My Anxious Thought - Peace for My Mind

good morning Pantana how we doing are you ready to worship this morning whether you've had a good week a rough week Jesus is worthy of our praise amen amen if you're online we want to say welcome to you as well let's all worship Jesus with everything that we have he shames every idol and he reigns without rival he goes by the name of Jehovah, Jehovah he speaks into nothing and darkness goes running he stands by the name of Jehovah, Jehovah call the name, call the name call the name, Jehovah all our praise, all our praise, all our praise belongs to him his foes will be silent he's fighting for Zion there's no other god like Jehovah, Jehovah he's armed every time and his eyes are like fire there's no other god like Jehovah, Jehovah call the name, call the name call the name, Jehovah all our praise, all our praise, all our praise belongs to him call the name, call the name call the name, Jehovah all our praise, all our praise, all our praise belongs to him Jehovah needs to fight your battles Jehovah needs to fight your battles Jehovah needs to fight your battles

Jehovah needs to fight your battles it's too easy Jehovah needs to fight your battles Jehovah try to meet your needs Jehovah I value your body Jehovah shall be your peace Jehovah needs to fight your battles Jehovah try to meet your needs Jehovah I value your body Jehovah shall be your peace Jehovah needs to fight your battles Jehovah try to meet your needs Jehovah I value your body Jehovah shall be your peace call the name, call the name call the name, Jehovah all our praise, all our praise, all our praise all our praise belongs to him call the name, call the name call the name, Jehovah all our praise, all our praise, all our praise belongs to him Jehovah needs to fight your battles Jehovah try to meet your needs ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Come on, with everything you have. Praise you again and again. Cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah. And I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else here for you. Except for his heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah. Hey, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Thank you for worshiping with us. I want to invite you to go ahead and take your seats and check out your screens. Music Well, hey there Pantano. How we doing? Well, it is really, really, really good to be back with you. I know I've been gone for a couple of weeks, but I do want to tell you your impact because you don't understand the impact that you get to have. And I get to be the conduit for it. But you allow me to do it. So I want to just tell you the last couple of weeks and I'm sharing this for a very specific reason. Over the last couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity this last summer to travel around the country with an organization called Christ in Youth and speak for these student conferences all over the country. And they do 24 of them around the country every year, like almost 100,000 students go to these conferences. And I had the opportunity to speak for four of them this summer. Roughly six to seven thousand students we got to share the gospel with. And I just want you to know that when I'm not here and I get to be there, I'm representing us as a church. So our reach is so much greater than just right here. Like it's all over the place. And I'll tell you, I have never been more excited for a generation than I am for the one we have right now. There is a fire and a hunger. Yeah, you can applaud that. That's worth applauding. When I tell you what I've experienced and seen in these students over the last couple of months is nothing short of miraculous of what God is doing in our culture. And we've been in this series called My Anxious Thoughts, which by the way, I've loved this series. In fact, I'll tell you, as I've prepared for the parts of this that I've had to communicate, I think maybe I've been impacted more than the people sitting in our spaces have been impacted because I have to preach it to me first. So when you hear this, it's actually you're listening to what I'm saying to myself. Because I got to figure out and work through this stuff on my own as well. And we've had some incredible messages in this series. I think of Rebecca's message a couple weeks ago. I think of Chris's message last week.

I was at 30,000 foot in church. That's a weird place to watch church, right? Because the guy next to me thought, like, what's wrong with you? And I was like this in the plane. He's like, are we going down? I'm like, no, I'm just sorry. My bad. Like, I'll put my arms down. You know what I'm saying? When you worship at 30,000 feet, people think crazy things are happening. And as I lean into this, I went back to two weeks ago. I was in Florida at FAU University, like Florida Atlantic University. And there was a couple thousand kids in this auditorium. And you've got to understand something about the night that I had. I did the same night at all the conferences I did. And my talk was the night that they were going to give the invitation for kids to come to know Jesus. And so one of the craziest illustrations they gave me to work in was they talked about a safety coffin from the 1800s. I don't know if you've heard about the safety coffin. But they buried people alive so many times accidentally. That's a real thing. New fear unlocked in 2026. They buried so many people alive in the mid-1800s that they created a safety coffin where they tie a rope around your wrist that would go up to a bell above the ground. And if you woke up, you rang the bell. So they had me get in this. coffin on stage. Now it was standing up, I didn't lay in it because that would have been really freaky. But I get in this coffin and I talk about the safety coffin and then you step out and what the students didn't know is there was bells all over the room and if you wanted to give your life to Jesus you would go to these bells and you would ring the bell signifying going from

