Set Your Mind Above

♪ I'm dancing out of my regrets ♪ ♪ I'm dancing out of my regrets ♪ ♪ Don't caution to the way ♪ ♪ No, I am not ashamed to breathe like this ♪ ♪ Someone say it's foolishness ♪ ♪ But I say it's worth the rest ♪ ♪ I can't forget what Jesus did ♪ ♪ No, I am not ashamed to breathe like this ♪ ♪ Where are those chains that ones held ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, I'll get it ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Look, you look the Lord has her ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll see her dance as I be ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ They gotta breathe ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ I don't bend and never face ♪ ♪ No, what a love is good as this ♪ ♪ If I don't care what anyone says ♪ ♪ I'll never be ashamed to breathe like this ♪ ♪ Where are those chains that ones held ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, I'll get it ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪

♪ Look, you look the Lord has her ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll see her dance as I be ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'll sing ♪ ♪ They gotta breathe ♪ ♪ Oh, you took the cross ♪ ♪ And you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shake your blood ♪ ♪ Now the Santa can see ♪ ♪ My dead is fading ♪ ♪ My record is fading ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you can't ignore it ♪ ♪ You took the cross ♪ ♪ And you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shake your blood ♪ ♪ Now the Santa can see ♪ ♪ My dead is fading ♪ ♪ My record is fading ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you took the cross ♪ ♪ And you took the cross ♪ ♪ And you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shake your blood ♪ ♪ Now the Santa can see ♪ ♪ My dead is fading ♪ ♪ My record is fading ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you can't ignore it ♪

♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you can't ignore it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you can't ignore it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ Oh, you got to do it ♪ ♪ Oh, you got to do it ♪ ♪ Where are those chains that I want to tell me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone ♪ ♪ How can it be ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Looking what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll see nothing without you ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Thank God I'm free ♪ ♪ You took it for us ♪ ♪ You broke your body ♪ ♪ You shared your blood ♪ ♪ Now you said you can't see ♪ ♪ My dead is made of my reputation ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you didn't ignore it ♪ ♪ Oh, you turned it for us ♪

♪ You broke your body ♪ ♪ You shared your blood ♪ ♪ Now you said you can't see ♪ ♪ Oh, you turned it for us ♪ ♪ My dead is made of my reputation ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you didn't ignore it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you didn't ignore it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you didn't ignore it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you didn't ignore it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you didn't ignore it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you didn't ignore it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ So you didn't ignore it ♪ ♪ So I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ Wow, you guys sound great today. Good job.

I love standing back there and watching some of you sing. And you do a great job, so thank you for that. You know what? and that's so important. So we're excited that you're here. Thanks for sharing your day with us. My name's Garland, I'm one of the pastors, and thrilled to welcome you. If you're a guest today, then you're very important to us, all right? And we just want to acknowledge that you're here, say thank you, and we'd also love to know a little more about you right in front of you. There's a connect card. If you'd take that and fill that out, we have a gift for you. You can just give it to the folks in the lobby, and they'll give you a gift. And just thank you. Thank you again for being here today. Also, we're gonna have a time of giving. So if our service guides would make their way up, we're gonna go ahead and we're gonna pass some buckets down the road. Giving is another way of worship. We give back to God because He's given us. We encourage you to be a part of that. If you're not ready, that's fine. There's boxes on your way out. You can also do it online, on the app.

All those ways are covered. And our family, we do it online that works for us. And so whatever works for you, we just say thank you. Thank you for helping us make a difference in this community. We're gonna have a time of familiar prayer. And always we have requests coming in. The truth is all of us have needs in our life, right? We all do. We're needy people, but that's why we need Jesus. And the great thing is He's there for us. And just this morning found out about family in our church. They're about to have a baby. There's some heart issues. Maybe surgery will be needed. And so they are working through that. So let's pray for them. And then found out yesterday about a gentleman that's got stage four throat cancer. And great attitude, says he's trusting God with it. And so we're grateful for that. But we're gonna pray for that and many other needs as well. So would you join me in prayer if you like? If you feel comfortable, you can reach out. We'll pray together. All right, let's pray. Father, we come to you today. And Lord, we're so grateful that we can be here. Thank you for our church.

Thank you for the community that we live in. It's a beautiful place. Thank you for beautiful weather today. Lord, thank you that we can come together, that we can worship you, that we can learn about you, but also that we can pray. And we can pray for our own needs and those around us as well. Father, we lift this sweet family to you that's gonna have a baby soon. Lord, I pray for a miracle there. I pray you would just take care of everything. Father, whether it's through medicine, doctors are just one of those miraculous things. No one can explain. We're happy with any of those, Lord, but we ask you to do a miracle. We ask for complete healing. Lord, I think of this gentleman that we mentioned, it's got stage four throat cancer. Lord, we lift him to you. Lord, he knows what's going on with him and yet he's got faith in you, which is amazing. And he's gonna use this to tell other people about you. So I pray that you would bless him, that you'd comfort him. And again, even in that situation, we pray for healing. Lord, there's so many of us that are here today and we have needs in our life. Lord, financial needs.

