Perfect Peace

I am so excited that we are officially November because this means it is the start of holiday season I mean, this is the Hallmark when Hallmark has their low-budget movies all about Christmas right now. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely When turkeys will be sacrificing their lives and their neck for our hunger Oh get ready get ready. Absolutely when you get to curate the perfect holiday look HTT head-to-toe, you know that the holidays are coming. I also love the church enthusiasm We have that extra dose of the Holy Ghost. We're ready to be generous. We got the Turkey Thanksgiving holiday experience the serve opportunity that's happening this month in a few weeks. We're going to Mexico We're doing a toy store out there. Yeah, we're excited. Oh holidays are here and Marketing and movies and media have made us excited and expectant for the happiest time of the year I know we live in Southern California But who doesn't want a snow-covered Christmas who doesn't want a hot cup of cocoa by the fireplace singing Christmas carols Who doesn't want the perfect holiday dinners? Because that's what we see but I also need to paint a Holistic and realistic picture of what the holidays include for a lot of people and that is pain If you know me Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I look forward to it I plan a month before and I actually began cooking three days before for about 16 people I menu plan I organize flowers for tablescapes. I do custom nameplates and name cards for everyone I do customized menus that will sit at the table. I dream about the delectable meals that I will plan and On the day that we get to celebrate gratitude Three years ago. I remember sitting on my kitchen floor the day before Thanksgiving in a sobbing pile of tears For the first time in 14 years. I was about to host Thanksgiving solo The person who I had built an entire life with was no longer there and I was faced not just to host the holiday But host my family in a declaration of my life will never look the same And as much as we want happy fun Beautiful family memories and good feelings There's a lot of painful realities that many of us are about to walk into now That's my story But maybe your story feels a little bit different

Maybe you are faced with spending money that you don't have Because you love an individual or maybe you feel the pressure to keep up with the Joneses. Hello Orange County So you're spending money that you don't have maybe maybe you are at holiday office parties Surrounded by your co-workers and yet you have never felt more isolated unseen and unknown maybe maybe you are about to attend family gatherings with cousins that you haven't spoken to in a year because you had a beef in 1995 that you still haven't gotten over or maybe you are leery of your aunties talking about you or that one uncle That hurt you and you're walking into these spaces and places and you are listening to everyone say This is the happiest time of the year and whether loud out loud or quietly we have to process Another year of going to a holiday party alone because I'm single again While your aunties are like, why are you still single because online dating sucks Susan? That's why okay Or maybe it's the first time that you're facing holidays alone post-divorce And if social scientists are correct, the happiest time of the year is actually the most stressful Suicide is at an all-time high depression and anxiety soars through the roof and Overeating and over drinking is at its height and we don't want this to be the case But in a room of this size online and in person there's many that can relate to that right now We're outwardly you're showing up to work or you're showing up to church and you have a smile on your face But inside you feel like you got the weight of the world on your shoulders You're trying to lift your hands in worship and yet your heart is depressed You're trying to focus on the message, but right now your heart is beating and you got anxiety You just feel like it's too much and you might feel like just around the corner is your breaking point Just around the corner is burnout. Will you throw in the towel and say I'm done over the next few weeks as We prepare to celebrate amazing holidays We get to hold the tension that life will life and there will be things that will steal our peace There just will so let's get prepared and over the next five weeks I want to begin to dialogue and discuss the importance of Mental health and how to have peace and chaos and so today. Oh good. Some people said amen So I'm not the only one that needs a little peace in a chaotic season by a show of hands How many people are like kind of regretting having you know a holiday dinner without loved one going to office parties spending money

We don't have by a show of hands Okay, Orange County. The Botox has crept into our hearts. No one's being honest. They're like It's not me, liar. All right. The truth of the matter is, is that whether it's the holiday season or it's just life, you will have moments where you will feel overwhelmed, you will have anxiety, you might wrestle with situational, circumstantial or chemical depression. What do we do? So my conversation is that I want us to become willing to embrace this conversation and I want us to be aware to do work around fighting for mental health and holy joy. So do me a favor, turn with me your Bibles to Isaiah 26. That is the anchor passage of this series. I'm gonna read it so it sets a foundation, but I'm gonna parse it out later. But this is what Isaiah says in Isaiah 26. Isaiah 26, three says, you will keep in perfect peace. Somebody say perfect peace. All who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you. And I'm here to testify that the world might be hard, you might need help, you might be feeling hurt, but you can have peace. The Prince of Peace can give you peace.

