Full Sails – Anchored in the Storm – Trusting God in Financial Uncertainty

When money feels tight and anxiety rises, God invites us to anchor our hearts in His promises—and discover peace that outlasts the storm.

HOME | PLAN YOUR VISIT | BLOG | DIGITAL BULLETIN

Chapters

• 0:23 Opening the Scriptures
• 2:40 The Challenge of Contentment
• 3:05 God in Difficult Times
• 7:13 Hudson Taylor's Faith
• 9:28 Paul's Trials and Triumphs
• 10:31 Acknowledging Real Pain
• 12:48 The Distinction of Faith
• 15:33 The Cost of Anxiety
• 15:56 The Power of Prayer
• 34:14 The School of God
• 36:16 Flexibility in Faith
• 38:54 Personal Trials and Growth
• 41:08 Invitation to Surrender

Transcript

[0:18] I want to invite you, if you have a Bible with you, we're going to read from a couple of passages of Scripture.

[0:23] So, again, if you have the Scripture with you, we're going to read from Philippians 4, and then we're going to move back to the Gospels and read from Matthew 6. So, it's our tradition here to stand when the Gospels are read. So, welcome to Christchurch Aerobics this morning. So, we're going to stand again, even though you sat down. But because we're going to read the Gospels in a moment, just to honor that pattern. And so hear the Word of God from Philippians 4, 11 through 13. And the Word of God reads in this way, Not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I've learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. I'm going to read verse 19. And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now, Matthew 6, 25 through 34.

[1:28] These are Jesus' words. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of not much more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his lifespan? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

[2:36] Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Remain standing for a moment as we pray, just for a second.

[2:51] Sovereign God, we call upon you to bring Holy Spirit upon you, revelation of your word, through your word, in your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

[3:07] So I want to talk to you today about God working in your life, through your life, in challenging times.

[3:16] Difficulty, hard challenges. And I'm going to weave this as we are in a stewardship series. I will reference the topic of tithing and its relationship with what I just said. But we're going to see from the scripture that there's a much deeper meaning at play and significance at play for us as believers. So when we read the text this morning on Philippians, many of you are aware the Apostle Paul is in a challenging time. When he wrote the words we read out of Philippians, he is in a Roman prison cell. So he is facing difficulty. And yet he writes in verse 11, not that I'm speaking of being in need, but I have learned in whatever situation I'm in to be content. Now, if you were to look up the word content in an English dictionary, or we were to go to the Greek, we would find that this is a reference to the state of being satisfied. Let's validate the following. That's counterintuitive. You're locked up.

[4:24] But you know something about being satisfied. And so the logical question is what is up with that? Paul's contentment, it's important that we understand that this is not to be confused with complacency. The apostle Paul is not a complacent person. He is stewarding his life for the glory of God. And even while he's in prison, he's bubbling over by writing a letter to the church at Philippi. He's still being fruitful. He's still being Godward, and yet he shares that there is this sense of satisfaction that he knows even in this challenging circumstance. And so what that tells us is that Paul's contentment is not related to geography. It's not related to proximity to something. It reminds me of a quote that Elizabeth Elliot once shared when she said this.

[5:21] The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.

[5:28] There's something that Elizabeth Elliot knew and experienced that we're seeing the Apostle Paul experience in a season of great challenge, a season of great difficulty. We note in the text that Paul says he learned this. So he wasn't born with this equipment. He learned it. After he came to know Christ, he learned how to be content. And so that tells us something that tells us for all of us as believers, that there's something that Jesus desires to teach us. This is why he says things like, take my yoke upon you, learn from me. Paul's learned something that we see that we all need to learn and weave into our walk with Christ. So he says this in verse 12 as he describes what he's learned. He says, I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Now contrast this for a moment with Jesus' words. And I'm not going to read the entire text. I'm just going to read a portion of Matthew 6, 25, where Jesus says this, therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life.

[6:56] Many of you have heard of a missionary named Hudson Taylor. He was one of the first waves of missionaries into the nation of China many, many years ago. He was the founder of China Inland Mission, and Hudson faced difficult times

[7:13] as well, challenging times. In fact, there was an instance, a season in his life, where he and his family were going through difficulty, great persecution, and their resources ran dry. And so you can imagine when you're facing difficulty and your resources run dry, you're dealing with problems on top of problems. And so what Hudson did is he retreated into his small office and he opened the word of God and he began to commune with the Lord just through reading his word, listening for God's voice.

