Breaking the Momentum of Anxiety

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♪ And wonders of His love ♪ ♪ And wonders of His love ♪ ♪ We will sing joy, all together ♪ ♪ We will sing joy, we will sing joy, joy to the world ♪ ♪ We will sing joy, we will sing joy ♪ ♪ We will sing joy, joy to the world ♪ ♪ Joy to the world we will sing joy, joy to the world ♪ ♪ We will sing joy, joy to the world, joy to the world ♪ Are you glad you came to church this morning? Man, it is so great to be here with you today. If I haven't met you, my name is Micah. And today, if you didn't know, as a church, we're celebrating Advent. And all that means is we're celebrating Christ's coming, but also anticipating his second. So here in just a minute, one of our congregants, his name is Robert Archuleta. He's gonna come out and light the peace candle and lead us in a time of scripture reading. But as we continue, we'll do so as we always do by reading a call to worship. And if you're here most weeks, you would know we normally pull these call of worships out of the book of Psalms. But today we're gonna read the Nicene Creed. So the Nicene Creed, if you're unaware, is just a statement of our core beliefs as followers of Jesus. You see, this creed was actually written in response to a poor belief that began to sweep

through the early church. And that belief was that Jesus was made and not begotten. And if you think about the ripple effect of that, if Jesus were to be made and not begotten, that would mean he's not God. That would mean he doesn't have the power to save us from our sins, that he's not the King of kings or the Lord of lords. And so the universal church for centuries has unified around the Nicene Creed as an affirmation that Jesus Christ is King and Lord. So as our invitation into worship today, we're gonna read this and my hope for you is that you will let your faith, your belief in God form this time of worship this morning. Let's turn our eyes towards the screen and let's read the Nicene Creed together. We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him, all things were made for us and for our salvation. He came down from heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit. He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried.

On the third day, he rose again in accordance with the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in the universal and apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come in the church of Jesus Christ said today. Amen, amen. Can we take just a minute to give him praise in this place? Thank you, Lord, for your goodness, for being who you are, unchanging, unfailing. We worship you today. In the darkness, you were waiting Without hope and without light Till from heaven you came running And there was mercy in your eyes ♪ To fulfill the law and prophets ♪ ♪ To a virgin came the Word ♪ ♪ From a throne of endless glory ♪ ♪ To a cradle in the dirt ♪

Come on, let's all sing it together. ♪ So praise the Father and praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ To the King of kings ♪ ♪ To reveal the kingdom coming ♪ ♪ And to reconcile the lost ♪ ♪ To redeem the whole creation ♪ ♪ For you did not despise the cross ♪ ♪ For even in your suffering ♪ ♪ You sought to the other side ♪ ♪ No weakness was our salvation ♪ ♪ Jesus for our sake you died ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus. ♪ So praise the Father and praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ In the morning that you rose ♪ ♪ All of heaven held its breath ♪ ♪ Till that stone was moved for good ♪ ♪ For the Lamb had conquered death ♪ ♪ And the dead rose from their tombs ♪ ♪ And the angels stood in awe ♪ ♪ For the souls of all who'd come ♪ ♪ To the Father are restored, amen ♪ ♪ And the Church of Christ was born ♪ ♪ And then the Spirit lit the flame ♪ ♪ Now this gospel, the truth of all ♪

♪ Shine on me Lord, shine on me ♪ ♪ By His blood and in His name ♪ ♪ Oh in His freedom I am free ♪ ♪ For the love of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Who has resurrected me ♪ ♪ So praise the Father, and praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ Oh God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord forever to your King, oh praise Him ♪ ♪ Oh praise the Father, and praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ Oh God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to your King, oh praise Him ♪ ♪ Praise forever to your King, oh praise Him ♪ ♪ Oh praise the Father, and praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ Oh God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to your King, oh praise Him ♪ ♪ Oh God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to your King, oh praise Him ♪ ♪ Oh God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to your King, oh praise Him ♪ ♪ Oh God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to your King, oh praise Him ♪ We have three sons, one daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren. ♪ Oh God of glory, majesty ♪ We currently serve on the prayer team, and we partner with Church on the Move for marriage ♪ Praise forever to your King, oh praise Him ♪ mentorship. We have been here for 15 years, and that time we were so blessed and fortunate to have created

♪ Oh God of glory, majesty ♪ so many relationships in our church community. Because of that, we have been able to experience peace knowing that we have brothers and sisters in Christ that believe in prayer and the Word of God the way we do. Today I get to talk about peace. Today we share in the lighting of the candle of peace as we continue our journey through the Advent season, celebrating the arrival of Christ our Lord. A reading from Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 through 20. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. This is the Word of the Lord. In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, and my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. And what heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease. My comforter and my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand. In Christ alone, who took on the flesh, fullness of God in helpless pain. This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones He came to save. Till on that cross had Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on Him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live. There in the ground His body lay, light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again. And as He stands in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me.

