How To Stop Anxiety From Controlling Your Life | Anxiety | Full Experience

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♪ Yours, You set my futures full of Your hope ♪ ♪ You never fail, so I know that You'll never fail me ♪ ♪ I'll take You at Your word ♪ Come on, sing it out. ♪ If You said it, I'll believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ If You started, You'll complete it ♪ ♪ I'll take You at Your word ♪ ♪ If You said it, I'll believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ If You started, You'll complete it ♪ ♪ I'll take You at Your word ♪ ♪ Oh, I know You come from heaven ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll take You at Your word ♪ Come on, sing it out. ♪ If You said it, I'll believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ If You started, You'll complete it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ Sing blessed assurance. ♪ Blessed assurance ♪ ♪ Jesus is mine ♪ ♪ And He's been my fireman in the fire time after time ♪ ♪ Born of His Spirit and washed in His blood ♪ ♪ And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough ♪ So we sing. ♪ Oh, I trust in God, my Savior ♪ ♪ Who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ Oh, we trust, I trust in God, my Savior ♪

♪ Who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ My submission, all is at rest ♪ ♪ Cause I know the offer of tomorrow has ordered my steps ♪ ♪ So this is my story and this is my song ♪ ♪ And this is my song ♪ ♪ I'm praising my risen King and Savior all day long ♪ ♪ I trust in God, my Savior ♪ ♪ Who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ I trust in God, my Savior ♪ ♪ Who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, He is faithful ♪ ♪ Faithful, He always will be ♪ ♪ Oh, He always has been faithful ♪ Let's remember all He's done and who He is. We sing, I sought the Lord. ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ Sing that's why, that's why! Oh yeah! ♪ Oh, I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ And He answered, that's why I trusted ♪ ♪ That's why I trusted God ♪ ♪ He's my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, I trusted God, my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ And You're the one who will never fail, He will never fail, oh we trust You Lord, we trust You Lord ♪

♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered, I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered, I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered, that's why I trusted, that's why I trusted ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered, I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered, that's why I trusted, that's why I trusted, that's why I trusted ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered, I sought the Lord and He answered, that's why I trusted, that's why I trusted, that's why I trusted God is faithful. Amen amen it's so good to sing that together uh hey I don't know if 2025 feels like it is like a freight train just taking off or if you feel like it's taking forever some days I'm a little bit of both I think, but um crazy news Easter is in six weeks somehow and that's uh yeah that's a pretty big day around here and we're looking forward to celebrating that together uh our music team has recently written a song that we want to sing together on Easter but in order to do that uh we'd love to share with you today is that okay cool um it's inspired by uh the the resurrection account uh in the book of John so I'd love to just read a little bit of this starting John 20 it says early on the first day of the week while it was still dark Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance so she came running to Simon Peter the other disciple the one Jesus loved and said they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they have put him so Peter and the other disciples started for the tomb both were running the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first he bent over and he looked in at the strips of linen lying there but he did not go in Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb he also saw the strips of linen lying there as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus's head the cloth was still lying in its place finally the other disciple who reached the tomb first also on its side he saw and he believed this song is called rolled away and it is an Easter song for sure but it's also a song for every day because the resurrection is not just about a day a long time ago get to live in the resurrection here and now we believe that Jesus is still rolling the stones of sin and darkness and shame away and he is inviting us to live in the grace and the beauty of his resurrection as he breathes new life into us that is what this song is about we invite you to add your voice to ours as you catch on so come see his tomb the debt that he paid it's cold and empty folded linens where he laid don't be alarmed don't be afraid Jesus has risen the stones roll away rejoice rejoice rejoice death is defeated rejoice rejoice he lives again hallelujah highest praise there's nobody in that way rejoice rejoice the stone was you ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪ There is depression and anxiety and heavy burdens. We need each other more now than ever before, but maybe you're not sure if you're worthy to even sit at the table with Jesus.