[7:52] God's leading through his word. And he did this, and he blended it with prayerful conversation with God. He communed with the Lord, and as he was getting ready to wrap up, he decided he would linger longer. And he did that for several hours, just communing with God. And finally, he walked out of his office, and his wife looks at him, knowing their plight, and she says, Hudson, what are we going to do? To which Hudson replied, honey, we have 27 cents and all the promises of God. What more do we need?

[8:29] Now, here's the thing. That may have stirred a little chuckle, but the reason it would stir a little chuckle is because humor is based on incongruity. When you share something like that, the incongruity is astounding because you hear something like that and we reason, and perhaps rightfully so, is Hudson Taylor Pollyanna? Is he pie in the sky? Is his imagination gone mad? Really, you have 27 cents, and yet your heart is encouraged?

[9:01] But I would submit to you that Hudson Taylor was discovering the source as a believer in the same way the apostle Paul knew the source when he was going through difficulty facing a prison sentence in which he expresses, I can do all things through Christ who's giving me strength.

[9:23] I want you to think for a moment about the difficulty that makes up the biograph of the Apostle Paul. He chronicled that in 2 Corinthians 11, 23 through 28, where he talked about many difficulties that he went through. Listen to this. Even if you've heard it before, if you'll stop and think about how astounding this is, he said, I have been in prison. I have been whipped. I have been near death several times. Five times I was given 39 lashes by the Jews. Three times I was whipped by the Romans. And once I was stoned. You may remember in the book of Acts, when Paul was stoned, it was so severe they thought he was dead. Now let's pause right here for just a moment. I want to read the rest of that, but we're going to pause.

[10:11] I say this tenderly with a pastor's heart. In pastoring a church, there has always been a member or two, somebody who has walked through some type of violation, physical violation. And so I share this with great tenderness.

[10:33] Someone who's been robbed, someone who's had their house broken into and you feel the betrayal, someone in which they've had a gun pulled on them and they've taken, a thief has taken something, or even some that have faced a physical attack.

[10:51] And what I want to validate as I share these things with a tenderness for those who have been through such things, that PTSD is real. It's real. And I have watched and walked with people who were in process of being healed through trauma that they've been through. I want to validate that. The reason I want to validate that is because it's important that we don't read what Paul's been through at arm's length or read what he's been through as if it's just some type of mythical fabrication. These things are real that our brother in Christ walked through for the cause of Christ. And he goes on, I have been in three shipwrecks once I spent 24 hours in the water. In my many travels, I've been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from my own people and from the Gentiles. There have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends. There has been work and toil. Often I've gone without sleep. I have been hungry and I've been thirsty. I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing. And not to mention other things, every day I'm under the pressure. Of my concern for all the churches and church.

[12:15] What I encourage us to consider is that even though this brother in Christ had been through much trial, much tribulation, there is the sense in which from this prison cell, he is flourishing in many ways. And I remind you of what Elizabeth Elliot is reminding us of. The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.

[12:44] I can do all things. I'm saying this on your behalf, advocating for you. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. There is a difference. We begin seeing emanating out of the testimony of a Hudson Taylor, the Apostle Paul, as well as in Elizabeth Elliot, that there's a distinction, a difference between knowing about Christ and knowing Christ, Christ in me. There is a difference between putting your trust and that trying to cultivate a peace in your life that is predicated upon your circumstances versus putting your trust in Christ, in the person in your circumstances, and knowing Christ who is your peace. Jesus is your peace. Peace is a person, which is why Jesus would frame things as he did in Matthew 6, 27, when he says, And which of you, by being anxious.

[13:43] Can add a single hour to his span of life? There's a question mark on the end of that, and let's answer that question. How many people, by being anxious, full of anxiety, full of worry, you're going to add to your life? And the answer to that.

[14:00] Is no one. And research backs that up. A lot of research backs that up. Let me just share a few facts with you. Studies show that chronic worry actually takes years off your life. One 25-year study found that people with high anxiety were 66% more likely to die early. The American Medical Association estimates that 75% of all doctor visits are stress-related. Why?