For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ. Oh hallelujah, oh hallelujah, oh hallelujah. I stand. Oh, hallelujah. Sing hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. Here in the power of Christ, I stand. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Here in the power of Christ, I stand. No guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. And no power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand. Till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ, I'll stand. We worship you, Jesus. We give you praise today. Thank you, Father. Come on, let's just lift our hands and sing this old hymn. Holy, holy, holy. Merciful and mighty. God in three persons. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Merciful and mighty. God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Oh, God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. Hallelujah. We see Christ and Christ crucified in you. We rise from death to life. We see Christ and Christ crucified. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. ♪ No shame is stronger than your love ♪ ♪ Cause you said it's finished, it is done ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Death couldn't keep you in the ground ♪ ♪ Cause you rose in power, made truth undone ♪ ♪ And our power's within us now ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing Christ, yeah Christ, crucified in you ♪ ♪ We raise the dead to life ♪ ♪ We sing Christ, yeah Christ, crucified by you ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ We sing Christ, yeah Christ, crucified in you ♪ ♪ We raise the dead to life ♪ ♪ We sing Christ, yeah Christ, crucified by you ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, hallelujah ♪

♪ We sing Christ, yeah Christ, crucified by you ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ Can we lift up our hands across this place today? As God saved you, as he healed you, as he redeemed you from your past. ♪ Death couldn't hold you down ♪ ♪ Hell, it couldn't steal your crown ♪ ♪ And death's resurrection power ♪ ♪ In your name, in your name ♪ ♪ Let all the earth cry out ♪ ♪ Let all the holy sound again ♪ ♪ All the glory now to Jesus' name, Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Death couldn't hold you down ♪ ♪ Hell, it couldn't steal your crown ♪ ♪ And death's resurrection power ♪ ♪ In your name, in your name ♪ ♪ Let all the earth cry out ♪ ♪ Let all the holy sound again ♪ ♪ All the glory now to Jesus' name, Jesus' name ♪ ♪ We sing Christ, Christ, crucified in you ♪ ♪ We raise from death to life ♪ ♪ We sing Christ, Christ, crucified in you ♪ ♪ We sing Christ, Christ, crucified in you ♪ ♪ We raise from death to life ♪ ♪ We sing Christ, Christ, crucified in you ♪ There is no one like you, Jesus Christ. There is no one like you. There is none beside you. Our Lord, our King, our Savior. You have redeemed us.

You have called us yours. And so Lord, today we worship you. Worship you for the gift of giving yourself to us. Allowing yourself to be crucified. You subjected yourself to that pain willingly for us. And so Lord, today we say thank you. Lord, today we receive the life, the hope, the healing power available to us because of what you accomplished on the cross. Be glorified with our lives. In your name today, amen, amen, amen. Would you clap your hands together? Thank you Lord for your goodness. Man, I love worshiping with you guys. Why don't you do this? Greet the people you're seated next to. Keep things moving today. Well, hello church family. So good to see you. And as Micah said, always great to worship with you. One more time, can we celebrate? 27 people being baptized this weekend. I cannot think of a better weekend to celebrate baptisms than week two of Advent when we're talking about peace and the fact that we are reconciled to God through a relationship with Jesus. So we're thrilled for everyone who's taken that step. Also this weekend, we have our very own Pastor Britton Bishop with us. Pastor Britton, he's doing such a good job

with our students at 180. We're really looking forward to hearing from him in just a moment. But before he joins us, I would love to welcome anyone who's here for the first time. So if you're new to church on the move, we're so glad that you're with us. In fact, would you let us know that you're here by texting the word new to 23101. We're gonna send you a Chick-fil-A gift card on us and we'd love to invite you to come back and be a part of what's happening here. Really the best way to find out more about who we are as a church and how you can get involved in this church family is by coming to our monthly Next Move gathering. And it's hard to believe our last Next Move of the year is happening next Sunday right after this 1130 service. When you come to Next Move, you get to meet Pastor Witt and the rest of our ministry leaders. We love getting to meet you as well and hearing more about your story. So come share a meal with us. If you wanna get signed up for that, just text next to 23101. We would love to see you there. That's happening next Sunday. Also, we are only two weeks away from the kickoff of our Christmas concerts happening December 20th through the 24th.

