Troubled Hearts | Dan Watson

This is how truth today works in the same way in people's minds. If I like it, I'll keep it. If I don't like it, let's skip it. If it costs me or challenges me or discomforts me, then let's delete it and pretend it doesn't even exist. Truth has become like a playlist in our lives and our society. If this person says it, I believe it. But if this person says it, I don't believe it. Truth has become relative. But a troubled heart cannot be anchored by selective truth. Hey, listen, if we haven't had the opportunity to meet, my name is Pastor Dan. I get the opportunity to pastor a church over in Atlanta on the south side of the airport there. And married to my wife for 18 years. We've got four amazing children, originally from Alabama. That was a joke. Yeah, that was a joke. You can laugh. We're from London. We've been here four years now. And just absolutely love this nation, love this country. Thank you for having us here in America. All right, I want to preach today from the book of John. John chapter 14. If you've got your copy of Scripture, go ahead, take a look. If you haven't, then don't worry. It's going to come up on the screen. But it says this in John chapter 14. Do not let your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me. This is Jesus speaking. My father's house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and repair a place for you, I will come back and take you with me that you may also be where I am. You know the way to the place where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going. So how can we know the way? And Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. And so Philip said, Lord, show us the father and that will be enough for us. Jesus answered, don't you know me, Philip? Even after I've been among you for such a long time, anyone who has seen me has seen the father. How can you say, show us the father? I want to preach a message this morning called Don't Let Your Hearts Be Troubled. Don't let your hearts be troubled. Have you ever had those moments in life where you've asked someone or you have been asked the question, how you doing? How are you? How's life? And our standard response,

irregardless of how life really is, our standard response is, I'm good. Or if you're a Christian, you've been coming to church for a long time, you'll say, I'm blessed and highly favored. But you know that you're not good. You may be functioning, but you're not fine on the inside. You may be showing up to things and to church and to work and to school, but somehow things really feel unsettled that you can function and turn up. You can get the kids ready for school. You can make everything happen. You can put a smile on your face, but still be deeply troubled. And what's interesting, when Jesus is speaking in John chapter 14, no one has articulated out loud that they're feeling troubled. But I love that we serve a God who knows everything about us. Before we can articulate ourselves, he knows what's going on in our minds and in our hearts. So I wanna let you know today that he knows you, he sees you. I may not know your name. I may not know your story, but there is one who does. You're not just a person in a seat. You are known by him and God sees you today

and wants to speak to you today. So John 14 starts with not Jesus talking about a miracle or a lesson. It starts with Jesus saying exactly what they could not say themselves with a sentence that feels so real today. Hey, don't let your heart be troubled. And in the society that we live in, friends, it's really easy for our hearts to be troubled. And the things that we go for and the things that we have to face in life is really easy for our hearts to be troubled. But I love when Jesus says this, what it tells me as I read the text is that Jesus is not talking to a put together group of people. He's not talking to a settled group of people. He's actually speaking to a people whose inner world right now is starting to fall apart. The disciples are anxious that their future to them seems uncertain, that their expectations are beginning to unravel. And before he teaches theology, before he talks. talks about the heavens and the earth, before he answers any of their questions, he shepherds hearts. Friends, we don't just serve a great teacher, we serve and walk with a great shepherd who wants to be with you and know you.

Because this is the deal, Jesus knows something that the disciples may have forgotten, often we forget, the troubled hearts often go searching, often go searching for peace, often go searching for clarity, often go searching for confidence, something solid, something true, they go searching for life. And Augustine named it this way centuries ago, he said this, he says, you have made us for yourself, oh Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. You see the truth is this friends, restless hearts become troubled hearts and troubled hearts become searching hearts and Jesus in John chapter 14 is speaking to that very condition. He doesn't present advice though, guess what he does? He presents himself. Let's take a look at the text and in order to understand the text, we've got to understand the context of the text and what's going on. Jesus just before has washed the disciples feet, it's one of the most humble things that you could do, he's the great rabbi and yet he's washing their feet. These guys, the disciples have walked with Jesus for three years,

