The Noise Won't Stop - My Anxious Thoughts

Would you stand with us? Let's praise the Lord. You broke my chains and bought my freedom. What else can I say but thank you, Jesus. Cause you're just that good, just that faithful. And you're just that kind, I'm so grateful. That you saved my life like you said you would. So with my hands up high, heart abandoned. And a faith on fire, singing and dancing. Cause you saved my life like you said you would. Cause you're just, cause you're just that good. Put a song in my heart, I'll sing with all that I've got. And tell the world who you are, I'm gonna praise you. You put a song in my heart, I'll sing with all that I've got. And tell the world who you are, I'm gonna praise you. The one who broke my chains and bought my freedom. What else can I say but thank you, Jesus. Cause you're just that good, just that faithful. And you're just that kind, I'm so grateful. That you saved my life like you said you would. So with my hands up high, heart abandoned. And a faith on fire, singing and dancing. Cause you saved my life like you said you would. Cause you're just, cause you're just that good. Praise the one who broke my chains and bought my freedom. What else can I say but thank you, Jesus. You're the one who broke my chains and bought my freedom. What else can I say but thank you, Jesus. Cause you're just that good, just that faithful. And you're just that kind, I'm so grateful. You saved my life like you said you would.

So with my hands up high, heart abandoned. And a faith on fire, singing and dancing. Cause you saved my life like you said you would. Cause you're just, cause you're just that good. You're just that good. You're just that good, you're just that good. You're just that good. You're just that good. This is my story, I testify. The blessings on blessings you poured on my life. When I start remembering, how good you've been. Fear turns to worship, tears turn to grace. Chains of depression, broken by grace. When I start remembering, how good you've been. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. The enemy's weapons fall to the ground. Armies of heaven, always around. When I start remembering, how good you've been. You carried my cross. You called me by name. Loved me like I was, but you didn't leave me that way. Was dead, now I live. Yeah, that's what you did. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. The morning, the night, the lows and the highs. I look back on my life and all that I see. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. Oh, God is good. Yes, He is all the time. Yes, He is. When I say God is good, you say all the time.

When I say all the time, you say God is good. When I say God is good, you say all the time. When I say all the time, you say God is good. When I say God is good, you say all the time. When I say all the time, you say God is good. When I say God is good, you say all the time. When I say all the time, you say God is so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. The mornings and nights, the lows and the highs. I look back on my life, all that I see. The good and the bad, the lows and the highs. I look back on my life and all that I see. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been good. You've been good, yeah, yeah. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me. You've been good, yeah. Amen. We serve a good God, don't we? Give Him praise as you're seated and watch your screens. Amen. What's up, y'all? Man, it is so good to be back with you guys. Maybe so, so, so, so, so good to be back. That's so stupid. I'm really, really glad to be back with you guys.

Hey, before we get any deeper, a couple things. One, I got to welcome our online campus. We got Chris and Mike with us from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We've got Gospel Rescue with us. We have got all of our friends at the Santa Rita unit where they had 30 baptisms last weekend at the prison. Unbelievable. And our Benson campus. We are so excited you are with us. But man, I got to tell you, like the last month has been great. Now, I've been gone, but I've not been gone. Like we were gone for sure, like did our daughter's wedding, like the most expensive party I've ever thrown in my life. So we just got a pay raise because she's off the books now. You know what I'm saying? Parsley. And so great wedding, great time together with the family. Spoke for a couple student conferences around the country, but actually was home most Sundays. And can I just tell you, I love worshiping with you. I love being in this room with y'all, worshiping with you guys. There's a lot of other people. the places I get to go, but this place right here, I know John Cassetto said it last week. By the way, sweetest human being on the planet. Unbelievable message last week. He's like the gentle giant. He can't deal with distractions, so if you drop something, your baby's crying, I'm sorry.

He's just like, huh, what happened over there? Like, that's John. But when he says there's something special about this place, he's right. And so I just wanna thank you for being that kind of church. It's like a pleasure to get to do life with you. Now, before we dive into a brand new series today, I do wanna talk to you about one thing. How many of you have ever been to the Global Leadership Summit that we host here at Pantano? Anybody been a part of that? Awesome. If you've been a part of the GLS in the past, it is the largest leadership conference on the globe. Literally half a million people will stream in from all over the place, and we are a host site for the Global Leadership Summit. I'm actually on the board for that and speaker selection for that. And can I just tell you, probably in the last five years for sure, this may be the greatest lineup I've ever seen for leadership development. So if you wanna be a better leader, August 6th and 7th, you should be here. If you know someone that needs to be a better leader, bring them with you. If it's your boss, don't tell them they're not a good leader. Just go, hey, I think we should invest in leadership development. And bring them along, get your team to be here.