[14:34] Because worry batters the body. It's psychosomatic in its effects. Worry raises blood pressure. Worry in its effects weakens our immune system. Worry disrupts digestion. Worry is linked to headaches and muscle pain. Worry fuels insomnia. Over 70% of people with chronic anxiety struggle to sleep. And please know that this is said with compassion from your pastor. And when you don't sleep, you don't think clearly. Worry literally shrinks the part of your brain that makes wise decisions and enlarges the part of your brain that panics. Now listen to the word of God for a moment. 1 John 5, 4, for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, its patterns, its fallenness.

[15:31] And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Now, it's important that we all understand that what John is saying here is not faith for faith's sake. The key is the object of your faith. That's what Paul experienced. That's what Hudson Taylor experienced. That's what Elizabeth Elliot experienced, the object of one's faith.

[15:57] When I was doing graduate work years ago, and Missy and I lived in a little town in Kentucky called Synthiana, Kentucky, I was on staff of the downtown Methodist church there while I was in school. Missy was teaching. And during that period of time, I encountered a very challenging circumstance. And it was one of those circumstances where you're being buffeted, but it's just things are beyond your control. And so here it is. I had a senior pastor at a boss that I began to think, in fact, I believe conclusively, I'm not a medical professional, and I understand that, but he began to have some mental issues that were serious in nature.

[16:46] Because his behavior became so odd. He would look at me and say, Paul, I want you to do this. And I would go do what he asked me to do. It was a God-honoring thing. And then a couple of days later, he would call me into his office and say, Paul, why did you do that? And I would look him in the eye and say, because you asked me to. And he would then say to me, no, I didn't. and it became very abusive, very toxic, very unhealthy. And as a 25-year-old, I began crying out, this isn't fair. This is, and all my, I had so many ideals of what ministry was supposed to look like and that didn't fit my ideals. I'm like, this is wrong, this is unjust. And I began crying out the control in me, this has got to be made right. And, you know, just, I gotta have my way in this. And so I, by God's grace, sought counsel from some older godly people. And this is the way they advised me from Scripture. Paul, it may be a gift that you're serving under dysfunctional leadership, which I'm like.

[18:01] I'm already running from one person that I think is off the kilter. What do you mean? And they began to open the Bible and point me to people like David, who is under the authority of a Saul, who's paranoid and not mentally healthy, and how David, serving under dysfunctional leadership, David, who has a heart for God, keeps doing the God-honoring thing over and over and over. And these godly people would reason with me and say, Pastor Paul, you need—or at that time, Paul, punk Paul—.

[18:44] Paul, you need to understand, did God raise up a David to deal with Saul or did God allow a Saul to develop David? You need to understand you're being developed. And in being developed.

[18:59] This is an opportunity when you're under unhealthy authority to keep pressing into the source and keep allowing God to develop your character so that you do the God-honoring thing. And when you're being squished in difficulty and it fills all this sponge of your life is being squeezed, be mindful that what's being exhibited is character.

[19:22] And so Missy and I, during these years, were not paid that well. We continued to honor God, tithe and honor God. We supported missionaries, and by that time we had our first child. And little did I know that that preparation ground was going to prepare us for what was to come. Because a few years later, when we finished seminary, I was ready to get out and go plant a church because I had taken a class in seminary on church planting, and I felt like a caged lion. God, let me get out of here and do this. But the denomination wasn't going to allow a young guy right out of seminary, very green, to go plant a church in the denomination. So they put me on staff of a church where I served for about three and a half years, lovingly praying and campaigning to have this opportunity. And as God gave us this opportunity, this is what the denomination officials said to us. We have a place for you to plant a church, an area of another city, but you will have to take a $7,000 cut in salary.

[20:38] And I'm like, I've got two kids now, and the poverty line in 1991 for a family of four was $13,400. I was making $24,000 a year in 1990, serving on the staff of this church with four children. And as God led us to the city, the leading of God was so clear in our minds and hearts that we, out of the experience of God's faithfulness in the prior years when we were under dysfunctional authority, we were like, God, we've seen your faithfulness in our lives before, and so we believe that you will be faithful again. And so as a church planter with a wife and two sons, I made $17,000. Now, that, loved ones, was $3,600 above the poverty line. Glory to God. Okay? But when you did the spreadsheet of our income and expenses, you...