they don't know he's about to go to the cross but Jesus tells one of his disciples, Judas, hey, you're about to betray me and Judas walks off out of the room about to betray Jesus and send Jesus to the cross of which we talked about last week. Pia, one of his great disciples, Jesus says to him, he says, you're gonna deny me, you're gonna turn your back on me at one point, and Pia's like, no way, Jesus, I would never do that and so he's sitting there and he's got this troubled heart and Jesus then goes and tells him, I'm going away and I'm gonna go and prepare a place for you and guess what, disciples? You're gonna know the way. Have you ever been in a moment or a situation in life and I know I've been in many where maybe you've been in class and the lecturer or the professor is talking and it's just going over your head, maybe you've been at home and your husband or your wife is talking and it's just going over your head, maybe you've been at work and your boss is talking and it's going over your head and instead of admitting that it's going over your head, what do we do? We just stand there and we nod as if we understand, but the truth is, we don't understand and you're in that class or you're somewhere and you're wishing and you're praying

that someone speaks up and at the end of the lecture, the professor goes, does everybody understand what I've talked about today? And still in our pride, we go, looking around, hoping someone would raise their hand. This is exactly what happens in John chapter 14. Jesus says, I'm going away and I'm gonna prepare a place for you and guess what, disciples? You know the way and all the disciples are standing there going. And then finally, Thomas puts his hand up, the brave one, and says, Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way? The rest of the disciples are like, thank you, Thomas, we'll pray to you later. Man, and Thomas is questioning the Lord, he's not rebelling, that's honesty, that's the humanity inside of him, that's the, I don't fully get it, Lord, so let me ask you, let me present the question to you, how do I move forward in life, God, when I don't know where I'm going? I don't know about you, but I've had those moments in my life. God, how do I move from A to B if I do not know where B is? How do I move forward from this position, from this place, from this situation and circumstance if I do not know the way?

And Jesus responds with one of the most definitive sentences ever spoken, he says this, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one gets to the Father except through me, and then he goes even deeper in verse seven, he says, if you really know me, you will know my Father as well, but from now on, you do know him and have seen him. Friends, this is not information Jesus is giving, this is revelation and revelation to their troubled hearts. And here's the deal, I wanna give us three. things today from Jesus that troubled hearts should know. And if you're taking notes, the scripture tells us that 99.9% of people who take notes in church get to heaven sooner. That's also a joke, that's not really in the Bible. Don't write that down, don't quote me, that's not doctrine, that's not theology. Number one is this, Jesus says, he is the way. He is the way, and number one is this, Jesus is the way. Why, because troubled hearts, Jesus knows, searches for direction. We search for direction, and we're always trying to find a way, and he's not talking about a way like the way that we would use our GPS or our Waze or our Google Maps or anything like that, because I have a bad time with some of that stuff. I was driving yesterday with the family from Florida back to Georgia, seven hour trip, and I had our destination in Waze,

and for some reason, Waze started messing up on me. It kept telling me to take a U-turn, take a U-turn. Every time I took a U-turn, it kept telling me to take another U-turn, and I was going around in circles. I started shouting at the computer, and the kids were like, what are you shouting at, daddy? I'm like, shut up, everyone. I realized, man, I'm having an argument with a computer screen, with a robot who cannot see me, and I cannot see it that doesn't know me, and I do not know it, and it's trying to give me direction that I'm trying to follow, but there is a big difference between Waze giving me direction and Jesus giving me direction, because what Waze does is just sets me up with a map, and what Jesus does is presents himself in a person and says, I will be with you. He says, I am the way. He doesn't say, I'm gonna give you a strategy. He doesn't say, I'm gonna give you a system. He doesn't say, I'm gonna give you philosophy. What's he doing? He's saying, no, I'm gonna give you myself. I am the way. I am with you. You know, from the beginning of Scripture, the way has never really been informational. It has always been relational. Every other belief system, friends, talks about there are steps to get

to the place you need to go. There are rituals. Here is the ladder to climb, and if you climb it and behave, you will get there, but Christianity, it doesn't begin with rules. It begins with relationship. Look at this. From the beginning of time, that was the plan. Adam and Eve in the garden, what did the Lord do? He walked with them in the garden. It was all about communion. It was all about relationship. It's not a distant God shouting rules and regulations. It's about relationship. What did God do when humanity messed up? He was still present with them. He led Israel out by cloud in the day and fire at night. He said, I'm with you. When David describes the Lord, he says, the Lord is my shepherd, not my map, not my GPS, not my rules and regulations. No, he's my shepherd. He's with me. He's gonna comfort, direct, and correct me. He's with me. That Jesus, this way, is not a route to master, but a relationship to trust. And friends, when you live trusting the way, as a relationship, it changes everything inside of you. My eight-year-old son, Jude Jensen,