You might feel overwhelmed, you might feel depressed, you might be dealing with anxiety in this very moment, but let me tell you, you could have peace of mind. Now for years people have said that the church should not talk about mental health. The church has remained silent about mental health. It was like somebody else's problem to deal with and that it's not something that we talk about in church. And by not saying anything, the implication, the unsaid implication is that you shouldn't have a problem with your mental health. And then when you come to Jesus, Jesus fixes everything. Maybe you went to a church, maybe you were part of a religious community, or maybe you had just heard that being a Christian is, well, you say yes to Jesus and he's gonna redeem your soul. He's gonna fill you with the power of the spirit. He's gonna remove your sin. He's gonna work all things together for good. For those that walk uprightly and what I just said is true. Oh yeah, he saves you. He loves you. He forgives you. He redeems you.

He gives you his power through his Holy Spirit. He will never leave you and he will work all things together for good. All of that is true. It's also incomplete. And I won't freak you out. Clutcher Pearls Church, what did she say? Yes, just because Jesus saves you doesn't instantaneously mean that your life is gonna be perfect, polished and pretty. I have never, I know the Lord can do it. I just have never had anyone raise their hand, say yes to Jesus, receive Jesus as their personal Lord and savior, get a six pack. Have you? I have never seen someone come down to the altar, be prayed for and their credit score jumps up 50 points. I know the Lord can do it. I've just never seen it. I have never seen somebody go down into the baptism water and come up with thicker hair and thinner thighs. If that was the case, everyone would get baptized next week, all right? But sometimes within church, the misnomer has been come to Jesus and your life will be perfect. It doesn't work like that. We have to be honest about mental health. And in the conversation of us being honest and transparent, let me be very clear.

I am a pastor. I'm a shepherd and I'm a Bible teacher. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a therapist. I'm not a psychologist. I love all three of these people because they have helped me heal. But I am not a therapist. I'm not a psychologist. I'm not a doctor, but I love therapy and theology because it has brought so much healing to my life. I am not a therapist. And I unashamedly say that I have been in therapy on and off for over 15 years. And I was dealing with trauma that I realized had happened in my childhood that was affecting my adulthood. And most recently within the last five years, walking through a very traumatic season. And I'm so proud of the fact that I was able to invest financially and with my time to experience a new depth of healing. I have been to eight therapy intensives. Krista, you are a licensed clinical therapist. Is that a lot? Yeah, it is. I know, I know. You're like, does she have problems? I do.

I absolutely do. Jesus and therapy. I actually have a one day intensive in two weeks because I don't think that we make it to a point and then we're healed. I think that it's sanctification. It's the process of becoming like Christ. And so I read God's word and I listen to wise people. And I'm gonna tell you again, I am not an expert, but let me provide some spirituality about where healing can happen. Let's start with mental health. Mental health includes at least three things. Your emotional, your psychological and your social wellbeing. Now I don't see a lot of pins moving, which is a little concern because therapy in Orange County at least is 120 and goes up to 300 an hour. I'm giving you free therapy right now. You pull out your iPhone, you pull out your iPad, you pull out your digital watch. I don't care, but I'm gonna give you some notes today that will save you some money. Therapy mental health will include your emotional your psychological and your social well-being and this is very important because mental health is not static You could be really healthy in one season and trauma will happen and you will regress or you will be triggered by something And you will regress and so I think it's very important that we're constantly checking in and asking the very serious question How am I why because your mental health impacts how you think? Your mental health impacts which in turn impacts how you feel and then in turn impacts how you act Your mental health impacts how you think and then in turn how you feel and then in turn how you act