death to life. In the night in Florida when I tell you there was like over 800 kids gave their life to Christ and bells are ringing all over the room and every time a bell would ring an angel didn't get its wings but people would cheer. Like people would cheer like the room would erupt like I think about when we have our baptisms and we clap like it was think of that times a thousand like kids are going nuts for their friends and and I was when I got done I went backstage and took off my mic and I I wanted to see what was happening so I walked back out and there was a bell right here and I stood in these bleachers right like above the bell and this girl she walks up and she's got her youth leader with her her name was purple by the way her name was purple and she was wearing purple that's a whole different issue for a whole different day but she's got this youth leader with her and and purple is with this girl and the and the girl is sitting there and she stares at this bell for like 15 minutes and she is sobbing and she is weeping and you can tell she's holding some stuff like 15 years of life you can tell she's lived more than 15 years of life in a 15 year old body like some heavy stuff going on inside of her and she's weeping and she just keeps looking at the rope in the bell and crying in the rope in the bell and crying and and people are coming and ringing that same bell in front of her because like she's just she's you can see the wrestle the anxiety inside of her soul you can see her holding on for dear life see some of you you've walked in here that way today you're literally holding on for dear life you're trying to control things that you were never meant to control you're trying to hold on to things you were never meant to hold on like we're gripping so tightly we've forgotten what it feels like to trust you could tell she had forgotten what it was like to trust and today I want to end this series by giving you something bigger than another coping mechanism we don't need more coping mechanisms I don't want to simply give you anxiety management I want to introduce you to something bigger than that because I think a lot of times we try to like I'm not gonna minimize anxiety because I've dealt with it but what I think I missed in my life

sometimes is that I'm looking for a remedy in the world and the remedy is not something in the world it's someone known as the Prince of Peace the Prince of Peace and so as we lean into this I want to I want to give you a truth that I think we have to understand as we wrap all of this up I want this to ring in your ears all day all week maybe for the rest of your life and here it is a peace is a person before it's a feeling peace is a person before it's a feeling notice I didn't say peace is a circumstance peace is not a circumstance peace peace is not absence of problems let me ask you anybody of you live a life that's absent of all problems all the time oh none of you good that's all of us I didn't say peace is finally getting everything you've been praying for first of all if we got everything we prayed for God wouldn't be a very good God because sometimes I pray for him to smite people that he shouldn't smite don't act like you don't somebody were praying it about me right now I know it's fine I get it because peace is a person before it's a feeling see that changes everything because this life we live it's unpredictable can we all agree life is unpredictable like you can't predict what is going to happen in this life like and here's what's crazy in an unpredictable world Jesus never changes like he actually says in Scripture I'll be the same yesterday today and for how long do you know Oh forever there's my church people yesterday today and forever and it it's a peace found in him that doesn't change instead of circumstances that do then maybe peace if that's the case is more available to our anxious thoughts than ever before than we ever realized so I want to ask you something and answer this to yourself okay because some of you answer every rhetorical question out loud and people look at you when you do it they're like why are you doing So don't answer this out loud. Answer it in your head, okay? And if you're confused by which one is the inside and outside voice, don't think anything, okay?

But what do you think people are searching for more than anything else today? Like, just unpack that. Because I don't think it's success. I don't think that's what people are searching for the most. I don't think it's money, which a lot of us would be like, I'm kind of looking for a little more of it. I don't think it's even happiness. You know what I think people are really looking for? Peace. And I'm not talking like 1980s beauty pageant peace. World peace. That's not what I think we're looking for. And it's interesting, isn't it, that we've become experts at managing stress while remaining strangers to peace. Let me ask this. How many of you know stress well? Anybody? Oh, look at y'all. Bunch of stressed out individuals. You're like, oh, it's my best friend. Like, stress wakes you up in the middle of the night. You're like, hey, buddy. Good to see you up at 2 a.m. Been waiting for you. Yeah, I put that thought in your head from sixth grade when you said that thing that you can't believe you said 40 years ago.

You should call him tomorrow, make amends. Like, we know stress well, but man, when peace shows up, we're like, who are you? What are you doing in my bedroom? What are you doing at my workplace? See, because the world has convinced us peace is something we manufacture. That's what the world's convinced us. You know what Jesus says? Peace is someone that we know. That's a big difference. Something you manufacture versus someone you know, big difference. Like, the world says if everything around you settles down, then you'll have peace. Let me ask you. How many of your worlds have settled completely down? Everything's perfect. You never have a stress. The world says, hey, when everything settles down, then you'll have peace. Can I just tell you, if you wait for the world to settle down, you're never gonna have peace. Never gonna happen. You know what Jesus says? If you stay close to me. If you stay close to me, even when everything around you is falling apart, you can still have peace. Two very different definitions.

