Down.

Gone, [music]

gone.

Now my [singing] sin is dead and gone.

And I sing hallelujah.

[singing]

Done. Dawn. [music]

Jesus. [singing]

And I sing hallelujah.

[singing]

Oh.

[singing]

Oh, man. Well, hello everybody. Good to

see you.

Good to report that we didn't lose

anybody at the beach last week.

I hope no one came here uh last Sunday

expecting to find us on our two two time

two Sundays a year we're away. Uh

usually one Sunday in July we go to the

beach and we have baptisms and a

barbecue and a nice day um there. And

then at the chus Sunday we're always at

a picnic in the park next to the river.

So if it's those two Sundays we're not

going to be here. Other than that we're

open 50 Sundays a year. Yeah. So we're

still here. We're still doing that. So

praise praise Jesus for those things.

And I'm so grateful that it was last

Sunday for our beach day and not today

because it is hot. It is last week was

like the most perfect weather. I mean,

it rained for a little bit, but it was

really fantastic and wonderful. Um, and

then I have the great praise report that

uh I did get three-year visa. So, I'm

very very grateful that I got three-year

visa. Um, it's my first time ever to get

a three-year visa. So uh the prayer

really did work and really did help

because there's no there's no

explanation there's no criteria from

which they like you would know I qualify

for one year two year three year they

can give you up to five years it's

solely at their discretion and um so I'm

just very grateful that God put the

right people with the right favor and I

didn't know until I actually received

it. So they they didn't I just knew I

got my visa accepted I didn't know how

long. So I'm very very grateful for

that. So um praise Jesus for those

things. Um at the same time as we're

here in summer and you know welcome all

of our guests and our visitors um

friends who come and visit us in the

summertime and then people who are

first-time visitors who found us. Uh

we're really grateful that you're here.

um you know with the transition of

summer and the transition um even in our

own community right now it it's a very

interesting time because uh we just had

to say goodbye to some friends uh who

have moved to Canada and say goodbye to

other friends who who've moved on to the

next stage of which God has called them

to do and so we just had like too many

people in the same exact week like the

Lord moved on so like summer is this

season of change and transition. And I

don't know how you are with change and

transition. Um, but I'm not necessar And

it's kind of shocking, but I'm really

not good with change. Like I'm the

person who who traveled like four years

non-stop. You know, the Lord sent me out

on an outreach uh and uh I just it just

kept going and going and I slept in over

like 450 beds. But that was like normal

because it was the normal

the change now all of the sudden when

you when you start to adjust and you

start to have different seasons and and

then there's so much change thrust upon

you like what do you do what do you do

when you're in that season of pruning

the season I saw I watched as the the

trees were the the trees the trucks were

trimming the the um yko trees actually

just down the street here and uh I I was

I was watching that and I thought, "Oh,

it's that season." And I'm like, "Oh,

there's still an electrical wire." So,

they're always like trimming because

they don't want there to be a fire and

they're and they're trimming for for

these different things. But this is a

season in which the Lord prunes

and the Lord prunes and that we might be

able to grow. And then the world is in a

season like it's every other week. We

don't know which new war is happening.

We don't know which new crisis is about

to happen. We don't know, you know,

somebody else comes up and like this is

the week that the all the stock market's

going to crash and this is the week that

the housing is going to crash and this

is the week that there's going to be a

next uh uh terrorist attack and then oh

that there's there's no war this week

and then there's war again next week and

and and it's just this constant cycle

of like where are we standing

and what do we stand and what do we do

in those times?

What do we do as a community? What do we

do as followers of Jesus? What do we do?

Who do we look to and look for? And as

long as we're looking to Jesus,

as long as our eyes are fixed on him and

and we sing these wonderful songs, you

know, about about Jesus and come and

break every chain and and all hail King

Jesus. But when we stop to really think

about like what this means, what does it

mean to look at him? What does it mean

to be standing on the solid rock? What

does it actually mean to truly hail King

Jesus?

And I had like four different people or

five different people in my life from

somebody in Japan, our friend Cudday in

Wales, um somebody from America, another

person um as if Alaska is not America,

but you know, sometimes you think Alaska

is not America. You know, you get you

get another, you know, encouragement

there and then a few people in Korea and

it was all almost the exact same

message.

Don't look at the prune branches.

