Peace for Your Heart - Saddleback Weekend Service

everybody welcome to Saddleback Church we're so glad you're here and we're so excited to worship with you come on, let's clap our hands and give Jesus grace today remember those walls that we caught sin and shame they were like prisons that we couldn't escape but he came and he died and he rose those walls are rubble now remember those giants we caught death and rain they were like mountains that stood in our way but he came and he died and he rose those giants are dead now this is our God, this is who he is he loves us this is our God, this is what he does he saves us he bore the cross, beat the grave let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God, King Jesus remember that fear that took our breath away our faith so weak that we could barely pray but he heard every word, every whisper and now those altars in the wilderness tell the story of his faithfulness never once did he fail and he never will this is our God, this is who he is he loves us this is our God, this is what he does he saves us he bore the cross, beat the grave let heaven and earth proclaim

this is our God, King Jesus who pulled me out of that pit? he did, he did who paid for all of our sin? nobody but Jesus who pulled me out of that pit? he did, he did who paid for all of our sin? nobody but Jesus who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh who gets the glory and praise? nobody but Jesus who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh who gets the glory and praise? nobody but him this is our God, this is who he is he loves us this is our God, this is what he does he saves us he bore the cross, beat the grave let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God, King Jesus he bore the cross, beat the grave let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God, King Jesus oh, this is our God King Jesus King Jesus

witnessing transformed lives coming out of that water. Now, our very first person getting baptized today, his name is Angel. He has been coming to church for the last few months. He decided at Easter that he was gonna be fully committed to Jesus all in. God has Bible, he's ready to go. And today he's taking the step to tell all of you about it, which is so exciting. So let's continue to worship together and let's celebrate these baptisms. ♪ I was buried beneath my shame ♪ ♪ Who could carry that kind of weight ♪ ♪ It was my tomb till I met you ♪ ♪ Till I met you ♪ ♪ I was breathing but not alive ♪ ♪ All my failures I tried to hide ♪ ♪ It was my tomb till I met you ♪ Here we go church. ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Oh you called my name, you called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Now your mercy has saved my soul ♪ ♪ And now your freedom is all that I know ♪ ♪ And I know the only new Jesus when I'm dead ♪ ♪ Oh you called my name, you called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪

♪ Hey you called my name, you called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ Come on. Come on, all of you in the room. Come on. Let's testify. ♪ I needed rescue, my sin was heavy ♪ ♪ But chains break at the weight of your glory ♪ ♪ I needed shelter, I was an orphan ♪ ♪ You called me a citizen of heaven when I was broken ♪ ♪ You were my healing, your love is healing me now ♪ ♪ I have a future, I have a future ♪ ♪ Just when you called my name, I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Oh, you called my name, you called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ One, two, one, two, everybody. ♪ What a glorious day, what a glorious day ♪ Amen. Amen. Church, we can celebrate this today because of what the Lord has done for us. And it is only by His power and only by His might in His name that we are saved, amen. So let's sing this to Him. ♪ I pray into the atmosphere ♪ ♪ Spirit of God who are here, you have all authority ♪ ♪ And I pray over my heart and mind ♪

♪ I am healed by your stripes ♪ Your blood, it declares that I am free In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, calling on the power of heaven I proclaim, every weapon worn against me You must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus That's right, let's declare it today I draw a permanent boundary line The enemy has no right to come near my family Will we claim it in your name? No scheme could ever undo God's plans No matter the circumstance The cross can seal my destiny In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, calling on the power of heaven I proclaim, every weapon worn against me You must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus Yes I know, all the power of fear and darkness It must go, every key to every victory I hope, in the mighty name of Jesus Let's dark confidence so we can sing I will not fear, I will not fear When the enemy comes near On the doorframe of my life Is the blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear There's an army of angels here I'm protected on all sides By the mighty blood of Jesus I will not fear, I will not fear

When the enemy comes near On the doorframe of my life Is the blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear There's an army of angels here Yes I'm protected on all sides By the blood of Jesus Christ In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, calling on the power of heaven I proclaim, every weapon worn against me You must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus There's something about today We were cleared today I know, all the power of fear and darkness It must go, in every key to every victory I hope, in the mighty name of Jesus There's power in the name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus The only name I can say There's power in the name of Jesus There's healing in the name of Jesus Oh there's freedom in the name of Jesus So let's declare it today Death could not hold him Death could not hold him The veil tore before you You silenced the voice of sin and grace The heavens are roaring The praise of your glory For you were raised to life again