Lord, maybe it's spiritual needs in our life. Maybe it's relational. All these different things going on. Lord, the physical needs, whatever it may be, we lift those things to you. Father, you said to cry out to you when we have a need and that's what we're doing. We're crying out because we're needy. And Lord, thank you that you're a Father who loves us, that you're there for us, no matter what's going on, that you give us the strength to get through whatever we need to. Thank you that you give us peace of mind that we're talking about today. And so Father, we lay all these things before you. We know it's in the right place, it's in your hands. Lord, we know that you know that child that you've knit them together in their mother's womb. Far beyond before that they're born, that you're there for them. So Lord, we lift that to you every part of this and we just thank you that we can be here. Lord, be with us as we continue to worship you. As we learn today, we give this time to you in Jesus' name. Amen, thank you. Come on church, let's continue this moment of worship. Whatever way you feel like you need to get into a posture to center yourself on the board in this moment. Thank you Lord. ♪ Maybe we've made this complicated ♪

♪ More than it was ever meant to be ♪ ♪ Hasn't it always been about the same thing ♪ ♪ So Lord, bring us back to simple things ♪ ♪ Oh you be the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you ♪ ♪ My Savior on and on ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to ♪ ♪ For the beauty of your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you ♪ Teach us to discern the moment. We went to serve and went to sit here at your feet. Keep us awake to what's important. Just like Mary chose the better things. Oh, you be the center of it all. My heart belongs to you. My Savior, all in all, is to the one I hold on to. For the building of your name, my soul will live to sing. Jesus, I love you, oh, I love you, oh, oh, I love you. Jesus, I love you, my whole life, for your glory, my whole world, for you all, the everything, for the honor of your name. And if my days tell a story that it be, how the only everything, for the honor of your name. Come on, trust us to get out and dance by me. Oh, you glory, my whole world, oh, you only everything, for the honor of your name. And if my days, and if my days tell a story that it be, how the only everything, for the honor of your name. My whole life, for your glory, my whole world, for you all, the everything, for the honor of your name. And if my days tell a story that it be, how the only everything,

for the honor of your name. Oh, I love you, Jesus, I love you, oh, I love you. Oh, I love you, Jesus, I love you, my whole life, for your glory, my whole world, for your glory. And if my days tell a story that it be, how the only everything, for the honor of your name. My whole life, for your glory, my whole world, for you all, the everything, for the honor of your name. If my days tell a story that it be, how the only everything, for the honor of your name. Oh, I love you, Jesus, I love you. I love you, Jesus, I love you, my whole life, for your glory, my whole life, for your glory. I love you, Jesus, I love you, my whole life, for your glory, my whole life, for your glory. ♪ She did a storm ♪ # Oh, I don't wanna feel the storm # Oh, I don't wanna feel the storm # Peace be still # Say the word that I will # Set my feet upon the sea # 'Til I'm dancing in the deep # Peace be still # You are here so it is well # But we can wait like I can see # I will trust the voice that speaks # Oh, I'm not gonna be afraid # 'Cause these waves are on your hands # Oh, I'm not gonna be afraid # I'm not gonna be afraid # I'm not gonna feel the storm # 'Cause I'll be there then it's gone # Oh, I'm not gonna feel the storm # I'm not gonna feel it all # Peace be still # Say the word that I will

# Set my feet upon the sea # 'Til I'm dancing in the deep # Peace be still # You are here so it is well # But we can wait like I can see # I will trust the voice that speaks # Peace # Peace # Oh, I'm dance # # Peace be still # Peace be still # 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 # Oh, let faith rise up # Oh heart, believe # Let faith rise up in me # Let it rise, let it rise # Let it rise, let it rise # Let it rise, let it rise # Let it rise, let it rise # Oh, speaking, peace be still # Peace be still # Say the word that I will # Set my feet upon the sea # 'Til 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 # Peace # Oh, peace # Oh, peace # 'Til I'm dancing in the deep # Oh, peace # Oh, peace # Peace be still # And the waves are back # And the waves are back # It is well # It is well # With my song # It is well # It is well # With my song # One last time to see it out together # It is well # It is well # With my song # Come on, if you declare that it is well with your soul # Come on, give you a little shot of praise # We thank you, Lord # We honor you, Lord # Father God, we pray peace over your children this morning, Lord # We pray, Lord, Father God, whatever storm

# May be raging in their lives, O Father # We pray, Lord, Father, as you said, be The winds and waves obeyed you, Lord Father. We pray whatever storm is going on in your children's lives this morning, Lord Father. Our prayer, Lord Father, God, may you say peace, be still, Lord Father, peace, be still. Church, can you put your hand on your heart and say peace be still, peace be still. That's the winds and waves obeyed you, Lord Father. So will we. We honor you, we praise you. Send a message and send Jesus that we pray, amen. More church, you may have a seat, and let's fix our attention to the screens. - So it was a normal Sunday, you know, standard Sunday. Only difference is I was just in a bad mood. I didn't want to argue with my wife, I didn't want to argue with my kids. I mean, just like remove myself. I had been kind of bogged down with work lately. There's been a lot of uncertainty with the new business, you know, and the one thing that bothers me most in life is uncertainty. It went from a bad mood and it just escalated. I started, it just started like snowballing like, and not knowing what's next, not knowing like what's gonna happen tomorrow, what's gonna happen in a month,