And if we're honest, most of us have spent our entire lives chasing the first one. We've been chasing when things settle down. Have you ever said this? If I can just get through this season, then I'll have some peace. You ever said that? Oh, if I can just get through this. Or maybe, you know what? When the kids grow up, then we'll have some peace. No, you won't. They're gonna cost you more. And then they're gonna have these little things called grandkids. And you're gonna waste everything you've saved on those crazies. But you can send them home at the end of the day. Or maybe, if I could finally retire, then I'll have peace. Or if the diagnosis, if it comes back clean, then I'll have peace. Or if I could finally get married, or if the economy stabilizes, if the elections would finally be over, they're never over. Did you notice that? When somebody wins, they start campaigning the next day. We use this little word in our culture, if. If, if, if, if, if, if, if. We sound like those stupid birds inviting Nemo when they're yelling, fine.

We just do it with if. And we keep moving peace just beyond the finish line. So every time we cross one finish line, you know what appears? Another one. And we say, you know what? If I get to the next one, then that's where my life is gonna be a little more peaceful. And we keep if-ing this thing to death. Because peace was never meant to be found at the end of your circumstance. Peace was always meant to be found in the middle of Jesus. That's where it's found. See, that's exactly where Jesus takes his disciples, John chapter 14. If you got Bibles, go to John 14. If you don't have a Bible, take out your phone, download the Bible app, click on John, click on 14, okay? If you don't have any of those things, we love you enough at Pantano, we put it on the screen for you, all right? It's right there. And I honestly believe, like, in John 14, some of the most comforting words of Jesus come out of this chapter. Like, we quote verses from John 14 all the time across Christendom. And now, here's what you need to understand. Context matters. If you've been around, we've been talking about this a lot.

Don't take a scripture and pluck it out and stitch it on a pillow and put it in that room nobody goes in, because it might be out of context. You might be saying some weird stuff to the people in your living room without knowing it. So understand the context. Let's read what's going on, John chapter 14, because if we don't understand the moment, we can't appreciate the promise. Like, you gotta understand what's going on in John 14. Jesus has gathered his disciples in the upper room. So he's got his disciples in the upper room, and this is the night before he's gonna be crucified. It's kind of a heavy night. In less than 24 hours, Jesus is gonna be arrested, falsely accused, beaten beyond recognition, and nailed to a Roman cross and then buried in a borrowed tomb, in less than 24 hours. By the way, Jesus knows every detail of what's coming. His believers don't. See, we have the beauty of being able to read this and go, oh, we know how it ends. They didn't. Jesus is the only one in the circumstance who knows how it's gonna end. Imagine sitting in that room that night. Like, just put yourself there. You've been following Jesus for the last three years of your life. You've given up everything to follow him,

and the atmosphere is heavy. It's like something feels different in the room. You ever been in those rooms where you can just tell something feels different? Feels a little off? Jesus had already washed the disciples' feet. I don't know if you remember this moment, like they come in to the upper room and Jesus gets a towel and a basin and he starts to wash their feet. You remember this scene? And he actually washed the feet of Judas, who's gonna betray him. By the way, he's already made the decision to do that by the time we get to John 14. And then Jesus had told all of them that one of them was about to hand him over. Like, can you imagine that dinner party? Hey, by the way, thanks for coming to my house tonight. One of you is about to betray me and have me killed. Enjoy. That's basically what happens. And then there's Peter. Peter's the bold, confident, outspoken leader of the group, right? He always says dumb stuff. You my kind of guy? I'm like, I'm kind of like John. I'm not, I'm a lot like Peter. I say dumb stuff all the time.

I'm the one that has the filter that says shouldn't have said it, not don't say it. You know what I mean? That was Peter. And so Peter's in the upper room that night too. And while they're sitting at dinner, Jesus says, hey Peter, before the rooster crows, you're gonna deny me three times. Peter's like, that'll never happen. Can you imagine the emotions in that room? A betrayer, a denier, confusion, fear, uncertainty, questions all over the place, nothing feels right. And the one they followed for three years is talking about leaving. He's like, I'm going away. Like their entire world is unraveling in this moment. So can we be real honest about something in this? This doesn't exactly feel like the setting where you expect someone to talk about peace. That's not what it feels like. Like if I were Jesus, and let's be thankful I'm not. Again, remember the smite conversation earlier? Yeah, be thankful I'm not. If I were Jesus, I might've looked at those guys that night and been like, hey guys, I need you to know something. Let's talk in reality, buckle up. It's gonna be a rough stretch. Like this is gonna be rough. Tomorrow's gonna be really, really bad.