You have no rival You have no equal Now and forever Yours is the kingdom Yours is the glory Yours is the name Above all names What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ. What a powerful name it is. Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. Hey Saddleback, welcome to church. Whether you're joining us at one of our extensions located around the world, maybe it's our Singapore extension, our Mexico City extension, maybe our Australia extension, or if you're joining us online, we're so glad that you're joining us this weekend as we get to praise and worship and listen to a great message together. And hey, if you're checking out Saddleback Church for the very first time, we are so glad that you decided to spend these next couple moments with us. And we would love to personally reach out to you and help you get connected to our church. But it starts with you letting us know that you're joining us. So you can click the link in the description if you're watching on YouTube, or better yet, you can download our Saddleback Church app, set your campus to online community, and then go ahead and open that notes section. There you'll be able to access our digital program and let us know that it's your first time there. Our team would love to connect with you and get to know you as well. But this week we are in the second week of a series called the Path to Peace. We know that life can often be filled with chaos and anxiety and striving.

And sometimes we often look for peace in the wrong places. But this series looks at what does it look like to pursue peace by walking with Jesus. So today, Pastor Andy is bringing a great message on peace for our hearts. We're truly glad that you're here to join us for it. And we also want to invite you to open your Saddleback app right now so you can get out your notes and follow along with the message and also respond to the message at the end. Well, we're super glad that you're here. We got a lot more going on in the life of our whole church. So let's check it out together. Hey, Saddleback. If you're new or newer around here, one of the best next steps you can take is to come to Activate. Activate is an experience we have right here at Saddleback that's designed to help you get to know us a little better, discover ways to grow your faith, and connect with others in community. If you've been coming for a while or you're wondering how to get a little more plugged in, Activate is our recommended starting point. So come check it out. We would love to see you there. Now, over the past couple of months, one significant way we've been growing together as a church family is through Wednesday prayer. Every Wednesday morning at 7 a.m., thousands of people from across all of our campuses gather to pray. And it has been such a special time for everyone across every generation. At Wednesday prayer, we spend a little time in worship. We hear a short devotion that's rooted in Scripture, and then we walk through a time of guided prayer together. It has been a powerful way to begin the day by seeking God first. If you haven't joined us yet, I would encourage you to come and experience it. And now, as we move into our time of giving,

I want to share a glimpse of the impact happening through our care ministries. Because of your generosity, people in our church family are receiving counseling, finding healing and support groups, experiencing freedom through Celebrate Recovery, and receiving prayer and care during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Right now, over 500 individuals are in Celebrate Recovery at Saddleback Church. In 2026 alone, over 1,500 people have received care, support, and counseling in areas such as marriage, illness, grief, and mental health. And already this year, we've prayed over more than 6,400 prayer requests as a church. Every conversation, every prayer, every appointment, every step toward healing is made possible because you are a church that believes God wants hope and healing for everyone. And as we continue in worship through giving today, know that when you give your tithes and offerings, you're helping make this kind of care and ministry possible for people every single week. You can give tithe or offering today through the Saddleback app or by using one of the giving envelopes. Thank you, Saddleback, for being a church that loves and cares so well. Now, let's hear today's message from Pastor Andy. Well, it's so good to be together, church family. Today we are in the second week of a message series called Pathway to Peace. I love hearing, even on these videos, all the things that God is doing in our church. And I think it's wonderful. We're celebrating and honoring all of our volunteers that serve in our care ministry. There are literally hundreds of volunteers, celebrate recovery, counseling, all of it. Can we just put our hands together and thank our team? Now, as we're journeying together in this whole message series, Pathway to Peace, today we're gonna turn our attention to our hearts and experiencing God's peace in our hearts.

But I wanna begin with a little bit of a story. So I want you to look at this picture here for just a moment. These are a couple of my friends. I've been friends with these guys since 12 years old. So we went to middle school together. We grew up in the same church group together. And now, later in our lives, in our mid-40s, every year we gather together. These two guys are pastors. Mike, in the middle, is a pastor in Chicago. Ryan's a pastor in Seattle. And we gather together to hang out, to encourage each other. We've done it for four years in a row. And since Southern California is better than Chicago and Seattle, we do it here. And so we gather together this week, had a lot of fun. We catch up, we share memories. We did a lot of really inappropriate things in middle school and high school together. Can't share with you right now, maybe another time. But today, we were kind of wrapping up some of our time. They're supposed to travel back home. They had their flights, and everybody's gonna go about their business. I've gotta get ready for the message. And they kind of joke with me and almost make fun of me because I'm the one that likes a plan.