had an operation just a couple of months back. Not a serious operation, but he did have to get put to sleep. And I was away, and my wife went to the hospital with him, and he's there in his waiting room, and he's in the gown. And he's nervous, man, eight-year-old kid, like, knowing he's about to be put to sleep, his first ever operation, he's nervous. And my wife reports back to me, and she says, Dan, Jude, in that room, guess what he said? I said, what? She said, he never asked, like, anything about the doctor. He never asked, what room are we going to? He never asked, how long is it gonna take? He didn't ask, how many left turns have we gotta make, and how many right turns have we gotta make to get to the room that we go into? He asked one question, and one question only. He said, Mommy, will you be with me? Mommy, will you be with me? Why, friends? Because when fear rises up in us, direction becomes secondary to presence. He didn't care the route he needed to take. All he wanted to know is, Mom, will you be with me? Will you be with me? Friends, the disciples aren't asking for geography. What they're asking for is reassurance. God, you're going away. Will you still be with us?

Why? Because direction feels different when presence is certain. Friends, often in the life that we live, life can often feel uncertain. certain. We can often feel like we're walking in the dark. We can often feel like, man, I do not know where I'm going. And the question we're asking God is not for a map, is not for full direction, is not for the writing on the wall. But the question I want to ask God is, God, wherever I'm going, whatever I'm doing, will you be with me? I want to be where you are, Lord. I don't want to be anywhere else that you are not. Why? Because you are the way. Because friends, if we realize our humanity, we've got to realize this, we aren't just lost. Bible says that we were dead. Ephesians 2, verses 1 onwards, says that we were dead in our transgressions. That means our sins against God, that sin and our shame that killed us. But because of his great love, rich in mercy, Christ died for us and made us alive with him. Come on, we just celebrated Easter last week that he is alive. And guess what? Those who place their faith in Jesus are also alive with him. So we weren't just lost, but we were dead. But because of Christ we are now alive. And the thing is this, dead people can't find their way. We need a way maker. And his name is Jesus. And so God didn't just send instructions. God didn't just send a map. God sent himself in the person of Jesus to become the way by laying down his life and being the way maker. Friends, there is no other way to the Father. There is no other option. Jesus is saying to the disciples, before I go, I need you to remember, I am the way. And so when you got troubled hearts, when stuff is going on in your life, don't be searching

everywhere else and in everything else for the way. Look at me, I am the way and I am with you. The second thing is this, Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the truth. He says, I am the way, I am the truth. And the truth is this, the troubled hearts search for certainty. We're looking for the truth. Because there's so much truth out there in the world. And Jesus offers a truth to us that does not shift. There is a firm foundation. And this generation has it different. This generation is cooked. And if you don't know what cooked means, then ask this generation. But here's the deal. When I was growing up, when I was growing up, anybody else remember cassette tapes? Cassette players? Amazing. Either you're not participating or all of you are really young. Cassette players, man, it was a tough time back in the day because I remember getting my cassette tape and getting my cassette player. Kids, listen to this. It's what we had to do. We didn't have Spotify back then. You know what I'm saying? Like, we had to get the cassette tape. We had to put the tape in the cassette player, listen to the radio. And you had to find your station where, you know, your favorite songs were played, listen to the radio. And then when your song was about to start, you would hit play and record at the same time. Timing had to be immaculate. And then you'd hear it, and then you'd let the song play, and you'd vibe with the song for a little bit. And then, like, timing again, like, you had to be on point because then you had to press stop before the DJ started talking all the gibberish talking that the DJ did over the last part of the song. So you always got that. It was really annoying. But you always remembered what the DJ said. So you had to do that. And then the next song, okay, I don't like