Your mental health will determine the stress that you will endure and what happens around you It will help you relate or hurt people your mental health will help you make choices Your mental health a strong healthy sense of self and wholeness will allow you to act accordingly in a place of health when trauma happens Your mental health will determine how you cope and where you go for help It might even determine the friends that you choose the spouse that you choose and the life that you will live So if you find yourself in here today and you're struggling with your mental health You don't have to do what I'm saying and let me be very very clear I don't think one message is going to heal you but my heart and hope over the next couple weeks is to provide practical Handles not just for coping mechanisms But for ways to heal and there's so many misunderstandings within the church when it comes to mental health So today's message I want to have a message where I'm preaching faith and you might have walked in depressed and you walked out healed And I think that the Lord can do that but today's message is simply foundational because this concept of openly discussing mental health and Trauma and depression and anxiety like we will in this series might feel foreign to you So I want to just set the foundation to make you Inquisitive so that as you come over the next couple weeks that you begin to open up your soul and say am I okay? I don't have peace in this chaotic season and I need the prince of peace And so today is the foundational message and then each week we are building upon it I want to start off by highlighting two hurdles that get in our way of healing our mental health I'm talking about two hurdles that get in our way of healing mental health. This is the first mental hurdle Maybe you went to a church or in part of a community where you felt or heard or seen that Christians should not struggle with mental health if you are a Christian you are filled with the Spirit of God You've been saved. You shouldn't battle with anxiety. You should not be depressed The joy of the Lord is your strength. And then when you say but I am then the conversation becomes well You don't have enough faith Or maybe it's like, you know what? It's because your prayer life stinks. You're not at the 7 a.m. Zoom call with us That's why you're depressed and then you show up on the 7 a.m. Zoom call and you're still depressed and they're said well You are praying the wrong way. That's what it is No, you know what it is. You got sin in your life and that's why you have anxiety

Now some of you guys are looking me cross-eyed like you don't know I'm talking about So I need somebody to testify if you were ever part of a faith community a church That didn't talk about mental health or maybe you were in a church that said if you are sick It's because you don't have faith or maybe you have no faith background at all But you came to church and you started acting like everyone else like yeah I'll fall in line, but you don't really have a theological understanding of mental health or what Scripture says We do me a favor make me feel less crazy and raise your hand There is a lot of hands raised So I want to slow it down and I want to talk for a minute I want to know your name Nobody got that reference. It's just these songs come to me. It's a flesh flash. Okay, okay What I want to do in this time together is show you that you can love Jesus and still have to fight depression You could read your Bible every day and have the one-year Bible that you have gone through eight times and still wrestle with anxiety You can be in a community group. You could tithe you could raise your hands and worship You could be serving in the parking lot ministry and still experience trauma And if you served in our parking lot ministry, you probably have trauma because parking Christians is the worst Can we clap for our parking lot attendants give them high-fives chest bumps, man? And when we have sports games and all the angry parents are out there Jesus bless them Lord, right? So you could still struggle in overcoming trauma not just from childhood, but even adulthood We don't have to feel less than we don't have to feel like a spiritual failure And so what I just I want to take a quick moment and I'm gonna normalize What our mothers and fathers the matriarchy and patriarchy of our faith went through because many of them had episodes many of them had depressive fits and many of them were very honest about where they landed Elijah was a prophet who went up against 800 prophets of Baal called down fire it was a scene of God's faithfulness and then a chapter later he's hiding out in a cave depressed King David King David goes who's a man after God's own heart he goes against the giant and he says who are you to come against the armies of the Living God and then he battles with deep deep despair wondering if God has abandoned him what about Jeremiah Jeremiah was listed as the weeping prophet and Jeremiah wrestled with isolation insecurity and he cursed the day that he was born have you ever