And I understand that. You see, every week here at CCV, when we take communion, for me personally, it's a reminder that despite what I've done, because of what Jesus has done on the cross, I have the opportunity to sit at the table. And here's the good news. The good news is, is it's not too crowded for you because his love and his sacrifice makes room for me, makes room for you, and it makes room for all of us. Let's pray before we take communion. Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you that when you sent him, he just gave us so many lessons. One of the most important, just treating us all the same with love and compassion and second chances. Father, we're just so thankful for the reminder and may we never forget that because sometimes the topic of worthiness just creeps into our head. But Father, thank you for your son, Jesus. And because of what he did on the cross, we have a seat at the table. Father, we love you. We pray all this in your mighty son, Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Check. Check.

Father. Father. Father. Father. Father. Father. Well, I want to welcome everybody on all of our campuses to CCV this weekend. And I want to especially say, if you're new to CCV, maybe this is your very first weekend or you've just been started coming to church or maybe back to church. I want to say that you belong here. And we hope you feel right at home. I don't care what your past is. I don't care what you've been through. We're here for you. And we want to see you get engaged, hopefully, in this church and for God to begin to just change your life. This isn't happening on every single campus, but on some campuses right now with how exciting this weekend is, there's some people that didn't make it into the auditorium. They're sitting in an overflow environment right now that's happening on some campuses. And even if that's not happening on your campus right now, can we just give it up for those that are sitting in overflow? Their flexibility and we thank you for that very much. But you did, listen, you did pick the perfect weekend to be at CCV. We're starting a brand new series this weekend on anxiety and it's barbecue weekend, which means you get a whole

barbecue meal for $6, which that's the best deal in Phoenix right now with inflation. Can I get an amen, right? I mean, we're here to make this the best deal you got. But on the topic of anxiety. 50 million people in growing struggle with this in America today. And the number's likely a lot larger than that. And some of you, you struggle. You know someone that does. And we wanna, in this series, bring some hope and healing on a topic where so many people feel like they're in a prison. And God really does speak into this, and it's what we're gonna teach on over the next few weeks. I hope you don't miss a week on this. It's a great one to invite someone with you as well. But as we kick off this series, I invited one of the very best on this topic I know in the world today, Dr. John Deloney. Now, if you don't know Dr. John Deloney, you should. He is an expert on mental health. He spent over two decades as a practitioner really counseling individuals and families on this topic. He hosts the Dr. John Deloney Show, which is awesome. And he's also a two-time New York Times best-selling author, most recently of the book Building a Non-Anxious Life, which I think is really great. But I've got to know John over the past year,

and what I appreciate about him and why I invited him is he is one of the most humble men I know, but he's also one of the most brilliant. That's why he's got a doctor in front of his name. He's gonna speak on this topic like I have never really heard anybody speak on it in my life. And I always wanna expose you to some of the best at CCV. So, would you help me give a huge CCV welcome to my friend, Dr. John Deloney. Come on, man. Thank you, brother. Thank you, man. Appreciate you, man. Thank you. May, it's good to see you. And I did not, all I know is there's water falling from the sky yesterday in Arizona. Yeah. If you weren't anxious, you should be anxious now, because I think that's the sign that it's coming to an end for all of us. Can we do family talk today? Is that cool? I don't get to talk to churches very much. I don't get to talk about my favorite thing to talk about, which is Jesus, and so I'm pretty excited. But I also have a reputation for being pretty direct. Are we good, same team? Promise?