And if you've never experienced Christmas with us before, it is a really beautiful and fun time for the whole family. So we wanna let you know the service times are gonna be different on that Saturday and Sunday. So Saturday will be at four and six, then Sunday at nine and 11. We won't have any Christmas concerts that Monday. Then Tuesday the 23rd and Wednesday the 24th, there'll be two services on both of those days at four and six. All eight of those Christmas concerts are going to be exactly the same. So hopefully you've been thinking about who you can bring to one of those concerts with you. Really, there's never gonna be an easier invite opportunity than to ask someone to come experience Christmas with us. So if you'd like to, you can grab a couple of the invite cards on your way out and bring some with you this Christmas. We would love to see you there. Well, before we move on with the rest of our service, we wanna take a moment right now to honor God with our giving. And maybe you're new to church and you're curious about why we give. Well, we believe as the people of God that everything that we have in our lives, including our time and our resources, is a gift from God. And one of the ways that we honor Him

and trust Him with our finances is by bringing a portion of our income back to Him, knowing that we are actively participating in the mission of God and spreading the gospel. And if you would like to learn more about the ways to give around here, I would encourage you to grab the black generosity card that is in the seat backs in front of you. It talks about what it means to tithe, also shares two other ways you can give above your tithe. One is towards our compassion offering, the other is our expansion projects. Take that card with you, and especially if you call church on the move home, I would encourage you to prayerfully consider going on this journey with us. If you did come prepared to give in the room today, you can text the word give in the dollar amount to 23101. Or if you'd like to give by cash or check, you can use those offering envelopes in the seat backs in front of you and drop those off as you leave today. Again, thank you so much to everyone who partners with us with your time and your resources. Well, we're excited to hear from Pastor Britton. Before he joins us, let's just take a moment right now to dedicate this time in prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, first of all, we just say thank you. Lord, what a joy it is to gather again as a church family, to be in your presence and to worship you.

As we continue to journey through this Advent season together in anticipation of Christ's arrival, help us right now to just slow down and be present with you to open up our eyes and our ears and our hearts to receive your word. And let us be a people, Lord, who do your word and put them into action. We will give you the glory for all of these things. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Good morning, how we doing? Good, good, hey, it's good to see you guys. If we have not met before, my name is Britton. I'm the youth pastor here at Church on the Move Tulsa, and it's exciting to get to hang out with you guys this morning. My wife Hope and I just moved to Tulsa two years ago during the Christmas season, so it's fun that during Advent we get to come hang out and spend this time with you. Today we're talking about the Advent of peace. And peace, if we're being honest, feels really like a good idea, but not something that really exists in our life, right? If we're willing to be honest. Peace is like, man, I wish my calendar would buy in to this idea of peace. If my kids would just buy in to this idea of peace. We get it, peace is a good idea, but it doesn't feel like a reality. But what Paul talks about in Philippians chapter four

is not only is peace a reality, but peace is something that you can have formed. in you today, and so what we're gonna talk about today in Philippians chapter four is three ways that we can see peace formed in us. So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open those up to Philippians chapter four. If you don't have your Bible, it'll be up on the screen. Let's read this together. Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice. Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy, dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again, you renewed your care for me. You were in fact concerned about me, but lacked the opportunity to show it, and I don't say this out of need.

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot, and in any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being content. Whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need, I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. This is the word of the Lord, and we all said, thanks be to God. Awesome, we see these three ways that Paul says that peace can be formed in us. The first is in our trusting, the second, in our thanking, and the third, in our thinking, and I'm just gonna public a service announcement before we keep going. Number two and number three are gonna sound the exact same when I say them. They're different words. I just went to Oolaga, and our English teacher was doing her best, all right? But those are thanking and thinking, but I'm doing my best up here, right? But the first is in our trusting. Paul says in Philippians four, verse four, rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. So this first key to trusting as peace is formed in us

exists right here in these first four words. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. Not rejoice in your circumstance, not rejoice in what's going on in your life, but instead, our peace, and as it's formed in us, begins as we trust the fact that our rejoicing, our joy is settled in the person of Jesus Christ. It is not built by what's going on around us. It's not settled by the things that we find ourselves in, but our peace is found in the person of Jesus. So we rejoice in the Lord. He continues, and don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. So it seems as we read this that the first key to having peace formed in you starts with asking God for it. It starts with asking God for it, and it's not only just asking Him for it, it's trusting the God that you're asking. You see, peace is something, it begins by asking God for it, not trying to manufacture it for yourself. So why don't we, right? This idea of prayer request is a very elementary idea, if we're willing to be honest. It's something that right now, in our Kids on the Move classrooms, they are participating in.