wished that you just weren't alive these are people of faith and then there's one of my favorites Naomi Naomi was a woman who went away and lost everything she lost home she lost husband she lost hope her her husband her son and her other son were buried three times over six feet under the ground and she came back into her community and she says don't call me Naomi which means sweet and pleasant she said call me Mara because I'm bitter how many of us have come to church and we are bitter with God the message sometimes in the church is that you just need more God you just need more God you just need more God you just need more you need wait hold on have you heard you need more God and what I've come to tell you is you might need more God or you might need sleep maybe you need a nap because if you are not sleeping the Lord created us to rest the Lord gave a Sabbath and if we're not resting our mental health is affected you might need more God or you might need to eat better food you might need more God or you might need to get into therapy you might need God and you might need medication for a season you might need more God or you might just need better friends if you're out on these streets I'm lonely and alone but you're not in a community group listen I'm not here to tell you that community group is gonna be besties for the resties but you need someone to war with you you need someone to pray for you hey you might need more God or you just mean you might need to get your life in order so when I talk about mental health I wanted to take it a holistic approach and not like holistic medicine like Orange County loves I'm talking about holistic the totality of try part-time beings I want to talk about our body I want to talk about our mind I want to talk about your spirit because you might just need hormones and go to a doctor you might need a deep therapy EMDR I don't I don't know what you need but this is what I hear from our community this is people in our community and an online saying I'm struggling and I don't know if I can make it I'm depressed and I don't know why I'm feeling anxious I'm praying and I'm trying and going to church and I'm seeking God and I'm trying to do better and I just feel like I'm not gonna make it if you are struggling it doesn't mean that you're not a good Christian it

means that you're human it doesn't mean that you're a failure it means that you're human and so for the next couple weeks we're actually gonna be spending time and unpacking anxiety and burnout and I am bringing a licensed clinical therapist that's gonna talk about depression and ways to cope she's my therapist Kobe Campbell will be here and I am so excited because we as a church we're not just going to talk we're not just gonna learn about how to cope and deal I'm believing for healing to break out I'm passionate about people who yes we will learn and we will apply but there is something like the touch of God there is something that will happen in the presence of God that no therapist no doctor no medication can do and so we are gonna be doing five weeks of hard work and then on Sunday December 14th we're gonna come with great faith the prayer teams gonna be fasting the staffs can be fasting because we're hosting a healing service because I firmly believe that Jesus doesn't call himself the Prince of Peace for us to live tormented and so in great faith we're coming and I believe the greatest gift that you can receive is wholeness and healing of your mental health so the first hurdle that we see is that people will say well we love Jesus so you should have no mental health issues and then this is the second hurdle that I see when it comes to mental health in the church God doesn't care about your mental health the myth of mental health is like there's a billion people in the world and there's wars in Sudan and there's racism and there's you know drug trafficking and human trafficking there's so much going on why would care what God care about the issue that you have when you take a look at Scripture specifically the Psalms we see how much God cares about his people and what I want to do I want to do is because when I need to hear the voice of God worship is very important to me and I go to worship of the word and that is the book of Psalms so let me read some Psalms to get a picture of this amazing God that we have the Lord is my light in my salvation whom shall I fear The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He saved those who are crushed in spirit God is our refuge in our strength. He is our ever-present time help in time of trouble