Cool. All right. I'm gonna talk about your life. So I take thousands of calls. I travel the country. I'm gonna talk about your life, because I know you. You're exhausted. Your kids are going to bed. Maybe. Maybe they're just in the room playing on their video games, but you don't care. It's just quiet, and that's good enough for right now. And you go into your bedroom, and you put your head slowly down on your pillow, and as soon as it hits your pillow, your brain's like, hey, you want to think about some things that are really crazy? And you're like, not tonight, brain, not tonight. And it's like, no, for real. What if that mole is cancer? You should look it up on YouTube. And you're like, not tonight. So then you grab your headphones, and you put them on, because the only thing that helps you go to sleep is another murder podcast. And you can't figure out why they keep coming back to the scene until they get caught every time. And you keep listening to it,

and then you scroll over to a couple of guys being like, dude, you should move all of your money into gold and Bitcoin, because it's all coming down. And then you're like, ooh, maybe I should get more bullets so I can shoot my neighbor if we need water. And then you go, you're like, oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. I know. I woke up this morning, and the first thing I did was look at a little screen, and then I got in a car, and then I drove to a place where I sat for eight hours looking at a medium-sized screen. And then on the way out the building, I looked at my little screen, and then I got home to my house, still looking at my little screen. And then I got my family together, and we all sat down and looked at a huge screen. Well, I kept looking at my little screen, and it's almost time for bedtime, so I think it's time for me to whip out medium screen and do more emails. And your brain's like, I hate you. And then you put on an episode of Ted Lasso or The Office because fictional characters are the only decent people left in the world. And after a while, your eyes are fried

from staring at screens, and so you find yourself in the bathroom snorting Tylenol PM off the counter just so you can go to sleep. And then your mind pops open at 2.38 a.m., and you just start scrolling again, and you happen across your bank account and your credit card, and you just, your credit card balance, and you're just instant, like, yep, it's gonna be about a hypersonic diarrhea for me right now. And then you're like, we owe what? And it's 2.39 now. And then you finally drift off, and an hour later, your alarm pops up, because it's time to get to the gym and crush it. So you grab your phone and real quick you go into the bathroom and you just like start scrolling. I've actually checked with some of my buddies who are medical researchers and they confirmed there's no there's never in medical history been a continuous 45 minute poop. It's never existed. So you end up scrolling your morning away and you end up not going to the gym and then you realize you're late because you get in the shower at 7 58 for an eight o'clock meeting right and then you jump out of the shower and you happen by the mirror and you look six or seven in a room this big looks at themselves in the mirror immediately post-shower and goes yeah that's what I'm talking about. The other three thousand of us think

I don't think I believe in God anymore right and then your family all just start barking at each other all over the house like don't forget and like I told you to where's your shoe I don't know where your shoes are you just got out of the shower is that the same underwear you had on before you got in the shower it's like and you're running around and running around and then all of a sudden from across the room you make eye contact with your spouse and he's like tonight maybe maybe and you're like no I'm for sure gonna have gas not happening and then you race out of the house and you finally get your kids and everybody stumbling out and one kid steps into the garage to get into the car and just barfs everywhere and instead of being like oh gosh baby are you okay your first thought is if I just keep walking she'll clean that up and you just keep walking and then you're standing in line for coffee and you get pinged by the local chevy dealership and they're like hey we're running a sale and you're like you know what I make sixty seven thousand dollars a year I need an eighty eight thousand dollar depreciating asset in my driveway otherwise known as a suburban right now by the way I think we need a bigger house too we only have a room for everybody in a bathroom for everybody in a sink for everybody we each need our own cave too and you get home from work and you crash on the couch and you retreat into ESPN fantasy land where grown men use other grown men as action figures at least lord of the rings had the courage to call them overlords y'all call them coach whatever

and your wife sitting next to you scrolling on her phone looking at line cactus tattoos with hashtag blessed in the middle of it she's never going to get that tattoo and then she goes over to cauliflower mashed potato recipes and birthdays for your 18 year old son he's only nine but we should can never be too prepared and you're on your ipad and she's on her cell phone I think if y'all could see how many people are elbowing each other right now so good but you're on the ipad she's on the phone she's on the phone he's on the ipad and you find yourself four inches apart from each other on the couch and you're 4 000 miles away from each other you got parallel lives you're good co-managers of your house I don't even know what's going on in your world anymore and you find yourself trying to find the tylenol pm a few hours later and every one of those screens is telling you that it's all coming down it's the end of time if you love them it's because you hate them and the food and the gold and the money and the sky and the fires it's all coming down this is our day this is just a Tuesday and we don't go to sleep we're unconscious then we get up and we do it again this is the life we've created for ourselves and then we go to a doctor or a therapist or if you're somebody who does their own research you go to the internet and then you're like how do I stop being anxious and the doctor or the therapist or the internet tells you well actually anxiety is a disease it's a genetic disorder you're always going to have it it's a thing you get like the flu you got it it's who you are Maybe some medication can cure you, but you're always gonna be anxious.