[clears throat] Don't look at the season

of of uncertainty. Look to Jesus. Look

to the vine dresser. Look to the king.

And all of this was I I got all of these

words from in over two days this last

week after the Lord changed my message

for this week. So this week I was

actually going to be teaching on

something else and then on Monday the

Lord's like no there's been too much

uncertainty and there's a bit of anxiety

and he's talking about my own heart. So

if he's talking about my heart I can

imagine some of your hearts as well

and then I got these words

look to Jesus

look to Jesus. So, I started meditating

upon that. Like, in my life,

there's even this one Christian grandma

influencer. I love the fact that there's

like grandma influencers because we need

grandma influencers.

And and she she was even talking about,

you know, she's like she's 85 years old

and she says, "You know, the thing that

I realized looking back in my life is

that more than half of the things that I

worried about never ever came close to

happening.

and I can't get any of those days back.

I can't get one of those days back. I

can't get one of those hours back.

She's like, you just need Jesus.

And I thought, okay, even the grandma

influencers having the same message like

my algorithms are being used by Holy

Spirit to speak to to heart.

And Jesus is something spectacular and

wonderful.

Because our God isn't a distant God. Our

God isn't unknowable. Our God like we

can know him and we can have intimacy

with him and he has given us his word

that we have his word that has been

found in history and in time and in

culture that we have been tested and

been proven that we would have a

confidence in the actual scriptures on

which we are basing who our God is. But

then we have thousands of years of

testimony of the saints of the people

who have said these were the words of

God. This is who our God says he is. And

guess what? This is who our God actually

is.

The whole world right now it seems like

it feels like as a Jew that the whole

world is looking to the Jewish people as

if once again we are Satan on earth. Now

there are a lot of Jews who do a lot of

very bad things

just like everybody who doesn't know the

Lord sins horribly and horrifically.

But the thing that is missed is that God

said you need to look to Israel

because Israel is the one in whom he has

released his revelation to. So that way

you have hope because why? You don't

look at Israel and go, "Wow, aren't

they?" Okay, Korea. Okay, true story. 20

years ago, 18 years ago, when I was

coming to Korea, it was like Jewish,

wow, so smart. Oh, so rich. Oh, so

successful. And I would say because you

don't know the dumb, stupid, poor ones.

I can introduce you to some if you want.

Oh, Jewish education the best.

And now on the news it's like Israel is

evil. Jewish people are evil.

And this is a plan of the enemy to twist

in the hearts of people about who our

God truly is. It is a humbling thing to

submit your life to Jesus. It's a

humbling thing to declare that he is

Lord and King. It's a humbling thing to

say that he chose one man, Abraham, and

then he allowed him to have one son,

Isaac, who then chose one son, Jacob,

who then chose his 12 sons. And they

weren't all fantastic individuals or

being, you know, they were lots and lots

of sin.

But God is not consumed

with what we're not

because he knows if we have him, we have

everything.

When we have him, we are in this place

of continuous

perfection in him. Because of him, not

because of me.

I can never be perfect just me.

Israel can never be perfect without God.

Yet because Israel exists, it is a sign

to the world that he is a faithful God.

Not because of Israel's righteousness,

but because of his righteousness.

Because of what he did,

Israel sinned. He says, "Don't do that.

They did it." He said, "Don't do that."

They did it again. He said, "I'm really

telling you, don't do that." And then,

"Okay, thank you, Babylon. Carry them

away.

There's going to be some epic movie. Did

you guys watch the trailer about Daniel?

On YouTube, if you're curious, there's a

brand new movie coming out about the

life of Daniel that looks quite epic

and, you know, very amazing. So, I'm

hoping that it's good. I'm hoping, but

I'm hoping it's more like chosen good

versus House of David bad. Like, I don't

know if you've watched any of those

shows. It's a season in which God is

revealing things through this creative

medium, the scriptures, that we would

know about his faithfulness.

His faithfulness to three young men who

were carried away into a foreign land,

who were raised by a foreign king with

foreign gods

and commanded to sin, yet they didn't

sin.

And God prevailed.

than a man Daniel who was taken away and

forced to become a unic.

Yet God spoke and used and used him

mightily for his kingdom

because he would not turn his back on

God.

And we're living in this day and this

time

that those who grab a hold of Jesus and

keep Jesus and hug onto Jesus and learn

about Jesus and and ingest his words and

believe his words and actually act on

his words.