what happens if the investor drops out, what happens if we don't make this deadline, now all these things and it started to become not anger, but like a despair. It started feeling like I was losing control. It started feeling like I wasn't able to fix anything. And then it got to the point where I'm sitting there, I didn't know what to do 'cause I got just so lonely and so upset that I just started crying and I started praying. Like Father just helped me. I don't know what to do. I'm feeling attacked, I don't know what to do. I stopped feeling bad and worrying about the business side of things that drove me to that and I started feeling guilty about not honoring God enough. I thought to myself, I'm not being obedient and serving you enough, yet I'm here crying out to you, asking for your help. That following Tuesday, my daughter had asked me to serve at local youth and run sound. I had the opportunity to speak to some young guys that kind of asked me about production stuff. And it was really cool being able to like pour into some young guys that were asking and really wanted to know things. After youth worship, I was approached by leadership, by church leadership, unsolicited. And I was asked if I wanted to co-lead

the ninth grade voice group. I had never thought of doing that. I didn't know if I was cut out for it, qualified for it, you can say whatever you want. But I said, yes, I can still live it. Yeah, what a cool opportunity. And it turned out to be wonderful. It was awesome, it was fulfilling, it was great. After leaving there, things started to click in my mind. And I started to put things together that God was working, putting things together, giving me the opportunity to serve Him at church. And it started to become very obvious. Go even further that Sunday, my parents came up to me and they told me that they were ready to be baptized. Praise God, it's what I've been praying for for years. So once they told me that, that whole week just kind of became so clear to me that when I was trying and praying out to Him, He literally came out and put His hand on my shoulder. And said, I'm here for you. And I'm gonna give you the opportunity to ask God. Once that happened, it was like an awakening in my mind. It was an understanding, like you can't even grasp. Just knowing that He has it and He has me. Because since then, I've had trials at work. Things have gone wrong. But it's a tangible feeling that my low is now here instead of here.

So now I fall to here and I'm like, it's okay, he's got it, we've got it. It's fine. It's hard to explain. It's very hard to explain. The passage that's stuck out to me, That's transcend all understanding is exactly what I feel. I can't wrap my head around what happened to me. It's so much bigger than us, but it happened. The peace that I feel is beyond understanding. Wow, amen. That's good, isn't it? Thank you, Marcelo. Wow, what a wonderful testimony. That's strong when you hear from regular people how this series and how God is changing their life. Well, hey, happy Sunday. Good morning. My name's Johnny. I'm one of the pastors here. It is a pleasure to see everybody as a pleasure to teach today 10 AM service. I hope you're full of caffeine. I hope you're ready. We've been in this series now called Peace of Mind for three weeks. I believe three weeks. I get to close it out today. I love closing out this series because I get to hear what everybody else taught and brought to it. And I get to bring my own stuff to it. We're excited about it. But it is having an effect on people. We've gotten a lot of good feedback on it, a lot of good response to it.

And I think that's important because really the signs of a good church, of a healthy church, it's not just numbers. It's not just filling up the place. It's not about just attendance. It's about change. How many lives are being changed? Because we don't just want to warehouse people. We don't just want you to come Sunday and leave, come and leave, come and leave and never have change in your life. So it's refreshing to hear that this series is helping people and that's what we really want to do. My big takeaway from this Peace of Mind series is this. I heard a wise pastor one time say this, we need to think about what we think about. That's really helped me and this series has brought it more into focus. I need to think about what I think about it. If I'm not careful, I don't know about you, but if I'm not careful, I will allow my mind to just peck at this, like a chicken, like one of those free-range chickens, right? I'm an Oklahoma, so I use those kind of analogies, a chicken, just pecking at this, peck at that, peck at that. But we can't really do that in a fallen world. We have to be careful with what we think about. Our thoughts belong to him. I want you to get that. This belongs to him. It's so important what you think about. Today, we're going to set our minds above. That's what we're talking about today. That's the sermon title. Set your mind above. Set your mind above. Think on those things which are above. I want to give you a little background. We're going to be in Colossians chapter three.

Colossians chapter three. Before we put it on the screen, it is in your notes there. But let me give you just a little bit of background on this church at Colossae. Colossae was a city not unlike South Florida, not unlike Broward County. It was an east-west trade route, lots of nations represented there, lots of ethnicities, lots of cultures that would work their way through, again, a lot like South Florida. What was pressing in on this church that Paul wrote to it, to help it out, to correct it? What was going on in this particular church? Well, there were things pressing on it. Again, a lot like things press on us from South Florida culture. It was in the Roman Empire. It was a province of the Roman Empire, so morality was sketchy there. It was a depraved place, a very promiscuous place. Things that would make us blush, and that's less and less nowadays, but those things they wouldn't think anything about, very normalized there. Things that would be illegal here would have been normalized in the Roman Empire. So there was always the pleasures of Rome, the temptations of Rome, that kind of thing. But inside the church there was false teaching. And by the way, any time you read any letter in the New Testament that's an epistle, an address to a church, it's going to, some of it. Maybe most of it, sometimes all of it, like Galatians. But this church as well, it's dealing with some false teaching. So they had that in their church. On one end was legalism, on one side, legalism and law. It was Jesus' plus law, law plus grace. They were wanting them to go back to law, wanting them to go back to being more Jewish. That was on one side. On the other side, there was a very really domineering type of pagan philosophies that would work their way through. You can imagine if you've got the world coming through, and by the way, multi-ethnic, multi-national