Like, they're cool without a plan most of the time. And so every day, we were together. I was like, okay, what's the plan for today? We'd come up with the plan. Well, when they were flying out, I wanted to make sure that there was a plan because we had some things to do the next morning. And so the plan was nailed down. Ryan's flight leaves at like 7.45. He's gonna get up, get out at 6.15. Mike's 9.45. It's all good. I've gotta take one of the kids somewhere. Then I'm gonna sit down and work on my message. Everything is planned perfectly. So early, I wake up, say bye to Ryan. He goes on, everything's fine. He takes my car to the airport so we don't have to go that early in the morning. It's good. And then about 40 minutes later, I'm still kind of waking up, drinking a cup of coffee, and Mike comes down the stairs, just hollering, my flight's leaving in 30 minutes! My flight's leaving in 30 minutes! And just look at his face. Doesn't he look like somebody who would maybe miss a flight? So here, actually, it was his first flight he ever missed, he told me on the way. But all of this, in the midst of it,

he's like, we're trying to get out the door, he's calling the airport, he's trying to figure out can he switch his flight. Good news, he got home, he got out, everything worked out fine. But it reminded me of this reality that happens to all of us. Life is full of moments that you didn't see coming. And maybe there are some of you today that you stacked everything in your life and you had a plan and you thought it was perfect and then something came along and messed up your plan. And it might be something dramatic, it might be something small, but there are times in life you can laugh about it, other times you cannot. And there are some of you today that I wonder for you if your peace has been taken away by something that you didn't see coming. It might be something that's happening in your marriage that you never could have anticipated. It could be a child that continues to run from God. It might be some of you that find yourself in a place of singleness and depression and maybe even loneliness in this moment where you didn't plan to still be in this place at this season of your life. Some of you, maybe you're related, struggling with something related to your work and you're just thinking, I thought it would be different.

Maybe you're a mom and you're thinking, this season of life, I never thought it would be this hard to keep this many plates spinning. And what do you do with all of that? Well, I have good news for you today. God wants to give you a gift and that gift is his peace. And I want us to look at this verse from John chapter 14, verse 27. Jesus is speaking about his peace that he wants to give to you. And he says this, can we read aloud? John 14, 27, peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. What Jesus wants to give is the gift of peace. And the way his peace works is it impacts your heart, your mind, and your whole life ultimately. So we're looking at three areas of peace. We looked in the first week at our heads, our thoughts. We're gonna look next week at our home and God's peace in our home. But today I wanna focus in on God's peace in your heart. And I'd like to come back to our definition of peace. So if you were here last week, you'll remember this definition. I wanna encourage you to write it down if you missed it. Peace is an ordered and blessed life flowing from a right relationship with God. An ordered and blessed life flowing out of connection

to your creator. Comes out of the concept of shalom in the scripture. It's the fullness of life that God wants you to experience. So today we're gonna look at how do you get that in your heart? How do you get that in your life at the deepest levels? Now, if you were with us last week, you'll remember this illustration. And we talked about how there are some things in your life that go into your can that only you can do. It might be relationships, it could be your physical fitness, it could be being a spouse to your wife. No? Yeah, a spouse to your wife. I got it right. I thought I might have misspoke it. And then there are some things that go in the God can. Those are only things that God can do. So last week, we focused in on your head, your thoughts, but today I want to look at your heart. That there are some things that are your responsibility and some things that you can do in relationship with God that allow you to experience greater levels of peace. And I want to go to Mark chapter 7. These few verses are actually a very comical few verses of scripture. Because Jesus is teaching, and in the moment where he's teaching with his disciples, he's come upon a religious group of leaders, and they're very frustrated with Jesus because he hasn't washed his hands before he ate. Now this is not about sanity in their culture. This is about religious procedure. So they had all of these rules that they stacked on top of God's commandments, and

Jesus breaks their human-made, man-made rules. And the religious leaders are very frustrated. So Jesus is going to teach the crowd and his disciples about what's greater than these man-made rules. That there's something on the inside God is after. And listen to what he says. Again, Jesus called the crowd to himself and said, listen to me, everyone, and understand this. That nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather it's what comes out of a person that defiles them. So Jesus is saying it's not the food that you eat or dirt on your hands that defiles you. The food goes in and the food goes out. And then it says this. Rather it is what comes out of a person that defiles. And afterwards, he had left the crowd and entered into the house. His disciples then asked him about this parable, and he said, are you so dull, he asked? Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach and then out of their body. And in saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean. Now if you like bacon, you can thank God for that verse right there. Because that's the moment that the Bible is saying Jesus is declaring it all clean. But I love this illustration because I wonder if Jesus even, there's a little middle schooler inside of all full-grown men, I wonder if Jesus did some hand motions with that. Like it goes in and out and it's gone. And it's not in you anymore. And yet there's other stuff on the inside that's greater than the food that you eat. And listen to what he says. He went on. What comes out of a person is actually what defiles them.