It's going to be so important to have

this foundation that can't be shook.

How many of you have ever had financial

difficulties in your life?

Okay, three and a half. All four, five,

six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11. Okay,

almost everybody. Yay.

How many of you had health issues in

your life?

How many of you have watched somebody

else get the miracle

while you're waiting for a miracle?

And how many people have watched your

miracle while they're waiting for a

miracle?

This is the life with Jesus.

See, if we just keep focusing on me, if

we keep focusing on my problem, if we

just keep focusing on my situation, if

we keep focusing on my season and these

things, then then we get tunnel vision

and we get blinded. We get jaded. We

start to question where is God? Why did

God let this happen in my life? Why is

God doing this to me? And then you start

like highlighting. And it's amazing that

when people start to question like why

is God allowing bad things to happen to

me, they always compare and contrast

that to unrighteous people

getting what they perceive as benefit?

Why is it that that person has more

money? Why is it that person has a

better house? Why is it that that person

and and and they always use these

examples of people who don't know God

because you can't compare and contrast

your situation to somebody who is

following Jesus. It's very difficult

like oh does God love you more than love

me? Well, no. God loves you. And if God

loves you, God loves me. And if I can

rejoice in what he's doing in your life,

then I can hold on to the truth and

wait, as we talked about two weeks ago,

in the hope of what Jesus is going to do

in my own life.

I've gone through seasons of

of almost nothing

in my life. Both as a child, as a

teenager, as a young adult, as a

missionary,

I've gone through these seasons of truly

not getting any money

and having to totally be dependent upon

how is it going to happen this month?

How is it going to happen?

I remember in like 2008

Yeah. 2008 2009 I lost 100% of my

support as a missionary. 100% gone.

Like what am I going to do? What am I

going to do? God is good.

God will provide.

God will create a miracle. God will do

something. And he did. He He created a

miracle. He created a path. And all of a

sudden, did I get like millions of

dollars? No. I just got enough for the

now.

that I could look at that 23rd Psalm

where it says that he leads me to the

green pasture

to discover that my shepherd truly can

take me to make sure that I get what I

need

because we know in the 23rd Psalm when

we think about that leads me to the

green pastures it's not like in the

middle of Wales or UK right where you're

going back Taiwan's leaving very soon

too make sure that you get lots of love

with him. He's only got a few weeks left

before he and Dong and Eden go back to

UK to back to their life as

missionaries. Um, and things that God

has, you know, he's blessed us with an

extended stay that we weren't

anticipating.

But when he he's he spends a lot of time

in Wales, like uh very close to where I

spent a lot of time in Wales, which is

there's, you know, again, I think more

sheep than people. and you just see and

it's so open and there's fields and you

can go through the mountains and the

fields and you'll see flocks and flocks

of sheep and and open space. It's not

like Korea at all.

But that's also not like what David grew

up with when he wrote that 23rd Psalm.

He wasn't thinking of those three weeks

out of the year in which the fields

actually have grass in Israel.

But it's like this time of year

when there's no grass

and there's only enough dew from the

coolness of the ocean air at night that

wets the ground that allows the smallest

amounts of of little bit of sprouting

that comes up. And he leads the sheep

and they get to have a few more morsels

of food. And then he leads the sheep and

then they get a few more moist morsels

of food. And then he leads the sheep and

then they get he he's leading them to

their bites of food, their bites of

sustenance, their bites. So that way by

the end of the day

they've had enough.

And that's the way that the Lord like

and I and I've received that. I know

that.

And I've watched as people have been

healed miraculously of tumors and

cancer. I was in a worship service and I

and a woman had a tumor on the side of

her neck and her head was like this and

nobody was praying for her. And we all

watched as this tumor completely just

melted and disappeared.

But then I've had like this is this week

is like around the one-year anniversary

of a very dear friend who passed away

last summer

who desperately loved Jesus and served

God with all of her heart and ser their

home served the Lord and their family

serves the Lord and the generations

serve the Lord and yet

she wasn't healed on this earth

but she is face to face with Jesus her

beloved.

And then now her husband is actually

terminal cancer right now.

And so you kind of go through these

things that's you have absolutely no

control over it whatsoever.

And if we focus

on our need, we'll be like the first

century church. A lot of people say, "I

want to be like the first century

church." I think the first century

church was amazing. And I think if you

were meant to live like the first

century church, you would have been

alive during the first century.

