Overthinking Tomorrow - My Anxious Thoughts

Are you ready to worship Jesus today? Come on. Hey, we're going to kick it off right. We're going to celebrate some baptisms. Put those hands together. Oh, the Lord is good. His love endures forever. He is always good. His love endures forever. In one voice we say. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him on the earth below. He is worthy, worthy. Praise God for all your heavenly hosts. Praised by the sun and holy glow. He is worthy, worthy. Praise God. Praise God. He is worthy, worthy. Praise God. Oh, praise God. Blind eyes open for the lost one's sake. We raise our hands and we magnify His name. Oh, the Lord is good. His love endures forever. He is always good. His love endures forever. So praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him on the earth below. He is worthy, worthy. Praise God for all your heavenly hosts. Praised by the sun and holy glow. He is worthy, worthy. Praise God. Oh, praise God. He is worthy, worthy. Praise God.

Oh, praise God. He is worthy, worthy. And on that day when the trumpet sounds. That's it, come on. Every eye will see. And every knee will bow. Oh, the glory and power. Come on, sing. To Christ our King. Oh, He reigns forever. All creation sing. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him on the earth below. He is worthy, worthy. Praise God for all your heavenly hosts. Praised by the sun and holy glow. He is worthy, worthy. Praise god. Oh, praise God. He is worthy, worthy. Praise God. Oh, praise God. He is worthy, worthy. Praise God. Oh, we worship you, Jesus. Come on and praise our God. Yeah. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God.

♪ But you pulled me from the pit ♪ ♪ I can't shake my soul and I can't get over it ♪ ♪ I respond to your grace with faith on fire ♪ ♪ I surrender it all, you can't tell how ♪ ♪ From my heart to the heavens, hear my cry ♪ ♪ I love you, I love you, Jesus ♪ ♪ I give you my worship, you can have my whole heart ♪ ♪ No one else is worthy like you are, Jesus ♪ ♪ You alone deserve it, it's my hallelujah ♪ ♪ No one else is worthy like you are, like you are ♪ ♪ Yeah, the only one, the highest king of heaven ♪ ♪ Thrown upon the praises of your people ♪ ♪ Every knee will bow down and every tongue proclaim ♪ ♪ Oh, you get all the glory, all the honor, all the praise ♪ ♪ Jesus, I give you my worship, you can have my whole heart ♪ ♪ No one else is worthy like you are, Jesus ♪ ♪ You alone deserve it, it's my hallelujah ♪ ♪ No one else is worthy like you are, like you are ♪ ♪ Like you are, oh no one else ♪ ♪ I respond to your grace with faith on fire ♪ ♪ I surrender it all with hands held high from my heart ♪ ♪ Till the heavens hear my cry, I love you, oh ♪ ♪ I respond to your grace with faith on fire ♪ ♪ I surrender it all with hands held high from my heart ♪ ♪ Till the heavens hear my cry, I love you, oh love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I give you my worship, you can have my whole heart ♪ ♪ When like you are, Jesus, oh you're worthy Jesus ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, no one else is worthy like you are ♪ ♪ Like you are, no one else is worthy like you are ♪ ♪ Like you are, you're worthy Jesus, you're worthy ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ A thousand generations falling down in worship ♪ ♪ To sing the song of ages to the lamb ♪ ♪ And all who've gone before us and all who will believe ♪ ♪ Will sing the song of ages to the lamb ♪ ♪ Your name is the highest, your name is the greatest ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ All thrones and dominions, all powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all and the angels cry ♪ ♪ Holy, all creation cries, holy, you are lifted high ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ holy, holy forever. And if you've been forgiven, and if you've been redeemed, sing the song forever to the man. And if you walk in freedom, and if you bear his name, sing the song forever to the man. We'll sing the song forever and amen. And the angels cry, holy. All creation cries, holy. You are lifted high, holy. Holy forever. And your people sing, holy. To the king of kings, holy. You will always be, holy. Holy forever. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. Above all thrones and dominions, all power and positions. Your name stands above them all. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. Above all thrones and dominions, all power and positions. Your name stands above them all. And the angels cry, holy. All creation cries, holy. You are lifted high, holy. Holy forever. And your people sing, holy. To the king of kings, holy. You will always be, holy. Holy forever. You will always be, holy. Holy forever. You will always be, holy. Holy forever. You will always be, holy. Holy

forever. You will always be, holy. Holy forever. Church, this is the thing that we get to do forever. The Bible says that around the throne 24-7, our angels, creatures, people, bowing down, worshiping the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And we get to do this together today, right here at Pantano in Tucson, Arizona and wherever you're at across the globe. God deserves the praise and here's the truth. We'll never, no matter how hard we try, we will never give him the praise that he deserves. And that's why it's so cool that he invites us into him. Like a proud father just saying, that's okay, give me what you have. Not because he wants the praise, not because he's hungry for it. Because he knows that when we worship and when we abandon everything else and chase after him That all of our problems seem to be become a lot smaller all of our issues Seem to become a lot smaller because we're focusing on the one who holds the answers and that's Jesus Christ So for one second in this place and wherever you're at, can we lift up praise in this place? Come on Hey man, I'm gonna invite you to have a seat prepare the elements of communion wherever you're at Just as worship is the thing that we get to do forever It also says in the word that God's love is never-ending That his love never fails forever And in fact, it says that in limitations chapter 3 that every single day that you and I wake up and we have breath That we have a brand new set of mercy. We have brand new mercy and grace from God And I need that today and I'll need it tomorrow too But God has it for you today. And so I just want to encourage you just for a moment Spend some time with the Father Maybe you came today not knowing what to expect. If it's your first time here We're so glad you're here and I just want to set you at ease You don't have to look or sound or do anything like everybody else You just be here and we pray that God just just loves on you and captures your heart today as he's captured ours Let's pray and I'm gonna give you just a couple of moments before we take the bread and the juice Before we receive those gifts from God God we just thank you. We praise you