Will you pray for my goldfish? It died last night, and we're really hoping for a resurrection, right? Like, these ideas of prayer requests are something that feel very elementary, but somewhere between then and now, we've come to a place of self-sufficiency, that the answer to my problem is found in me, and I am the solution, and I need to turn within to be able to find solution and peace, and to work out all of these situations that are going on in my life, and I can't go to God, because then there would be something going on there. And maybe you're not overtly saying that, but what does the fruit of your life say? Do you present these requests to God in moments that have turmoil, in moments that are without peace? Do you request to God that he would step into those moments, or do you try to fix them on your own? I think one of the reasons we struggle to come to God with those requests is because we have attributed to God so many characteristics that do not exist within him, these characteristics that we've experienced through earthly relationships. Maybe you grew up with a father who was harsh, who was disappointed,

that if you were to come to him with a need, or you were to come to him with a lack, he would tell you all the ways you're messing up, and how you could just fix it if you would change. Maybe you find yourself in a marriage today, whether to your husband or to your wife, where if you bring a problem to the table. that's met with blaming, harshness, pointing fingers. And so this idea of coming to God and presenting these requests to him, we're nervous that he will respond the same way that we've experienced in our earthly relationships, that he'll be disappointed just like my dad is, but the reality is God is a good and loving Father. And in those moments we can trust that he is who he says he is. We can trust his character. I'm reminded of when I was in elementary school, I was facing one of the biggest problems of my life to date. I was in fifth grade and as a fifth grader, I was the size of a seventh or eighth grader and I really liked to run my mouth. And I was a bus rider. And for those of you in here that rode the bus, that was the internet before the internet existed. But when I was younger, I liked to ride at the back of the bus. That was where I liked to hang out. Those were my people. And one day I found myself in the back of the bus

sitting in a seat. You remember the seat that's the one that's just big enough for one person? I wanted that seat that day. Well, the school bully got on the bus and he said, you're in my seat. And I said, then move me. And he did, he did, he moved me. Yeah, he moved me, it didn't go well. And for the next two months, every single day, he picked on me. I tried to sit at the front of the bus, closer to the bus driver, it didn't stop him. When we would get off the bus after school, if I didn't sprint home and he caught me, I was catching a beating. Like it was just this like situation where I just found myself, I hated riding the bus. I mean, I even tried bullying the other kids that he bullied, hoping he'd just let me be on his team. Like, listen, we'll just do this together. We can work this out, right? Yeah, we'll pick on him together, man, it'd be cool. But it never worked. And I'll never forget one day after school, I rode the bus home and he was sitting like four seats behind me. And we got off at the same bus stop, right? In Blackberry Ridge in Verdigris, Oklahoma. And we got off the bus and I sprinted home.

And as you can tell, not my strongest ability, okay? All right, but I tried. I ran as fast as I could through the neighborhood. I sprinted home, I get in the front door, I like slam the door closed. I'm just like standing there out of breath. And then I look, and my older cousin who had just moved in with us a few weeks before was sitting there. And he goes, why are you so out of breath? I'm like, well, I just ran home from the bus. And he goes, why are you running? Because you need to know, bishops don't run, okay? So, and I'm like, well, no, nothing. It's not like a big deal or anything. He goes, no, why did you run home on the bus? My cousin was a sophomore in high school. He goes, why'd you run home? I'm like, well, there's this guy that's like, he's picking on me. And so if I don't get home before he catches me, I'm like, we get in a fight. And my cousin just goes, I'll ride the bus tomorrow. My cousin is an offensive lineman at this time. He went on later to play Division I football. Very large individual, bigger than I am currently. And that morning when I woke up, I woke up different. All right? When we went to the bus, my head was held high. I'll never forget that moment.

He goes, where do you usually sit? Very back, the seat that's by itself. Yeah, that's my seat. So we go to the back of the bus and the bully's already on there. We sat down in the seat across from him. And I wish I had like the cool karate kid moment. I don't. Nothing happened. But every day moving forward, he never messed with me again. He never messed with me again. We didn't address it. The mere presence of my cousin on the bus that day changed the way he dealt with me. And that's what Jesus offers you in his peace. His mere presence will change the circumstances you find yourself in. His mere presence, even though it may still be hard, will bring a peace. The way I walked on that bus moving forward because that dude knew who my cousin was, right? He knew I'm with this guy and he wouldn't mess with me anymore. And there was a confidence that I had, a peace that I had as I rode the bus moving forward because I knew that I was under the protection of my cousin. And that's what Jesus is offering to us in his peace. He's saying, listen, your circumstance may not alter completely,

but my presence will fill you with a confidence to walk through it no matter what. Paul says it this way in the conclusion of kind of his thought in Philippians four. I know how to make do with little. And I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances, I've learned the secret of being content. Whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need, I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. That was Paul, not Tim Tebow, but we'll keep going. He says, I have learned. I've learned the secret of being content. I've learned. This peace that we're striving for, this peace that we so desperately want, it's not just like a genie in the bottle, snap your fingers, boom, here it is. It's a long obedience in the same direction. But as you continue pursuing it, as you continue trusting God, as you continue making your requests known to him and inviting them into those spaces, you will begin to learn how to become a person of peace no matter what circumstance you find yourself in. That's what Paul's saying. For context, he's in a prison cell right now. He's writing this and on the other side of beatings and shipwrecks and imprisonments.