[21:43] It didn't make sense. I can tell you that. In fact, I remember having a conversation with my dad and my dad was going, what the, what are you doing? And I said, dad, I've seen God be faithful. He goes, well, that makes no sense. I said, I know, but I know God's leading us to do this. And I come from a family that doesn't, they don't believe in handouts. So it's like you pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, but I, my trust is in the Lord. And so we move into this new arena and loved ones, our family, Missy and I, we never stopped tithing. We never stopped supporting missionaries. We honored God and prayerfully, communally, but honored God first in that, even though it didn't make sense on paper. Now, I want you to know that honoring God in this way was not transactional. You understand what transactional is? It's like, okay, God, I'm giving to you. Now give me. That's transactional. That would be like one of my sons or daughter is coming up to me and going, Dad, here's on my birthday, here's a birthday card, and I'm giving it to you because Mom said I had to. That's transactional.

[22:53] The way it gets heart to heart is, Dad, I made this birthday card for you because I love you and I want you to have a happy birthday. That's heart to heart. And what I'm expressing is that when we tithe and honor God, it's not transactional. It's heart to heart. It's that, God, I love you. I honor you. I worship you. I trust you. And so just like all of us, when it didn't make sense, we had electric bills just like everybody else, water, sanitation expenses, car repairs, clothes and shoes need to be bought for growing children, food, birthday and Christmas gifts, youth, basketball and baseball fees.

[23:32] And so here's a question. If it didn't make sense from an income and expense statement, how did God meet our needs? Well, thank you for asking. I want to tell you. Here it is. God, God's infinitely creative. You know that. I had a grandmother on my dad's side. And any of you remember, you're old enough to remember old-fashioned poundings that often happen in country churches? My grandmother, Lawler, would pound us. Nobody told her we had a cut in salary, but about once a month when we visited, she would open her closet and then canned goods and toilet paper and paper towels and all kinds. And she says, I've been buying this for you. Load your car up. You load the kids up. And again, look at what God's doing. Secondly, some of you've heard this. I had an old 1986 Volvo DL240 that I bought pennies on the dollar, but it had been submerged underwater, and I didn't know that. The electrical system was shot, and so it would die all the time. Many of you know I nicknamed that car Lazarus.

[24:44] But here's the deal. One of the new members of the church was an auto mechanic that he owned his own shop, and a man gave him an old Volvo 240DL, and he parked it out back of his shop. And every time Lazarus needed repair, he would pull a part off of that gifted 240DL, and then he would only charge me for labor. Again, who comes up with this stuff?

[25:10] And then Missy catches wind in the community of something called a food co-op. I never knew that such a thing existed. And one day she says, she comes in the house with all these groceries, about $100 worth of groceries. I'm going, where did you get this? She goes, I paid $10. This is what you get when you're a part of a food cooperative. I said, this is amazing. And then Missy said, I'm going to go to the store and buy you some clothes at the thrift store. And I, here's my pride. I said, oh, no, no, we don't. We don't do thrift stores, hon. That's, and I didn't say it, but I was sadly thinking it. That's below us. We don't do that. And that's my pride. I come home one afternoon and I look on our bed and there's this nice blue blazer. I look at the brand and it's a well-known brand. It's about a $300 coat. And I look at me and I said, where'd this come from? What kind of money have you spent? She smiled and goes, oh, I spent $4 and that coat is for you.

[26:14] And I went, okay, I like thrift stores.

[26:19] So church, last week, we talked about honoring God. And we talked about John D. Rockefeller's story with wealth and honoring God with the tithe. But I also want to illustrate out of my own life when there's little and life is challenging, he is faithful. He's infinitely creative. He is faithful.

[26:43] My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. And this gives leverage to why Jesus said things like this in verse 27 through 30 in Matthew 6. Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the fill, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the fill, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not so much more clothe you, O you of little faith? And this is why Jesus would go on to say things like this, therefore do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them all. And this is why Jesus would say things like this, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. All these other things are going to take care of themselves. They're all going to be added unto you. Do you realize what the outline, the theme here that's underneath the core of many of our hearts, and many of us may know it, many of us may not recognize it, but it's fear.

[27:54] It's fear of trusting God that he will really come through on what he said. But loved ones, Hudson Taylor spent time experiencing the revelation of God because he's human also, and he recognized that he was vulnerable to fear, but it was the revelation of God that anchored him as he communed with God. When you read every story in the Bible, this is a consistent theme with every exploit. Listen, when David, as a 12-year-old boy, was standing before Goliath, do you not think in his flesh he felt fear? That if he was only depending on what he could do as a 12-year-old boy, and you're standing in front of this anomaly of a man who's nine feet tall in full armor, does it not make sense that he would feel fear in the flesh? Absolutely. But David had a greater revelation of God than he did of a nine-foot giant. And that's why David was able to trust God in that circumstance.