South Florida, we got the world coming through here and some and sometimes the false teaching comes with them. It was also very open. We would call it New Age. They were seeking mediums. They were praying to angels, things like that. What we would call New Age, going to a palm reader, going to a psychic. And listen, Paul speaks against those things. The Bible speaks against those things. This preacher today is gonna speak against those things. We don't need that. We don't need that. In fact, Paul builds what's called a Christology in Colossians. He builds that. And it really just says this, Jesus is enough. He's the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's the Godhead in bodily form. What else do you need? You don't need anything else. And so the church was dealing with some of that. They didn't have much peace in that church. And I'm sure some of the believers, not all. It wasn't all, but it was enough that this church was in a little bit of trouble. Let's see what Colossians three, verses one through four tells us. How does Paul address it? He says, "If then you were raised with Christ,

seek those things which are above." Let's stop right there. We're not that far into it, but I wanna comment. "If then you were raised with Christ." This tells you where he's going. If you've been raised with Christ, he doesn't say if you're a believer, if you consider yourself a Christian, if you're a man or woman of faith, he says, "If you've been raised with Christ, set your mind on things above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God." Verse two, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth for you died your old life." Reminds me of baptism. You've died to your old life, you're raised, and now your new life is hidden with Christ in God. Interesting, only time in the New Testament that Paul uses that particular phrase, hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Here's our first big thought. We're gonna have three of them today. This is our foundation, though. My mind shapes my reality. My mind shapes my reality. This is important because this peace of mind series that we've been in is really a mental health focus. It's a mental health aim.

We do that a couple of times a year, and it's difficult, almost impossible, to have good mental health really without having peace in your mind and in your heart. So peace of mind, and so your mind shapes your reality. We all know that, but Paul is gonna prove it to us. Pay attention to the first part of that verse. If then you were raised with Christ, you were raised with him. Remember Jesus, yes, raised from the dead, three days in the tomb, raised from the dead, 40 days with his disciples, and then he was raised to be with God at God's right hand, at the Father's right hand. He ascended, he's been raised, and so really our reality is we have access to that. I want you to get this, Church, because we live far under our true reality so often. We have access to that reality. This is not our home. This is a temporary place, but this is not our home. America is beautiful, but she's not eternal. She's not eternal. We are citizens of a kingdom of God, a kingdom of heaven that's eternal. We have to start thinking like that. Paul wants to help us with that. We're in the world, but we're not of the world. By that, I mean, you're in the world. You had to get up and get dressed today.

Some of you, like me, had to stop and get gas on the way to church this morning. You're in the world, you're doing those kind of things. You have to, but you're not of the world. It's not our true reality. And some of these believers, some of these believers, were struggling because they had slowly but surely step by step, day by day. It's gradual, it's gradual. Moment by moment, step by step, day by day, they had begun to marry the world. They'd begun to marry the world. They bought what it was selling, the empty promises, the shiny things on the counter. The enemy was selling and they were buying. Write this in your notes. Satan doesn't sell darkness. He sells fake light that leads to darkness. Satan not gonna sell you darkness. You're not gonna buy that. No one's gonna go and get a bogo on depression and despair. He's not gonna sell darkness, but he's gonna sell you something fake. He's gonna sell you something counterfeit that will take you there. False hope, counterfeit promises, all of that that leads to despair. And slowly but surely, inch by inch, they begin to leave their true purpose and their true calling.

And they begin to live in a different reality. They begin to marry the world. Write this down. We're called to redeem the world, not marry it. We're called to redeem the world. What do we mean by that? Well, it means we're on a redemptive purpose. We lock arms together. I'm co-laborers with you. You're co-laborers with me. As a church, we're co-laborers with other churches. We don't compete against them. We complete the body of Christ together. We lock arms and we walk towards Christ. We have a redemptive purpose. But when we marry the world, we slide away from that redemptive purpose. We slide away, we marry the world. And we're not nearly as effective as we should be. Here's some wisdom. If you don't want to marry the world, don't date the world. Don't date it. Don't date the world. When you date the world, you begin to look like it because you begin to think like it. Its struggles become your struggles. Its passions become your passions. Its temptation becomes now your temptation. Its anger becomes your anger. What divides it now divides you.