And he says, I've learned how to be content. That word content that he's using there, he's saying I've learned how to be stable. I've learned how to be unchanging. I've learned how to not let my circumstances determine my personhood. I've learned how not to be changed by the things that are going on me. Another place we see this picture painted is when Jesus talks about being the house that is built on the rock. Not being a house that's built on the shifting sand, but instead being a person that's built on the foundation of Christ himself. As I was reading about this this week, I came across a story that I read years ago of a missionary couple, Jim and Elizabeth Elliott. Maybe you've heard this story before. Jim and Elizabeth Elliott were missionaries in the 1950s to a tribe in Ecuador. And they had a passion to see this unreached people group reached with the gospel. And so they moved to Ecuador, them and some of their missionary friends, and they were on the mission to introduce them to Jesus. So they began learning the language. They began trying to locate this tribe. And once they located the tribe, they began flying over this location and dropping gifts to them out of planes.

They began building this relationship with them afar. And one day, Jim and some of the other missionaries had determined that they knew where they were and they were going to go make contact with this tribe for the first time. And that day, Jim and four other missionaries were killed right there as they made contact with this tribe. And Elizabeth, faced with a choice, will she go home or will she stay in Ecuador? What the 10-month-old determines that staying in country was the choice she would make. She continued learning the language of this tribe. She continued growing in the culture. And she eventually moved in with this tribe and lived with them. She began to share the gospel with this tribe. This tribe was no longer an unreached group, but they were considered Christians now. As I was reading and studying this, I was struck by this phrase when somebody asked her, how did you live among these people knowing what they did to your husband? And this is what she said. The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances. That's the secret to peace being formed in you. It's the Christ in you. It's not a circumstantial peace. It's not a peace that's determined by your circumstances.

It's peace that has been secured by a person so we can trust him and we can thank him. Look at how Paul says it again right here in verses six and seven. But in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, with thanksgiving. That flow and that structure in that sentence is kind of weird, is it not? Because I think that often, as we talk about prayer requests, we have praise reports, right? There's nothing better than when your prayer gets answered and you get to tell everybody how God moved in that space. But it seems to me that Paul is pointing to that this praise report comes before the prayer is ever answered. This thanksgiving, this gratitude comes long before we see if God answers the prayer or not. But instead, this thanksgiving is built out of that same place of trust. That because we trust God, because we know his character, because we've seen how he's moved in the past, we will present our request to him with trust and with full confidence and we will thank him ahead of time for however he works this thing out in the midst of the hardship. Because our life is built on the consistency of God, not the uncertainty of our circumstances.

And we, as we present our request, can be a thankful people, a grateful people that in the midst of hardship we know that God is working it out to the good of those he began it in. We can be a people that are thankful. We can be a grateful people. If you ever find yourself in the anxiety spiral, make a gratitude list. You guys know what I'm talking about, the anxiety spiral? It's the, you have a conversation with your boss that day and it feels like his tone was just a little bit off. And then from that conversation to the moment you get home, you're somehow convinced you're gonna live in a van by a river for the rest of your life. Like the anxiety. He just had something else he was thinking about and you're convinced you're gonna be homeless for the rest of your life. Because that's the anxiety spiral. We allow our imagination to rule and reign in our life instead of the truth of Christ to rule and reign in our life and we begin to lose our peace. The way out of that is Thanksgiving. A gratitude list. Look at any recovery ministry, or any recovery group. These people make gratitude lists. What are you grateful for?