For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that the evil thoughts come. Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All of these evils come from inside and defile a person. Jesus is making a very important point. It comes from the inside. The battle is won and lost, not on the outside, but on the inside. And here's the truth. External solutions will not, they won't fix an internal problem. External solutions won't fix an internal problem. So these religious leaders were looking for something on the outside to fix what was on the inside. And the way that God works to experience his peace on the inside, it's cooperating with God to let him get into our hearts to have a different way of living. Outside-in living does not work. It's inside-out that leads to God's peace. So last week as we looked at the mind, I want to separate mind from heart for a few moments so that we can understand. Now they're constantly working together, but the Bible gives definition to both of these. As you look at the words, they show up in both the New Testament and the Old Testament. And your mind is your thought, your reasoning, and your understanding. So it's the way that we logic about decisions. So your mind, there are truths that come in, there are lies that come in, and you get to decide what you do with those truths and with those lies. And we separate with our mind, we separate our thoughts, and we understand truth from lie. And there's another word as we're looking at today, the heart, which is the inner being. It's your desire, it's your will, it's your core allegiance, it's the encompassing reality of your life that is the ambition with which you pursue everything around you, your future, your dreams, your goals.

And Jesus is giving us the inner core of our lives. The Bible tells us to love God both with our mind and our heart. And so today we're looking at that inner being of who you are, that the depth of God's peace would get on the inside of you. So how do you do that? How do you get God's peace deep down on the inside of you? Well, Proverbs 14.30 says something very interesting. It says, a heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. I want you to think about this for just a moment. Just a moment. A heart at peace gives life to your body, but envy rots the bones. What does envy do? Envy leads you to believe that there's something on the outside that can satisfy a problem on the inside. So envy will lead you to try to acquire something, might be a house or a relationship or some kind of car or goods or something externally that will fix an internal problem. But a heart at peace internally, it emanates through the rest of your life. It gives life to everything that you experience. So a heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. So I have three truths from the Bible, all about the heart, which is how we cultivate that heart at peace. So the first one is to submit your heart to testing. It's to submit your heart to be tested by God to reveal what's on the inside.

Now, you might've heard this phrase before in a Disney movie or a graduation speech or a self-help podcast, follow your heart. Maybe you've even said it before. It's terrible advice, by the way, because your heart will lead you to a lot of places that will destroy your life. And the truth is that you should not trust or follow your heart. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17, nine, "'Your heart, my heart is deceitful "'and above all things beyond cure, who can understand it? "'I, the Lord,' the Bible says, "'search the heart and examine the mind "'to reward each person according to their conduct, "'according to what their deeds deserve.'" So right now in this moment, there are things that are happening in each of our hearts that we're unaware of. They're beyond our understanding. And the Bible says that God sees it, he knows it. And the good news is that God gives us a path forward. In Psalm 129, verse 23, it says, "'Search me, God, and know my heart. "'Test me and know my anxious thoughts.'" So the invitation is for God to search us and reveal what's on the inside so that we can change direction. Now, a couple years ago, I'd gone to a doctor and I did a little blood test and they pulled some numbers

and they realized that I had high cholesterol. And the primary reason they told me my cholesterol's high is because I love steak. And so they said, no more steak. And I'm like, well, maybe less steak. I cannot live without steak. But as I was there at the doctor, they said, well, maybe you should go and do this VO2 max training and try to get a test done on your heart to know your VO2 max. Now, if you have never seen somebody do a VO2 max, what happens is you go into the doctor and they put this big Darth Vader mask on your face. And then they put you on a treadmill and they start pressing up. And they say, cry uncle when you can't do it anymore. They just keep going, going. And not only do they make it go faster, they make the incline go up. And at some point, you just tap out and you say, I'm done. So the doctor says, I just want you to stand on here. Just run as long as you can. This is so miserable. It's like really bad experience. And so I'm going, going, and I'm wondering even, is it my mind or my heart that's gonna give out first? And so finally, after like four and a half minutes, I'm like, I'm done, I can't do it anymore. And I was like, do people ever like pass out on this thing?