And eventually, its hopelessness becomes your hopelessness. Its darkness becomes your darkness. Its reality, unfortunately, becomes your reality. You still believe that Jesus builds a beautiful road to heaven. You're not given that up. But you don't have a clue how to get through this day or this week without being angry, confused, bitter, divided. Am I talking to anybody today? You're living in the wrong reality. That's what happens when we marry the world. That's what happens when we date it, we move in with it, we marry it, we live in the wrong reality. Instead of a mind that's at peace, we have a mind that's scattered into pieces. And you end up, two things happen. You end up living a much smaller version of life than God intended for you to have. Remember John 1010, he makes a beautiful promise. "I came that you can have life and have it more abundantly." You're not gonna get that in the world if you're living in the world's reality. What's even worse? Again, we're gonna have a much smaller impact than we're supposed to have in the kingdom of God. Do you remember the great commission? The last thing Jesus said to his disciples before he ascended, and at the right hand of the Father where he is now, he's coming back. That's my retirement plan A, by the way, I don't know about you.

Christ comes back, redeems us, we go home, I'm retired. That's good. But what are we supposed to do? In the meantime, go make disciples of all nations. All nations were there in Colossae. All nations are here for us in South Florida. Multinational, multi-ethnic, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things that I have taught you and behold them with you even till the end of the age. That's our redemptive purpose. That's why we lock arms as a church. That's why we lock arms as a believer. That's what we're supposed to be doing. Going, making converts, yes, but also making disciples. But we can't do that if we're living in the wrong reality. We have to set our mind church on things above, amen? So how do we get there? What if that's you? Maybe I describe some people today. And listen, I describe me sometimes. That's me sometimes. I can live in the wrong reality for a while. How do we get back? It's all about our focus. Look at the second main thought. My focus determines my peace. My focus determines my peace.

Colossians 3, 2, set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. We refocus. I set my mind. I focus my mind again on those things above. Here's our problem. Because when we think about setting our mind on things above, we have to realize this is important. It's not a one-time decision. Setting your mind on things above, it's a continual thing. It's a habitual thing. It's not a set it and forget it. It's a repetitive thing. The verb use there is in the present tense. It's not in the past tense with present ramifications. It's in the present tense, not the past tense. That means in the present, you have to do this. What about 10 minutes later? You have to do this. What about 10 days later? You've got to do that. You have to continually set your mind on things above. Every time, worldliness, anxiety, distraction, temptation, whatever it is begins to pull you towards the world. Whatever it is for you, and by the way, Satan knows what it is for you. The enemy knows how to dress for you. He knows what you like. He knows your impulse buying habits. He knows that about you.

He'll come dressed for you. Whatever that is that begins to pull you away, catch it. And say, "No, not today, not today." And begin to set your mind again on things above. It's not a set it and forget it. Here's a quote. by world, by culture, by false belief. We already talked about in this series, don't believe lies, believe truth. So when you start being pulled towards the world's lies, you set your mind on things above. That church was being pulled that way. This church can be pulled that way. When I say church, I mean believers in the church. We can be pulled that way. But what about just real life things that aren't world, aren't culture, that we go through in a fallen world? Jesus said, in this world you will have, what, trouble, in this world you will have trouble. What about when it comes to your house? What about cancer, when it comes to your house? What about family issues, joblessness, any number of things in a fallen world, fallen world issues that you didn't ask for? Because when we get in the wrong reality with the world, it's almost like we've got it coming. We've been taken in again. But this you didn't ask for. What about that? What about when those things come knocking at your door? Very wonderful. When we're anxiety, fear, all those things come knocking at our door because real world trouble has come to us, we've got an answer for that.

It's the same thing, set your mind above. Look how Paul talks about it though, in Philippians 4, 6 and 7. He says this, by the way, this is an anchor verse for this series, we've talked about this a couple of times, I want to drill down on this verse, we're going to spend a little time here, I want to drill down on it in a little different way today. It says, "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." That's verse 6. Stop there for just a second. Verse 7 is a payoff, but I want us to get this church because sometimes in this culture, we look for the payoff, but what's in it for me? Listen, if nothing's in it for you, if there is no verse 7, what God says to do in verse 6, that's what we should do. Obedience isn't determined by where it might lead. Obedience isn't determined by, "Do I get a payoff God?" Because verse 6 is there, that's what we should do, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. But thank you, Lord, there is a big payoff. Let's look at it. Verse 7, "And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." That's a promise for you today. And the word "guard" there is a military term, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. It shouldn't be there. It doesn't make sense that you have peace. You met people like that. I meet them all the time. The pastors, we get to meet and pray with lots of people. Our whole staff does, by the way.

But we get to counsel, we get to visit, we get to sometimes go to homes and pray over people, and many of them have that peace of God. It will guard your hearts and minds, military term, through Christ Jesus. I don't know who or what guards your home. You know, when the girls were small, we always had an alarm system or something like that. I've always got my old four ten shot gun, right? The old bird gun. If a bird ever comes in, it's in trouble. But I've got that. But when they were growing up and the family was all there, we always had an alarm system. But now we have Lola, Lola. I love that name for a little girl, and that's our little girl. She's four legged, you can imagine. She'd be nine at the end of this month, and I told her that I was going to talk about her today, because she's a little lazy, okay? She's a little bit lazy. She's unemployed. I don't even think she's looking for work now. She just lays on the couch. She lays on that couch all day. But let somebody knock on the door, and she's on it. That's the only time she barks. She knocks and she runs to that door. She thinks they're there to see her. Everybody that comes to the door is there to visit with her. But Lola guards our door. Now that's humorous, but isn't it wonderful, I want you to shift your thoughts here. Isn't it wonderful that we have the God of the universe, the God who created it all, that will guard you. He himself makes this promise.