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me lie down and green pastures He restores my soul, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me your rod and your staff they come for me You will prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies and your mercy and your goodness Will follow me all the days of my life The Lord cares about you the Lord sees you the Lord knows your cry the Lord knows your joy He loves you He has redeemed you and and what I see in the book of Psalms is that people will talk a lot about the goodness of God but they're also very honest about where they have been disappointed and there's a lot of Psalms that are beautiful will fill you up and you'll print it on a t-shirt or on a mug and be Like the Lord is my strength in my salvation But there's also Psalms that don't end with and they lived happily ever after There's a lot of Psalms that don't end with and God is good and faithful all the time I want you to do me a favor turn with me to Psalm 88 Psalm 88 is written by a guy by the name of He-Man and in the Bible He-Man was a Guy that you wanted in your life He was a well-respected man in the community He was somebody that everyone looked up to and if you want to learn more about his life We see the qualities of He-Man in the book of first Chronicles and first Chronicles If I just pulled out some data points that you know about He-Man He was a man of great wisdom given by God. He was a talented musician He was a worshiper and he had an incredible music ability He had lots of kids which is giving the implication that he was a good parent very committed to his family He was very very faithful in the servants of the Lord. He was a man of God I mean, this is the guy that would be the deacon at the church This is the guy that you would go to at work for advice This is the guy that you want to be your father-in-law. This is a guy that you would want to marry that is He-Man He's a man of God and I will show you what he said in Psalm 88. I hope you're there a little spoiler alert This doesn't have a happy ending and what we see in Psalms is that a lot of times people will cry and complain But then end with God is good all the time and all the time. God is good and we do that in church

We love to say those things But does it serve us to be fake and it's okay if you're a little angry let's um Let's read what He-Man says Psalm 88 verse 1 says Lord you are the God who saves me day and night. I cry out to you May my prayer come before you turn your ear to my cry He's in a bad place and it's about to get worse and yet in the middle of his despair. He turns to God Much like you're doing today Whether you are watching on YouTube or watching during the week or you showed up to church today The very thought that you might be hurting or feeling desperate and yet somebody say and yet You showed up to church You are watching online tells me that buried there in the middle of your depression in the middle of your despair You are still Turning to the light of God Hmm He did what you were doing and look at his honesty. Look at verse 3 I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. I'm about to die I'm counted among those who go down to the pit. I'm a life support. I am like one without strength I'm a weak I'm set apart with the dead like the slain who lie in the grave whom you remember no more Who are cut off from your care? You've forgotten me You have put me in the lowest pit in the darkest of depths He is depressed and even though he's crying out to God. He's not finding the peace that he wants Then he says this I mean, this is a haunting chapter Go back go jump down to verse 18 says you've taken from me my friend and neighbor Darkness is my closest friend Darkness is my closest friend This man loved God This is in the Bible This is a psalm and I love that. There's no positive ending because it shows that God is not afraid of our honesty He cares that you may love him and that you may question him

He cares that you may worship him and that you may be hurt and when you're hurt He can heal your heart because he cares Heman said darkness is my closest friend and I deeply felt felt that I Shared my story, and I don't want to rehash it. But if I tell my story, it's only because I want to demonstrate the progression of healing. And I want us to walk away not saying, oh, Bianca did the hard work and got healing. I want us to walk away and say, God wants to heal us. If we're willing to put in the work, the Lord wants to meet us with our mustard seed of faith. But in 2022, my world imploded. I was shattered in what felt like a billion pieces, and I was walking around with shame, experiencing betrayal, and really questioning God. And then in 2023, I was hit with a screeching halt of reality, and all I wanted to do with that reality was run away. Jonah ran away, I wanted to be like him. Elisha ran away, I wanted to be like him. Jeremiah ran away, I wanted to be like him. Weeping prophet, that was me. And then the elders of the church rallied around me. Dean Owens, Marion Favors, Eric Tran, and Tina I kept me not only accountable, but they tended to my heart. And in a moment where I was faced with, do I continue to lead or not? Dean and Marion sat me down and said, are you okay? And I was honest.

I said, I think I am, but I don't know. So I'm gonna need some time to process. I am an ardent supporter of Christian therapy. I've openly spoke about it before. But during this moment of trial, trauma, and tribulation, the elder board gave me time to get with God and to figure out my life and to ask the hard question, should I continue to lead? And so I love Christian counseling, I love Christian therapy but in that moment, if I'm honest with you, I was really upset with God because I felt like I did everything right. I'm not saying I'm perfect. There was a lot of mistakes that I made, but I was obedient to God. This isn't how the story ends. We're faith-filled people. We come back, right God? And so if I'm honest with you, I was really wrestling with the goodness of God. And I did not go to Christian counseling. I found a seven day intensive, secular, meaning non-Christian, and there was therapists and there were psychologists and there was doctors and I didn't want someone to slap a Bible verse on it and like pray the pain away. I wanted somebody to tell me if I'm okay. And I walked in and they have like an intake form for an inpatient counseling sessions. And they were like,