But then most of your ancestors weren't

anywhere near Jerusalem. So I don't know

what you would have done.

But they had problems and they had

squables and they fought over money and

they fought over alms and they fought

over, you know, the the handouts and

they fought over time and they fought

over like proceeds and they they they

tried to hide. They tried to steal. They

tried to covet. They and and the

[clears throat] widows and the orphans

and and people who who your heart would

just bleed for. They were fighting one

another and each other because everybody

was looking. It's not fair. I don't have

enough. Why did they get it before I got

it?

This is a problem in Korea. We all know

this, right? Korea, no matter how great

Korea is and how like developed and

blessed Korea is, they still have a

poverty mentality when it comes to

stuff. And it's very clear, you show up

and you give and one person gets

something free and everybody else is

like, why didn't where's mine?

I want mine. I think that's why like the

driving is like the way that it is, too.

Like, you know, like I have to get that

light. that light has to be mine and

I'll cut off everybody else to make sure

I get the light before other people get

the light. And you know there it's just

this something that that is still here

because there's that fear of that was

ingrained for so many centuries of there

not being enough. So you got to get it

when you can get it.

But is that our God?

Is that our King? Is that our Lord? Is

that what we want to be the basis of who

we are?

I don't want to live in a life of fear,

of anxiety. I don't want to live a life

of fear because of of of sickness or

because of of wealth or or the lack

thereof.

And so Luke 12:22,

now this is a story you all know. This

is a passage that almost everybody has

heard. And you know why we have to hear

it again?

Because we're sheep. And sheep are what?

Thank you. Sheep are stupid.

But we can hear the voice of God, the

voice of our shepherd calling out

and bringing comfort to our hearts.

And Jesus said to his disciples,

"Therefore I tell you," do not be

anxious about your life,

what you will eat, nor about your body,

what you will put on. For life is more

than food, and the body is more than

clothing.

Consider the ravens. They neither snow

sew nor reap. They have neither

storehouse nor barn. And yet God feeds

them. of how much more value are you

than birds?

Jesus is leading us somewhere, I think.

What is your value?

What is your worth?

What's your self worth?

What's your identity worth? What's your

heart worth? What's your life worth?

I have some very dear friends of mine.

And um they're very very progressive

liberal friends. Love them dearly.

And they're very very confused by my

life because I live out the principles

that they say they stand up for, but

then they absolutely don't do anything

to actually support. They don't support

any poor. They don't support anyone in

need. They don't like volunteer or give

help. They actually say like everything

I have I worked for.

This is all mine.

Not understanding

that the very blessings that have opened

up the doors to their very careers or

the ability to have homes and families

and stability and to live in a country

of stabil stability and excess and all

these things that it all kind comes from

somewhere that goes beyond you and your

individual work. We are all people who

are in the process of stewarding these

things of God. We are stewarding this

world. We're stewarding this community.

We're stewarding our resources. We're

stewarding our families.

Those of you who have children,

you did nothing to actually bring this

child into the world.

God called these children into the

world. Just as he called each one of you

at the appointed time, in the right

moment, God said, "Let there be life."

And you lived.

And then someone stewarded you, someone

took care, someone instructed hopefully

well.

But I know some of your stories and not

everybody had really good stewards or

teachers or helpers or parents or

pastors.

But some of you had amazing parents and

amazing teachers and amazing pastors.

And we can't be we have to be people who

find Jesus

around us, who find what the Lord has

done around us, that we gain his

character in his heart, that we steward

these things

because he thinks you're more valuable

than any bird.

He thinks you're more valuable than

anything.

My friend in Japan sent me this prayer.

Yet

Jesus loved you yet while you were still

a sinner.

And sometimes we struggle. We think

like, okay, God blessed me now and oh

no, God's God's taking away. It must be

because I'm a bad sinner.

I'm a filthy sinner. I'm a dirty sinner.

I'm a losing sinner. So therefore, God

is taking everything away because I'm

just a such a bad

what what do I have to do, God, that you

won't take anymore away.

He's like, I loved you

even when you were still in sin. How

much more can we relate to his love once

we've actually received it?

Verse

25. And which of you by being anxious

can add a single hour to his span of

life?

If then you are not able to do as small

a thing as that,

why are you anxious about the rest?

