come out
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  Speaker 1: of the orchard of Anxia Trees and explore a new
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  Speaker 1: orchard of sturdy, stable, shade-giving, root-reaching trees called the Tranquilla Trees,
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  Speaker 1: then this passage is for you. Here's how it works.
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  Speaker 1: You begin with a question that's at the top of
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  Speaker 1: the handout. What's got you anxious? What's got you anxious?
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  Speaker 1: Each and every one of you, I imagine, could answer
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  Speaker 1: that question right now. Something's got you anxious. And your temptation,
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  Speaker 1: all of our temptations and tendencies, is to focus on
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  Speaker 1: that problem. To analyze that problem. To think about that problem.
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  Speaker 1: But that's a mistake. A mistake. The first step is
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  Speaker 1: not to analyze the problem, but to shift our eyes
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  Speaker 1: to our Heavenly Father. The more we look at our problem,
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  Speaker 1: the bigger the problem gets. That is a destructive thought pattern.
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  Speaker 1: Here's a better idea. Turn your eyes away from the problem,
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  Speaker 1: and for just a few moments, celebrate God. That's what
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  Speaker 1: the apostle says. He says, rejoice in the Lord always. Again,
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  Speaker 1: I say rejoice. Now, this may surprise you that the
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  Speaker 1: quickest way to deal with your problem is not to
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  Speaker 1: focus on your problem, but to focus first on your
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  Speaker 1: heavenly father. You see, the more you stare at your problem,
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  Speaker 1: the more you meditate on the problem, the more it
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  Speaker 1: tends to grow. But the more you think about your
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  Speaker 1: heavenly father, the more the problem shrinks down to size.
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  Speaker 1: This is what the psalmist did. Remember this passage in
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  Speaker 1: Psalm 121 in verse 1? I will lift up my
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  Speaker 1: eyes to the hills. From whence comes my help? My
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  Speaker 1: help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
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  Speaker 1: Do you see the intentionality? I will lift up my eyes.
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  Speaker 1: The default gaze was on the problems. So he had
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  Speaker 1: to say, okay, I'm going to lift up my eyes.
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  Speaker 1: I will look to the one who gives me help.
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  Speaker 1: He made the heavens and the earth. I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: celebrate him. So you refuse to stare at the predicament.
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  Speaker 1: Choose not to meditate on the mess. You gain nothing
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  Speaker 1: by setting your eyes on the problem. You gain everything
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  Speaker 1: by setting your eyes on the Lord. This was the
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  Speaker 1: lesson the apostle Peter learned on the stormy sea of Galilee.
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  Speaker 1: Remember the night that the storm came in and The
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  Speaker 1: waves got to be as high as 10 feet tall.
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  Speaker 1: He knew that fishing boat could not survive those windy waves.
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  Speaker 1: So he was the first one to invite, to ask
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  Speaker 1: Jesus if he could get out of the boat. When
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  Speaker 1: he saw Jesus walking on the water through the storm
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  Speaker 1: toward them, Peter cried out, Lord, if it is really you,
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  Speaker 1: command me to come to you on the water. And
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said, come. And Peter left the boat and walked
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  Speaker 1: on the water to Jesus. But when Peter saw the
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  Speaker 1: wind and the waves, he became afraid. And he began
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  Speaker 1: to sink. And he shouted, Lord, save me. As long
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  Speaker 1: as Peter's eyes were focused on the face of his Savior,
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  Speaker 1: he could do the impossible. But when did he begin
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  Speaker 1: to sink? when his eyes shifted from the face of
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  Speaker 1: the Savior to the force of the storm. If you
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  Speaker 1: feel yourself beginning to sink, turn your gaze back onto
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  Speaker 1: your Father in heaven. Rejoice in the Lord always. If
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  Speaker 1: you're sinking, it's because you're not looking at the Father.
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  Speaker 1: So self-correct. Lift up your eyes. Look to the hills
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  Speaker 1: from whence comes your help. Look to Jesus. Keep your
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  Speaker 1: eyes on him and you'll find your strength coming back.