Thank you that because we're forgiven We have been forgiven. We have been redeemed So we get to sing this song forever to the Lamb Spirit of God come and have your way in us today Jesus as we focused on the cross and what you did for us Would you let it just become brand new for us again that we don't overlook it. We don't take it for granted Holy Spirit use this communion to renew our spirits to draw us closer to you to remind us Man, we were so far gone and you redeemed us. You pulled us up out of the pit Set our feet upon a rock Because of that we have life today. It's in your name we pray. Church when you're ready, you can receive those elements You Hey pan Tanna, I'm Gina and I am so glad you're joining us today Whether this is your very first time with us, or you've been part of our church family for years. We're so glad you're here Joining us on campus swing by next steps after service and say hello We'd love to meet you answer your questions and help you find your place here Joining us online. We'd love to connect with you to fill out a connect card through next steps so we can get to know you keep you in the loop and Help you take your next step stay connected with Pantano all week long by following us on social media It's the best place to catch event updates encouraging content Ministry stories and all that's happening across our campuses No matter how you're joining us today, we're excited to connect with you. Last weekend across all our campuses, 57 people chose to publicly declare their faith through baptism. We're blown away by what God is doing in Tucson, Benson, and beyond. And if you're ready to jump in, you can schedule your baptism by visiting Next Steps. Here at Pantano, our mission is loving people to Jesus

and launching passionate difference makers. Your generosity makes that mission possible. Because of your giving, people experience the love of Jesus in real, tangible ways. Lives are changed. People are equipped and sent out to make a difference in their communities and around the world. You can drop your gift in a giving box, give online through our website, or simply text give to 46356. Another way to live out our mission is by joining our generosity bag initiative. It's a new month, which means new items are needed to bless our community. So be sure to grab a bag on your way out, fill it with the items listed inside, and return it to Pantano. Thank you for being a church that lives out this mission and makes a real difference in our communities. Are you ready to grow as a leader? The Global Leadership Summit is returning to Pantano August 6th through 7th, 2026. Over two days, you'll hear from a diverse lineup of speakers who will share practical wisdom and fresh perspectives to help you lead with confidence wherever God has placed you, at work, at home, in ministry, or in your community. Here's what some previous attendees had to say about the summit. I think it's so important for leaders

to take time to invest in themselves. Everyone gets better when the leader gets better, and so to take that time to invest in yourself, it is absolutely worth it. The leadership that we learn from this, that we take away from this, that's why we're here, and just to gain further knowledge on how we can best serve the people that we serve on a day-to-day basis. I highly encourage to anybody who's interested, if you haven't been, show up. It's well worth your time. I'm a small business owner, and I'd been drowning for a few years. It's a blessing that I came here. From the very first speaker, everything they've been saying since has been helping me realize my job as a leader, at work and at home. I am so happy I'm here, because God spoke to me in so many different ways. God has something to tell us every year. That's the reason to keep coming. If you'd like to learn more, reserve your spot, and take advantage of early bird pricing, or head to Next Steps. Thanks again for joining us. We can't wait to see how God moves throughout our time together.

Well, hey there, Pantano, how we doing? We doing all right? Man, it is really, really good to be with you. Hey, we got a bunch of people online with us. I wanna welcome a few. We got Dustin from Mammoth, Arizona with us. We got all of our friends at Benson, all of the Gospel Rescue folks, all of our folks at the Santa Rita. Welcome them all in, if you would. We love our online campus and all of our campuses. Now, before we dive into week two, I wanna give you a little bit of background on where we are right now. Now, before we dive into week two of our series called My Anxious Thoughts, which we started last week, man, what I wanna share with you right now has to do with this series, actually, and it's perfect timing. In just a couple weeks, on July the 25th, that's a Saturday, all day here, we have our second annual Mental Health Forum right here at our Houghton Campus. So if you've ever dealt with mental health, you know somebody dealing with mental health, you wanna be able to help people with mental health, we're gonna have a bunch of vendors here, a bunch of local organizations here, some incredible speakers are gonna be here for that,

workshops all day long. You can go to our Next Steps page, you can sign up for that. I would tell you, it's going to be incredible. My friend Chris Rusin's actually gonna be here as one of the speakers. Maybe you remember Chris. If you've been around here at all, he's the most energetic preacher I've ever met in my life. He talks so fast, he can preach two sermons in one 30-minute section, it's amazing. But he's unbelievable, he's gonna be here for that, and a myriad of other people as well. So if you would, I would encourage you, if you know someone or you sign up, come bring them with you. It's gonna be a great opportunity to dig into what we're digging into in this series a little deeper. So with that said, week two of our series, My Anxious Thoughts, and today, we're talking about overthinking. Now let me ask you, any of y'all overthinkers? And now you're overthinking that you're an overthinker. You're like, hmm. Well, I don't know if you've ever had this. Have you ever looked at your computer and realized there's way too many browser tabs open? Any of you guilty of this all the. time. Like you've got like 30 of them open at the top, and you