Being reminded of what you have in your life is so important. It's so important. And it's a practice. It's more than just thanks God. But sitting down and making, we talk about this with students all the time. Write down 10 things that you're grateful for. And some of them can be as simple as I'm thankful for my black lab named chief who loves me no matter what. And that'll make your day better. That will reset you back to the goodness of God. But are you aware of how much you have rather than more aware of how much you want? Because it's in that that you will be thankful for the God that you're presenting these requests to because you see him more clearly. When I was in college, I found myself in a situation I'd never been in before. I'd only been a Christian for a few months. And when I gave my life to Christ, I was in a relationship with a girl that we were dating before I was a Christian. And so I began praying day and night that God would make this a God-honoring relationship. That I wanted this to be a marriage that would honor and glorify him. And I remember, like these were real prayers. These were prayers that I prayed like next to my bed,

like Lord, please work this out. Like I want this to work. And I'll never forget about three months into praying that prayer every day and every night, I felt like God was calling me to full-time vocational ministry. I was on the phone with this girl and I began talking to her about this and she broke up with me. And I was crushed. I was so mad at God. I had felt like he like, God, what do you mean? Like I'm aligning myself with you. I'm trusting you. I'm coming to you with vulnerability that this is what I want and I need. And this was your idea? That it would be gone? And what I didn't know is five years later, I'd be in the middle of nowhere, Northern Michigan, freezing cold, getting ready for my first date with this girl named Hope from Grand Rapids. What I didn't know is that around that same time in her life, she was moving away from college and coming back home and that she was on her own personal journey with God. What I didn't know is that when I moved back to Oklahoma and coached football and still couldn't find anybody that I wanted to be in a relationship with, that eventually I would get called

to work at a church in Michigan and that all of these roads would lead to this moment sitting in Big Rapids, Michigan, having dinner with this girl named Hope. We sit down, she orders a cheeseburger because she's a Christian and we talked about football and hermeneutics and she loves them both. She played college soccer, which we're still working through, but it was just this incredible moment. And I remember calling my dad as soon as the date was over. I get in my car, I call my dad and I'm like, Pop, you're not gonna believe this. She's the one, I'm gonna marry this girl. And he goes, hold on, son. Has she seen you? I'm like, chill out, bro, I look just like you. Like, what are you talking about? And then we get off the phone and I'm driving and it was about 30 more minutes into the drive that it finally clicked in my head. God answered my prayer. And God had been answering my prayer for that last five years. Sometimes the very thing that you want, he sees it so much better than you see it. And if you will just trust him and you will just thank him that the things that he's doing in your life, he is preparing for you something so much better than you could ever ask or imagine

if you will just trust and continue saying yes to him over the long haul. That's why these verses in Romans matter, that we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Can you imagine standing at the cross? With Jesus's followers, with the perspective that you have now, and saying, guys, listen, trust me, it's gonna work out. No, seriously, like there are gonna be churches all over the world. Billions of people are going to gather and worship him. No, like they're gonna sing songs about Christ and Christ crucified. Like, listen guys, this is gonna work. They would have thought you were insane. But us on the other side of the cross, how can we look at the cross and think if God can do all of this from that, what makes you think he won't work in your? situation. What makes you think that he who began a good work in you, that he is working all things out to the good of those who love God? So here's your responsibility. You trust him, you thank him, and you pursue him with everything you had. You let him be God and you calm down a little bit. Hasn't that been the greatest temptation since the garden?

That we're not God? What if we settle down for a minute and just let him be in charge? And just trust him and thank him. Parents in the room, how many times when your kids try to step in and take over and you're like, will you chill out and let me be the dad for a minute, right? Let me be the mom for a minute on the road trip and they're like, well, where are we going? Where are we there? Just sit back there, okay? Trust me, we're gonna get there and it's gonna be better than you could have ever imagined. So how do we get to a place of doing that? What's the practical side of that? We find that right here. In our thinking, in our thinking. Paul says it in verses eight and nine. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy, dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me and seen in me and the God of peace will be with you. Right here, dwell. Dwell.

This word that Paul is using here is more than just positive thinking. It's more than just like visualize the life that you wanna have someday. No, it's think truth. Think truth. The way he's saying this, if you were to look at it in the original language, he's telling you to think about the doctrine of God. Dwell on the truth of Scripture. Dwell on what you know to be true, not just what you hope to have someday. I'm reminded of when I was in college and I was playing college football and we were gonna play this team, Northwest Missouri State and they had this really good defensive end. He ended up going and playing for the Los Angeles Rams and I was going to have to block him this week and we had a sports psychologist that was a part of our organization as a team and you could meet with her. And so I had scheduled a meeting with her because I knew I was gonna need all the help I could ever get and we sat down and we're sitting there and she had me do this practice of visualization. If you've never done this, it's unbelievably, if you love it, I don't wanna say it's dumb, but man, it didn't work for me. But I'm sitting here and she's like, okay, I just want you to close your eyes