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  Speaker 1: This is the message of Paul. Rejoice in the Lord. Again,
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  Speaker 1: I say to you, rejoice as if one time wasn't enough.
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  Speaker 1: He had to tell us twice. Now just rejoice in
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  Speaker 1: the Lord. Again, I say to you, rejoice. Celebrate what
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  Speaker 1: God has done. In the book of Philippians, as we
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  Speaker 1: pointed out in the series, the apostle celebrates two attributes
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  Speaker 1: of God. God's sovereignty and his mercy. So you ask
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  Speaker 1: yourself the question, is God sovereign over this circumstance? Whatever
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  Speaker 1: it is. Is he sovereign over this circumstance? And the
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  Speaker 1: answer is yes. Because he's sovereign over everything. Maybe your
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  Speaker 1: anxiety comes not from a mishap, but from a misstep.
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  Speaker 1: And so you ask the question, is God's grace great
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  Speaker 1: enough to cover this sin? And the answer is always yes.
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  Speaker 1: So you celebrate who God is. You rejoice in the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: And having done that, then you move to step number two.
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  Speaker 1: You ask God for help. You ask him for help.
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  Speaker 1: Let your requests be made known to God. Remember, fear
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  Speaker 1: triggers either despair or prayer. Fear always triggers either despair
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  Speaker 1: or prayer. Choose wisely. God said, call on me in
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  Speaker 1: the day of trouble. Jesus said, ask and it will
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  Speaker 1: be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock
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  Speaker 1: and it will be opened to you. Both God and
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  Speaker 1: then Jesus, God on earth, invites you. They say, whenever
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  Speaker 1: you speak, we will listen. So let your requests be
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  Speaker 1: made known to God. You celebrated who God is. Now
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  Speaker 1: you ask him for help. Ask specifically and ask because
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  Speaker 1: of the promises of God. Let your request be specific.
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  Speaker 1: Just like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said,
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  Speaker 1: take this cup from me. Very simple prayer. Jesus' mother
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  Speaker 1: came to him at the wedding that had run out
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  Speaker 1: of wine. She said, they have no more wine. The
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  Speaker 1: prayer doesn't have to be long, doesn't have to be
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  Speaker 1: poetic or elaborate. You state what you need. Here is
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  Speaker 1: my request. And then you stand on a promise. But
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  Speaker 1: you said you would hear me. You said you would
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  Speaker 1: walk me through this. You remind God of what he
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  Speaker 1: has said, not because he forgets, but because we tend
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  Speaker 1: to forget. So you stand before God based on his promises.
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  Speaker 1: The Hebrew writer said, let us approach the throne of
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  Speaker 1: grace with what? With confidence, not with timidity, nor with
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  Speaker 1: a swagger, but just with confidence. We're confident that he
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  Speaker 1: will hear us. Having done this, then you can leave
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  Speaker 1: it with God. You have rejoiced. You have celebrated. You
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  Speaker 1: have asked for help. Now you can leave it with God.
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  Speaker 1: And God will do his part. The peace of God
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  Speaker 1: which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds
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  Speaker 1: through Christ Jesus. So you let God take charge. You
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  Speaker 1: let him do what he's so willing to do. And
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  Speaker 1: that is guard your heart and your mind. The two seats.
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  Speaker 1: The seat of intellect and the seat of emotion. So
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  Speaker 1: you let him guard those. And his peace will stand
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  Speaker 1: around you like a sentinel. Protecting you. Paul the Apostles.
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  Speaker 3: Said.
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  Speaker 1: The one who called you is completely dependable. If he
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  Speaker 1: said it. He'll do it. So you have this problem.
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  Speaker 1: You have rejoiced in God's ability to solve it. You
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  Speaker 1: take it to him. You ask specifically for help. And
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  Speaker 1: then you leave it with him. This may be the
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  Speaker 1: most difficult step. Because we leave it with him. We
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  Speaker 1: get halfway out the door. And then we come back
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  Speaker 1: and we want to fix it. It's very hard, isn't it?
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  Speaker 1: How many of you are somewhere between an offered prayer
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  Speaker 1: and an answered prayer? It's hard to leave it, isn't it?