We would love to fill this room with as many people as we can. And you're like, I'm not a leader. Yes, you are, because you have to lead yourself every day too. How many of you could be a better leader of yourself? Show of hands. See, all of you should show up. So early bird rate ends July 17th. And so if you've not signed up yet, do that. And then it goes full price after that. Either way, it's worth the investment in leadership and I would highly encourage you to be here. I'll be here for about days of it. I'm excited for it this year. So make sure you join us for that. Well, this week we start a brand new series called My Anxious Thoughts. And some of you just heard that and you got anxious hearing the title, didn't you? Because if we're honest, anxiety has been one of the defining struggles of our generation. Like just straw poll, how many of you have ever dealt with some sort of anxiety? Show of hands. Some of you are real anxious with your hand up. You're like, ah. Like all of us at some level have dealt with it. And we live in a world full of anxious thoughts. We're overwhelmed by everything in our minds.

We're exhausted souls. We have more technology than ever before. And yet we're more anxious than ever before. If you remember our friend Carlos Whitaker who was here, he has a statement. Our minds were not meant to consume this much information at one time. Like these stupid little devices that we carry around are making us more anxious. Like I wish I could throw this in a river sometimes, don't you? Wish we could go back to where your phone was stuck to a wall. And the cord would get all wound up, remember that? Because you'd stretch it around six rooms even though it only went six feet. If you remember that, schedule all of your doctor's appointments right now, okay? It's interesting though is that we have more ways to connect than ever before yet. Many of us feel isolated and alone more than ever before in history. Like the noise never stops. The phone continues to buzz, the notifications come, the emails pile up. Isn't it crazy? We're like Pavlov's dog, this thing buzzes and we're like, what was that? What was that? What was that?

You ever put it in another room and you still feel it in your pocket even though it's not there? You get the weird phantom buzz, you're like, I know it's there, where's it at? Bzz, bzz, bzz, it's not there. Like we're so consumed with all these things coming, like the news cycles keep spinning, the economy fluctuates, relationships get complicated, like doctors call and wanna give you diagnosis, the kids struggle, like the future feels uncertain. And before we know it, our minds are filled with thoughts that will not slow down and fears that won't let go. We're an anxious generation. I've noticed something in my own life. The loudest battles I fight rarely happen on the outside. That's where they rarely happen. They happen inside of me. It's usually not the circumstance itself either that overwhelms me, it's the story I begin telling myself about the circumstance that's not happened yet. Anybody else do this? Man, I could write an epic movie in my head. It's the fear of what could happen. It's the conversation that you replay over and over in your head, it's like the worst case scenario that I've already convinced myself is coming before anything's ever happened. And yet we find ourselves anxious. I've learned that when I try to carry those things myself, they become bigger than they really are.

That's what happens. Like, when I disconnect from healthy relationships, when I disconnect from healthy perspectives, and honestly, the biggest one, when I disconnect from God himself, everything feels more intimidating. I'm guessing that's you too. I've experienced seasons where leadership pressure seems overwhelming. I've had seasons where family concerns kept me awake at night, seasons where criticism felt heavy, seasons where uncertainty felt like it sat on my chest, like a weight, and looking back, I can see a pattern. Every time I began pulling away and carrying those burdens alone, anxiety gained ground, it gained ground. Every time I felt isolated, my intimidation inside of my soul increased, and this is a truth I want you to hold on to today. You're gonna hear this a few times, but maybe this is one of those things you may wanna just write somewhere, put the notes on your phone or come back to, but it's just simply this, isolation increases intimidation. Isolation will increase the intimidation in your soul. So I think every one of us, if we're to be real honest with ourselves, whether online, one of our campuses,

or in this room right here, we understand exactly what this feels like. You have one difficult conversation at work, and suddenly, you're like, my career's over. You ever get the email from the boss, it's like, hey, can we meet for five minutes? You're like, it's over. He just wants to know what you want for lunch. But you spin up in your head, or maybe you have one disagreement in your marriage, and suddenly, you're like, no, it's over. Like, she just wanted you to put the toilet seat down, bro. I don't think it's over. She fell in at 2 a.m., she just wants to get back up. Like, that's all she wants. You have one doctor's appointment. You have a cold, they take tests, and all of a sudden, you WebMD your symptoms? Stop WebMDing yourself. You're not a doctor. You're like, but I have all those symptoms, I'm dying. We are all dying, can I just let you know that? When you came out of the womb, guess what you started doing? Dying. You're like, I'm dying. I'm dying. I'm dying. I'm dying. I'm dying.