this song. I'm gonna wait five minutes. Okay, then I'm gonna record the next song. And then after about five hours of listening to the radio, you had a 15-minute mixtape. And it was amazing. It was amazing. You put it in your Walkman. You'd be bopping down the street. I never walked like this. I don't know why I'm doing this. But you would walk down the street listening to your Walkman, or you'd put it in the car, and I'd get my mom to put it in her car and play as we drove down the street. I'd be listening to the songs 15 minutes. I'd listen to that same 15 minutes about 20 times a day for about four weeks until I could be bothered doing it again. But this generation, we had a seven-hour journey, like I told you back from Florida to Georgia. And my kids play a song for 10 seconds. They're like, I don't like it. Skip it. I don't like it. Change it. So we're changing the song. We don't even listen to the full song. We don't even listen to the intro of the song. We're like, skip it. Even my two-year-old daughter, she's like, I don't like it. I'm like, shut up. This is crazy. This is how truth today works in the same way in people's minds. If I like it, I'll keep it. If I don't like it, let's skip it. If it costs me or challenges me or discomforts me, then let's delete it and pretend it doesn't even exist. Truth has become like a playlist in our lives and in our society. It's become whatever you see on your algorithm by what you're looking at and you're going, okay, cool, that's gonna feed my truth. If this person says it, I believe it. But if this person says it, I don't believe it.

Truth has become relative, but a troubled heart cannot be anchored by selective truth. Jesus, friend, stands in the middle of a confused world and looks everybody blank in the face and says, hey, I don't know what truth you're looking at out there, but look to me because I am the truth. You're gonna hear a lot of stuff in this world. You're gonna see a lot of things in this world. A lot of things are gonna be convincing and gonna wanna try and get you to follow them. But hey, I need you to stay on point. Look to Jesus. I am the truth. You don't have to search anywhere. You don't have to figure it out. You don't have to be troubled. Just look to me. Why? Because I am the way and I am the truth. C.S. Lewis says this, Christianity, friends, if force is of no importance, if true, of infinite importance, the one thing it cannot be is moderately important. So in our lives, we gotta make a decision. Is it true or is it not true? Do I believe or do I not believe? Am I following Jesus or am I not following Jesus? Is he the truth or is he not? And I love that we're living in a world that is ever so slowly catching up

with the truth of who Jesus is. That the world is going, actually, what the scripture says is true. Yeah, that's right. It's catching up. History, narratives, and text, science, all catching up. Friends, Jesus of Nazareth is one of the most historically attested figures in ancient history ever. Roman historians, they reference him. Jewish sources acknowledge him. Early Christians died claiming that he rose from the dead. The New Testament in our Bibles is the most reliable ancient document that possesses over 5,800 manuscripts, Greek manuscripts. Over 10,000 Latin manuscripts, over 20,000 total witnesses. 99.5% of the New Testament is textually accurate. Oh, damn, but what about the 0.5% then? Should we just throw the whole thing out? Well, friends, that 0.5%, it changes nothing. It's spelling slips, it's word order flips, it's a few added phrases clearly marked in your Bible. There are no doctrine shifts in any of it. There are no theology breaks. There is no gospel truth that is touched. No picture of Jesus in any of that is changed. And so if we throw out the New Testament because of that 0.5 difference,

then we must throw out Plato, throw out Caesar, throw out Homer, throw out all ancient history because nothing of ancient history comes anywhere close to the accuracy of the Scripture. Even science doesn't disprove God. Science keeps buying in to the truth of God. Scientists say that the universe had a beginning and therefore a cause, but that cause must be timeless, spaceless, immaterial, intelligent, and powerful. Does that sound like anyone you know? Friends, Jesus is the truth. And this is not your truth or my truth, it is the truth. The truth is truth with evidence. It's truth that has stood the test of history. It's truth that breaks lies. It's truth that breaks chains. It's truth that sets people free. And the Scripture tells us that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free, that you would know Jesus. And what would Jesus do? Set you free, that you don't have to live in the bondage. You don't have to live in chains. You don't have to live with the oppression and the pressure of the world, but you can live free in Jesus' name. The addiction and worry and anxiety and pressure doesn't have to weigh you down, but when you look and live in the truth. The truth, you can live free.

The truth will set you free. The truth is not a theory, friends. The truth is a person and his name is Jesus. A troubled heart though, often wants truth that agrees with how they feel, with what I believe, what I have been told, and how I feel. But Jesus offers a real truth that doesn't just agree with how you feel, but anchors your whole life. But we don't live and walk by feelings. We walk by faith in Jesus being the absolute truth. Truth. So don't try and shape truth by your life and your background and your beliefs. Let us be people who are shaped by the truth, shaped by Jesus. And then Jesus says this, philosophy says I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. Jesus. Is the life. Why does he say that? Because he knows that troubled hearts are always searching for fullness, searching for purpose, searching for meaning. What's my destiny? Where do I go?