We have to ask ourselves these

questions. Again, I I do this all the

time for me because Anxiety runs in my

family. I don't know about others. I

know some but not others. But like panic

attacks, anxiety, depression, um these

things run very very high in my family

line.

And I don't want to be ruled by it.

And so I always whenever this anxiety

and usually anxiety and wants to lead to

depression starts to come up, I have to

ask myself,

is this a temporary thing or is this an

eternal thing?

And I used to be a very very serious

missionary, you know, I was very

serious.

We're on the front lines for God.

and every single school and every single

like Bible school and and outreach and

everything we're do like this is life

and death and if we get it wrong people

are going to go to hell because we're

doing it wrong and we got it wrong and

we're and and it it just I remember

feeling guilty of taking half a day off

to have to do grocery shopping and

laundry.

Really true. I felt like it was a waste

of time, like I should be doing more for

God.

And it was like so

anxietydriven.

And the Lord started to teach me and he

started to take me and he started to

have patience patience so much patience

with me.

And he asked this question. Is this an

eternal issue

or is this a temporal issue?

He's like, "But it's outreach." He goes,

"Well, who is the God of the outreach?"

He came born of a virgin, lived a

perfect life, died one of the most

horrific deaths the world has ever

conceived, was laid in the grave, rose

from the dead victoriously,

and is alive to this day in the fullness

of authority and the fullness of power

and the fullness of glory. And I'm

worried that I'm gonna mess it up.

You know, in in Jerusalem, have you seen

pictures of like where the the old city

of Jerusalem is today? And if you look

and you can see like from the Mount of

Olives going to the old city where the

the Dome of the Rock is and the the

mosque and things like that. And in

front of the the eastern gate, there's a

Arab cemetery. There's a Muslim cemetery

that they put in front of the gate. And

the reason they put that cemetery in

front of the gate was they they they

know in the Torah it says that a priest

is not allowed to walk through a

graveyard.

And it's true. A a Levite

is not allowed to walk through a

graveyard.

But Jesus is from the tribe of Judah.

And he's of the high priest of the order

of Melkisedc, a different type of high

priest. He's not bound by the Levitical

Torah, he supersedes it, higher

authority.

And so, but in their mindset was this,

just in case the Bible was true, and

just in case he actually does come back

to the Mount of Olives, the same place

he went up, and he comes to Jerusalem

where it says he's supposed to walk

through the eastern gate, the golden

gate. And he's just in case when he does

all that, he comes down with his glory

and his feet touch the earth and, you

know, there's shouting and there's

trumpets and the world is paying

attention. And then he go, "There's a

graveyard.

I gotta go back.

What am I gonna do? There's a grave." I

thought he can raise every single one of

those bodies if he needs to get them out

of the way. You know, like he's when he

rose from the dead, you know, like

people came out of the grave. But the me

that that kind of mentality of like how

can we keep or keep God from being

victorious when he's already the victor?

How can we keep and ruin God's plan when

he's the one who orchestrates the plan

from the beginning? When he told Elijah,

"I have 4,000 more who have not bowed

down. I'm just choosing to work with

you." When we start to move our place

out of the primacy, we are not the

primary importance in the kingdom of

God. Jesus is.

He is what is the most important.

And I have to be reminded about that

because, you know, I get worried.

Am I going to make my plane on time?

We don't like to be inconvenienced, but

we might be inconvenienced.

We don't want to suffer, but you know

what? You might suffer. We don't want

hardship, but you know what? You're

going to go through hardship.

Those

are promises that Jesus has already

made.

And I don't know, enjoy it

because the only hardship you're ever

going to have is now.

The only time

I'm assuming everybody in the room at

some point has been sick

and has gotten well the way God created

our bodies to heal.

That's not going to happen in heaven

because you're already going to be in a

new body and in a new form and in a new

way. There's not going to be tears.

There's not going to be pain. There's

not going to be death. There's not going

to be sickness. There's not going to be

wars. There's not going to be

persecution. There's not going to be

problems. There's not going to be

personality conflicts. There's not going

to be depression or worry. Like, all of

that is temporal. It's temporary. It is

only for a finite time.

So, we have to stop ourselves and pull

ourselves back from the rabbit hole of

anxiety.

What now? What now? What now?

Does that absolve us from any planning?