[28:54] Do you think that Daniel, who was deeply politically connected in the country that he served in at the time with Nebuchadnezzar, when Daniel had to stand against what the winds of the political waves, the way they were blowing, and when Daniel had to stand in that moment and speak truth into the moment, Did Daniel have a revelation of himself, what he could do? Or was he standing on the basis of transcendent truth because he had a revelation of God or think about.

[29:26] Peter's boldness, when Peter is a coward, multiplicity of times in the Gospels, but when we get to the book of Acts and he's full of the revelation of God, the empowerment of God, the word of God, he's willing to suffer, even go to prison repeatedly and to perhaps even be crucified upside down. But Peter has a greater revelation of God than which way the winds are blowing in the culture. And this is why he's able to stand.

[29:58] Anxiety and fear do not reign in their lives. Anxiety and fear are not in the driver's seat. This is why Jesus says this, John 16, 33. He says, I have told you these things so that in me, you may have peace. In this world, And this is not one of the Bible promises people pull out very often. You will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Church, the secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances. In me, you have peace. In the world, you have tribulation. and we all know it's possible to be in church and miss it. I can be in church without my life being in Christ. In Christ, I have peace.

[30:59] Loved ones, you have peace with God that's legal. That's Romans 5.1. Before you knew Jesus, the scripture says you were an enemy of God. Read it. It's there. You were an enemy of God. But when you were reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, you're now at one with him. You have legal peace with God. But loved ones, you also have peace available to you in your experience, the peace of God. Philippians 4, 4-7, Paul writes, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but everything. If any of you have your Bibles open, I would encourage you to circle the word everything. 360 degrees, everything in your life. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. That is, I'm going to stop right there. That represents communion with Jesus.

[32:06] It's what Hudson Taylor did. It's what Elizabeth Elliot knew. It's what Paul knows in the prison cell. There's communion with Jesus. Now notice the fruit that emanates out of abiding in the person of Jesus and the peace of God. Which and i'm going to paraphrase this next section it doesn't make sense doesn't make sense in the natural the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus now i want to ask you a question i want you to know that as i ask this question is asked in love but it's asked to encourage you to think and reflect with your mind and heart. Why do you not have peace? I just want you to think about that. Why do I not have peace? If this is what the scripture says, and here's where I want to encourage you to make a shift. It's a symptom.

[33:02] It's a symptom of lack of communion with Jesus. Lack of communion in his word and allowing him to imprint his heart, his will in a way into our own lives. It's a lack of communion with Jesus in prayer. Please understand, I'm trying to help you with that. That's not said in the spirit of accusation. That's the enemy. I'm advocating with you. Because sometimes what we want to do is we want to evaluate, where am I, God? Where am I? And so you don't get God to love you because you pray.

[33:40] God answers prayer because he loves you. He's responsive because he loves you. But we also recognize, as the hymn writer told us years ago, oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. The God who says, in me you have peace, I have overcome the world. And we're about to wrap up, but I want to just speak this into you for a moment, okay? When you became a believer, you entered the school of God.

[34:18] When you became a believer, you are now in the school of God. And in the school of God, he's teaching you. He's teaching you in your circumstances. I've said this many times. Your circumstance is your classroom. And this classroom is not in vain. He's teaching you. And he's using every circumstance in your life that as you turn to him, he's invested in you, developing you. And so nothing's wasted. Romans 8, 28, 29 are at work, but you can miss it.

[34:54] You can miss it, and you don't have to miss it.

[35:00] So let me quote Jesus. I won't quote the whole verse, but look with me, Luke 5, 37 through 39, and Jesus says this. I'm just going to quote the bold part, if we could put it on the screen. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. New wine must be put into fresh wineskins. Jesus is using metaphor here about our lives as believers. And what he's doing is that he recognizes wine inebriates. It will intoxicate, but it's a metaphor that Christ in his life, it affects you. Jesus inebriates you with his peace. Jesus inebriates a believer with joy in the midst of challenging circumstances. He inebriates a believer with new wine. But note what Jesus says, the new wine will not flow into an old wineskin. And so a wineskin is what they used to put wine in in New Testament times. But what happens when a wineskin, the leather gets old, it gets dry, it gets brittle, it gets immovable, it's not shapeable anymore. And so what I'm saying to you is that you need to be flexible. spiritually.