can't even read what they say. It's like roulette. You're like, I wonder what this one is. And if you start going through them, you notice something like I'm talking about the kind of like, where you see the icons and you're like, one is email, like one is Amazon. One is the vacation that you think you're going to take one day. One is the article you were going to read three days ago. Like you've got all these tabs rolling, and you start to click on them. Then there's one with music playing. You're like, where's that at? What's that music? You've never heard that music in your life. And so you're trying to find that because the boss heard it. He's coming down the hall. He thinks you're listening to death metal at eight o'clock in the morning, right? One of those is your bank account, maybe one's ESPN, because you want to see how your team's doing, or how your World Cup team's doing. They lost by the way, in case you're wondering how your World Cup team's doing. You like you have a vacation page open. And then somewhere in the middle of all of that, you realize that it's doing something. Your computer's slowing down. And there's too many things open, the battery starts draining faster, it becomes less efficient, because there's just too many things running at the same time. A couple weeks ago, I'm not that guy. I don't have 40,000 tabs open, because I've got enough chaos in my life. I don't need one more that I create, right? But a couple weeks ago, I was living in that because I had all these tabs open for all this stuff I was working on. And I realized I just stopped and I laughed at myself. I'm like, this looks like my brain. In my head, I just took the 80s commercial, this is your brain on tabs. If you know the reference, we're friends. We're friends. And you're from the 80s. Good job.

But I looked up and I'm like, this looks like my head. Because most of us, it looks like our minds. Because we're waking up and walking around with like 50 tabs in our minds open every single day. You've got your marriage tab that's there. You've got your kids tab, which is like seven of them. Because your eight year old has more schedule than you do. And then you got that one tab that's your finances. One is work. One's a doctor's appointment. One's retirement that you're hoping will happen one day. One tab is the news. One is that thing you said three days ago, you wish you could take back. Another tab is that thing you said 10 years ago, you wish you could take back. Another one's the thing you wish you would have said three days ago. And before you know it, your mind's running so many tabs, you can't focus on what's right in front of you. Like you ever do this, you're sitting at dinner, and you're thinking of work. And then you're sitting at work, and you're thinking of dinner. And then you're sitting on a beach on vacation, and you're thinking about your inbox. And we're so distracted about all these things. Like you're laying in bed, and you're thinking about tomorrow. And the more tabs we open, just like that computer, we become less efficient. And we become more anxious. And we become more exhausted. And here's what I've discovered, is that anxiety loves extra tabs. Anxiety loves them. Anxiety is constantly opening new tabs in your life. And here's how maybe it sounds like, what if this happens? New tab. Or how about what if it doesn't work out? New tab. Or how about this one? What if they don't like me? New tab. But what if I fail? New tab. Because what we don't realize, every time we open a tab, our mental exhaustion goes up, because we're trying to manage a

future that doesn't exist yet. And that's why I want us to remember one simple thing today, and it's so complex, it's so simple. And here it is, control is a counterfeit God. Control is a counterfeit God. Like, let me ask you, how many of you are a little bit of a control freak? Any control freaks? You don't want to admit that one so fast, do you? You're like, you're not going to control me, so no. Like, I'm a bit of a control freak. Like, there's a reason why I will always drive if I go somewhere. It's not because I'm polite. It's because you're a horrible driver, and I'm in control. If we're going to die, it'll be on my watch, not on yours, okay? Like, I fly quite a bit. Every time I get on an airplane, some of you know this, I think inside, I look calm, cool, and collected, but on the inside, I'm like, if they just let me in the cockpit, if they just let me fly the plane. Now, that's stupid. I'm not a pilot. I've never taken a pilot's class in my life. But there's a split second where I'm like, but I'd be safer. No, I wouldn't. We'd all die. Every one of us would die. I'd be on the news. Local pastor takes over a plane because he thought he could fly it better. Local pastor now in heaven. Like, that's what it would read. Because control is a counterfeit God. Me wanting to control that is not real. And if we're honest, every one of us battles this. Some of us try to control every dime we have our finances. Some of us, we try to control our health. Some of us, we try to control our kids. Actually, some of you are doing a horrible job of that. We got some counseling classes for that. Maybe you should do better at it, actually. Some of us, we try to control our spouse.

Okay, stop doing that. By the way, I don't try to control my spouse. She's Italian. If I go missing, it's because I try to control her. If I go missing, look in every wash in Tucson. Okay, look in every single one. There's no water here, so she's just gonna drop me in the middle of one. Okay, that's what's gonna happen. Is she in the service? I hope not. Don't tell her I said any of this. Maybe, are you in here? Okay, good. Let's get back to this, all right? I'm just checking. I wanna make sure. If you see a red dot on me, it's her, all right? I just want you to know, like, that's what's happening. Now, I'm a little scared for my life. I'm not gonna lie. Like, some of us, we try to, like, control our futures. We try to control what everybody thinks about us. Like, we spend enormous amounts of time and energy trying to manage the things God never intended for us to manage, and then when life refuses to, like, cooperate with our plans, that's when anxiety shows up. We get anxious, and here's what makes anxiety so exhausting. It's not simply uncertainty.