Like I'm just not, I'm gonna die tomorrow. You guys are gonna scatter tomorrow. People are gonna probably wanna try to kill you too. So hold onto your hats. But Jesus doesn't do that. Instead, he does something really astonishing. Knowing what Jesus knows, knowing that they don't know, and he's just kinda set off this chain of events in their life. Listen to John 14, 27. He says, I'm gonna leave you with a gift. That's a weird place to offer a gift, isn't it? But listen to what the gift is. Peace of mind and hearts. That's a gift. He says, and the peace I give is a gift the world can't give. So don't be troubled or afraid. Just think about the weight of that. First of all, I love that Jesus always says these little phrases. Guys, don't be troubled or afraid. I know one of you is gonna betray me. That's fine. Peter, you're gonna deny me. Don't be troubled or afraid. The other 10 of you, yeah, I know. I'm gonna die. You're gonna be scattered. Don't be troubled or afraid.

Like, I love when Jesus does these because I love that he calls it a gift, this peace. That means it's not something you manufacture through better habits. He's not, he didn't say, hey guys, if you have better habits, you're gonna have some peace. He didn't say, hey, if we'd have planned a little better, it wouldn't be so chaotic. He's like, there's no perfect planning. Like, this peace is not flawless circumstances. Peace is something that only Jesus can give. And don't miss the next two words because they change everything. Jesus doesn't simply say peace. He says, my peace. That little word, my, is loaded with meaning. Jesus is not offering generic peace. He's actually offering his own peace. He's giving his peace. I mean, think about his peace. Like, this is the peace of the one who knows his betrayal is coming and yet he's calm. This is the peace of the one who knows nails are gonna be in his future, in his ankles and in his wrists. This is the peace of the one who knows the cross is hours away yet he's not panicked. He's not anxious. He's completely at rest in the Father's will. Like think about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane even in that moment you can hear the peace like there there's some angst there right like he's sweating blood but he says finally he goes but not my will yours be done. There's even

peace in that moment and it's interesting because then he says something unbelievable in that text. The peace I have I'm giving you. So the peace and the chaos. Can we all agree Jesus's life right there is in a lot of chaos. Can we all agree with that? If you're about to be killed that's a little chaotic. If you're about to be tortured to death and you know it's coming a little chaotic but in this moment he goes hey I'm gonna leave you the peace that I have. See Pantano this is extraordinary. Like fast-forward this into the future to where we are right now like Jesus doesn't promise to remove every storm. Let me ask you how many of you experienced storms of life? Just show of hands. Cool. If you're not raising your hand buckle up because one's probably coming. You're like thanks for that. Not prophetic just life. He promises to share his peace in the middle of the storm. That's what he promises. There's a huge difference in removing storms or being in the middle of the storm because if peace depends on the absence of storms can I tell you then we're never gonna have any peace. It'll never happen. Life is full of storms. Big or little life is full of storms. Jesus never promised storm free living. What he did promise is his presence in every storm. That's why I love that he walks on water in the storm. You remember that story? These fishermen are in a storm they're freaking out because they've seen people die and Jesus just strolls out on the water. He's like what are you guys doing? Or he's on the boat and the wind and the waves are coming over and they're scared to death and they wake Jesus up from his Jesus nap. By the way if Jesus took naps you should too. It's biblical. If the Messiah needs a nap you should probably take one too. And some of y'all are cranky enough you should take a couple. Okay that's what should happen. And Jesus gets up. You remember what he does? He gets up in the middle of the storm and he's like oh my gosh why'd you wake me up? Wind and waves! Stop! And everything calms down and he's like all right I'm gonna go back take my nap. You guys good? Jesus didn't promise the absence of storms. He promised he'd be present in them. That's why the statement matters. Peace is a person before it's a feeling. And sometimes we pray God change my circumstance. You ever pray that? God just

change my circumstance. And I think sometimes that's not what we should be praying. Because here's what Jesus says when I pray that. He's like I'm gonna give you my peace in your circumstance. And then Jesus says something that's just as important. I don't give to you as the world gives. What does the world give? Temporary peace. Temporary peace. I met this little girl on our campus here at Houghton Road a few months ago. And I love talking to the kids in our kids ministry by the way. If you want to have the time of your life talk to the kids in our kids ministry. If you want to know stuff about their family talk to the kids in our kids ministry. They will offer it without any asking. Did you know mommy drank a lot of wine yesterday? No, but I do now. She said it's because of me. Probably. Probably. That's probably why. They'll rat you out. I just want you to know. And I saw this little girl and she had all these temporary tattoos on her arm. And so I walked up and I knelt down I was like, hey who's your artist? And she was like, they're not real. She was very serious. And she was like, see they're they're not real. And she starts rubbing this when it starts to come off. And I was like, hey try to rub mine off. And she was like, okay. And she went. And I was like, that didn't work. And she was like, I was like, rub a little harder. And then she did and I was like, okay stop that hurt. It started to burn my arm. It was getting red. And she was like, why won't they come off? And I was like, oh cuz these are permanent. I don't paint them on every Sunday before I walk out here, just so you know. But see hers were temporary. They were gonna come off. See her little tattoos were like the world's peace. Eventually they're gonna, it's gonna, it's gonna wear off. But see these, these aren't coming off. See the peace of Jesus, it doesn't come off. It's not temporary. The world's peace always comes with an if. It's temporary. If my finances improve. If my marriage gets better, if the test comes back negative, if I get what I was promised, if my kids make good decisions, if everything works out. See, the world says peace is waiting on the other side of your circumstance.