He will guard your heart and mind. This peace will set up a militant guard. That means fear. De-bilitating fear can't get through. De-bilitating worry can't get through. These things that can lead to all kinds of mental breakdowns and physical ailments they can't get through. That peace will guard your heart and mind through Christ. It's wonderful. Now let me let me let me Can I be harsh? It's not harsh. It's speak the truth in love. How about that? But we need to hear this. I need to hear this. I need to hear this. We have to stop church. We have to stop looking to the creation in these times to get what we can only get through the Creator. I have to stop looking to this fallen world to give me what it doesn't have. I have to stop looking at people to give me what they can't give me in the moment or in the season that they're in. I have to stop looking to the creation to give me what I can only get through the Creator. I have to stop doing that. Now, here's a hard question. How many of you, how many of you,

even though you've given this to God, you've done verse six, right? Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. How many of you would say this? Even though I've given it to God, it still rattles in my head. Even though I've given it to God, maybe many times, it still can be in my head. Why is that? I want that to sit for a second. Why is it that when we give it to God, we do verse six, we take it and we give it and we even give some of our pain and we give some of our emotional weight. We give it to God. Why does it still rattle around in my head? Why does it still keep me up at night? Why does it ruin my appetite? Or why do I eat everything? I can get my hands on, why? I've got an answer and I think it's universal. I think it's universal. See if this is you, this is definitely me. Because when I take it to God, many times I relive the details. I give him the details again and I'll give him the pain again or I'll give him the worry again.

I give him all those things. But I want to also keep an eye on the outcome and I want to keep an eye on the timing. And here's why, because God, I've got a schedule. I'm on a schedule, you know, we got this coming up. If you could, Lord, if you could just do this before that happened, if you could just do this before the kids go back to school, if you could just do this before we go on our cruise, if you could just do this before, you know, whatever, we want to keep an eye on the outcome and we want to keep an eye on the timing. And that's the heaviest part. So I know for myself, when I take these things to God, many times I give him not all of it, I keep the heaviest part of it, write this down. When you give it to God, the outcome is no longer your burden to carry. When you give it to him, the outcome is no longer yours. The weight is no longer yours. The timing is no longer your, you don't have to keep an eye on the clock, church. It's his, I gave it to him, I gave it all to him. I'm not gonna carry that heavy thing around all day and bring me down. And I have to stop looking to the creation to give me what I can only get from him. I don't look to the creation. I don't look to the fallen world. I don't look to people to give me that peace.

If they would just start acting a certain way, if they'd just come through, if they'd be kinder, if they'd wake up and be wise, this wouldn't happen. Yes, true, true. But if you're gonna wait till somebody wakes up and gets smart and starts doing the right thing, you may wait your whole life. The peace of God, independent on that. I can't wait on circumstances on things to work out in this fallen world, the way that I want them to work out to have peace. When I do verse six, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, I let my request be made known to God and I give him all of it. The outcome and the timing, I give him all of it. Then, then that peace of God that passes all understanding will guard my heart and mind. But what if you're there today and it's still rattling around in your head? Here's what I do. Pray this prayer. It's in your notes. You can pray something similar. You can keep this and pray this verbatim. Lord, I give you praise, I give you glory. You are my hope and my salvation. See what you're doing? You're putting your mind back up on things above. You're resetting it.

Lord, I give you praise, I give you glory. Now I'm up here. You are my hope. You are my salvation. I trust you with everything. If I trust you with my own eternity, I'm trusting you with things that happen in this world. I'm thankful, I'm grateful. I choose joy in this moment. Thank you, Lord. That's how you have peace before the answer arrives. That's how you have it. That's how you have peace before the answer arrives. When things aren't going your way, pray that. When you've given it to God, but things aren't changing, pray that prayer. And notice there's a lot of thankful, grateful, joy. Thank you, Lord. There's a lot of that in there. And I do that because sometimes we skip that part and listen, that's integral. We can't skip that part. That might be the most important part. Remember verse six, that's not just a poetic add-on. Paul didn't say, oh, that'll sound good. I'll go ahead and do that. I'll write that. Thanksgiving is its integral, giving thanks and being thankful.