[36:19] Willing to step into some things that you haven't done before.

[36:24] Willing to say, God, I yield and I adapt the pattern of my life to the pattern that you're describing.

[36:33] So I shared with you recently about our middle son, Wes, who 15 years ago looked at Missy and I across the table right in the middle of his college years playing baseball. We're having a blast watching him play and excel. And he looks across the table at us, not in a moment of cruelty, just a moment of being honest and says, Mom, Dad, you need to understand something about me. I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God. And as I shared with you five or six weeks ago, for the next two years, every chance I got, I talked to him about it. Until one day when we're walking down the steps, I remember down to our basement, and he was right in front of me, and I just had this sense as we were walking down. I was praying for him as he's in front of me. Lord, target him.

[37:37] And I just had, I didn't hear an audible voice. I just had a sense. Paul, stop. Stop talking to him and talk to me. And for the next 13 years, Missy and I just went to war praying for him. And I wed that also with fasting for him, and for you as well in my years here in Christ Church Birmingham as well, but fasting for the church, but particularly weekly fasting for him.

[38:13] And as I shared with you last May, he expressed to the family that he's come home to Christ. And we are still just walking on air with all of that. And thank God. But what I didn't share with you, thank you, God. But what I didn't share with you was what God was doing in me in those 15 years, how God was using the difficulty in my own life, because as I look back, my wineskin had gotten brittle.

[38:58] I look back in the years of ministry that prior to this season, where my inflexibility around some things that were clear in Scripture, that I was just stuck in my ways. One of them was fasting. I would read these passages in Scripture and just kind of read over them, just like they're there but not there. Those are for somebody else or something.

[39:26] And it took the pain and trawl of what we went through to open my eyes that there's more to the kingdom. And my wineskin became flexible and more malleable to the revelation of God. And I began to see God work in some ways that I had not seen before, as you hear testimony of. God wasn't just working in our son. God was also working in us and developing us.

[39:59] And church, I want to encourage you that whatever trial or difficulty or layer of anxiety that you may be encountering in your life, God is at work. Listen to his word, John 16, 33. Once again, I'm going to quote this. This comes out when Jesus says what I'm about to quote, this flows out of him sharing. John 14, there's the Holy Spirit's coming. He's going to empower you. John 15, this is how you commune with Jesus. Abide in me. Let my rhema word, that is the word applied into your circumstances, reign in your life. And you're going to see great fruit produced through your life and through the church. And then he says this as he kind of puts this holy icing on the cake. In John 16, 33, in the context of all of that. He goes, I've told you these things, and listen to the reason. He says, I've told you these things so that in me, not in church, although I'm an advocate for that.

[40:59] In Christ. In Christ, in me, you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world.

[41:12] The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.

[41:21] So what we're going to do as we close today is I want to open the altar up for you to come. Now, here's the invitation. I know this, that God honors acts of faith. It's all over scripture. And there are moments where in a church setting, you can respond to Jesus with an act of faith. And so this is simple. Lord, I'm stepping out of my seat and I'm coming and I'm kneeling before you and I'm laying my anxiety before you. I'm laying my worry before you. It's Galatians called it the great exchange. I exchanged my life for his. Peace is a person, it's Jesus. I surrender to you. I lay this fear, I lay this worry before your feet and I exchange it for you. I want, it's you that I surrender to. It's you that I submit to. At the 830 service, all of you know, our sanctuary is a football field long, But there were people who came all the way from the back, and they moved in faith. And I'm always conscious there. I don't know. I'm like, Lord, is there an extra reward because those people, it took them 15 minutes to get here? Slight exaggeration.

[42:38] But I accentuate that because in your self-talk and maybe even the enemy, sometimes in these moments, God's ready to honor your faith. He's willing to honor those things. And sometimes we're timid, and I just encourage you not to be timid, but just respond to God for his glory. Let's stand and let me pray over you.

[43:06] So Jesus we pray that some burdens would be laid down today I'm always reminded that sheep are not load-bearing animals I'm reminded that you said cast all your anxiety upon me because I care for you and so all around this altar this morning we pray burdens would be laid down fear would be laid down. Anxiety would be laid down. And Jesus, we pray, fill your people. Fill people with your person, with the Holy Spirit, with your presence that dispels fear. Perfect love casts out all fear, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.