He's like, well, maybe I've seen it a couple of times. But the truth is that your heart, there are things that are happening on the inside of your heart. That test simply reveals whether or not oxygen is getting from your heart into your muscles. Like if the blood is pumping, and that number shows you the capacity of your heart to pump blood and oxygen to the rest of your body. But it also shows that there are things that are happening on the inside. So I went through a series of tests. I did that test, I did a blood test, I did this other LP little A test to try to figure out if there was anything in my heart that I didn't see that I needed to be aware of. And I thought about this from the reality that there are things happening inside of us that we are completely unaware of. And there are some of you right now that you might have something internally in your heart physically that you don't see. And at some point with awareness, if you know it early, you can catch it before it impacts you. And the same is true spiritually. And I wonder if there was something internally in your heart that at some point was going to destroy your life. Would you want to know yes or no?

Yeah, two people said yes at Lake Forest. I hope over in Corona, eight people at least said yes to that. I would wanna know. And because if there is something happening on the inside, then I can begin to make the adjustments as Psalm 139 verse 24 says. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. So lead me along a different path. So what I've discovered in this whole journey. is the test belongs to God. So I say to God, I need you to test my heart and show me what's on the inside, but the submission of my will, the submission of my heart is in my can. So the decision is, will I let God reveal to me the things that are happening that I'm unaware of? And I've discovered for myself two ways that this really takes place. And the first one is to ask God in the downtime to search me. So early in the morning, before I start my day, I open the Bible, I pray, I seek God's heart, I start my day. And when I say search me, I'm asking God, show me the things that are in me that you wanna shift, that you wanna change. And a lot of my friends can tell you, they've gotten texts from me at 7.30 in the morning

saying I'm sorry for something I did or said. My kids could tell you they got a knock on the door. I'm sorry I was harsh with you last night. And you dads know exactly what I'm talking about. So that revelation now is Jesus bringing to my attention what's happening on the inside that he wants to deal with. And that downtime, early in the morning and the end of the day, just saying search me, God. Show me what's there. Show me my anxious thoughts. Show me my heart in the moments where I'm off track so that you can make a change. And then the other space is the real time. So it's the downtime and the real time. And it's in the moment. Maybe it's in a meeting at work. And you find yourself when you got news about a business deal and it doesn't go the way you want it to. You gotta deal with what's on the inside. So it's asking God, show me why I'm so anxious. Show me what in this moment I'm attached to that's preventing me from experiencing your peace. And what I've found for myself is that God has a way of bringing to the surface when I listen to him. When I say, God, my ear is open to hear what you wanna say to me. Now, you can do this tomorrow morning. You can do this today when you go to bed. Or you can do it right now.

And what I wanna do right now in our service is I wanna give you space to ask God to search you. To say, God, if there's anything in me that you wanna deal with in this moment, I wanna invite you to reveal it to me. Could be an attitude. Could be something that you said. Could be a habit. Could be something that God wants to shift to reveal to your heart. Might be an insecurity and he wants to tell you he loves you. So I'm gonna give you a few moments to ask the Holy Spirit to search you and reveal to you anything that God might wanna show you in your heart. So let me pray, and then we'll pause, and then I'll come back. So Lord, we ask that you would search us. We ask that you would show us anything in our hearts right now that you wanna reveal to us. Test our hearts. Test our hearts. And I just ask him the last 24 hours to reveal if there's anything that happened in the last 24 hours he wants to show you. Take another moment, just say, search me, God. Search me. Lord, we thank you that you search us and you show us our hearts. Pray that you would help us to have eyes to see and ears

to hear the things that you want to change in us. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Now maybe you prayed that prayer and there wasn't anything. Doesn't make you less of a follower of Jesus. But that simple practice God can use to cultivate a heart that listens where he reveals to us things on the inside. You know what I felt in that moment as I was praying search me? I thought, why am I so uncomfortable with silence? There's a part of my journey spiritually I like speed and energy and movement. And sometimes that silence is where we hear the voice of God. Now when God brings it to the surface, then we have to decide what are we going to do with it. And the second truth I want us to see, or the second step, is to commit our hearts to training. So I open my heart to testing and then I commit my heart to training. Proverbs 4.23 says, above all else, do what? Guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. So your physical heart has two valves that pump in and two valves that pump out. And the blood that flows out of your heart goes through your whole body. So the movement in your fingertips, or your toes, or your eyelids, all of that is fueled from your heart.