Jesus says peace is available in the middle of it right now with him. Big difference. See, the world will offer your peace based on circumstance. Jesus offers peace based on relationship. That's why the peace of Jesus can't be manufactured and it also can't be destroyed. You ever meet those people that have peace in the middle of a circumstance? You're like, how? And they're like, oh, Jesus. You're like, oh, really, Jesus? Like, right, that's what you wanna say. But as you watch their life, you realize they found something that maybe you need. Because the source of peace isn't your circumstance, it's Jesus himself. That's the source of peace. Paul understood this. That's why he writes in Romans chapter eight. By the way, the book of Romans, my favorite book in the New Testament, Romans chapter eight, probably one of my favorite chapters. And he says this. So, letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. Your sinful nature controlling your mind leads to death. But letting the spirit control your life leads to life and peace. Life and peace.

Let me ask you, how many of you would love a little more peace in your life? Just show of hands, yes? Some of you are like, no, I'm good with the chaos. That's great, I love it. It's fantastic. Bring it on. Notice where peace begins. It begins with who's controlling your mind. That's where peace begins. Every day, do you realize, every day, something or someone is discipling our thoughts. Every day. Something's always trying to shape your thinking. My thinking. Like, Paul says the question is whether our mind is being controlled by the world or by Jesus. The question is who's controlling it. Because whatever controls your mind eventually controls your life. That's why anxiety is so exhausting. That's why it wears us out. See, the spirit of God does something different. The spirit of God redirects our attention back to Jesus. That's what he does. You know what doesn't do that? Any news station. You know what else doesn't do that? Any political figure. You know what else doesn't do that?

Any family member that wants to tell you how to live your life. Any diagnosis. None of that redirects you. But the spirit of God redirects your attention back to Jesus. He reminds you that God is still sovereign. He will remind you that God is still good. He'll remind you that God is still working even when you can't see him working. You ever get to the backside of a situation in your life and you're like, oh, I see, there he was. I didn't know God was working there, my bad. Sorry, God, I'll get you next time. See, I love what Paul says in Colossians 3. It's really remarkable. Verse 15, he said, and let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. Let the peace that comes from Christ. That word rule is really fascinating. Because when I hear the word rule, I bristle a little bit. Let me tell you why. Because I don't like the word rules. I know some of you are shocked. Like I read rule and I'm like, I don't like rules, especially dumb rules. Anybody like dumb rules? I hate dumb rules. Rules for rules sake, don't do that. Like I can get on board with rules that make sense,

but most rules don't make sense. People make up rules so they don't have to deal with issues, like all these things. But that's not what Paul's talking about. The word rule here is not about rules. It's actually an athletic term. It actually describes an umpire or a referee. So if you look, like an umpire in a game, a referee in a game, they make the final call. Unless it's the World Cup. And then I don't know what happens. I don't understand any of that. But Paul says, let peace become the umpire of your life. Let peace make the final call. Don't let fear make every decision that you have. Don't let panic call every play. Don't let anxiety determine every direction. Don't let the peace of Christ make the final call. So let me ask you, what would change if before every major decision in your life you asked one simple question? And I'm gonna give it to you. And here's the question. Is fear making this decision, or is the peace of Christ leading me? Like just one little question. See, that question alone would change some of our lives. That would change how we live. Like Isaiah in the Old Testament. He gives one of the greatest promises in all of scripture.

He says, you will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed. On you. By the way, you is not him talking about self. He's talking about God. That that's where peace is found. I love that phrase, perfect peace. In Hebrew, you know what perfect peace translates as? Peace, peace. Like peace, peace. You're like, why did they stutter? Peace, peace. It's actually not stuttering, it's actually emphasis, completeness. It's like if somebody says, hey, what kind of peace do you have? You're like, oh, I don't have peace, I got peace, peace. You ever said stuff like that? Oh man, how are you living with such peace? Oh, I don't have peace, I got peace, peace. You know what I'm saying? It's not just peace, it's peace, peace. I can't wait this week, y'all gonna be walking around, peace, peace. You leave a place, you'd be like, peace, peace out, bro. See you next week, right? So stupid. See, I love that in the Hebrew, they're emphasizing completeness. It's unshakable peace.