and think about the best case scenario. And I'm like, this dude's not gonna have any tackles. I'm gonna block him all day. Like one-on-one, it's gonna be the best day of my career. So that was on like Tuesday. We play them on Saturday. In the first drive, I gave up two sacks. In the second drive, I gave up another sack. And then the third drive, I got to cheer on my backup as he played the rest of the game. I could visualize it all I want. What was true? He was better than me and I needed help. It's more than just dwelling on what you hope it is. What do you know to be true? What is the reality? And when we center ourselves on the truth of God, when we center ourselves on the truth of Scripture, when we center ourselves on the things that are unchanging, that is where stability comes. Think of it this way. Right thinking, thinking rightly, stabilizes your inner life. It stabilizes your inner life. When we center ourselves on the truth of Scripture, when we center ourselves on the truth of God's word, when we saturate ourselves with things that are unchanging, when we find ourselves in situations and circumstances that seem unsteady, we will be a steady presence because we are centered on something that is beyond us

and it has been secured for us in the person of Jesus. But what do we dwell on instead? I think it's important we talk about this. For a lot of us, the dwelling could come in a numbing agent, whether that be substances, things you watch on the internet, just seeking to escape reality for just a moment to find your peace. For a lot of us, I think the hot button thing we could talk about is our screens. Barna research shows that the average US American adult spends between four and a half and five hours a day on a screen. And that doesn't mean like watching the game. That's on your cell phone. Four and a half and five hours a day. The even scarier statistic is Gen Z and Gen Alpha, so around age 29 and younger to about 12, spends nine plus hours a day. a day on their screens. Kids these days. But could I offer you another perspective? I see it all the time. The very thing that provides you as the parent peace is them lost in a screen. And so as you're trying to secure your peace by distracting them, you're robbing your children of their peace. Statistics and science shows that this generation is more depressed, more anxious,

and dealing with more suicide ideation than any generation in the history of time. And we have determined that we, as long as we can just get them somewhere where it just gives us a moment of peace, what are we willing to sacrifice? What are we dwelling on? What are we teaching our children to dwell on? What does it look like in your home? This matters, dads. The way you live this out matters. What are we dwelling on as God's people? Is it scripture? Is it his word? If people were to look at us, or would they say, you look just like the rest of the world. Here's a practical way to really attack screen time, if we're being honest. And I think that if we were to just sit down and talk one-on-one, every single one of us in here, if we're willing to be honest, maybe not every single one of us, but most of us in here, this is something that we're willing to do. Most of us in here, this is something we could go at pretty easily. Whether it be Facebook, TikTok, the news, whatever it is,

it's something that we could probably spend less time on. This is the way to do it, all right? I'm just gonna give you a personal example. My most used app on my phone currently, at this point in time, is Fantasy Football. And there's two people I can blame for that. One of them is my wife, Hope, because I cannot let her win this league again. And the second one is Gabe George, because he's been talking crap for the last 12 weeks, and I'm not losing to him either, all right? And so I spend a lot of time on this Fantasy Football app, more than I'm willing to say publicly. But what I had to do, literally, two weeks ago, I had to do this. And I tell our students to do this all the time, my 180 leaders will agree. We will, you download, whether that be YouVersion, Bible Rep, whatever Bible app you wanna use, download one. And you figure out what your most used app is. You can find that in your screen time. If you have an Android, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Get an iPhone, and then we'll deal with this, okay? If you don't know how to find your screen time, we have a ministry called Jehi. You go back there right now, there's 30 kids that would love to help you.

It'll be like you're walking into an Apple store. But you get your screen time, and you can see your most used apps. Mine is Fantasy Football. So what I will do is I take my YouVersion app icon, so the little square, you know, that looks like a Bible, and I move it to the location of where my Fantasy Football app is. So when I click on the little sports square, because I'm organized, and then it opens up, there's a bunch of other stuff in there, but the Bible app is at the top left. And every time I accidentally click on that app, because I think I'm going to check Fantasy Football, here's the rule. You have to read a chapter to get out. The amount of accidental discipleship that's happening in my life, guys, it's incredible. So we challenged our students with this in a series we did this summer called I Have No Time. And one of our female students, she took this very seriously. And she went home, she changed it. I think hers was TikTok, and she moved the Bible app to it. And I said, after a week, I would love to hear from those of you who did it, how it went. And this girl, she came to me, and she goes, well, I did it. And I said, okay, how did it go? She goes, I read every single one of the Gospels.

I was like, really? Every Gospel? And she goes, and Proverbs. And she's being dead serious. I said, so how do you feel? She said, I've never had more peace. I said, oh, tell me more. She goes, well, this morning, I got dressed, and at no point did I stop to think, what will people think about this outfit? I had a basketball tournament this weekend, and I never even considered what offers I didn't have that other girls had to play at their college. She said, when I go to bed, my mind is like slowed down, and I'm not just thinking about all these things in my life. When I wake up in the morning, like I don't immediately get anxious about what's gonna happen that day. She's like, it's crazy. I've never had more peace. That's what dwelling on God's word will do for you. That's what centering yourself on the Scriptures will do for you. That's what thinking will do for you, right? There's stupid peace, and there's smart peace. Let's just be honest. Stupid peace is found in a bottle. It's found in a website. It's found in more money, more stuff, less turmoil, screen time.