Dying. You're like, that's not very hopeful. It's just true. It may be today, it may be 30 years from now. We are all dying. Stop going to WebMD and anxietying yourself to death. Like, literally, we spin ourselves up. You scroll through social media, and you're like, everybody's life looks so much better than mine. No, they're just a better liar than you. They're posting their highlight reel. If they post, can you imagine if we all just posted reality? Could you imagine? Like, post your first mirror look in the morning. Don't put your makeup on, ladies. Fellas, don't put your makeup on. Like, legitimately, we look at people and we're like, they're better than us, so we spin up a narrative. Like, you watch the news and you become convinced the world is spiraling out of control. It is. It has been since Genesis 3. It's not new to your news station. By the way, you know how much better your life is when you don't turn that on continually? Like, I tell people all the time, when you shut down your news station that you leave on for 24-7 in your house, if you turn it off, you know it's amazing

how your anxiety goes down? See, then what happens after all this? You get alone with your thoughts. You stop talking about what you're carrying. You stop letting people into your struggles. You stop opening the word of God. You stop praying honestly. You stop carrying everything externally and start doing it internally. And the longer you carry it alone, the bigger it becomes. See, fear grows in isolation. Worry grows in isolation. Anxiety grows in isolation. It's like spiritual mold. You know what mold does? You know where mold grows the best? In the dark. Mold grows the best when there's nothing else around. That's why it's so deadly, is because it grows in isolation and you don't know it's killing you until somebody puts some light on it and finds it. And some of you, that's what the anxiety in your soul's doing, is it's growing in the dark. And maybe that's exactly where you find yourself today. You're not physically exhausted as much as you're emotionally exhausted. Let me ask you, how many of you are emotionally exhausted? Anybody? I'm there.

You're like, didn't you just take a break? No. I married my daughter off. That wasn't a break. Like legitimately, we're emotionally exhausted. You're carrying burdens nobody knows about. Like fear nobody sees, questions nobody understands. The noise in your mind just keeps going and you don't. I don't know how to turn it off. If that's you, can I just tell you something? You're not alone. You're not alone. First of all, I can tell you you're not alone because I deal with the same thing. I deal with it each and every day of my life. Like there's these moments where it's like, can I turn it off? Can I get with the right people? And here's another reason why I know we're not alone. One of the greatest prophets in all of scripture found himself in the exact same place. Now, if you got Bibles, there's two places I want you to go. I want you to go to 1 Kings 19. Just go to 1 Kings 19. And I'm gonna ask you this week, go back and read 1 Kings 19. Because if you've ever struggled with anxiety at all, anxious thoughts, emotional exhaustion, fear, burnout, discouragement, depression,

any of these ringing a bell for any of you? Maybe simply wanting the noise to stop. Then you're gonna see yourself in this prophet. His name's Elijah. You're like, wait a minute, Elijah dealt with all that? Wouldn't he like super prophet? Well, before we read chapter 19, we have to understand chapter 18. Let me remind you, if you only read one scripture in the Bible and then stitch it on a pillow in your living room, you're probably out of context. It might not mean what you think. I always tell people, read the chapter before, the chapter after, and the chapter that things are in so you get a full context. And in order to understand chapter 19, we gotta understand chapter 18. Chapter 18 is the mountaintop, literally. Let me frame it for you. Elijah stands on Mount Carmel. There's 450 prophets of Baal, there's 400 prophets of Asherah, and they're all against the one true God. So think about this, one man against 850 prophets. Like false prophets of that. One voice for Yahweh God, 850 voices against him. If there's ever a time to have some anxiety, that's it. Like, I don't know if you're like me. If I'm standing there, I'm like, cool, 850 to one. These odds aren't great.

You're like, but don't you have faith? Yes. Do I have some anxiety? Yes. And if it's 850 to one, I'm like, all right God, you're gonna have to do something. Elijah has no fear in this moment. Like, literally, he prays, like God shows up, fire falls from heaven. By the way, fire falls, you're like, I hope that's God. Now I know we live in Arizona, that's called the sun here in the summertime. But like actual fire falling from heaven, like the ground shakes, like all of these incredible things happen, and the people fall on their faces. Revival breaks out, the false prophets, they're defeated. Like God's power is on display. It's one of the greatest spiritual victories in all the Bible. It's fantastic. Like if you and I were writing this story today, chapter 19, after this, would begin with Elijah getting a book deal. He'd launch a conference tour. He would have posted clips from Mount Carmel on Instagram. He'd have been like, look at the prophets now. Hashtag, if you know, you know. Hashtag fire from heaven. Hashtag told you.

Like, I mean, that's what we would do today, right? He's just experienced one of the greatest moments of his life. He's literally on the mountaintop and spiritually on the mountaintop. And yet chapter 19 begins with one message, one threat, one voice, Jezebel. Oh, some of you grown, you know her. I guess she lives down the street from us. Don't say she lives in your house, that's gonna get you in trouble, all right? Like we know Jezebel, we hear that Jezebel sends word to Elijah that by this time tomorrow, Elijah's gonna be dead. That's what she says. And Elijah doesn't go, well, did you see what just happened on the mountain? He runs. He freaks out. Like, let me stop there, because I think this is important. How does a man who fiercely stood before 850 false prophets and win become terrified by one message? Well, here's how. Because emotional exhaustion changes how we see reality. Emotional exhaustion changes how we see reality. Like, you know this is true, so do I. You can handle things today that absolutely overwhelm you when you're exhausted. It changes things.