And so what the Bible is saying, the same is true spiritually, that your heart, from the core of who you are, emanates to the rest of your life, and there's an act of will to guard your heart. It's to say, I'm going to guard what goes in, and I'm gonna consider what comes out. And those inputs into our heart is the first part. It's what comes into your heart. It's monitoring the input with both your eyes and your ears. Because sometimes what happens is, something will come into your heart, and you don't even realize it. Like maybe a friend told you about their promotion at work, or maybe you heard about somebody else who got something that you wanted, and what the Bible says, that envy starts to rot your bones, but you don't even realize it because the input wasn't guarded. So something happened internally when it got into your mind, or you heard about it in your ears, or perhaps you were watching, and I've had this moment as well, where you're watching something online, and maybe, for me, it's other pastors that post their most amazing, perfect worship services ever. And I'm like, ours was great, but it wasn't perfect. It wasn't as awesome as yours looks to be. And I'm like, why am I so discouraged?

We had an amazing weekend at church. It's because I allowed something into my heart that I shouldn't have allowed into my heart. So I want to guard what comes in with my eyes and with my ears, and then I want to think about and consider my outputs. So with my outputs, I'm looking at my mouth, I'm looking at my feet, I'm thinking about my hands and what is coming out. So Jesus says this in Matthew 12, 34, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So there's a training of my mouth and my words with what comes out. So I'm impacting my heart with my words, and I'm seeing what's on the inside with my words, and I'm training my mouth with what I speak. In 1 Timothy 4, verse seven, it says, train yourself to be godly. So there's a cooperation there, it's in my can. Not only is there the decision to say to God, I trust you, and now I'm gonna submit, but there's a decision to train. So I'm going into a journey of letting God form and shape spiritual muscles by working with him. As we see in Philippians 2, 12, it's a working out of salvation, for it's God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. So I'll give you a couple of examples of what this looks like for me. So how do I monitor what comes in and what goes out?

So there are scenarios and circumstances in my life. I look back over the journey, sometimes it's at home with kids or marriage, sometimes it's at work, a scenario that's outside of my control, but at some point, I'm gonna have to make a decision about that thing. And maybe you've had one of those moments where you enter into a circumstance, something that you didn't see or something that you didn't expect, and you've gotta sit in the waiting before you can finally move that thing forward or make a decision or get resolution, and you're trusting in God, but you're also trying to figure out what do you do in the midst of this moment, and you're waiting on God to come through. So there are moments like this for me personally, I love to ask the question when there's uncertainty, when there's a moment where I don't know what to do, when I'm confused about what God is up to, I ask the question, what do I know to be true about God? What do I know to be true about his character? What do I know to be true about the ways that he's worked in my life? And what I love to do is to recount in my mind the times that God has moved in similar moments that I find myself in now. So I had a moment a few years ago

when we lived in the Bay Area in my late 30s, and it was a staff challenge that I was facing, I got home, I didn't know what to do with it, we ate dinner, and I said, Stace, I gotta go on a prayer walk and just lay this before the Lord. And when I walked on my prayer walk, I just started recounting all the moments in the journey that God had been faithful. Oh, that happened a few years ago, and God moved that way, and then there was another time where I was really tired and didn't have wisdom, and God gave me strength and the solution that I needed, and as I recounted to my mind and to my heart, peace began to flood my soul, because I was reminding the inner man, the inner core of who I am, oh, God has been faithful, and God will be faithful to me. So Psalm 116 verse seven says this, be at peace again, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. So notice that talking into your heart, God has been faithful, God has been good to you. Sometimes it's commanding your soul with your words to say, I will train my heart to remind my mind and my heart the faithfulness of God with my lips. Now. Some of you today, there are areas of your life that you have unforeseen circumstances

and you don't know what to do. You're trying to make a decision and the weight is on you. And might I just encourage you to come back to say, where has God moved in moments like this in your life before? And the same faithfulness that he displayed last time, he's gonna display it again. And I've noticed for myself, even as much as this week, when I take the time to slow down and remember who God is, how God's worked in my life, there's a peace that begins to come once again. The more I think to myself, I've gotta fix this, I've gotta control it, I've gotta do something about it, the more I find my anxiety increasing. Now there's another question that ties into this that helps me. And it's also, what is my responsibility? So what part of all of this, if you're in a situation that's overwhelming, like maybe you have financial bills that are stacking up and there's some things that are outside your control, but there's also responsibility that God gives to you. So when you separate them, you step into greater levels of peace. And then finally, within that, what I'm doing, lastly, is I'm directing my heart to actually trust in God. So I'm saying, oh heart, trust in God, because he's faithful, he's been good to you. Now Proverbs 3, five and six says this, trust in the Lord with half of your heart