Here's how it works. When you're thankful, when you're grateful, even though your dilemma, my dilemma over here is still, I mean, it's raging. Nothing solved. I don't see any movement. I've given it to God, and I really have. I'm tempted to wanna now go back and keep an eye on the outcome, 'cause I don't know, God, do you not see? I mean, it's still, hello? It's still here, and the timing. I'm tempted to go back and take it and drag it behind me again. Here's what happens though. When I'm grateful and I'm thankful, I have to go back and be grateful and thankful for what he's done for me in the past. I go back and I remember those things. I can come up with two or three, even when the dilemma is raging, and even when I'm not quite in the mindset, when I pray that prayer, and I go back, here's what it does. Grateful and thankful, being grateful and thankful, builds a bridge between God's past faithfulness and my current dilemma. It builds a bridge. God, to my dilemma, God's past faithfulness,

to my present dilemma. Otherwise, there could be a big gap there, but when I'm grateful and I'm thankful, God, thank you for what you've done. Thankful for my family. Thank you for how you came through for us. Thank you for how you've come through for this church multiple times, God. I don't have to go back very far, by the way. When, actually, I go back to the beginning. I don't have to go back very far. I can count blessings that happens this week, but I like to go back to the beginning. Here's how I do it. When I wanna build that bridge, I just wanna go back and sit in his faithfulness. I do this, I start at the beginning. This October makes 46 years ago that I said yes to Jesus. I gave him my life in a Baptist church in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City. And listen, I wasn't looking for God. Here's the miracle. I wasn't looking for Him. I didn't go to church because I was on a Jesus journey. I was looking for truth, nothing that noble. I went to church because this little blonde asked me to go to church and she smelled good and she's very cute. And 45 years later, she's still cute and she still smells good. She'll be here next service.

I went to church for purely selfish reasons. You gotta get this with me, y'all. I went to church for purely selfish reasons. Three weeks later, I'm on my knees and my bed in my bedroom, giving my life to Jesus. That's how good God is. That's how good He is. I go, I'm not even looking for Him and He makes things like that happen. We had a cancer scare a few years ago in our family. There was surgery, thinking about the margins that they get it all. Their scans, the numbers looked a little off. We don't know, it could just be, the numbers are just a little off and then they'll go back for another scan, it's good. The last two scans have been perfect and she's cancer free. Thank you, God. I look at that. We live, yeah, amen. We live my kids, my daughters and grandkids live one mile from each other, one mile. Guess where we live? Right in the middle. Yeah, we live right in the middle. We like it that way. I get it, it's not for everybody. I understand that. It's not for everybody.

It's for us and we prayed that that could happen and God made it happen. I don't have to go back very far. God, you're faithful and I have to build that bridge to my current dilemma, I have to. That's how you have peace before the answer arrives. It's not the lack of answers. Listen, this is important. It's not the lack of answers that causes my lack of peace. It's when I stop being thankful. It's when I stop being grateful. Write this down. God's peace can live with a lack of answers, but it can't live in an ungrateful heart. My focus determines my peace. I refocus, I set my mind again on things above and I find that peace. Let's look at the third big thought. This is where we've been working our way too. This is really what I want us to understand. There's takeaways from the other two, but I really want us to, this thought right here I want you to take with you. My thoughts belong with Christ. Galatians three, two through three. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your life is hidden with him. My thoughts belong to him. I want us to get that.

When I said yes to Jesus 46 years ago, I didn't realize everything. I didn't have a big theological page that told me exactly what I was doing. I just knew I needed a savior, but here's what happened. I repented of my old life and I turned to Jesus and he gave me a new one. He says it's hidden with Christ in God. In other words, it's kept safe with him. Our thoughts belong there as well. We don't think of it that way, but that's where they belong. My thoughts belong with Christ. It's not just your soul he redeemed. He redeemed your thinking too. So you aim them upward. I want you to write this down. A mind that is set on things above can't be weaponized by the enemy. I want to flip it. I want to look at it from this angle. A mind that is set above can't be weaponized by the enemy. You say, does the enemy want to weaponize your mind? Absolutely, he wants to weaponize your mind. Every minute of every day, he would love to weaponize your mind to use against God, to use against others, to use against you. He definitely wants to weaponize it. So number one, here's five quick things.

That Satan can't weaponize when our minds are set above. Number one, he can't weaponize my trials. I remain thankful, and joyful through trials. We just talked about that. Everything I just said, building that bridge, that's what that means. He can't weaponize my trials. I want to make you a promise today. Because for services on a Sunday, plus Thursday, five services, I guarantee you, there's people going through heavy things. I want to make you a promise. I can't back it, I don't have to back it. This is from Jesus. He's the backer of all these things. But you can have, no matter what you're going through today, I love to tell people this, you can have the most wonderful, joyful, abiding, growing, strong relationship with Jesus that brings that peace that passes understanding. That's yours. You can have that, no matter what's going on, no matter who's doing what, no matter what this fallen world is up to, no matter what people are up to, you can have the most wonderful, abiding, joyful, strong, growing relationship with Jesus. You can have that. You can have that. Satan can't weaponize our trials

when our mind is set above. Number two, anger and bitterness cannot grow within me. He can't get our anger and bitterness and grow it. This is so big for families, marriages. How many of you have climbed a rock wall? I'll put my hand down. I always like to go, yeah, well, no, not me. Okay, there's a few. You know what a rock wall is? It's got hand holds and footholds and you go up. That's how Satan craw, really he does. He, it's deeper into our heart. Those hand holds and footholds of anger and bitterness and resentment that build up. When we do marriage counseling, I can sit and I can determine pretty quickly if a couple is angry and bitter. You don't have to ask them. It's, it comes out the way they answer the questions, the way they look at each other. Look, Satan can't, can't crawl deep inside you and weaponize those things. It won't affect your language, how you speak to one another, how you feel about one another. There's so many things that anger and bitterness wreck in a family and in a marriage. But he can't weaponize it when your mind is set on things above. Number three, men, this is for us.