See, when you're healthy, when you're rested, when you're connected and you're spiritually full, you can kind of take a punch from life, can't you? You can take a few. When you're depleted, one email can ruin your day. You ever notice that? Like, one conversation can wreck your entire week. One doctor's report can consume your thoughts. One financial setback convinces you everything's falling apart. The issue for Elijah was not simply Jezebel. She wasn't actually the issue. The issue was Elijah was exhausted. He was tired. One commentary called it the crash after the adrenaline. You ever had that moment? We had it just a few weeks ago. Like again, I told you, we threw the most epic party we've ever thrown in our lives. It was fun. And we went hard for like a year planning this. Like my wife and my daughters, playing this epic wedding, this epic party. And we had fun. Like my daughter Natalie and I, the DJ looked at the two of us and was like, do you guys ever stop dancing? I'm like, not for what I paid for it. Not a chance, bro. I don't care if it's just me and her.

We're gonna dance till our feet fall off. The next morning they did. I woke up the next morning. I looked like I'd been punched in the face. I went from looking like I was young and virile to 85. At one point I was walking around our hotel looking for the elevator, realizing I'd already taken it. And it was like the beautiful letdown the next day, right? Like some of you have had these moments, like the event is over, the project's done, the conference is over. Like in church world, like the day after Easter, I tell our staff, don't make any major decisions that day. You'll quit. Like the adrenaline leaves, the exhaustion remains, and suddenly anxious thoughts move in, don't they? They creep into your soul. Notice what Elijah does next. Scripture says he fled into the wilderness. He fled. And then it says he left his servant behind. I don't want you to miss that. It's like one little small part of the story, but it's big because he leaves the person traveling with him. He isolates himself. He leaves his support, his encouragement, and goes off on his own. And I want you to remember what we've said already. Isolation increases intimidation. He thinks he's all alone.

And here's what's interesting. The threat has not changed in Elijah's life, but you know what else hasn't changed? God hasn't changed. The mission hasn't changed. The only thing that changed, Elijah got isolated. That's what changed. And then Scripture says in verse four, he sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. That's intense. See, that verse bothers us because we're like, but this is Elijah. He's not some rando. Like he's Elijah the prophet. Like he's experienced God. Like the fire from heaven Elijah, miracle working Elijah, mountaintop Elijah. Yet here he is saying, I've had enough. I've had enough. Some of you know exactly what this feels like. Maybe you've never said, I want to die, but maybe you've said, I can't do this anymore. You ever said those words? Or maybe, I don't have anything left. I'm exhausted. I'm overwhelmed. I don't know how much longer I can carry this. Here's what I need you to know. Elijah's not weak.

He's depleted. There's a big difference. And some of you need to hear that today. You're not weak because you're struggling. You're not weak because you're tired. You're not weak because anxiety showed up. You're human. Let me just remind you, you're human. You're not weak, you're depleted. Here's what I need you to know. God understands that. In fact, look at God's response. This is one of my favorite parts of the story. God doesn't show up to Elijah with a lecture. He doesn't come and go, sit down, boy. Let me tell you a few things. Let me tell you why you're being stupid. He doesn't do that. God doesn't say, Elijah, where's your faith? You know what, go get your faith figured out and then I'll help you. God doesn't say, try harder. Isn't that fun when you have anxiety and someone's like, well, stop it. Oh, okay. Why didn't I think of that? Oh, really, just stop it? Stop being anxious? Got it, done, wow. Great advice.

Don't say that to someone with anxiety. But God does send an angel. And I love this. Elijah's asleep under the tree. The angel shows up, he wakes him up and he says one word to Elijah, eat. You know what I wish an angel would do for me? Come to me and say, hey, Trev, eat. Usually when angels come to me, they're like, bro, stop eating. That's why you're anxious. But he says to Elijah, hey, eat, that's it, eat. So you know what Elijah did? He ate. And then you know what he did? He went back to sleep. And then the angel comes back and wakes him up again. Again, he goes, hey, eat again. Again, I wish an angel would do this for me. But I love this, before God addresses Elijah spiritually, he cares for him physically. He says, you need to eat, you need to drink, you need to sleep, you need to rest. It reminds me of those Snickers commercials, You're Not You. You know, where like somebody's turned into Betty White or Danny DeVito. Like Elijah's literally sitting there like Danny DeVito, whining. An angel shows up and like, have a Snickers, bro.

You're not you. You're not you when you're hungry. You're not you when you're tired. Like God understands that sometimes spiritual battles are intensified by physical exhaustion. Some of your anxiety is because you're physically exhausted. Like some of you are trying to cast out what simply needs you to sleep through. Some of us are trying to rebuke what we need rest from. Like, you know what the most spiritual thing you can do sometimes is to do? Is take a nap. If you need to make it more spiritual, name your bed the Bible and tell people, I'm gonna go get in the Bible for like an hour. I did that in college a lot with my professors. They thought I was so spiritual. I was just tired. Elijah rests. And then God leads him from Mount Carmel to Mount Horeb. So he's gonna go to another mountain. And it's significant because Mount Horeb is where Moses encountered God. Remember Moses? The 10 commandments guy? Like that's where he encountered God was on Mount Horeb. So Mount Horeb is where God gave him the law. Mount Horeb is where God's president has showed up before. So he's taking Elijah there. So Elijah goes there hoping God will show up again.