Why is that? Because our minds are fixed on him. That's where you find peace, peace. So she was standing at the bell. 15 minutes. How do I know? I actually recorded it on my phone. You're like, okay, creeper, what are you doing there? I told her afterwards, it's okay. I was so taken back by this moment. I mean, 15 years old, like you could just feel the angst and the anxiety, and after 15 minutes, she turns and she looks at purple, the person, not the color, well, both. Like Barney was standing right there, I love you, you love me. I wish I could have made that up, that's just true. That's how my head works. And then she turns around and she grabs a rope. And then she just starts to yank on that rope. Over and over and over and over, like almost pulled the stand over, pulling on this rope, ringing the bell, and the room goes absolutely nuts for her, and everybody is cheering, and there's people on the floor around her, and I mean, she is just a mess, and then this calm falls over her. And then the night ends. And I go back and we get to pray

with the worship team afterwards, and then we meet with the CIY team afterwards, and we're talking like a good hour after the evening's done. And I walk to the back of this auditorium at FAU, and I see her in purple, standing in the back of the room. You can't miss purple, she's purple. And I'm like, I'm so sorry, she's purple, she's purple. And I walked over and I said, I just, I gotta introduce myself. And she was, you could just tell, it looked like she'd been in a battle. But man, she had a different countenance on her face. Name's Isabel. I was like, oh, I can remember that, that's my daughter's middle name, I can remember that. And I said, it looks like you've lived some life, and she goes, I have. She goes, I've been subject to a lot of things. Some my own doing, and some at the doing of others. And I said, how did you get to this place? I said, what was the wrestle? She goes, I've been so scared to make this decision. She said, and fear was keeping me from making it. She said, but the minute I made it, she said, I felt a peace that I've not felt in my entire life. She said, I think that's Jesus, isn't that right? I said, yeah, I think so. You see, her mind went from fear to being fixed

on the Prince of Peace. That's where her mind went. And when your mind stays fixed on Jesus, peace begins to grow, because the battle's never simply been about anxiety. The battle has always been about where your mind is. Where it rests. See, Jesus isn't simply trying to claim your emotions. He's inviting you into his presence. Because peace is a person before it's a feeling. Before it's a feeling. And the more you know the person, the more you experience his peace. And that's good news. Because feelings come and go. You ever notice that? You ever wake up one day feeling one way, and by the end of the day, you feel a completely different way? Probably because you drove in traffic in Tucson. That's probably why. You woke up happy and came home angry. There's a good reason for that. See, circumstances rise and fall. See, some of your circumstances, just the nature of your emotions, just the nature of your feelings, just the nature of your emotions, this week, probably just in the last few days, have changed. just the nature of your emotions,

just the nature of your feelings, just the nature of your emotions, just the nature of your feelings, But you know what doesn't? Jesus says he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Can I tell you in my four, almost five decades on this world, by the way, I don't get older, I level up, so I'm almost to level five, I'm really excited. I think I get new superpowers at level five. In those almost five decades, you know what's never changed? Jesus. Not one time. Not one time. That means the source of your peace, if you know Jesus, never changes. So let me ask you, what do you do with all this? Because here's what I know. Every one of us walked into one of these spaces carrying something. Even if it's little, we walked in carrying something. Some of you, you're carrying a diagnosis you just got this week. It's heavy. Some of you are carrying a marriage that feels like it's hanging by a thread, or financial pressure nobody knows about. Some of you are carrying grief that still catches you off guard months later. Maybe years later.

Some of you, it's your past. Maybe it's fear about the future. You're carrying anxiety that's become so normal you don't even remember what real feels like anymore. What peace feels like. Can I lovingly tell you something? You were never designed to carry the things you carry. None of us were. We were never designed to carry all this. Some of you have been so accustomed to carrying heavy burdens, you don't even realize how tired your soul has become. You're worn out. You weren't never meant to be your own savior. You know how crazy that is we try to save ourselves? Like apply that anywhere else. Go to a hospital where people are dying, they're unresponsive. Have you ever seen one of them go, got to get it. I've never seen anybody do chest compressions on themselves. How does mouth to mouth work? Like, it doesn't work. How dumb that is. I'm glad that'll be on the internet for the rest of my life, there it is. Like, why do we apply that to our spiritual life? Like, I'm giving myself spiritual chest compressions, spiritual mouth to mouth, like it makes no sense, right? Yet we try to do it all of the time

because you're never meant to be your own savior. Maybe the deeper issue for us has never been anxiety. Maybe it's been lordship. Who's the lord of your life? Who sits on the throne of your life? Because every anxious thought eventually asks the same question, asks the same question, who do I trust? Who do I trust? See, when I insist on controlling everything, what I'm really saying is, God, I trust me more than I trust you. That's what we're really saying. It's crazy because we don't bow to statues anymore in culture, you know what we do bow down to? Certainty. We worship at the idol of certainty. Yet following Jesus has never come with guarantees, not of this life. But it does come with something better because peace is a person before it's a feeling. You get the person of Jesus. See, maybe today your circumstance is not going to change. Maybe tomorrow morning the diagnosis is still gonna be there. The financial pressure, maybe the relationship still needs work, maybe grief still hurts tomorrow. Maybe the questions don't all get answered. But here's the promise, if Jesus walks into tomorrow with you,