That's who you are. Then we go to another therapist, we try some different meds. You finally return that one call from that one lady at church, and say, I think it's time. Tell me about those essential oils. And you find yourself another hour at work. You're dousing your sadness in thieves or whatever they put in that stuff. Or you click on another website. You text that guy back at work. You laugh a little too loud at her job, and you get another drink and another drink. You watch another episode and another episode. Netflix is so good, they've taken this away from us. We don't even have to do that. They're like, hey, we know you better than anyone in your family. We're just gonna start the next episode for you, and we just go, oh, okay, okay. You're crumbling under the weight of your life, and you're finally weeping, and you finally say, I'm so anxious I can't breathe. And I miss my husband. I'm tired of sitting at a kitchen table for dinner, surrounded by people that I know love me and still feeling completely alone. I'm tired of sharing a bed with a husband or with a wife who I know loves me, and I'm completely and totally alone.

We haven't been intimate in forever, and I'm stressed beyond my life, and my kids don't wanna be in the same room with me. Do y'all remember the debate, the one? It ended with this, with this candidate saying, if you vote for that person, you're voting for the end of democracy. And this person said, if you vote for that person, you're voting for World War III. And I remember sitting at my house going, ooh, which one should I choose? That's like going to a restaurant and being like, all right, if you eat this meal, you can have explosive diarrhea or a heart attack. Dig in. And one last time, you call out, and you go to the experts and beg, what is happening to me, what is happening to my family, what's happening to our schools, what's happening to my kids, what's happening to my marriage? And finally, they let you in behind the curtain, and they lean in, and they whisper, we don't know. We're fried, too. And then you go to church, not CCV, of course, but another church. And some well-meaning classroom teacher or preacher hears your story of how anxious you are and how your chest is so tight and you can't breathe, and they're like, Philippians 4, six through seven.

And you're like, tell me more. Well, duh, don't be anxious about anything. Just pray and petition and be grateful. And then present your request to God, and then the peace of God, which transcends anything in your little mind, will just come upon you and guard you. And you're like, okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. I can't make rent. And they're like, no, no, no, no, you don't understand. Just don't be anxious about anything. Just put it all on God, and it will surpass your understanding. And you're like, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. My kid keeps using Xanax, and they won't stop. And I don't know what to do, and I can't breathe. And this woman who crochets through most of church comes over to you, and she says, well, Matthew 6.25 says don't be anxious about your clothes or your food or anything you drink, because your life's more important than food or clothes or drink. And you're like, listen, if you knew how many layers of Spanx I'm wearing right now, if I took these off and you saw my body, you'd be anxious for me. And do you know how much eggs cost? A million dollars each. You all know that all this barbecue out here is stolen cows, that's the only way you can get beef anymore.