But when he gets there, where does he end up going? He doesn't go to the top. You know what Elijah does? He goes to a cave. Of course he does. That makes sense. See, anxiety loves caves. Anxiety loves dark and lonely. Hidden places. Places where nobody can see you. Places where you can replay every fear over and over again. Places where the noise gets louder. Like when my anxiety grows, it's usually when I go to a cave of life. But then I love this. God asked Elijah one question, verse nine. What are you doing here, Elijah? I love that question. Like some of you today, he's speaking into the cave that you're sitting in a life going, hey, what are you doing here? Not because God doesn't know why Elijah's there or why you're there. God's trying to help Elijah process what he already knows. And then Elijah unloads everything. You ever have that moment where you finally, you're like, time to verbally vomit on everybody? Elijah says, I'm the only one left, God. Everyone's against me. They're trying to kill me.

Notice what anxiety sounds like. It always sounds isolated. I'm the only, there's nobody else. I'm alone. No one understands. It's all on me. That's exactly what anxiety sounds like. At least in my soul, it does. It convinces us we're carrying everything by ourselves. But then God does something remarkable. He says, you wait right here and I'm gonna let my presence pass by you. You'll know when my presence comes. And so there's this powerful wind that shows up. Now, when wind almost blows you off a mountain, you're like, that's gotta be God. But scripture says God was not in the wind. Like Elijah's waiting for God to show up. And so the wind comes by, God's not in. Then there's an earthquake. Now, I pray to God when the earth shakes that that's gotta be God. Because if it opens up and sucks me into some other dimension, that's like supernatural TV kind of stuff, right? It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But it says God wasn't in the earthquake. And then it says that there was fire that comes from heaven. Okay, surely there that's God. Because if it starts raining fire, I want that to be God.

But it says God's not in the fire. You know what's interesting about all those things? That's what happened on Mount Carmel. He's already seen God do all of these things. This is how he defeated the prophets of Baal. But God's not in any of those things, but this is how he defeated the prophets of Baal. He's not in any of those things. But then it says God comes in a gentle whisper. That God was in the whisper. I love that. Here's why I love that. Because the world screams. Fear screams, anxiety screams, social media screams, cable news screams, politics screams. But you know what God does? He whispers. You know why God whispers? Is because whisper requires proximity. It requires proximity. You don't hear a whisper from a distance. You hear whispers when you're close. Like if I'm out in our courtyard after our services on each week, if I were to stand at one end and you at the other, and I'm like, hey. First of all, that sounds really creepy, all right? What you doing over there? Like, I don't have a microphone, you're not gonna hear that. I have to be like, hey, what you doing over there?

But if I walk up behind you, I'm like, hey, that's creepy too. But you're gonna hear it. Like, whispers require proximity. Like, my wife and I, when we go to like, large events with people. Like, and used to, this is how we were made up. Like, I was kind of the social guy. I'm like, I'm gonna bounce around the room. And she was like, hey, 30 minutes, we're in and out, right? Somewhere in life, we flip-flopped. Now I'm like, hey, I'm gonna take a lap, and we're gonna get out. She's like, no, we're not. I'm like, yes, we are. She's like, no, we're not. Like, 30 minutes in, I'll see her from across the room, I give the look. She's like, you oughta rub that neck out. That looks like you got a little crick in your neck or something. I don't wanna yell across the room, hey, I'm ready to go. But if I walk over, and I'm like, hey, let's go. And she'll go, no. I'm like, who are you? Let's go. No. Like, proximity. Like, when I get close, she's the only one that can hear that.

See, whisper requires that proximity. See, God wasn't absent. He was inviting Elijah closer. In your anxiety, he's welcoming you closer. There are 7,000 others is what he tells Elijah. He's like, hey, Elijah, you're not alone. There's 7,000 other people that are here with you that have remained faithful. Like, think about that. Elijah's anxiety said, I'm alone. God said, no, you're not. You're surrounded, buddy. There's people everywhere just like you. Like, let me ask you, be real honest. How many of you have dealt with anxiety? Just show of hands. Great, hold them high, be proud. Now, look around. Look at the army with you. Because in your anxiety, you're like, I'm the only one. And everybody around you, like, me too, I'm the only one. We're the only ones. And there's thousands of others in our church just like you. Like, you're not alone. Like, Elijah's anxiety says, I'm alone. God says, you're surrounded. Elijah said, it's over, I'm done. God said, I'm still working, Elijah. Can I just tell you, he's not done with you. He said, I'm finished.