peace walks into tomorrow with you. That's the promise. Not because everything is okay, but because he is. Can I tell you, I have a lot of dreams for our church. But let me tell you a few I don't have. Like I dream a lot of things for us. But you know, the dream I don't have, I don't dream of us being known as the biggest church. Now do I think healthy things grow and growing things change and changing things move? Absolutely, but my dream is not we'd be the biggest church. My dream is not we'd be the coolest church. You know how I know that'll never happen? They hired me. Never be the coolest church. My dream is not that we'd be a church with the best music or the best preaching, even though I'd say these guys do a pretty good job up here. Would you agree with that? They do an incredible job. You know what I really dream? I just, I had to lean into this this last week as I was thinking through this and what I really dream is that Pantano would be known as a church full of people whose peace doesn't make sense. A church where people can. I honestly say, life is hard, but Jesus is enough. Because the world doesn't need another church that thinks they have all the answers.

Can I just tell you, I don't have all the answers. There's people ask me questions all the time, I'm like, I don't know. They're like, you're the pastor, I know. I'm working out my faith too. The world doesn't need another church that thinks they know everything. You know what it needs? It needs a church that knows the Prince of Peace. And today could be the day that you stop chasing peace and start following the Prince of Peace. You could be in relationship with the Prince of Peace. That's why baptism is such a beautiful picture. I don't know if you know, it's baptism weekend. You're like, isn't every weekend baptism weekend now? Kinda. But this is one of those emphasis weeks. And in just a few moments, people are gonna walk into this water at one of our campuses. And can I just tell you, this is what they're not saying. They're not getting baptized because they have their life all together. You know what they're actually saying? I'm gonna surrender the life that I have. They're not declaring perfection, they're actually declaring dependence. I know that's hard for some of us because we just celebrated Independence Day. 250 years of it in our country,

we blew everything up we could, right? It was beautiful. Yeah. I think we've become so accustomed to living in a country that's about independence that we've missed dependence on Jesus. Today you could declare dependence. Maybe that's your story today. Maybe you've been attending church for years and you've never depended on Him. Maybe your story today is, it's your first time. By the way, welcome, we're so glad you're here. Maybe you actually need to ring a bell of surrender. Maybe you've been wrestling through this entire series wondering if peace is actually possible. Can I tell you, it is. His name is Jesus and today could be your day, not because the water saves you. Just so you know, this water does not save you, it is Tucson water. You might need to save from it afterwards. I'm just being honest with you. The water does not save you. The water is a signifier of dying to an old self, raising to new life in Him. Dying to the chaos, raising into the peace. That water simply tells everyone what Jesus has already done in your heart. He's cleaned it. So today we end with the greatest truth of all,

that peace is a person before it's a feeling. And if you're here today and you've never given your life to Jesus, you've never surrendered in baptism, I wanna challenge you today. Not guilt you, challenge you. You can't figure out why there's this uneasiness inside of you. It's because you're trying to save yourself. Stop trying to save yourself. Stop being exhausted and let the Prince of Peace change your soul. And if you've already done that and you're still struggling, can I just tell you, we have these groups called My Anxious Thought Groups. It's actually a curriculum that you can go through. I think it's five weeks. If you wanna be part of that, go to our Next Steps page, go to our Next Steps room or get enrooted if you've not been through Rudiment, get yourself in community. Don't do this alone. But let's be a people that follow the Prince of Peace. I wanna pray for you if that's okay. It's really good to be back with you, just so you know. I'm so glad to be with our church. I love you all so deeply. What I learned going other places, I don't like other people like I like you.

They're not as cool as y'all. I love y'all, it's fun. So I'm gonna pray for us and we're gonna commune. And then will you party with us like kids ringing bells as people give their lives to Jesus? And if that's you, you can come right over here. That sign's gonna light up. There's people waiting for you. We've got shirts, we've got shorts, we've got everything you need. Don't let anything be a hindrance to you finding peace today. Let's pray. Father, today, thank you for being a God of peace, the Prince of Peace. God, and right now, I pray peace over the lives of my friends and my family in this room, at all of our campuses. God, we pray peace over addiction. God, we pray peace over marriages. We pray peace over our kids. We pray peace over our community, over our homes, over our businesses. God, over our souls, we pray peace. That peace that Scripture says surpasses all understanding. God, we pray that today. God, I thank you for Pantano. I thank you for this being a place where the Prince of Peace gets worshiped first. God, fall on us today in this moment.