No. Does that mean we don't take the

right steps and we still don't? No. Of

course, we still must plan. We still

must move forward. We still must do

things. God wants to use us. God wants

you to be the place of the extension of

the kingdom of God here. He wants your

life to be the example of the restored

kingdom here. He Jesus came to not just

save. He came to save and to restore.

That was the dual aspect of the Messiah

when he came.

So so much time in evangelical are

thinking we only get fixated on the

salvation part. It's like get yeah let's

just get saved and then everybody will

get to heaven and then like we don't

have to worry about this world. No,

Jesus became king of the whole world. He

wants the whole world to be coming by uh

influenced by his principles and his

ways and his laws. He wants our lives to

be changed forever to be more like him.

He wants the world to see

what happens when there is a storm. What

happens when there is persecution?

That's our Jesus. That's our God.

So consider the liies and how they grow.

They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell

you, even Solomon in all of his glory

was not a raid like one of these.

Solomon would be so jealous of my shirt

today.

He didn't have this nice lightweight

fabric like we have.

If you're not able, no.

But if God so clothe the grass which is

alive in the field today and tomorrow is

thrown into the oven, how much more will

he clothe you,

oh you of little faith?

Now how do you read the voice of God?

Oh,

such little faith.

I go.

He's like the uncle

and the joyful grandpa.

I know something you don't.

I know something you don't know.

That it's okay. you with just a little

faith because he already taught us just

a little bit of faith and you can change

the whole world. We just need a little

faith.

Yeah. He actually said, "I have a little

faith." He could have said, "You with no

faith," but he said, "I have a little

faith." Yeah. That's fantastic.

Because with this little faith and then

beginning to challenge the words of

Jesus,

we can have more faith, more examples,

more testimony, more times of his

goodness. So do not seek what you are to

eat and what are you to drink, nor be

worried.

For all the nations of the world seek

after these things, and your father

knows that you need them.

He already knows what you need.

For all the nations of the world seek

after these things, and your father

knows that you need them. Instead, seek

his kingdom,

and these things will be added to you.

Look to the king. Look to the eyes of

the king. Look to the heart of the king.

Look to the character of the king. Hold

on to who he is.

Hide that in the depth of your soul and

your spirit.

And don't let the voice of the world, of

the enemy,

of your past, of your old man come and

try to steal the truth of who God says

we are.

Fear not, little flock,

for it is your father's good pleasure to

give you the kingdom.

He wants

you are in this world because there is a

part of your life which is the

restoration of God's kingdom that the

world needs.

Whether that is you who received the

miracle or you who live life in the

midst of waiting for a miracle. You who

have plenty and are generous or you who

have none and are still generous.

Whether you have the best parents who

showed you a true picture of who father

God is or you had parents

whom you have to break off every

generational curse that you would become

the first generation in Christ to

transform the generations that come

after you.

We are not all we are all called to be

the light of God.

But the king and his pleasure to give

you his kingdom is on his time and in

his way. So don't discount what the

kingdom of God has been released in your

life already. Don't discount the

testimony and the light of what Jesus

has because when you focus on what you

don't have, you lose what you do have.

He already knows what you don't have.

He knows

So let's be grateful and thankful and

focus on what we don't.

So sell your possessions

and give to the needy. Provide

yourselves with money bags that do not

grow old, with a treasure in the heavens

that does not fail. Where no thief

approaches and no moth destroys. For

where your treasure is, there your heart

will be also.

Don't let anyone manipulate you with

this passage.

I know people whom God said, "Sell your

house and give everything away to the

poor."

And they did. And their family still

thrived. And their children still grew

up loving the Lord and serving God all

these days. And I've known people who

believed, "Oh, I should sell everything

that I have." and were resentful every

single day. Bitter every day that they

gave up the life that they had.

God doesn't want you to live a resentful

life or a bitter life.

But he wants you to be taking up and

understanding where is your treasure and

what is your treasure.

If you're only consumed with storing

treasure on this earth, you have gained

nothing.

But if you use your treasure, your life,

your skills, your gifts, your time, your

family, and your resources

for his glory,

then you will gain so much more than you

ever could have imagined.

I try to be an optimist

because I grew up a pessimist.

God challenged me in my 20s to try to

change my thinking from being a negative

to being a positive. From being a

complainer

to being a praiser to being someone who

is grateful instead of somebody who is

only seeing what I don't have

and he's transformed my life because of

it. He generally gen genuinely

has done that.