God said, I'm not finished with you. See, that changes everything. And you only hear God speak that if you get in proximity to hear that whisper, because the solution was not removing the threat. God didn't remove the threat. The solution was restoring perspective for him. See, anxiety narrows your perspective to where you can't see what God is doing. God wants to expand that for you. Anxiety magnifies the problem. God magnifies his presence. Like, anxiety says, you're alone. God says, you're loved, and I'm right here. Like, if you hear the creepy whisper, it might be God going, no, I never left you. I'm right here. See, anxiety says, it's over. God says, I'm still writing the story. I know some of you showed up in these spaces today, and you're like, I don't know, man, it feels like it's over. And God's like, this is precursor to the story I'm about to write. That's why I love Psalm 46.10. It says, be still and know that I am what? What's he say? God. Notice the order. Stillness comes before knowing.

You're like, yeah, but Trev, we live in a chaotic world. How am I supposed to get still when there's chaos all around me? Do you remember these places called malls back in the 80s? Anybody? I'm not talking about malls today. They're not the same. We don't have power walkers with fanny packs. Any power walkers? You don't want to admit it. I know, it's fine. Orange Julius, Sam Goody, KB Toys. The generic Toys R Us. That's a man that bought a lot of KB Toys right there. You know what I'm saying? And here's what I know. I can go to a chaotic mall. You know my favorite place to go when I was a teenager was go sit and watch people in the chaos. See, Walmart does that for you now. Walmart does that for you. Walmart does that for you. See, Walmart does that for you now at 2 a.m., but you could do that at four in the afternoon at the mall. And it wasn't nearly as creepy. But you could just sit and watch the chaos around you, yet sit in the stillness. God's like, be still in the chaos of this world. You can still sit in the stillness with God.

And sometimes I think we're asking God to speak while we refuse to slow down enough to actually hear him. Sometimes we want God's peace without God's presence. Sometimes we want God's answers without creating space for his voice. See, the answer to anxiety is not found in trying harder. It's found in getting close enough to hear the whisper of God again. See, in a crowd of chaos, I can get close enough and whisper that somebody still hears me. See that's being still and that's exactly what Jesus offers if you look at Matthew 11 28 and 30 he says come to me all of you who are what what's the word weary anybody weary I didn't want to get out of bed today then I was like oh you got to go do this thing you probably ought to get up and then it says all who are weary and carry heavy what what's the other word for anybody have any burdens you're carrying like so heavy that you're like yep got nothing and Jesus says come to me all who are weary all who carry heavy burdens and I'm gonna give you more nope he said I'm gonna give you rest Jesus doesn't say figure it out you know what Jesus says come to me he doesn't say fix yourself he says come to me see peace is not found in control peace is found in proximity you can't control the narrative and find peace it's in proximity to Jesus so what does this mean for you I think for many of us that the first thing it means is that we have to stop feeding the noise like the endless scrolling is not helping you like how many of you ever gone down a death scroll at 11 o'clock at night and so thankful at 1 a.m. you were on tick tock watching cat videos by the way I think cats are gonna be the devil anyhow so be careful with that all right those emails are gonna be awesome this week from cat people my cats different no it's not it's just like everybody else's cat evil that's what it is it's evil come at me cat people it's fine I'll take it I rebuke you in the name of Jesus all right that's what we

do I can't say anything we're gonna have another rabbit soon so there's that I don't even know what that is like the constant news cycle in your life is not helping you the endless stream of opinions is not helping you know it's interesting some of us spend more time listening to commentators influencers politicians and social media personalities and we do listening to God and we wonder why we struggle could you imagine if you listen to God as much as you listen everything else no wonder why anxiety feels louder the noise is winning because we keep turning up the volume so this week I want to challenge you to do something simple but powerful like it's gonna it's gonna take some effort on your part I want you to turn everything off in your life for 10 minutes a day now some of you guys like 10 minutes big deal some of you already have nervous tics I can see you're like no I can't I can't like 10 minutes no phone no television no podcast no music no social media just you the Word of God and silence you're like so then what I don't know read like Psalm 46 read Matthew 11 here's three things you can do sit quietly pray honestly live intentionally listen to God intentionally sit quietly pray honestly listen intentionally let God's whisper become louder than the world's noise because isolation increases intimidation but connection decreases intimidation so when you connect to God fear begins to lose its grip when you connect to God's people like that the reason we gather is not for the sake of gathering when we connect with God's people like you're not in isolation anymore when you connect with truth lies begin to fall apart some of you've been trying to fight anxiety by by yourself God never intended for you to carry this alone so this week I want you to sit quietly pray honestly and listen intentionally like church I believe our world is starving for peace and I'm not talking about like beauty queens world peace I'm talking about like real peace in your soul like people are exhausted and I talked to a lot of you the prevailing thing I hear from people almost every day how you doing I'm just worn out we're overwhelmed we're fearful we're anxious people are carrying burdens they were never meant to carry alone and the answer is not another