Smart peace is found in the person of Jesus, and it's centered, and it's secure, and it cannot be taken away from you because Jesus secured it when he walked out of the grave. That's smart peace. That's a peace worth pursuing. That's a peace worth living in. That's a peace worth living your life for. Tim Keller says it this way. I love this. Peace comes when your mind stops. stops being discipled by your fears and starts being discipled by God and the gospel. Peace comes when you stop allowing your imagination to be your greatest discipler. Peace comes when you stop letting the anxiety spiral determine how you will live your life and instead you center yourself on the truth of the scriptures, you center yourself on the trusting of God's character, you live a life of gratitude and thanksgiving and you allow him to disciple in you a person of peace. That's what Paul is talking about in Philippians chapter 4 that peace is here and it's available, you need just to take hold of it. And it comes through trusting, thanking and thinking because peace is not manufactured, it's received. It's received and it's received in the person of Jesus Christ. I wanna draw you back to the first verse we read.

Rejoice in the Lord always, say it again, rejoice. And let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. That's what we're talking about in this Advent season. That in the midst of your hard times, in the midst of the diagnosis, in the midst of the wayward child, in the midst of the infertility, in the midst of will they be here, will they not, in the midst of the addiction, the Lord is near. He's near and he has a peace that surpasses all understanding. He has a peace that wants to guard your heart and your mind, he has a peace that you can build your life on, you need just to take hold of it. Where are you resisting his reign and his rule? Is it in your doubt and your fear? Is it in your lack of gratitude? Or is it in your shallow understanding of who he is and how he works? Maybe for some of us today, your response is, Lord, I need your peace, I need you, God. It's presenting that request to him. For some of us, it's becoming a person of gratitude and thanking him for where he's worked in your life, making a gratitude list. And for some of us, it's moving beyond just consuming services and taking a step deeper in your relationship with Jesus and pursuing him in the scriptures.

And becoming a person of the word that your life can be built on the foundation of Jesus Christ so that when hard time comes, when difficulty arises, you can stand firm with confidence in the peace of God because you know that you know that you know that peace is not an emotion, peace is not a circumstance, peace is a person, and his name is Jesus, and he's closer than he's ever been. That's what's on offer to us at Advent, that God saw us in sin. He saw the brokenness, he saw the hurting, and he sent his son, Jesus, to restore peace to a peaceless place. And he's coming again to restore that peace forever. But you can have that peace today in your heart and in your life, with every head bowed and every eye closed. See, the key to the peace of God starts with peace with God. Before we can ever take hold of this peace that comes from him, we have to have peace with him. Maybe you're here this morning, and you're living at odds with God, you're living outside of his design, you're living in active, unrepentant sin, and you'd say today is the day I need to surrender to his rule and his reign in my life. I'm aware of the weight of my sin, I'm overwhelmed by his grace,

and I want to live in the reality of his peace, and it starts with surrender. And if that's you, you'd say, I want that peace, and I know I need to surrender. I just want to give you a moment to do so. We're gonna pray here together in a moment. Before we do that, I'd love to know who I'm praying with and who I'm praying for. So if that's you, and you'd say, I need that peace of God that comes from surrender, I just want you to raise your hand. I see you right over here. I see you, sir. I see you guys in the back. I see you. I see you right here in the back middle. I see you over here. So I need this peace, I see you ma'am, I see you over here, thank you Jesus. This is peace worth pursuing, it's more than just this moment, it's gonna take active steps on your part, but I'd encourage you to pursue him, trust him, be grateful, think about him often, and build your life on the truths of his scriptures. Awesome, let's pray this prayer together. Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us peace in your son Jesus. Thank you that my circumstances do not determine your peace. Lord I trust you, Lord I thank you, Lord I want to dwell on you, make me aware of where I need more of you in my life. My life is completely yours, in Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen. Awesome, thank you guys so much, praise the Lord. Today we are going to have our prayer team right up here, so if you raised your hand, if you want to have a conversation about that peace, or you want somebody to pray with you,

I would encourage you, please come up, they will be facing that direction, they would love to pray with you. But even if you didn't raise your hand, and you have another prayer need, they are available to pray for you for those things as well. So if you guys would please stand to your feet. As we do every week, I would love to pronounce this blessing over you, let's say this together from Numbers chapter 6. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Hey, God bless, we will see you guys next week.