and lean on, sorry, I got that wrong, let me start over. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways, submit to him and he will make your path straight. So this is important. The degree to which you trust God with your heart will determine the degree to which you experience his peace in your life. And there are some of us that we want God's peace to flood our hearts, but our hearts are trusting in something or someone other than God. And that thing, that someone that we keep putting the weight of our trust into, that thing does not have the ability to carry the weight that you and I place onto it. Everything this side of eternity other than God at some point will let us down. Some young people right now, you have your strength, energy, and you feel invincible with your physical body. You just look and watch what happens over the course of time. And that invincible body at some point begins to break down. So if my trust is only in my physical strength, I'm gonna be disappointed. I love my wife, she's faithful, she's amazing, she's the best woman I know. And at the same time, she cannot carry the weight

that is intended to be placed upon God from my heart. And the question is, what is that thing? Your spouse, your job, your money, your savings account, none of it was intended to carry the full weight of your trust. And anytime we try to put our trust into or onto something other than God, we're finding ourselves experiencing an increase in anxiety. So as trust in God goes down, anxiety in my heart goes up. As trust in my heart in God goes up, anxiety in my heart goes down. So the question is, is there a part of my trust that I've given to someone or something other than God? Is there a part of my heart that I'm placing into my job? Is there a part of my heart that I'm trusting in some person to do something only God can do? So the full weight of my trust in God, that's my decision. Nobody else can trust God for you. Your spouse can't, your kids can't, your mom can't. Nobody else can trust God for you. And my encouragement today is to say, God, that unforeseen circumstance that's come into my life, that is out of my control, I'm bringing it to you and I'm putting the full weight of it onto you. So I gotta ask you, what's that thing? What's that thing in your heart that's weighing you down that you didn't see would happen? And for some of you, your mind and your heart is in chaos

and the creator of the universe is asking you today to come to him by prayer and bring that request and experience his peace deep on the inside. Philippians 4.6, we read this last week and I wanna read it one more time over you. It says, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. I want you to see these words one more time. By prayer, petition and with thanksgiving. Friends, this is good news. There is a creator. There is a God who sees you and knows you. He's the only one who is able to carry the full weight of your life. And he's the only one that is worthy of your trust. And he wants you to bring it to him. Isn't that beautiful that the very thing that the enemy wants to use to destroy your peace is that which God wants to use to build your relationship with him and increase the trust in your life. So that circumstance right now that is weighing you down is the very thing that could be breakthrough that God uses to a different level of your relationship with God. So the enemy wants to use it to push you into anxiety. And God wants to use it to push you right into his presence, right into the presence of a God who is kind, loving,

capable, that he can carry everything that is weighing your heart down. So from your heart, it's you in the inner being, the deepest places of who you are, saying, God, what I want is you more than anything else. What I want is your will and your way. What I want is to know who you are and what you're like and all these things in this world, nothing will supplant or replace that part of my heart that is ultimately for you. So my encouragement to you right now is to bring your heart, some of you it's very anxious, and to put it into Jesus' hands and say, Jesus, this is the thing that is weighing me down and to receive the peace of God deep in your heart. So I got two invitations for you. The first one is for those of you who are followers of Jesus. And there's some part of your heart that you have placed into the hands of another human being or another circumstance or something in this world that cannot carry your heart. And I wanna encourage you right now today to bring that part of your heart back to Jesus. It could be finances, it could be relationships, it could be your future, but it's to bring it back to him. And in just a moment, I'm gonna give you an opportunity to say, Jesus, I'm taking that part of my heart that I've been holding, and I'm giving it to you today.

I'm gonna lead you in a response to say, Jesus, it's yours. But there are others of you that there's a part of your heart, ultimately, that is the part of your heart that determines what you give your whole life to. And in Romans 10, verse nine and 10, I'll finish with this, it says, if you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it's with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it's with your mouth that you profess your faith and you are saved. So there is this internal faith in Jesus that you say, I believe from my heart that he came from heaven to earth, that he died upon a cross for my sin, that he rose again from the dead, that you're placing the weight of your trust on him, and you're confessing with your lips that he is Lord. And today, if you've never given him your heart, that's the best thing that you can do to experience God's peace, is to take that step and say, Jesus, I receive your forgiveness. I give you my heart right now in this moment. So I'm gonna lead you, if you've never received salvation and begun a relationship with Jesus, right now, I'm gonna lead you in a very simple response to say, Jesus, my heart belongs to you,

and I'm choosing to follow you. So right now, I'm gonna lead us in two responses, and I'd like to invite you to close your eyes and bow your heads. And I wanna start, first of all, with those of you who are not yet followers of Jesus, and in your heart, there's a stirring, which is the Spirit of God drawing you to himself. In your heart, which was formed for God, there's nothing in this world that will ever meet the deepest need of your heart. You were designed by God for God. And today, you can open your heart to him by faith in Jesus from your heart. And if that's you, I wanna invite you very simply from your heart, just to cry out to him right now a very simple prayer. Say, dear Jesus, I believe that you came from heaven to earth. I believe that you died on a cross for my sin. I believe that you rose again from the dead, and I'm giving you my heart today. I'm choosing the best I know how to follow you in this moment. And as you pray that prayer, the Spirit of the living God is stepping in. He's transforming you from the inside out. Because of you, right now, there's a part of your heart, you're a follower of Jesus, and you just say, there's something I need to put into Jesus' hands.