So I want to encourage you.

We all have anxiety in different ways

and we all worry in different ways and

we all can get anxious in different ways

and we all sin in different ways and we

all struggle in different ways.

So this isn't about a comparison,

but it's about the Holy Spirit doing a

work in you that you don't look at the

thing that is causing you to be anxious,

but instead begin to look to him. That

we look to Jesus, we look to his face,

and we look to who he is.

And we need to be reminded

again and again and again. So even me,

I still

have to look at myself in the mirror and

have to ask the Lord and have to be

vulnerable with friends so that they way

they can say it's time to pull your head

out from you know and look to the

heavens

to be encouraged.

So I want you guys to be encouraged

today. I want you to encourage each

other.

So even as we come to a co a close

our discussion groups so um right after

the the the the preaching and things are

done we we move into a time of

discussion groups and um you're more

than welcome to stay and to participate

in that. Um and if you have to go you're

more than free to also be able to go.

But um today's questions I really wanted

like what areas of your life are you

anxious about?

I want you to be as real as you can be

without monopolizing the whole time.

We don't need to know every detail of

your anxiety.

God already knows. However,

I do think it's important that we can

share and be honest because the next

part is something that I'm hoping that

you will actually work into your life to

use as you are a light in your workplace

and in your family life and in your

friend life and in the community

wherever God has sent you that we would

look up scriptures

to encourage each other.

And there's a wonderful thing called

smartphones which I think everybody has.

And there is even Wi-Fi. If you need

Wi-Fi and you don't have it, there's a

Wi-Fi code somewhere back there and you

can use Wi-Fi. So, you can actually

search unique scriptures of

encouragement. And I want you to pray

those scriptures over one another. And

what do I mean by praying those

scriptures is let's believe the word of

God as a light and an encouragement to

you.

And that when you're reading this

scripture, you would like read it over

each one of you. So, we're doing it just

slightly different today.

But I want to let's just take a moment.

Relieve

you of this temporal anxiety

and this temporal worry.

May he teach you how to put it at the

foot of the cross

where he carries your burdens.

And may you receive from his hand the

healing,

emotional healing, psychological

healing, spiritual healing, physical

healing

for you to know how valuable you are.

May you come into the season of

discovering what does it mean when it

says it was the father's pleasure to

give you the kingdom.

May God concretely

and practically put before you how you

are to expand his kingdom and his

goodness.

So we bless you, oh Lord,

the one who goes before and the one who

comes behind.

the one who watches over are coming in

and are going out. And may you rise up,

O Lord.

Let your enemies be scattered.

Let your people come forth as you shine

like the noon sun.

Strengthen your people in Jesus name I

pray. Amen.

Shalom, Crossway fam. So good to see

you. It's awesome to see so many

visitors. I'm not sure if it's the Holy

Spirit or the Holy Heat that brought you

into this cool sanctuary, but we're so

glad you could worship with us. We just

have a couple quick announcements. This

week, we have two uh gatherings as

always. On Tuesday, we have a Bible

study at 8:00 PM led by Pastor Ian on

the how to do a Bible study, how to read

the Bible. And on Wednesday at 8:00 PM,

we have a prayer meeting as well. We're

transitioning on to Discord. So, we've

used Zoom and Kaka before.

On July 26, we're going to have I don't

think we have a slide for that. We're

going to have a all church prayer

meeting. We had one two weeks ago and it

was amazing. So, it's for all our church

members, but visitors are welcome to

stay and pray with us as well. So,

Pastor Matthew already went through the

discussion questions, but what areas of

your life are you anxious about? um look

up scriptures together and encourage one

another and pray those scriptures over

one another. So if our regular crossway

family members could reach out to our

visitors. Um yeah, so if you guys could

stand up and get into groups of three,

no more than three, please. We have 30

minutes to discuss. Thank you so much.

Oh, if you have to go, that's okay, too.

with that. Um, go ahead and rise. I just

want to bless you.

May the spirit of the sovereign Lord be

upon you. May he anoint you for good

things.

May he give you beauty in the oil of

gladness.

May he give you comfort

and give you strength. May his light

shine through you and may your oil never

run dry. May the goodness of God go

before you and may you proclaim his

goodness all the days.

Be blessed in Jesus name. Amen. Have an

amazing week everybody. Keeping the

blessing as you are a blessing.