And then some hipster kid with a mustache and real tight jeans, he means well, he just can't think too good because of that thing on his face that makes his head lean over. He's like, hey, hold on, Proverbs 12.25 says, anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. And you lean over and say, hey, I don't think you understand how many murder podcasts I listen to. They're never going to find your body. And the doctors don't know, and your friends don't know, and TikTok doesn't know. And at church, they blame you for not having enough faith and for not believing in Jesus. Imagine yourself at your house, and you've got your feet propped up, and you're watching TV. And all of a sudden, your smoke detector goes off. Super annoying, so you just like turn your TV up louder. Right now, there's starting to be smoke. So you get up, and you climb up on a ladder, and you wrap a pillow around it with some duct tape. And then you go back to sitting down watching your show. And then so loud that you finally call a new counselor at a grad school because it's all your copay can afford. And you get like a counselor and that essential oil dealer that you're now hooked up with, and you all climb up on the ladder together, and you go up through the smoke, and you reach up to the smoke detector, and you unhook it, and you pull the battery out, and silence. And then you go back to watching TV through the smoke, and the show is good. And then your home burns down around you. My friends in Phoenix, anxiety is not the problem. Anxiety is not the problem. More people right now are under the care of a licensed mental health professional than ever before in human history. More people right now are taking psychotropic medications than ever before in human history. Right now, you and I have access to more humans via our little anxious boxes than ever

before in human history. We have food at the touch of a button. We have water in every room. We have special little chairs that we can go cha-cha and chi-chi, and you just push a button and it goes away. We have transportation. We have everything. And the trend line for anxiety and depression continues to go up and up and up and up. The last saw, I've heard the 40 million number. I don't think that paints the right picture. So assuming I'm not talking about clinical diagnostics, which are just symptom clusters, but I think of people who are struggling with anxiousness, who are struggling with burnout, who are struggling with chronic stress. The last number I read said 50% of the United States. That's all of y'all. And by the way, y'all are married to them, so this affects y'all too. What we're doing is not working. And I know this, because I did everything they told me. I went to graduate school. I made money. I had kids. I tried to be a good husband. I chased job title after job title after the right car and the right house in the right neighborhood. And anxiety almost took everything from me. And when I say it almost took everything, it almost took everything. Because I had all of the right things, and at some point, my body just said, I'm out. I quit. That, my friends, is anxiety. It's all of us.

And I've traveled around the country sitting with hurting people, and I hear it over and over. It's what we do. So let me say it again. Anxiety is not the problem. Anxiety is just a smoke alarm letting you know that something in your life is on fire. It could be that that smoke detector is letting you know that we've detected that you're not safe in a relationship from your in-laws, from work, from poverty, from abuse. We're sounding the alarm. The alarm's not the problem, something's on fire. It might be that it's detected that your body's not healthy. You're dealing with old traumas, you're dealing with health challenges, or maybe you're just one of those dudes who mainlines four monster energies every morning and your heart's about to explode. I don't know, but the alarms are going off. Or we've created the loneliest generation in human history. 2,000 years ago, if you had been in the valley in Arizona and your tribe got up and left you, you were gonna die. God created us to be in connection with other real people. And we don't have it anymore. And our alarms are ringing off the ceiling. Amen. Or maybe your body's detected that you're not in control of your own life. You don't decide what you do tomorrow, that bank does.

You don't decide if you get to sit home with a sick kid. The car dealership does, because they give you a car and you signed a piece of paper that said, I owe you. And now they own you. Or maybe you had to have that new house and that new neighborhood with those new schools and you didn't have enough money to put down on it, but you figured out how to get in with no money down and an adjustable rate mortgage and you got in, and now they own you. And when your body detects that you're not in control of your own life, it sounds the alarms, because it knows you're not safe. And the classic mental health journey says somehow your brain is screwed up, that something's wrong with your kid, that anxiety's about weakening, that anxiety's about weakness or your issues, your diagnosis, your lack of willpower. And the classic churchy answer is that you don't believe enough, that you don't love Jesus enough or trust God enough, because if you did, your body would stop trying to fight or flee from everything and everybody, that you'd stop being frozen in your own skin. I happen to believe that's 100% false. I happen to believe if your body is anxious right now, your body's probably working perfectly. If you're not anxious right now, you should see someone, because you're nuts.