It might be your kids, it might be your marriage, it might be your relationships and friendships, it might be your job, but you need to just say to him, it's yours, it's yours, Jesus, I give it to you. I give you my whole heart. Oh God, I'm so thankful today, so grateful that you're a God that hears our prayer and that you give us peace beyond circumstance. And Lord, you know every situation, you know every circumstance, you know all the cancer, you know all the weight of broken relationships, you know all the addictions, you know it all. And I thank you, Jesus, that you are worthy of it all, that you are the one who is worthy to pay the price of it all so that we could be free, so that we could be whole, so that we can have peace deep in our soul. And from our heart to you right now, Jesus, from our heart to you, we just declare worthy is your name. Worthy is your name of adoration and praise. Worthy is your name of trust. There is no one like you. There's no one who deserves the honor in our lives and the best we know from our heart to you, that very core of our being, we say we love you, Lord. We're grateful to you. We honor you with our lips and we say from our heart, you are God and there is no other. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen, amen, amen.

I wanna invite you to stand with me. And if you just prayed that prayer to give your life to Jesus, we celebrate with you. You made the most important decision of your life. And we wanna just worship Jesus with one song, just declaring these truths that God's peace radically changes our life. Let's worship together. ♪ I don't wanna be afraid every time I face the waves ♪ ♪ I don't wanna be afraid, I don't wanna be afraid ♪ ♪ I don't wanna fear the storm just because I hear it roar ♪ ♪ I don't wanna fear the storm, no I don't wanna fear the storm ♪ ♪ No I don't wanna fear the storm ♪ ♪ Peace be still, say the word and I will set my feet upon a sea ♪ ♪ Till I'm dancing in the deep ♪ ♪ Peace be still, you are here so it is well ♪ ♪ Even when my eyes can't see ♪ ♪ I will trust the voice that speaks ♪ ♪ Peace be still, say the word and I will set my feet upon a sea ♪ ♪ Till I'm dancing in the deep ♪ ♪ Peace be still, you are here so it is well ♪ ♪ Even when my eyes can't see ♪ ♪ I will trust the voice that speaks ♪ ♪ Let faith rise up, oh heart believe ♪ ♪ Let faith rise up in me ♪ ♪ Let faith rise up, oh heart believe ♪ ♪ Let faith rise up in me ♪ ♪ Peace be still, say the word and I will set my feet upon a sea ♪ ♪ Till I'm dancing in the deep ♪ ♪ Peace be still, you are here so it is well ♪

♪ Even when my eyes can't see ♪ ♪ I will trust the voice that speaks ♪ ♪ Peace be still, say the word and I will set my feet upon a sea ♪ ♪ Till I'm dancing in the deep ♪ ♪ Peace be still, you are here so it is well ♪ ♪ Even when my eyes can't see ♪ ♪ I will trust the voice that speaks ♪ ♪ Peace be still, say the word and I will set my feet upon a sea ♪ ♪ Till I'm dancing in the deep ♪ ♪ Peace be still, you are here so it is well ♪ ♪ Even when my eyes can't see ♪ See what you might need to trust him in. ♪ I will trust the voice that speaks ♪ What area of your life do you need to trust him in? ♪ Peace be still, you are here so it is well ♪ What things and what ways do you need to remind yourself of the truths of God and who he is, how he's shown up for you in the past and the ways that he's provided peace for you as well. And if you decided today that you wanna trust him with your whole heart for the very first time and say, Jesus, I put my trust in you. I wanna start a relationship with you and I wanna walk in this peace that you are offering, our team would love to know about it so we can be praying for you and walking beside you as well. So you can let us know by clicking the link in the description or going to the Saddleback app and filling out a Next Steps card so we can know how to be praying for you.

Well, we're so grateful that you were here as we heard an incredible message from Pastor Andy. We love you so much and we are praying for you and we hope to see you again next week as we continue the series, The Path to Peace. We'll see you then.