what are you hoping to receive out of this? And I'm like, am I okay? Like, am I gonna have a breakdown? Because I've seen every franchise of Real Housewives and every one of them who has been betrayed and goes through the divorce has a mental breakdown on air and then they're written off the show. Like, am I crazy? And they're like, well, okay, let's go ahead and have some conversations. So I met with a psychologist, I met with a therapist, and then I did a battery of tests that included even physical agility, putting me on a treadmill machine for a stress test. I got nodes and nodules on my forehead. I had them on my chest. I had one of those masks that Bane had from Batman. It's like, and they're putting me on a treadmill and I'm going uphill and all this other stuff. I mean, they asked me all these questions about my childhood and all this other trauma, all this other stuff. And then on day five, they brought me in and they were like, Bianca, the good news is, is if a breakdown happens, that's human. But we actually don't foresee that for you. You have built in systems and structures that we want to ask you about. So we're not concerned about a mental breakdown

or your ability to lead in this season. But you're walking around with a broken heart and you have so much shame. That's when I realized that I had shame and feeling like I had failed the people of God or that I had somehow made mistakes. And I was really grateful. And so they started asking, you're a secular therapist, asking me. Like, I was like, wait a minute, I paid you to tell me I'm broken. Now you're asking me how I'm not broken. They were like, do you meditate? I said, Psalm one. I meditate on the word of the law every day, every night. So yeah, I do meditate. It's called prayer, okay? They're like, do you believe in a higher power? Yes, his name is J-E-S-U-S. It is Jesus. Oh, oh, is gratitude part of your day? I journal every day. I say, thank you, Jesus. Absolutely. I have lost everything except good hair and my toes. Praise the Lord, all right? Then they asked me, oh, do you have meaningful purpose in your life? I said, I have a job where I create resources and podcasts and I travel.

That's my job. But my calling is to minister to the people of God. And that has kept me together. So I spent a lot of time and money and energy on a healing journey because I felt responsible for the souls of people. And what I realized was foundational in me not losing my mind in the midst of chaos is go back to Isaiah 26 three. Now, I memorized this in the New King James Version. You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind has stayed on you. I love that. And here at Revere, we use the NIV, the New International Version. But this version, in NLT, New Living Translation, says, you will keep in perfect peace, somebody say perfect peace, all, everybody, humanity, man, woman, young, old, skinny, floofy, tall, rich, educated, uneducated. You will keep all in perfect peace, who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you. Other translations say stayed on you. Other translations say steadfast on you. So let's break this down. Let's get into the nuance. Let's get didactic with this text. You keep in perfect peace. This is not occasional peace. This is not circumstantial peace. This is not momentary peace. No, no, no, no, no. You will keep them in perfect peace. Well, what is perfect peace? The Hebrew word for peace is shalom.

Perfect peace is shalom. But see, the author here doesn't say shalom. The author here says, shalom, shalom. So it's shalom exponential, is perfect peace. And if you like that Hebrew, I'm leading a trip to Israel in 2026. In one year from now, save your shekels, it's going to be expensive, okay? It's not a tour. It's not a vacation. Baby, it's an experience, okay? There's only 50 spots. Go to the welcome center. But here, more shalom, shalom for you. In fact, that's how we greet each other in Israel, shalom, peace. And here, the author emphasizes for incredible emphasis. This is shalom exponential. The author says that you will experience shalom, shalom. And who will experience this? Those who are doom-scrolling on Instagram? Who will experience this? Those that are watching Fox News? Wrong audience. CNN? I wanted to see. I want to see. BBC? No, I'm just kidding. International audience. International audience. Who? Who's going to experience it?