Like, that's part of it, but that's not the biggest part. It's actually our attempt to eliminate uncertainty that makes us anxious. We keep trying to carry these responsibilities that belong to God, and we convince ourselves that if everything would just go according to our plan, then we could finally relax. You ever feel like that? Like, well, if all these stupid people would just do what I do, life would be so much easier. Here's the problem. Life doesn't work that way. Like, kids get sick at the most inopportune times, right? Actually, I don't think there's ever an opportune time for your kid to get sick, and why is it always 2 a.m., and you hear, blah, in the dark, right? You're like, where did that come from? For some of you guys, that's my dog, right? That's what my dog does. You've never panicked so hard at 3 a.m. until you hear that noise, right? Or how about, like, the job changes. Like, you can't control that, or you ever been disappointed by another human being? Anybody been disappointed by another person? If you haven't been, just wait, it's coming. Like, relationships become complicated. Markets fluctuate. Unexpected problems arise without warning. See, the illusion of control gets exposed

when all that stuff happens, and suddenly, in that moment, we're reminded we were never in charge to begin with. We're not in charge. And I believe one of the greatest causes of anxiety today is not uncertainty itself, it's actually misplaced control. That's where our anxiety starts. We're trying to sit in the seat that only God was designed to occupy. We're trying to be the manager of outcomes, the controller of circumstances, the architects of tomorrow. And every time we do that, our souls get a little more exhausted. Which brings me to one of the most fascinating stories in all of Scripture. It's actually over in the Gospels. Now, if you're like, what is the word gospel? It just means good news. There's two parts of the Bible, right? There's the Old Testament, and then there's the New Testament. The New Testament, the first four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they're called the Gospels. That just means good news. By the way, isn't that nice? If you wanna read some good news, go to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. You're like, where do I go to read bad news? I don't know, not there. All right, go read some bad news somewhere else. But in the Gospels, there's a story,

especially in Luke chapter 10, and it's about these two sisters. Any sisters in the room? We had a couple last hour. Anybody have a sister, show of hands? Oh, yeah, there's a lot more, really. I got one, she's crazy. Like, I don't know. It's actually a story about these two sisters, but it's also a story about anxiety and a story about priorities and control. It's what the story's about. So I want you to go over to Luke chapter 10. If you got Bibles, go to Luke chapter 10. And Jesus arrives at the home of these two sisters named Martha and Mary. You heard of these ladies? Mm-hmm. Like Martha and Mary, two sisters. Jesus shows up at their house for a little bit of a dinner party. And here's what's interesting. Martha often gets painted as the anxious sister, and Mary gets painted as the spiritual sister. Now, if we're honest, most of us are Martha. Whether we want to admit it or not. So Luke tells us that Martha welcomed Jesus into her home. That detail matters because Martha's doing a good thing. Like, and we agree, inviting Jesus into your home, good thing.

Like, hey, Jesus, come on over. Like, if Jesus walks in your house, man, that's a good day. You don't even make him wipe his feet, because it's Jesus, right? You're like, I'm sure they're clean. And so Martha welcomes Jesus into her home. She serves Jesus. She's preparing a meal for Jesus and his followers. She's opening her home, like, showing hospitality. Like, nothing Martha is doing is wrong. Let's understand that. I think a lot of times we've. but oh, Martha's doing everything wrong. No, actually, she's not. In fact, in most churches, we'd celebrate Martha. In most churches, every ministry, we'd recruit her for everyone. And we'd let her serve in everyone because Martha's awesome. You know what we love about Martha? She gets stuff done. Let's go ahead and work her to death in the church for the next 50 years. Why? Because she's awesome. And she's productive, and she gets it done, and she's the person every ministry wants on their team because she makes things happen. The problem is not that Martha was serving. The problem is that her service slowly became her stress.

She took her focus and put it somewhere else. Here's what Luke chapter 10, verse 40 says, "'But Martha was,' what, what's the word? "'Distracted. "'Martha was distracted by the big dinner "'she was preparing.'" That word distracted, if you dig into it, it actually means to be pulled away from. So Martha is physically present with Jesus, but she's mentally absent. Physically present, mentally absent with Jesus. Like she's in the same room, but her mind is somewhere else. You ever been there? Like truth be told, sometimes even when I'm up here, it happens to me. It's wild. Like I could be looking around the room, and like, why does that guy look weird? But that's not what's coming out of my mouth. I'm like, what are they talking about over there? I wanna be a part of it. What are you guys talking about? That's what's going on in my head. That's what's coming out of my mouth. But then sometimes my head forgets to tell my mouth we shouldn't say it, so then I say it. Some of you guys are like, yeah, we've heard it. Like four times a day. I know you have.

But like where you're physically present, but you're mentally not quite there. Like her attention is divided. And Jesus is right in front of her. Like we do the same thing. Some of you, you're physically present with Jesus, you're just not mentally with Jesus. Her focus is fragmented. Like, isn't that exactly what anxiety does? Like anxiety will do that. It'll pull us from the moment we're in and drag us into a future that doesn't exist yet. That's what it does. Like it steals our attention from what is right in front of us and forces us to obsess over what's gonna happen tomorrow. See, Martha's with Jesus, but she's not experiencing Jesus because anxiety hijacked her attention. Some of you've had your attention hijacked. And now the pressure keeps building. Like Martha being the older sister, she notices Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet while she does all the work. So to all my older sisters out there, you understand this, don't you? Oh yeah, you guys are, mm-hmm. Y'all just got older sistered real hard right there. Some of you moved your heads back and forth. You're like, stupid younger sister, never pulling her weight.