We've created a world that our bodies can't live in. We've set everything on fire. We used to believe, we knew government officials were crooked, we knew that, but we believed at the end of the day, we thought the government was working for us, we don't believe that anymore. We thought if we went to the doctor, sure, it was annoying, it was long, it was hard to get an appointment, now you have to go through 42 portals just to, I get it, but now we don't believe that anymore. We used to believe, sure, there's a dumb teacher and nobody knows what chlorophyll is, but school's important, we don't believe education's important anymore. We used to all just go to church. And the number of people going to church continues to fall off a cliff. We're an untethered generation. As Jonathan Hyatt says, we're the anxious generation. I'll say it again, anxiety is not the problem, we should be anxious. And so our goal from today forward is not to not be anxious. I don't wanna live in a house without a fire alarm. That's crazy. I just want the alarm to only go off when it needs to. When I'm actually in danger. When I'm actually not safe.

When I'm actually not well. And the hard work of building a non-anxious life as an identity takes years. Take the rest of your life. And before I get into scripture, I wanna say this emphatically. I deeply believe in counseling. I went to see my therapist the day before I went to Austin and then flew to Phoenix. Deeply. I deeply believe in mindfulness and breathing techniques. It was cold outside this morning. I sat in the backyard and did breathing exercises. I believe in it, I do it every day. Anxiety medication saved my life. And as a big, tall, tattooed up Texas male, I can promise you when I finally got the courage to go see my buddy who's a physician and I walked past this clearly non-HIPAA compliant office and I walked right past his receptionist and she was like, sir, sir, and I just kept walking. And I walked into his office and he's like, what are you doing, Deloney? And I said, hey, I need you to listen to me because I'm not okay. And my friend sat with me for two hours and I left with a prescription. And I sat at my kitchen table while my new son slept in the next room and my wife was asleep in the next room and I waited.

because I thought I'd failed my family. And it saved my life. Medication doesn't cure anxiety. It doesn't heal anxiety. Medication does turn that alarm down. So you can finally sit with a counselor and say I'm not okay. So you can finally tell your wife or your husband I've been keeping stuff inside and here's the truth. So you can finally walk in the doors of an amazing church community like CCV and say I need help. And I absolutely believe that God, the creator of the universe and his son Jesus who saved me can hold my burdens. I believe that. But I also believe if we take these things and try to dump them on top of our already insane lives at the end of the day, we're just running in quicksand because I think anxiety is an identity problem. Here's what I mean. We've solved for every single problem that's plagued humanity. Food at the touch of a button. Water in every house. Every room. I could pull out my cell phone right now and I could push a couple of buttons. I could order a bag of sugar and like a kettle bell and a spoon and a pony and they would just deliver it

right here. Some kid like on a fixie single speed would be like hey man, I got your pony and I'd be like cool, thanks dude. Then he'd turn it around and be like I just have a few questions for you. The air we breathe though, the identity of our culture is one of scarcity. The identity of our culture is fear. We have true economic and social challenges yet the identity of our culture is disempowerment. We've all been told if you get the right car and the right home and the right schools and the right salary and the right clothes and the right bag and the right travel sports teams and the right vacation plans and the right diagnosis and the right victimhood status, you're finally gonna feel whole. And our culture is coming to grips with the fact that that's not true. We feel as hollow as ever and we have everything. We've also told people hey, if this happened to you, if you were hurt, if you were on the margins, that's all you'll ever be. You just sit over here. We'll pat you on the head, send checks. That's all you're worth. And by the way, if you hurt people, you're out. You can never come back. We don't believe in redemption or restoration or forgiveness, no, you're over there.