Those that are fixated, I've got to go to church and do the right thing because I'm a good Christian. No, no, no, no, no, no. You will keep in shalom, shalom those whose thoughts are fixed on you. The Hebrew word for fixed is the word samach. I need a volunteer. Give me someone strong. Joel. Ooh, broad-shouldered. Ooh, I love your faith back there. That's right. That's right. That's right. No, I need big shoulders. All right? I need someone to carry the weight of the world. Okay? So Joel Yeager is God. Now, I've done psychotherapy. He is not God. Don't see him outside and tell him your problems. He's not God. Right? But for this example, Joel Yeager is God. The word samach means to prop up against. So you and me, we will experience perfect peace if we put all of our pressure, all of our weight, all of my needs, not on the weight of the world, but on God. You will give me the peace that I need when I take all of me. I put everything, all my pressure, all my weight, all the burdens, all my fears, all my anxiety, all my depression, all of it, all my fears, all my debt, all my loneliness.

My mind has stayed on God, and he will prop me up. Thank you, Joel. Thank you, Joel. Shalom, shalom, ramech. Shalom, shalom, ramech. Now you want to go to Israel, right? Only 50 spots. Whatever. All right. There are so many people right now, and you feel like, I'm not doing good. There is a tension. There's a heaviness. And you're worried about all the wrong stuff, and you don't know where to turn. You don't like your job. You don't like your spouse. You don't like your kids. You don't. You're not okay. And the one thing that you want to do is disconnect. Well, what I'm saying is, you can have a moment of disconnect, but if you disconnect from that, connect to the Lord. Shalom, shalom, ramech. Instead of focusing on what is wrong, what is chaotic, what is toxic, I fix my mind on Jesus. And scripture says, my Bible boyfriend says, do not be conformed to the patterns of the world, but be transformed, Romans 12, by the renewing of your what? Of your mind. By renewing, Paul, you said spirit. I give you extra credit, but it is wrong. By the renewing of our minds.

And we're about to go into worship to renew our mind. We're going to sing our way through it. We're going to worship like our warfare. I'm transforming my mind. And when I need to focus my mind on the truth, not my problems, not the toxicity, not my issues, not my loneliness, but I need to focus on the truth, I got to root it in God's Word. In the craziest time of my life, I'm so grateful for Pastor Craig Rochelle, because I called him and I said, I don't know if I'm going to make it. And he, uh, nobody believed in me more than Pastor Craig Rochelle and Pastor Larry Bright. And I'm forever grateful. for those pastors who spoke truth in my life. And Pastor Craig Rochelle gave me a verse that really ministered to him in a season of deep depression. 2 Peter 1.3. It's Pastor Craig's verse, but I'm gonna steal it. Because it talks about God's power, that it's God's divine power. It's not my power. I could not do what God has called me to do. I needed his divine power. It's God's power, not my power. It's God's power, not your power. It's his power that has given us everything. Not some things, not part. God's power gives us everything we need to live a godly life through the knowledge of him. It's his power again and again and again. I wake up and say, it is your power, God. I cannot do this, but with you, God,

with your power, with your strength, you are my source. And I had to realize that the words that I was saying was framing my reality. So I had to stop saying, I can't do this. I had to stop saying, this is too much. I had to stop saying, this is gonna kill me. I had to stop saying, I'm gonna get canceled. I had to stop saying, I'm never gonna get it all done. Nobody understands, nobody cares. And instead, I had to start saying, God, you are the source and my strength. God, you have given me everything that I need to accomplish everything that you've called me to do. God, you are my source. God, you are my strength. It is you, it is your power, it is your might, it is your love, it is your forgiveness, it's not mine. And according to scripture, he has given me everything that I need. The people that I need, the resources that I need, the building that we need, the staff that I need, the counselors that I need, the strength that I need, the therapist that I need. It's his word, it's his energy, it's his power for my mental health. He has given me everything I need over and over and over. And it's never been in abundance. It's like, man, I said, Lord, can you give me a little bit more? And he's like, you got what you need for the day.