distraction the answer is not another headline the answer is not another self help the answer is Jesus I know some of you're like aren't you supposed to say that I don't think I'm supposed to say it I think that's the answer like the longer I live in this world like the more Jesus is the answer to it and as we begin this series I want us to remember that truth isolation will increase your intimidation the enemy wants you isolated because intimidation grows there God wants you connected to him and to his body because that's where peace grows like this week let's become people who intentionally create space for God's voice it's hard to hear God's voice when everything else is turned up Like, what if we became people who chose stillness over noise? Like, when's the last time you just sat? Like literally just sat and didn't hear anything? The last time you sat and you're like, God, just speak to me. Like, what if we become people who stop carrying burdens alone? Some of you walked in here and you're carrying some heavy stuff you've not told anybody. I just tell you, it's going to kill you. Spiritual mold for your soul. Like, let's become people who deeply connect to God and intentionally to one another. At the end of the series, actually, you can sign up right now. We have My Anxious Thoughts groups. And there's actually curriculum, there's actually videos, and there's teaching. You can sign up. Get in community. You're like, I've been through rooted, but I really could use, like, get in a group of some people, these anxious thoughts that are getting there. Because healing helps best in community. Anxiety grows in isolation. Peace grows in connection. And I think as we do this, we'll discover that God's voice is still louder than our fears. Still louder than your fears.

His presence is still stronger than my anxiety and your anxiety. His peace is still available in the middle of the chaos. So this week, 10 minutes. Ten minutes a day. Turn off all the distractions. Open God's word. Sit in silence. Listen for the whisper. Now, here's the deal. The noise may not stop immediately. Because if your brain's like mine, it takes me weeks of unwiring the noise. But what if this week we just did it? But when you hear the voice of God, you realize something greater. Intimidation may increase intimidation, but God's presence actually changes everything. It actually changes everything. So today is baptism weekend at Piantino. And you're like, isn't every weekend baptism weekend? Kind of, right? But we have these, once a month, we have these, like, designated weekends where we celebrate with people. And there's a bunch of people that have signed up and a bunch of people that have already been baptized in other services. But some of you have done that. But here's what I realized this week. Baptism actually signifies the death of anxiety in our souls. And I can think of no greater act to help you begin to overcome anxiety than being baptized. And here's my thought this week as I was processing through that. I don't know if as a kid, like, you like to swim. I love to swim. Like, I would have lived in a swimming pool if somebody would let me.

And I remember going under the water. And, you know, all the kids could be screaming in the pool, but you go underwater and it gets a little muffled. Remember that? And you kind of wanted to stay under there because you're like, oh, my gosh, whose four-year-old is committing a homicide right now? What is happening? If that's your kid, oh, my gosh, help them, okay? But underneath the water, it was all muffled. It was kind of silent. See, baptism, there's this moment where you go under the water. And we throw Pantano parties. Like, it's going to be loud out here. We're going to have fun. We're going to hoot and holler. We're going to scream and yell. We're going to cheer for you when you come out of the water. That's the reminder. The chaos that you're leaving behind, you're coming into an army now that wants to surround you. But for a brief moment during your baptism, there's this moment where it's kind of quiet. You can hear the chaos above, but God's wiping off that old. And so today, some of you need to experience just that split second of God washing off the anxiety and putting on his peace. And so if that's you today, maybe you walked in, you're like, I wasn't planning on this. I know you weren't. We were. We've been praying for you, that your anxious heart would find the peace of Jesus. So anytime during the rest of our time together, there's a sign over here that lights up and it says baptism.

And there's people over there and they're waiting for you. And we got a whole team backstage that wants to love on you, care for you. We've got shirts, we've got shorts, we've got all the things that you need. We had a kid in one of our last services, he got in in his pants, he was like, I don't want your shorts. We're like, all right, I guess get in your pants. So he did. I mean, if that's your jam, I guess that's your jam, right? We've got towels. We'll let you dry those bad boys off, okay? Whatever it is, I can think of no greater act to start washing off anxiety than the act of giving your life to Jesus. So if you don't mind, I'd love for you to just stand with me where you are and don't go anywhere. We're going to commune together, we're going to celebrate together, and then we're going to party with these people together, okay? Don't miss out on their party because we're anxious that we might not get out of the parking lot. That's a different kind of anxiety, I know. Let the next service be anxious they can't get in the parking lot. All right, let that happen. And I'll talk to him about it next hour. Okay, we'll take care of that. Let me pray for you. Father, today, God, we are so grateful that you're a God that in the midst of our chaos and anxiety, you call yourself the Prince of Peace. Like you say, to come to you if we're anxious, if we're carrying heavy burdens, God, if we're struggling through life,