She's the baby, she can do whatever she wants. Oh, look at her, they're sitting with Jesus. Why don't you do some dishes, Mary? Where you at on that one? Every older sister's like, mm-hmm, thank you. Thanks for seeing me. Her irritation starts growing, her resentment starts rising. Frustration starts to boil up inside of her. Eventually, she's had enough. She reaches a breaking point. She marches up to Jesus. Not Mary, I think this is funny. It's funny and telling. Like she goes up to Jesus. You gotta hear this in the most like, angsty, whiny way possible, what she says. She goes up, she goes, Lord, don't you care? Tell my sister to help me. It's not fair, Jesus. Make her wash a dish. I imagine she's like, she's a brat. She always gets what she wants. I wanna be with Jesus, but somebody's gotta cook. See, think about that. Martha's so overwhelmed that she starts telling Jesus, the Messiah, the creator of eternity, how to do ministry. She's like, Jesus, listen, I need you to do things differently. See, anxiety has a way of doing that. Like it slowly convinces us that we know better than God.

Like anxiety begins to whisper inside of us that if God would simply follow our plan, everything would be fine. It's like, God, let me be your admin. I'll take care of this. See, it convinces us that we need to take over responsibilities that belong to him. Here's what I love about Jesus, how he responds. Like Jesus doesn't shame her. He doesn't embarrass her. He doesn't rebuke her harshly. Here's what he says. He starts with, my dear Martha. I like that. He's just gentle. He's like, oh, sweetie. He just looks her in the eye and then he says, you're worried and upset about all these details. Period. I love that phrase, all these details. Notice what he doesn't do. He doesn't minimize her concerns. He just exposes the burden that's inside of her. He doesn't say, Martha, stop being stupid. Just says, man, you're concerned about all these details. I'm so sorry. Like, Martha is carrying things she doesn't need to carry. She's trying to manage outcomes that were never hers. I mean, she's trying to control circumstances that she was never meant to control.

And then Jesus says something profound. He says, there's only one thing worth being concerned about. By the way, if Jesus ever says in scripture, there's just one thing or this thing you need to do, that's where you should perk up and pay attention. He says, there's one thing that you should be concerned about. And then he says, Mary's discovered it. I wonder if in her mind, she's like, of course she did. Mary, Mary, Mary, like all the time, right? Some of y'all went Brady Bunch, Marsha, Marsha, Marsha, right there, I know you did. He says, Mary's discovered it and it will not be taken from her. Now, hear me, Jesus is not condemning her preparation. There is nothing wrong with preparing a meal for people coming to your home, especially if it's me. And it's good. Like, don't prepare something bad, prepare something good. I want something good. He's not condemning the responsibility. He's not condemning the preparation. He's not condemning the preparation. What he's condemning is the preoccupation. Like, he's condemning the anxiety that it's causing. Like, Mary chose presence over pressure. Jesus is in her house. She's like, I need to spend some time with him. Mary chose relationship over responsibility for that moment. Mary chose worship over worry.

And Jesus says she chose what mattered the most, sitting at his feet first. And the reason this story is so powerful is because it reveals the root of so much of our anxiety. I know it does mine. And it's just simply this. We try to carry tomorrow before tomorrow gets here. Some of you guys are carrying tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and the day after that and six years from now and 10 years from now. And we're trying to control outcomes before they happen. We're trying to solve problems that don't even exist yet. You ever do this one? You don't have a problem, so you create a problem so you can solve it. How crazy are we? That's why Jesus addresses this directly. If you go to Matthew chapter six, just flip back a couple books, Matthew, Mark, Luke. So Matthew would be before Luke, Matthew chapter six. Listen to his words. Jesus says, that is why I tell you not to what? What's the word? Worry about everyday life. Now some of you guys are like, okay, thanks Jesus. He says, don't worry about everyday life. Then Jesus begins talking about food and clothing and provision and daily needs. And then he points to the birds. He's like, see the birds?

They don't worry. They made a bird that mocks us, but they don't make one that worries. That's a mockingbird, by the way, in case you didn't get it. There's not a worry bird, okay? He points to the flowers. He's like, look how well-dressed the flowers of the field are. They don't worry about it. He points to creation. Why does he do that? Because creation understands something that we often forget. It's like the creation of creation that he made is God is the provider. God's the provider. And then Jesus asks a question in Matthew six. It cuts straight to the heart. He says, can all your worries add a single moment to your life? You know what the answer to that is? Nope. Not even a little bit. Like worry, worry has never solved tomorrow. Like worry has never changed an outcome. Worry has never prevented a tragedy. Worry has never fixed a relationship. It usually just drains today's strength. I've had the privilege over my ministry career

to sit with people in their final moments of life. I'm not saying that it's the most enjoyable thing to do, but I will say it's very telling. And you begin to sit with people as they're about to leave this earth to go into eternity. And I usually ask the question if I have time. I'm like, hey, is there anything you would do differently? You know what I've never heard? Man, you know what? I wish I had worried more. Yeah, I didn't worry enough. If I had worried just a little bit more, I think I'd have lived five years longer. You know, I read a study. The American Heart Association said if we would worry more, we'd have better heart health. I've never seen that. It's because nobody says that. Nobody says, I wish I'd have worried more about tomorrow so that I would live longer. That's not how it works. See, then Jesus gives us one of the most powerful commands in scripture. He says, so don't worry about tomorrow. Don't worry about it. For tomorrow bring its own worries, and today's trouble is enough for. for today, think about that. Jesus is not saying tomorrow won't have problems. That's not what he says.