And you will be kept in perfect peace whose mind is ramacked on you, stayed on God. Why do I believe that we could have peace in a chaotic season? It's not because I've studied it. It's not because I've researched it. It's not because I've witnessed it. It's not because I've lived through it. It's because Jesus promised it. John 14, 27 says, peace, shalom, I give you. My shalom, I give you. My shalom, my shalom, I do not give as the world gives. Jesus says, do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. When did Jesus give this instruction to not be afraid because he's giving them peace? The day before he was about to embark on the hardest, most agonizing, most painful night of his life, the night before his crucifixion. He says, shalom, I give to you. And I believe that real peace isn't found in the absence of problems. Real shalom is found in the presence of God. Shalom, shalom. It's shalom when you hear bad news. It's shalom when you lose your job. It's shalom when your marriage is struggling. It's shalom when your kids are making decisions that bring shame and confusion to you.

It's shalom when you are hurt by the person that you love the most. It's shalom when you're in debt. It's shalom when money is tight. It's shalom, shalom. And the world can't give it and the world cannot take it away. Shalom, shalom, ramech, shalom, shalom, ramech. Shalom, shalom, ramech, shalom, shalom, ramech. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power, love, and a sound mind. May the God of peace sanctify your soul through and through. He cares, He is here, and He is faithful. So church, I'm inviting you to the next five weeks as we journey through being the most mentally healthy beings that we could be in a chaotic time. Not just to cope, but to fight for freedom and healing. Can I get an amen? Will your faith be added to the room right now? Will you do me a favor? Will you bow your head? Will you close your eyes? Spirit of living God, I'm inviting you into this space to have your way over our minds today. I speak shalom, shalom, ramech. Our minds are fixed on you today. We lean on you. Take all of the weight and the burden and our problems and our issues and give us your peace, Prince of Peace.

If you're in this room and you wanna experience the Prince of Peace through a following of Jesus, through being in a right relationship with Jesus, we're gonna create a space for you to respond. If you're here today and you've never said yes to Jesus, whether in the room or watching online, maybe at one point you were walking with the Lord, but you've walked away. If you're here today, you've never said yes to Jesus, or you know that you're living a life of sin and you wanna repent, that means turn around and come back. back to the Lord. Today is the day of salvation. To create a sacred and safe place. If you're here with heads bowed, I'm gonna invite you in a second on the count of three to boldly raise up your hand. And by raising your hand, you are one, declaring I want Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Two, by raising your hand, you are saying that my mistakes and my failures, what the Bible refers to as sin can be forgiven because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross at Calvary. And three, as Romans 10 tells us, the same spirit that resurrected Jesus from the grave will live in you. So if that is you and you want to say yes to Jesus or come back to him through the newing of your faith,

one, two, three. Will you raise your hand? God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. Online family, online family, even if you watch this during the week, you put an emoji in the chat box. If you're watching live, there is a team of people that wanna pray with you and give you online resources. But for those that raised their hands, we wanna let you know that you are not alone in this decision, that we rejoice with you, that you have been forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus. This is not the finish line, this is the starting point, baby, all right? And to let you know that you are not alone, fear is not your future. We're gonna pray a prayer of faith together today. So church, will you repeat after me? Will you declare Jesus? Forgive me of my sins. Today I choose you as my Lord and Savior. Cleanse my body, cleanse my mind, cleanse my heart. Fill me with your spirit to do what I cannot do. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Let's celebrate. I'm inviting you to stand to your feet

and let healing break out in this room. Let faith rise up in this room because fear is not our future, sickness is not my future, heartbreak's not my future, healing is in your future because we serve a God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If he did it then, he will do it again. So this church of faith, Revere, we're gonna buck up and we're gonna stand in the face of adversity and say, my God is bigger, my God is bigger, my God is bigger. My problems will remain, but my God is bigger. My debt will remain, but my God is bigger. He is over it all. Will you raise your voice of faith and begin to declare, it is him, it is him. Come on, church, let's worship God. Amen.