if things are too heavy, you say, come to me. I'll give you rest. God, I pray today that you would bring rest to the souls of my friends and family here. God, whether this is their first time walking in these doors or this is the thousandth time they've walked in, God, whatever burden they're carrying today, may they give it to you. God, for those that have never given their life to you, never been baptized, never washed off old things and put on the new, God, may they wash off anxiety today. May they wash off fear today. May today be the day that they don't hold on, but they let go. That for a brief second, they'll have the stillness of you in the waters of baptism. So God, change us today from the inside out. Help our internal thoughts change to look like your thoughts. God, we love you. We give you all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. And it's in the powerful name of Jesus, we pray all these things, all God's people said. Amen. Love you, church. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. ♪ Right now ♪ ♪ In every high and every low ♪ ♪ You never left me without hope ♪ ♪ You were good and you're good right now ♪ ♪ I've witnessed your faithfulness ♪ ♪ And you'll breathe life in it, so I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ Your promise is never fair ♪ ♪ I've got stories I live to tell, so I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ You left the throne and chose the cross ♪ ♪ Laid down your life to rescue us ♪ ♪ The Savior then, the Savior now ♪ ♪ But even death was not the end, you conquered hell ♪ ♪ You conquered hell so I could live ♪ ♪ Resurrecting then, resurrecting now ♪ ♪ Resurrecting then, resurrecting now ♪ ♪ I've witnessed your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I've seen you breathe life within, so I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ Your promise is never fair ♪ ♪ I've got stories I live to tell, so I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ So worthy ♪

♪ Oh ♪ ♪ You're good and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're strong and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're constant, I've witnessed it, and I'm confident ♪ ♪ I'll see it again and again, you love and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You heal and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You save and I've witnessed it, and I'm confident ♪ ♪ I'll see it again and again, you're good and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ And I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're strong and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're constant, I've been listening ♪ ♪ And I'm confident, I'll see it again and again ♪ ♪ You love and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You hear and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You save and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ And I'm confident, I'll see it again and again ♪ ♪ I've witnessed your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I've seen you bring life within ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all our praise ♪ ♪ Your promises never fail ♪ ♪ I've got stories of death to tell ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all our praise ♪ ♪ To the broken, I'll witness it ♪ ♪ To the hurting, I'll witness it ♪ ♪ To the lost, I'll witness it ♪ ♪ And I'm telling this, I'll tell them for I've witnessed ♪ ♪ To my family, I'll witness it ♪ ♪ To my city, I'll witness it ♪

♪ To the nations, I'll witness it ♪ ♪ And I'm telling this, I'll tell them for I've witnessed ♪ ♪ To my family, I'll witness it ♪ What a good God we serve, Amen, church? What a good God we serve. Thank you, God, for everything that you've given us. As a team, we meet before every service, in between every service to pray over the words that are gonna be spoken, over the fact that we're even up here worshiping in the first place. And we take a self-reflection moment of where we're at and something that I've walked through with the team over the past several months is that I was diagnosed with cancer twice. And I found myself in this place of feeling so isolated and alone, exactly what Trevor was talking about, the anxiety that fills you, the pain that I was feeling, the confusion, the fear. And I'm so blessed that God healed me from that twice in the past nine months. And we were talking about this song and the importance of talking about what you've witnessed in your life, even if it feels so small, compared to other people's testimonies, compared to other stories that you hear of this miraculous life transformation. God has set a path for us

and is showing up in the valleys on the mountaintops. He cares about us and He loves us. And the ultimate sacrifice of that was sending His Son to die for us. And I feel so blessed for that because without Him, without His grace, His peace and His presence, I don't know how I would have made it through the past nine months. But also what a blessing it is that we get to come here and worship freely together. So thank you, God, so much for your love, for your peace. Thank you for walking alongside us no matter the season of life that we're in. What a blessing it is to witness that, God. Thank you for your presence. I pray over this time of communion, God, that we're able to just meet you and lay all of our burdens, everything at your feet, God, that we're able to just take this time as a self-reflection and a meeting with you, that we go into the baptisms and are able to celebrate the new life that is to come because what a joy it is to share that with our brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray all these things in your name, amen. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

Well, amen. Well, it's time to witness something right now. So why don't you stand with us and let's celebrate with those that are being baptized. Amen. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ What's up now? You got the joy? Let's go! This is the day you make, so I'll rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad in it. This is where I believe that you are more than enough, more than enough for me. You are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in Your presence, You are looking down upon me. Rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it.

Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoice and be glad in it. ♪ The Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ My strength ♪ Amen. When you feel you can't go another step, the joy of the Lord is your strength. And that joy, it's not just a feeling like when you're happy. That is a feeling, not just a feeling. It's a truth that should be deep in your heart. You have the joy of the Lord because of what Christ has done in you and for you. So when you feel you can't take another step, you look towards the heavens and know that your joy and your strength is in Christ. Amen. Thank you so much for coming to church. We've had church today. At least we did, I don't know about you. The Lord was here and he is for you and he is with you. So you go in that truth this week. We love you so much. Thank you for being here. If it's your first time, welcome to the crazy. Come back. There's more that God wants to do in you and for you and through you.

So please go to Next Steps across the courtyard. Get with our team there, they'll get you plugged in. And if you need prayer for any reason, our prayer team is also across the courtyard. They'll pray with you and for you. But God bless you. We love you. We'll see you again next time.