It's a culture of disempowerment. And this identity of anxiety, it lives out in the madness of our lives. My kids have to play travel sports even though we don't have the money. No, they don't. My kids have to have Instagram and a smartphone and Snapchat. No, they don't. We have to take a loan out to get that new car. No, you don't. No, no, no, you don't understand. I have to go to my in-laws house for Christmas. Otherwise, they get, you don't. You have to, you have to respond to that post from Karen about the vaccines. You have to, I have to. You don't. No, wait, you don't understand. I have anxiety. I am anxious. That's who I am. No, your body's just trying to keep you safe. And this is when at church we tell you to go look at Matthew 6, 25 and tell you, hey, just don't worry about anything. The flowers are pretty. You should be fine, too. And this is where people like to start. I don't think that's fair to what Jesus was trying to say

because Jesus was talking to a group of people who were really hurting and who were left behind and lost and sitting in ash. He doesn't show up and say, hey, stop worrying. What's the matter with you? He doesn't. He starts with identity. We learn the Beatitudes in school when we were kids, at Sunday school. Here's a new way to hear them. Jesus shows up to people sitting in the ash, a fried, exhausted, anxious group of people, and he says, hey, you are loved when you're beaten down. God's with you in the ash. You're blessed when you're heartbroken and grieving, when he has an affair, when your mom's cancer finally wins. God's with you. You're loved when you've been humbled and your ego is shattered when you get fired, when all of your flexing finally comes in on you. You're loved when you go looking everywhere for what is beautiful and right and good when you look for God, you're loved. You're loved if you choose to give people mercy instead of your rage or your anger or your judgment. You're loved if you look for beauty, if you set your default setting to looking for purity instead of looking for where everyone else is wrong, where you can blame and criticize and complain. You're loved and you're blessed

if you just look for what is good. You're loved if you make peace, not dissension. You are blessed when people come after you because you've just opted out of the system. You're blessed when people come after you because you just said, as for me and my house, we choose peace. Not gonna borrow any more money because as for me and my house, I'd rather drive a crummy car than be owned by a bank. As for me and my house, I'm not, we don't get on social media, we just don't. We choose peace. As for me and my house, we don't have a lot of streaming channels because we hang out together and we're goofy and we throw water balloons at each other, which I understand is probably a federal offense here in Arizona. You're not broken and you're not a diagnosis and you're not a failure and you're not less than. Jesus comes to you and says, hey, you're loved. You're blessed. And in the loneliest generation in human history, when you find yourself laying next to somebody and you think I'm all by myself, when you're sitting in a crowded room and you feel completely alone, you know I'm anchored in and God is with me in the ash. You are blessed.

This is the non-PC part of the afternoon, is that okay? I put it in red letters because it's from Jesus so I wouldn't get struck by lightning. Y'all can't get mad either, fair? Jesus then goes on to tell us how to live a non-anxious life. He says, of course, don't murder, but don't hate. In fact, I don't want your gifts. I don't want your sacrifice. I don't want your money until you go make those relationships right. If someone's mad at you, you go tell them you're sorry and then you can come worship. Then you can come leave your offering. Or as my friend who's a pastor in Nashville, Ian Simpkin says, whatever you think your hate is doing, love will do better. Jesus says, hey, of course, don't cheat on your spouse, but turn off your computer. Cut the Wi-Fi. Throw your phone out in the street if you can't control what websites you're going to, but stop. Stop. And by the way, adultery isn't just about sex. You can cheat on your spouse with your job, with a golf course, with your phone, with finances, with your refusal to get the help you need. Stop. Jesus says, hey, be a person who just says yes or no,

who tells the truth, who doesn't have to tag my name onto your stories, who doesn't quit on their marriage except for very specific reasons. Be a person who doesn't seek revenge. Be a person who loves your enemies, even Democrats. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. Or MAGA hats, I don't know. Just love everybody, I don't know. Pray for them. Invite them over for dinner. Red letters, homie. Learn their kids' names. Give to the needy and don't tell anyone. Be insanely generous and don't tell anybody. Pray and pray and pray. Be honest about what you need. Be honest when you sit before God and say, here's what I want. Take a break from consuming and consuming and consuming and always thinking the next truck and the next bag and the next shoes and the next pair of pants are gonna finally make you feel something from the outside in. Jesus says, man, I'm right here. You're loved. Stop. Be somebody who prays and gives and fasts and you don't need anyone's approval because you are loved. Don't get your identity from your net worth