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  Speaker 1: With him. Have you ever taken an appliance into a
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  Speaker 1: store to be fixed or a computer laptop to be
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  Speaker 1: fixed at the computer store or a lawnmower? Have you
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  Speaker 1: ever had something break and had to take it to
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  Speaker 1: somebody to fix it? How does that proceed? What's the
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  Speaker 1: protocol on that? Well, you identify that something's broken. You
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  Speaker 1: take it to the person who can fix it. You
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  Speaker 1: offer your request. You tell them what has happened. And
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  Speaker 1: then what do you do? Well, you throw out a
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  Speaker 1: sleeping bag and you stay right there with him. And
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  Speaker 1: you wait until he gets... No? You follow him around.
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  Speaker 1: You hover behind him, giving him suggestions. No? You wait
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  Speaker 1: for him at every turn. You show him he's on
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  Speaker 1: the clock. He better hurry. Come on, come on, come on. No?
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  Speaker 1: What do you do? You leave it with him. With
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  Speaker 1: the promise he will let you know... When he is finished.
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  Speaker 1: Leave your problem with God. Leave it. And whenever that
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  Speaker 1: emotion of anxiety surfaces. Here's what you say. Oh I
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  Speaker 1: left that with God. That's in good hands. Would you
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  Speaker 1: please repeat after me. I hereby resign. As ruler of
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  Speaker 1: the universe. Congratulations. Isn't that a load. You are no
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  Speaker 1: longer in charge of the world. And you have taken
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  Speaker 1: that problem. And I really do not mean to diminish
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  Speaker 1: your problems. I know they're hard. I know some of
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  Speaker 1: them are heavy. But God is strong. And he is mighty.
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  Speaker 1: And you do nothing for yourself. By trying to solve
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  Speaker 1: it on your own. You take it and you leave
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: it with him.
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: Then.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: You have all of this brain matter available. All of
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: this brain cell capacity that has been going toward anxiety
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: needs to be used for something, right? So what does
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: the apostle say? Well, now that all of this brain
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: capacity is freed up, why don't you use that brain
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: to meditate on something else? Rather than meditate on the problem,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: turn your attention to what is good. Meditate on good things.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: And rather than let your mind be
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: consumed with anxiety since you have been told by your
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: preacher to be a picky thinker and you get to
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: think what you think about, to be careful what you
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: think about and to mind your mind, now you're going
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: to carefully guard your thoughts. Do what my good friend
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Karen Hill did 10 years ago this weekend. My longtime
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: assistant and dear friend Karen Hill was diagnosed with triple
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: negative breast cancer. And the news knocked the wind out
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: of her. She writes, I knew that I could not
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: fight well if I fought out of fear. As I prayed,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: God reminded me that his word is intended to be
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: a true guide for living, even in difficult seasons. This
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: passage in Philippians says, is intended for just such times,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: and it became my constant friend. I prepared a simple
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: card that I could carry to doctor's appointments, chemo, tests,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: and hospital stays. And whenever I sensed these unwelcome thoughts returning,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: I would review my card, making a mental list of
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: everything I knew to be true, noble, lovely, and so forth.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: By the time I reached the end of the list,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: the Lord had brought peace back into my spirit. One
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: little card, a rich reminder that God is not the
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: author of fear or pain, but rather the soother and
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: comforter of my soul. Karen didn't use the word, but
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: she could have. She climbed up in a tranquillatory and
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: she left behind the orchard of anxieties. I hope you'll
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: do the same. I know this is not an easy battle.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: I know that. And I know that for some of you,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: this is the battle of life. It's a challenge every day.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: And do not think for a second that I think
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: by reducing a sermon series into a card or giving
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: you some clever little slogans. that I think that this
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: can be resolved always without any help. For some of you,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: God's healing will include the help of therapy and or medication.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: For some of you, your anxiety is not situational, it's
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: just chronic. And if that's the case, don't think for
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: a moment you're a second-class citizen of heaven. If you
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: turn to a psychiatrist or a psychologist or a physician
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: or to medication to help you, God can use any
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: tool to help you and he will help you. You
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: just trust him and trust and believe that he is
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: speaking to you when he says that all of these
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: things work together for good for those who love him
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: and are called according to his purpose. I'll leave you
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: with this thought, that God is really on your side
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: in this. He's not at a distance with his arms
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: crossed saying, I wish that they would get their act together.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: He's on your side, pulling for you, in your corner,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: cheering for you. I have a good friend by the
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: name of Bill Fry, a man for whom I have
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: great respect, served for many years at the Episcopalian Diocese
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: here in South Texas. When he was 11 years old,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: he tells this story in one of his books called
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Dance of Hope. When he was 11 years old, He
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: was roaming about the farmland where he was raised in
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Georgia looking for stumps because his job was to pull
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: stumps out of the ground and cut the stump up
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: to be used for firewood. He found one large stump
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: of a pine tree. And he began trying to unearth it.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: But it was so deeply rooted in the ground. He
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: couldn't get it to budge. He was only 11 years
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: old anyway, but still he worked. Pushing and pulling and
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: pushing and pulling. Presently his father appeared. And his father watched,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: didn't say anything for a while. And after a few moments,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Bill's dad said, I think I know your problem. Bill said, what?