I know it's for women, some women too, but this is for us. Lust and garbage thinking can't take root. Satan can't weaponize lust and temptation. It can't grow us or morph us into something that we don't even recognize anymore. I'm a licensed Southern Baptist preacher. License in our day in Southern Baptist preacher. That's from Oklahoma. So I wanna preach to you like one. You're gonna recognize this, some of you. Sin will take you further than you wanna go. It will keep you longer than you wanna stay. It'll cost you more than you wanna pay. It'll do it every time. Sin will take you further than you ever wanted to go. It'll keep you longer than you ever intended to stay. And it'll cost you far more than you wanted to pay. I am one bad decision. I want everybody to hear this. I am one bad decision from losing everything. And so are you. One bad decision from losing everything. You say, well, you know, really? Why do you say that? Because you don't have to find sin. Sin is finding you, sin hunts you. We live in a fallen world where the enemy walks around seeking whom he made a vow. And men, that's how he devours us to a large degree.

There's other ways, but he knows how to come dressed for you. He knows what you like. He knows what you look at. He sees when nobody else sees. And men fall in private long before they fall in public. But listen, when your thoughts are hidden with Christ, here's the good news. When your thoughts are hidden with Christ in God, he can't find you. He can't find those thoughts. He can't weaponize your mind. He can't give you lust and garbage thinking. He can't. It's so important that our mind is hidden with Christ above. Number four, I stopped trying to earn a place that Christ has already earned four. still have a horrible time or a bad time thinking that a good God could love them because of the way you grew up. What was said to you, what was done to you, it's horrible what happens to people in a fallen world. And you see it, pastors, and we see it all the time. But I stopped trying to earn a place that Christ has earned for me. He can't weaponize my past. Write this in your notes. Just because a broken person didn't love you doesn't mean you're not worthy of love. Just because somebody didn't love you, a broken person didn't love you, doesn't mean you're not worthy of love. I'm not. I don't worry that I'm good enough. I'm not good enough. But Jesus was. He said I was worthy. He gave His life for me. He thought I was worthy to die for. He died for everyone, but He also died for each one. He knows you. He says you're worthy. My worth, listen to this, my worth is received. It's not achieved. I receive it. He gave it to me. I receive it. I don't achieve it. You have a place with God. You have a place with God. He said you're worthy. Satan can't weaponize your past when your mind is set above. Here's the last one, number five, it's going to go quickly. It's a daily loving thank you to God. It's just a daily loving thank you for saving a wretch like me. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. I want to think

about you today. I want to hang out with you today. I want to learn from you today. And I get it. I get it. Some people think, well, you know what? I got to work, man. I got 50 hours, 60 hours. I'm an analyst. I'm an accountant. I'm a CFO. I'm a cop. I'm an Uber driver. I'm going to keep my mind on. I don't have time to just think about God or Scripture or a prayer all day. And I get that. Do you ever think about lunch? You're thinking about it right now, aren't you? Do you ever think about lunch? Do you think about the weekend? Do you think about the game? Where Oklahoma beat Texas? Of course you do. I do. Listen, not every minute of every day is spent thinking only about work. You know what, and I know it. And I'm not talking about building a big theological treatise. I'm not talking about any of that. I'm talking about take a few seconds every 10 minutes or so. Say thank you, God. Thank you for today. Thank you for work. Thank you that I have a job. Thank you for my family. Bless my wife. I pray she has joy today, Lord. Thank you, God. Thank you for what you've done for me. Thank you for saving a wretch like me. Just every so often, reset your mind on things above. Church, our thoughts belong with Him. Set your mind above. Amen. Amen. Let me pray for us. Father, thank you. Thank you for this beautiful church, Lord. Thank you for these wonderful people, such good listeners. Father, again, I pray for us. Lord, I pray that for those who don't know you, Lord, I pray that they make that decision today to say yes to Jesus. Maybe you've been dealing with them, something that was said, something that was sung. God, I just pray that somebody makes that decision today who needs to and say yes to Christ, yes to salvation. Father, for those who are struggling, keeping their minds on things above, Lord, help us to remember, not just Holy Spirit, that we will continue to set our minds on things above where they belong. We love you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Let's say it together, Church. Amen. Amen. Come on, Church, let's sing this out together. Let's sing rise up, oh Lord, believe. Let's sing rise up, believe. Let's sing rise up, oh Lord, believe. Let's sing rise up, believe. Let it rise, let it rise, let it rise. Let's sing rise up, oh Lord, believe. Let's sing rise up, believe. Let's sing rise up, believe. Let's sing rise up, oh Lord, believe. Let's sing rise up in the new. Jesus needs them, still the world and the will. Let's sing my feet of won't let's sing, so I'm dancing in the deep. He needs me still, you are here so it is well. Oh, we get away from our heads dancing. I will trust the voice that speaks me. ♪ Peace, peace, all the best ♪ (upbeat music)

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