He's saying tomorrow's problems require tomorrow's grace. God never promised today's grace for tomorrow's burdens. That's not what he promised. He promised today's grace for today's burdens. Like the reason so many of us are exhausted is because we're trying to carry tomorrow's weight with today's strength. And he goes, I'm giving you enough for today. See, God's actually in the business of this. Like if you've read the Old Testament, there's this story about God's people and they wander in the desert. You remember this story? For like 40 years. It's pretty much the bulk of the Old Testament. Is God's people just wandering in the desert because they don't trust God? By the way, you think there's a parallel? We live in Tucson. You know what this place is? The desert. And some of y'all are just wandering around and you're like, I don't know what to do, you know? And God's like, I provide for you today. And so he says in the nation of Israel, he goes, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna have this stuff fall from heaven. It's gonna look like a little white pastry. It's gonna hit the ground and you're gonna collect enough for today.

That's gonna be your provision to eat. He's like, I'm gonna literally provide for you each day. Now, first of all, honeycomb falling from the sky, that sounds like my dream. Like, man, I'd be like, are you gonna provide me with some Ozempic too? Because I'm gonna need it. Like, God, that's what I'm gonna need. He's like, you take enough for today. And he said, don't stockpile it. You're gonna trust me. Now, God's people, because we're such good listeners, you know what they do? They stockpile it. It shows up, they start putting in extra mason jars. It seems responsible, right? Like, we're gonna put some manna away for like a rainy day in case we don't have a manna monsoon tomorrow. By the way, wasn't monsoon great yesterday? It was fantastic. Some of you guys are like, I live on the other side of town. We got to see it. Didn't get to experience it. But he's like, literally like, don't stockpile it. They stockpile it. The next day they wake up, you know what happened to their stockpile? It was moldy and full of maggots. Yeah, how do you like them apples?

You like your moldy, maggoty manna? Sounds like a weird album title, doesn't it? We're a really heavy metal band, right? He's like, don't stockpile. I'm gonna give you your provision for each day. He's like, what are you worried about tomorrow for? I got you today and I will take care of you again tomorrow. You see, control is a counterfeit God because it demands more than we can give and delivers less than it promises. I have a friend, he always tells me, he goes, hey, make sure when you're leading people, you under-promise, over-deliver. You know what control does? Over-promises and under-delivers. It tells you you're in control and you're really not. That's why Paul writes Philippians four, don't worry about anything. So I did a deep dive on that word, anything. You know what that word anything means in the original language? Anything. Feel real smart now, don't we? Like, don't worry about anything. You're like, really? How am I supposed to do that? Well, he gives us the answer. He says, instead, pray about what? Everything. So I studied that word, you know what everything means?

Oh, look at y'all being Greek scholars, look at you go. You can go tell everybody you're a Greek scholar now, that's great. Like, he says, don't worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't say, ignore your anxiety, he says, redirect it. He says, so stop worrying about everything. Instead, pray about everything. Like, notice what he doesn't promise. He doesn't promise answers. He doesn't promise certainty. He doesn't promise immediate solutions. What he does promise is peace. Why would he promise peace? Because peace is not the result of control. Peace is the result of trust. See, when we try to control, we get real anxious. We try to control, you get a little fearful. What if it doesn't work out? What if I'm not right? Like, when you just trust God, there's a peace that comes from that. And the goal is not to control tomorrow. The goal is to trust God today. That's the goal. That's why that statement matters so much. Control is a counterfeit God. Like, every time we worship at the altar of control, you know what grows?

Anxiety. How do I know? Because I do it. Every time I start to grab straws to control things in my life, it's where my anxiety grows. It's where I lose sleep. It's where I can't think straight. It's where I can't get my wits about me. But what's interesting is, every time I surrender control to God, you know what's interesting? Peace grows. Like, there's a scripture that says, like, a peace that surpasses all understanding. You ever met those people? Like, how can you be so peaceful in this moment? Oh, it's easy, because I just. I started trusting God. Like I've seen people with terminal disease and they're like, I'm good. I'm like, really? How's that possible? Because I trust God's in control of the outcome. I've seen people that, man, their family, man, they're having division in their family and they're just trusting God to be in control of that moment like how do you do that? Because God gave me a peace that surpasses all understanding and you meet those people and you're like,

how is it possible? And they're like, I can't explain it except Jesus. So what does this mean for you? Well, I think it starts with identifying the thing that you're trying to control right now. Like all of us have something. Maybe for some of you, it's your finances. I mean, you just stress all the time about it and you've not once said, hey God, could you just be in the middle of my finances? Maybe it's your marriage. You're trying to control the marriage. You're like, yeah, but if they would just listen to me, we'd be so much happier. Okay. How's that working? Maybe it's your kids. Like this was always a big one for me. Still is. I got one that's grown and married now and I'm still like, where are you on life 360? Why is my 22 year old in the woods? Because they're on a picnic, dummy. And they're married, let them figure it out, right? Like I still like have anxiety over my kids. Maybe it's your future. You're just anxious all the time about it. Maybe it's your health. Maybe it's your reputation. Maybe it's something nobody else