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: He said, you're not using all your strength. Well, Bill
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: took offense at that. He said, I've been working all
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: day and I've been working very hard. And the father says,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: but you're not using all your strength. And Bill said, what?
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: And Bill's dad said, you haven't asked me to help you.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Ask your father to help you. For many of you,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: anxiety is like wrestling stumps out of the ground. In
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: the deep root system of your long embedded worries won't
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: come out overnight, but it will with God's help. It
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: will come out. He has given us these promises. In time,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: you're going to discover peace that you never knew existed.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: On one occasion, God sent the ancient prophet Isaiah to
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: comfort a king, King Ahaz. In Isaiah chapter 7 and
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: verse 2, it says that the people of Ahaz shook
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: with fear like trees of the forest blown by the wind.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Sounds to me like they're in a grove of anxiety trees.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: But God gave this word to Isaiah. He said, tell
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: the king, be careful. Be calm and don't worry. That's
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: what God is saying to you. Just be careful. Guard
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: your thoughts. Be calm. Celebrate God. Ask God for help.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Leave your problems with him and meditate on good things. C-A-L-M.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Be calm and don't worry. Amen. So Lord, this is
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: our prayer that you would help us to do just this.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: We celebrate you, your sovereign plan. We ask you for help.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: We give our concerns to you. We leave them with
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: you and we turn our attention to meditate on what
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: you want us to meditate on. This is our prayer
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: through Christ. And all the church said, Amen.
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: So so.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 31:32
  Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: You don't have to be new.
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: You don't have to stay close.
• 34:11
  Speaker 4: As long as you're somewhere out there.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: That's enough for me.
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: I don't need to hold you near me. Don't need
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: promises to keep. Just the thought that you are breathing.
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: Somewhere in this world I see. Even if I'm not
• 34:35
  Speaker 4: beside you. Even if you're never mine. There's a quiet
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: kind of comfort just in knowing you still glow.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: I don't need forever.
• 34:55
  Speaker 4: I just need you to exist.
• 34:59
  Speaker 5: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
• 35:03
  Speaker 5: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
• 35:08
  Speaker 5: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: to look my way.
• 35:16
  Speaker 4: You don't have to be.
• 35:18
  Speaker 5: My home It's enough to know you're living In a world.
• 35:24
  Speaker 4: I'm not alone I won't chase you through the distance
• 35:33
  Speaker 4: Won't disturb your chosen life. I'll just keep you in
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: my silence like a star that shines at night. Through
• 35:44
  Speaker 4: the dark and through the blue.
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: I still think of you. You don't have to be
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: my home.
• 36:01
  Speaker 4: It's enough to know you're living.
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: In a world I'm not alone.
• 36:37
  Speaker 4: I don't need to be your light I don't need
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: to cross your mind All I need is just the
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: truth That you're somewhere.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: Still alive.
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: to look my way You don't have to be my
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: home It's enough to know you're living
• 37:18
  Speaker 4: In a world I'm not alone.