or your cars or your houses or your clothes or your 401k status. It all goes away. We owe $30 trillion. The answer to your question. The question, hey, what are you worth? That answer is never a number. The answer to the question, what are you worth, is who do you love and who loves you? And Jesus says, you are loved. Jesus doesn't ask us to not have fire alarms. He doesn't ask us to not be anxious. Jesus says, hey, if you run around trying to get your identity from your kid's elementary school play schedule, or your kid's little league performance, or your salary, or your car, or your shoes, you're opting out of the piece I have for you. And by the way, I don't think we know what the word peace means anymore. It's just something that we stitch onto pillows or you buy it at Crafts, et cetera. My granddad fought in World War II. He stared at evil. When he came home, he knew peace was not that. And now we're scared and offended by everything. We're angry and we're raged out. We have to comment on everything. We're lying about our marriages, and our health, and our finances, and our churches, and our politics. We'll do anything to sound right.

We are choosing an anxious life. On behalf of my two young kids who are just making their way in the world, can we stop? Can we stop? We have very real challenges to overcome. And when your body heads into anxiety, it literally unhooks critical thinking. It just wants you to run, or fight, or freeze. And I need us all thinking about how we can love well and do the next right thing. Because blessed are the peacemakers. What is peace? Just imagine falling asleep with no meds just because you're tired. What if you drink coffee in the morning because you wanted to, not because you had to? What if you tipped the waitress at Waffle House $200 because you could? Because you didn't owe anybody any money, and you don't care what car you drive, it gets you where you need to go. And you could change the next two months of her life. Peace is seeing something offensive on the news, watch this move, and just doing this. I'm going to the next channel. Peace is deciding. I want to learn some more tools. I want to learn what Scripture deeply says about an anxious world, how to live a non-anxious life.

So I'm gonna come back for the next three weeks, next four weeks to this church, this amazing community. And I'm gonna dig in with my neighbors. I'm gonna go share a $6 barbecue with stolen cows, and we're gonna look across the table from each other, from each other, and just like C.S. Lewis said when he defined friendship as two people looking at each other and one saying, oh, you too? Peace is knowing the name of your neighbors. Peace is if you're married, still believing your vows and your covenant, that you said, come what come, I'm gonna stay right here. Peace is letting your kids know that no matter what dumb, goofy things you do, I will go to the ends of hell and back because I love you that much. So here's the thing. Peace doesn't mean bad things won't happen. They will. All of us are gonna get that call. I've had the misfortune of having to call more parents than I can count and let them know that their kid's in the hospital or their kid has passed away. I know firsthand that call comes. I know the economy will go up and the economy will go down, and I know wrong people will get voted into office, and I know they will be hurt and pain. I know that. But when we choose to live a non-anxious life, when those storms come and we find ourselves on our face

saying, God, are you there, you hear that quiet whisper, you are blessed, you're loved, and I'm right here. And what often happens in a church community like this is that the hands and feet of God are the person sitting next to you, and you open your eyes and you're surrounded by people who love you and care about you. because we have chosen a non-anxious life. Blessed are the peacemakers. May the God of the universe bless you, give you laughter, give you joy, give you more hilarious things said around a kitchen table. May the God of the universe give you and your household peace, blessings. Thank you. So hopefully you enjoyed that message from Dr. John. Hey, anxiety is not our identity. It is simply a smoke alarm, just communicating to us that something's going on in our lives. And just as Dr. John said, there were some tools and resources, especially in the eyes of community and prayer. And if that's you, we would love to pray for you. You can simply text the word prayer to 72020. You can scan this QR code, or we have some passers at our Next Step Center that would love to pray with you. Speaking of community, it's barbecue weekend. We got $6 meals for you, your family, your friends. Hopefully you meet someone new.

There's an online ordering option in the CCV mobile app for you as well. Hey, CCV, thank you all for being here. Hopefully you enjoyed some barbecue and we'll see you back here next week. Thank you.