even knows you're carrying right now. Maybe it's something nobody else even knows you're carrying right now. Like whatever it is, could I just implore you, be honest about it. Like what are you trying to control right now that only God can control? Can I let you in on a little secret? It's probably everything. And until you identify it, you can't surrender it. And some of your carrying burdens, God has never asked you to carry. You're trying to manage outcomes that don't belong to you. They belong to him. You're trying to write chapters of the story that only he has the pen to. So the invitation today is really simple, yet really hard. What if you begin to release what you can't control and trust the God who already holds tomorrow? You're like, well, how do I do that? Okay, let me give you a practicality. So this week, every time anxiety starts pulling you toward tomorrow, can I just implore you, stop and pray. Every time worry begins replaying scenarios in your mind, stop and pray. Every time fear starts building, stop and pray. Here's what prayer is, it's a practical act of surrender. When we pray, what we're saying is, God, this is yours now. You're like, okay, that sounds good, Pastor Man,

but I don't know how to pray. Okay, let me ask you a question. How many of you have ever talked to another human being before? Just show of hands. If you didn't raise your hand, we're all going to talk to you afterwards. Okay, that's what's gonna happen. You're like, no, I've talked to people, I promise. I promise I've talked to people. Now, please don't talk to me and let me leave. If you've ever talked to another human being, that's how I can talk to God. Here's how a lot of my prayers go. God, I'm scared to death about this outcome and I don't know what to do. I'm gonna need you to take it. That's it. God, I've got a lot of anxiety in my soul about my daughter being in the woods in Toledo. I'm gonna need you to take that. God, I'm really concerned about like the financial state of the market right now. So God, I'm gonna need you to really calm my soul because I wanna make sure that I can retire. I'm gonna need you to take that, God. Just fill in your blank. See, it's that simple that we would pray. So I wanna do something with you and it's gonna require a little bit of courage

for some of you. But I think a little bit of courage is where freedom starts. And so I'm just gonna ask if any of you is dealing with like any anxiety whatsoever. It could be as simple as I'm anxious about being here right now. It could be I'm anxious about losing my job. I'm anxious about my kids. I'm anxious about my marriage. I'm anxious about life in general. I'm anxious about the state of the world. If you're dealing with any kind of anxiety, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to stand where you are. I just want you to stand. It's okay. Now, if you don't stand, don't be anxious that you're not standing. Okay, that's okay. You're like, now I have anxiety because everybody else is up. First of all, I want you to look around. You're not alone. We talked about this last week. You're not alone. But here's the other thing I want to do is I want to pray. And if I were sitting there, I would have stood right now too, just so you know. But I'm already standing,

so it felt weird to sit down, you know, all that kind of things. But I just want to pray for you. And I want to pray over you that we would find a peace that surpasses understanding. And then when we're done, I'm gonna have you sit back down. So I know some of you guys are like, but aren't we done when you pray? No, I'm gonna have you sit back down because I got some more I want to say to you. But let me pray. God, today, God, in the name of Jesus, we pray peace. In the name of Jesus, we pray that anxiety would be lifted. In the name of Jesus, we pray that fear would subside. In the name of Jesus, we pray that chaotic minds would be calmed. In the name of Jesus, we pray that we won't be able to describe it, we won't be able to explain it, but it'll be a peace in our souls that surpasses all understanding. God, I pray for the marriage that's full of anxiety. God, bring calm. I pray for the parents that are struggling through a moment with a kid. God, I pray you bring them peace. I pray for the addicts that are struggling to let the addiction let loose. God, bring them peace. God, for those that the darkness feels heavy,

bring them light and peace. God, release the things that are not of you. God, that we would be a people where peace surpasses understanding to the chaotic world around us. God, we pray that anxiety would no longer get a place in our soul, but the peace of Jesus does. So God, we love you. God, I thank you for just the courage to stand and say, you know what, I'm dealing with some stuff. God, may we not walk it alone. May we start with you and then find others around us that can walk with us. God, we love you, it's your name we pray. Amen, you can be seated for just a moment. I know some of you guys are like, but we're supposed to go to the doors now. No, you're not. Because I want you to imagine what would happen if we became a people who trusted God with tomorrow instead of trying to control tomorrow. Like imagine the freedom, imagine the peace, imagine the emotional energy we would regain if we stopped carrying responsibilities that belong to God, not to us. I just tell you, the world around us is in desperate need of peace. I see it all the time. What if the church became known as a people who are not ruled by fear?