Those that don't even know they're gonna give their lives to you, God, show them the peace that comes from you, that you control our anxious thoughts. And God, we'd be free. We love you. It's your name we pray. All God's people say. Amen. Love you, Church. Watch Him work it for your good. He's not done with what He started. He's not done until it's good. Hello, peace. Hello, joy. Hello, love. Hello, strength. Hello, hope. It's a new horizon. Hello, peace. Hello, joy. Hello, love. Hello, strength. Hello, hope. It's a new horizon. If you're ready for a breakthrough, just open up and just receive. What is pouring out is nothing, nothing you've ever seen. Nothing you've ever seen. Hello, peace. Hello, joy. Hello, love. Hello, strength. Hello, hope. It's a new horizon. Hello, peace. Hello, joy. Hello, love. Hello, strength. Hello, hope. It's a new horizon. Sickness is not my story. You are. You are. Heartbreak's not my home. You are. You are. Death is not the end, Jesus. You are. Fear is not my future. You are. You are. Sickness is not my story. You are. You are. Heartbreak's not my home. You are. You are. Death is not the end. You are. You are.

Hello, peace. Hello, joy. Hello, love. Hello, strength. Hello, hope. It's a new horizon. Hello, peace. Hello, joy. Hello, love. Hello, strength. Hello, hope. It's a new horizon. Fear is not my future. You are. You are. Sickness is not my story. You are. You are. Heartbreak's not my home. You are. You are. Death is not the end. You are. You are. You are. You are. Jesus, thank you for your presence, thank you for your grace. Thank you that your death on a cross did not simply end in your death, Lord, but that it actually continues in the rising up of your life. Lord, thank you. Thank you for that truth. Thank you that fear does not have to be our future, that you are our future, Lord. Lord, we love you. We love you, Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray together, amen. Amen. We're going to step into some communion, so I want to invite you to just take your seat. We do this every single week, and I want to remind you that the reason that we do it is that bread represents the body of Jesus, and the juice in that cup represents the blood of Jesus that was poured out for the forgiveness of our sin. So as you take it, do it in remembrance of him. Feel free to take it when you're ready. Amen. Amen. Amen. Y'all, we've got some folks here about to get baptized. We're going to have us a Pantano party, so can you get on your feet?

We worship Jesus together, and we celebrate together. Come on. When all I see is the battle, you see my victory. When all I see is a mountain, you see the mountain old. And as I walk through the shadows, your love surrounds me. There's nothing to fear now, for I am saved. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And if you are for me, you can be against me. For Jesus, there's nothing impossible. When all I see on the ashes, you see the beauty. When all I see is the cross, I'll just see the empty tomb. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. ♪♪ ♪ Almighty fortress, you go before us ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ You shine in the shadows, you win every battle ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ And almighty fortress, you go before us ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ You shine in the shadows, you win every battle ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ And almighty fortress, you go before us ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ You shine in the shadows, you win every battle ♪

♪ Nothing can stand against the power of our God ♪ ♪ So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees ♪ ♪ With my hands lifted high ♪ ♪ Oh God, the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ And every tear I lay at your feet ♪ ♪ I'll sing through the night ♪ ♪ Oh God, the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪ Oh God, the battle belongs to you ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ I know a name that can silence roaring waves ♪ ♪ I know a name that can empty out the grave ♪ ♪ I know a name, it's the only name that saves ♪ ♪ And it's worthy of all praise ♪ ♪ I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you healer ♪ ♪ Risen and reigning in power ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you savior ♪ ♪ Worthy of glory forever ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, I have a key ♪ ♪ With dominion over death, he holds the key ♪ ♪ In his holy nail scar hands is the key ♪ ♪ That has crushed the serpent's head ♪ ♪ The resurrected great I am ♪ ♪ I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you healer ♪ ♪ Risen and reigning in power ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you savior ♪ ♪ Worthy of glory forever ♪

♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, chains break ♪ ♪ Driver bones break, every time I call your name ♪ ♪ The gates of hell shake, every time I call your name ♪ ♪ Chains break, driver bones break, every time I call your name ♪ ♪ The gates of hell shake, every time I call your name ♪ Oh, every time I call your name Oh, oh, oh, oh Oh, death is now your savior Oh, grave for victory Oh, death is now your savior Oh, grave for victory Oh, death is now your savior Oh, grave for victory Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive In the name of Jesus Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive In the name of Jesus Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive In the name of Jesus Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive In the name of Jesus

I call you, I call you healer Reason is reigning in power Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you Jesus I call you, I call you savior You're holy forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you again Man, praise God. God is so good. We're so thankful that you came and joined us today. If you're looking for your next steps, you're looking for prayer, you can head right across our courtyard and find both of those things there. We love you so much. Have a good week.