Why am I here? What am I made for? I don't know about you, but if you're ever at those moments where, and everything in your life is fully charged, your phone is charged, your iPad is charged, your calendar is full, everything is full, but somehow you still feel this void. You still feel this emptiness. You're functioning, you're not flourishing. You're not thriving. Something's still missing. You're doing all the right things. You don't feel right. You know you're not right. You realize that being active is not the same as being alive. Being busy is not the same as being full with life. That's why Jesus comes and he says, I'm not here to improve your life. I am the life. Life is not something that Jesus gives, friends. Life is who he is. It's his personal. John 1, 1 says this, it says, And that life was the light of all mankind. The word they're talking about is Jesus. And so Jesus is the fullness of life. But the deal was this,

so many of us, we use Jesus as our spiritual supplement. We wake up and, all right, I'll read my verse for the day. It's like taking your vitamin B and your vitamin C and vitamin D and for some of us, magnesium. We wake up and we go, I'll just take my supplements. Great, good for the day. Friends, Jesus is not our spiritual supplement. Jesus is our life. I've said it before, but every breath in your lungs is borrowed from the generosity of Almighty God. He is the life, without him, there is no true life. You can exist, you can survive, but you can't live. You can't live. You can't live. You can't live. You can't live. You can't live. You can't live. You can't live. You can survive, but that's not life. And in this world, you know, and I know that, man, people aren't just looking for answers, they're looking for purpose of life. They're looking for meaning. They're looking for fulfillment. They're looking for fullness. They're looking for joy, for peace.

There's something that is lasting and Jesus is telling us. Life is only found in one place and that is He. Jesus is the life. Man, at the tomb of Lazarus, what does He say? He says, I am the resurrection and the life. It's the same story. It's the same power. And He said it to the disciples there in John 14. And today, He's saying it to you. Yo, I am the life. You're looking for life in all sorts of other things. You're looking for life in success, in power, in wealth. I am the life. The Bible tells us, man, that Jesus didn't only just teach about life, He is life. We celebrated last weekend, Good Friday. Jesus died on that cross, taking all of our sin and all of our shame and paying the price that we could not pay and died a death that we should have died to give us a life that we do not deserve. And He went to the grave. We also celebrated knowing now the three days later, come on, He rose again, conquering sin, death, and the grave, meaning that He is victorious, meaning that He is alive. We don't serve a dead God, we serve an alive God. We serve a real God. We worship and praise a real God,

not God just of history, but God of the now. He is alive. And that tells me, friends, because He lives, we can live. Because He lives, dead things can breathe again. Because He lives, broken things can mend. Friends, because He lives, wounds can be healed. Wounds that have been there for so long can be healed. The fear can lose its grip because He lives. The graves can be opened. Friends, every dead thing and place in your life becomes a perfect candidate for resurrection when life itself steps into it. Every dead thing, when you invite Jesus into that situation, into that circumstance, into that place of your life that you have been in control of for so long, it becomes a perfect candidate for resurrection to take place. For your marriage that you think is about to fall apart, man, when you invite Jesus into the centre of that marriage, man, that marriage can come alive in Jesus' name. For your career that you think is dead and gone, invite Jesus into the middle of your career. For your kids who are wayward, invite Jesus right into the middle there. For that wound that you've been holding onto for so long, that has been open, that has been hurting, that you silently think about day in and day out, invite Jesus into that situation, into that wound, and allow the peace and the healing of Almighty God

to heal them. Life is found not in control, not in success, not in comfort, but life is found in one place and one place only, and His name is Jesus. And Jesus wants to meet every single one of us today. Like He did in John 14, He wants to hear. He wants to remind you, He is the way, He is the truth, and He is the light. No one gets to the Father except through Him. But the beautiful thing is this, He is available to every single one of us. So as He started John 14, verse one, so don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust Him, believe in Him, worship Him, walk with Him, live with Him, abide in Him, and see what He will do. In and through your life, in Jesus' name. Heavenly Father, I thank You for our time today. God, we worship You today, we praise You, we thank You for Your Word. Father, just as You were speaking over 2,000 years ago, that You're speaking today. You're moving in power today. Lord, You love us today, You see us. So God, for every troubled heart, we pray, be still in the name of Jesus. For everyone who is searching, God, lift their eyes to see You. God, let us know.

that you are the way, the truth, and the life. In Jesus, my name. Amen and Amen.