We're not gonna be controlled by anxiety, we're not gonna be obsessed with managing every outcome, but what if we became a people who said, you know what, we're gonna work as hard as we can to trust God with all we are. We're gonna pray for everything. Identify one thing in your life that you're trying to control and then surrender to God. Pray through everything. You're like, everything? I have this friend, he literally prays for everything. Like when I tell you to pray for everything, like when we're driving, we'll get to a stop sign and he'll be like, God, should we go left or right? I'm like, it's left. The GPS said left. He's like, well, I wanna make sure God wants us to go where he wants us to go, and I'm like, God wants us to be early. I'm gonna need you to turn left. Like, I think God spoke to me and said I should control this situation and you go left. He's like, aren't you a pastor? And I'm like, let's pray. All right, let's pray, let's do it. What if we just begin to pray that way? This week, your next step's simple. Identify one thing you can't control, pray about it. Every time it hits you, pray about it because tomorrow has never been yours to carry.

It belongs to God. And the truth we need to remember is this, is control is a counterfeit God, but Jesus is a wonderful Savior. Come on. So, church, I'm gonna pray with you one more time, and I am, I know I ask this every week, but I'm gonna ask you, don't bolt for the door. In fact, if you love me and you love Jesus, that's called a Jesus Juke, and I just did it to you, OK? That's what we just did. You're like, but I have to go do it. You're like, but I have to go to work. Don't be anxious, just pray about it. OK, no, I'm just joking. If you gotta go to work, go to work. It's fine, it's fine. But I'm gonna pray for you, and then we're gonna sing this song, I Speak Jesus. And here's what I'm gonna implore you to do. You're like, I'm not a singer. That's fine, you can be a speaker. You can speak the name of Jesus. And we're gonna speak the name of Jesus over our lives, over our kids, over our neighborhoods, over our city, over our households, over our workplaces, that workplace that you're anxious you're gonna be late to because I told you you can't leave yet. You can pray over that. Like the clock will turn backwards a little bit for you.

OK, that's what we're gonna pray. And I'm gonna pray this. that you find a peace that you've never understood until today. And we're gonna speak the name of Jesus together. Let me pray for you, Father, today. God, we know there's power in the name of Jesus. And so God, it's in that name, the name of Jesus, that I pray over this moment. Whether in this room, at Benson, at GRM, at the prison, our online community, God, wherever somebody is right now. God, we pray that the name of Jesus would prevail. That when we utter that name, peace would fall over us. God, when we sing that name, when we scream that name, when we have that name in our soul, God, that no matter where we're at, no matter what we're doing, that when we say the name Jesus, a peace that surpasses everything falls in our soul. That you call yourself the Prince of Peace, wonderful counselor, Almighty God. Let's go, we put our trust in that today. God, I pray for my own fears and anxiety inside of me today, God, that, God, in the name of Jesus, declare peace for my soul. I declare the same thing for my friends right now, right here, that you would give us peace in the midst of the chaos. God, that we wouldn't overthink tomorrow, but we'd seek your peace today. God, we love you, it's in the powerful name of Jesus,

the Prince of Peace, and we pray all these things, God, for all God's people today, amen, love you church. Thank you. Father in heaven, will you pray for us? And Jesus Christ, Lord, you pour in us, we pray for you Jesus, Lord, will you act upon us, we sing in praise of you, that we may use your name. Thank you, we sing in praise of you Lord, we pray for your peace, that our sins will precisely work upon our alms giving,Lord. We eat God, we grow whole, we build real estate, and I just wanna speak the name of Jesus, over every heart and every mind, cause I know there is peace within your presence, I speak Jesus. I just wanna speak the name of Jesus, till every dark addiction starts to break, declaring there is hope and there is freedom, I speak Jesus. Your name is power, your name is healing, your name is life. Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows, but light the fire. Light the fire. I just wanna speak the name of Jesus, over fear and total anxiety, till every soul held captive by depression, I speak Jesus. Your name is power, your name is healing, your name is life.

Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows, but light the fire. Oh your name is power, your name is power, your name is healing, your name is life. Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows, but light the fire. Shout Jesus from the mountains, and Jesus in the streets, Jesus in the darkness, for every enemy, and Jesus for my family, I speak the holy name, Jesus. Oh, come on. Shout Jesus from the mountains, ♪ Jesus in the streets, oh Jesus in the dark ♪ ♪ Soulful and real of me, and Jesus Lord my family ♪ ♪ I speak the holy name, Jesus, your name is power ♪ ♪ Your name is power, your name is healing, your name is love ♪ ♪ Oh bring every stronghold, bring every stronghold ♪ ♪ Shine through the shadows, burn like a fire ♪ ♪ Oh your name is power, Jesus, your name is power ♪ ♪ Your name is healing, your name is love ♪ ♪ Your name is power, your name is love ♪ ♪ Oh bring every stronghold, bring every stronghold ♪ ♪ Shine through the shadows, burn like a fire ♪ ♪ I just wanna speak the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Over every heart and every mind ♪ ♪ Cause I know there is peace within your presence ♪ ♪ I speak Jesus, I speak the name Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, we speak the name Jesus ♪

♪ We cry out to you Jesus, oh we need you, we need you Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains and Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ And Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ And Jesus for my family, I speak the holy name Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus, shout Jesus from the mountains and Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ And Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ And Jesus for my family, I speak the holy name Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus, shout Jesus from the mountains and Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ And Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ And Jesus for my family, I speak the holy name Jesus ♪ ♪ We shout your name Jesus, Jesus ♪ Jesus, we leave this place with that name in our hearts and in our minds. May you be glorified. May you sit on the throne of our life and no one else, nothing else. In the powerful name of Jesus, we all agree and everybody said amen, amen. Thanks for being here today church. We love you. Have a great week. Thank you.