Speaker 1: Setbacks are the stepping stones to my future. Setbacks are
Speaker 1: not the barriers in the path to your future. They
Speaker 1: are the path to your future. If you'll get this,
Speaker 1: it'll change the way you look at all your problems.
Speaker 1: And we looked at a dramatic example illustration of this
Speaker 1: last time together, when we focused on the life of
Speaker 1: Joseph in the Book of Genesis for thirteen years. Remember,
Speaker 1: Joseph had one bad setback after another, seven different setbacks.
Speaker 1: None of them were his fault, every one of them
Speaker 1: call us by somebody else. They were painful, but at
Speaker 1: the end of his life, Joseph could look back and say,
Speaker 1: they meant it for bad, but God meant it all
Speaker 1: for good.
Speaker 2: Same is true for you.
Speaker 1: There is a purpose behind the setbacks for your life.
Speaker 1: And God will use literally everything in your life, even
Speaker 1: the bad stuff that other people mean for bad in
Speaker 1: your life. He'll use it for good if you'll trust
Speaker 1: him completely. So why don't we have such a hard
Speaker 1: time with setbacks? Well, the reason why we have a
Speaker 1: hard time is because we panic when things don't happen
Speaker 1: as fast as we wanted. It don't happen as simply
Speaker 1: as we wanted. We worry and we get anxious, and
Speaker 1: we doubt, and we think God doesn't know what he's doing,
Speaker 1: and we don't trust God, and and and in a word,
Speaker 1: we become afraid. Now, listen, fear is your greatest enemy
Speaker 1: in life. Fear, worry, anxiety, this nervousness. And if you're
Speaker 1: going to learn how to turn setbacks into comebacks and
Speaker 1: let God use them in that way, you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to learn to deal with fear.
Speaker 2: So today I.
Speaker 1: Want us to look at what do you do when
Speaker 1: a setback fills you with fear. And if you're filled
Speaker 1: with faith, then you're going to benefit from your setbacks.
Speaker 1: But if you're filled with fear, you're going to be
Speaker 1: broken by the setbacks happen in your life.
Speaker 2: Now, think about this. Everybody has secret fears.
Speaker 1: You may have the fear that nobody's ever going to
Speaker 1: love you. You may have the fear that your life
Speaker 1: doesn't matter, nobody's gonna notice you. Maybe you may have
Speaker 1: the fear of dying alone. You may have the fear
Speaker 1: of never finding true love. You may have the fear
Speaker 1: that people would reject you if they really knew what
Speaker 1: you were like. You know, as I thought about where
Speaker 1: to take you in the Bible this week to show
Speaker 1: you how to deal with the fears that arise when
Speaker 1: your plans get messed up, when you have setbacks in
Speaker 1: your life. The choice was obvious to me. We got
Speaker 1: to look at the Christmas story because Jesus' birth messed
Speaker 1: up everybody's plans, and it actually caused a lot of
Speaker 1: fear for those involved at the personal level. You know,
Speaker 1: it is significant that when you read the Christmas Story
Speaker 1: that the phrase don't be afraid is repeated four times,
Speaker 1: not once, but four times. In the Christmas story, the
Speaker 1: angels have to say don't be afraid. They say it
Speaker 1: to Mary, they say it to Joseph, they say it
Speaker 1: to the shepherds, they say it to Zachariah.
Speaker 2: And today you know, we know.
Speaker 1: The good news of Jesus' birth, but to those who
Speaker 1: heard it for the very first time, it scared them
Speaker 1: to death. And the Bible tells us that the news
Speaker 1: not only frightened those who heard it first, but it's
Speaker 1: scared the entire city of Jerusalem.
Speaker 2: That's what the Bible tells us.
Speaker 1: In fact, every one of the main characters in the
Speaker 1: Christmas story had to deal with their own set of
Speaker 1: fears because of their.
Speaker 2: Own plans had a setback.
Speaker 1: Now, you know, as I reread that story this week,
Speaker 1: what was interesting to me is that two thousand years later,
Speaker 1: you know what, we're all still dealing with the exact
Speaker 1: same fears that they had two thousand years ago.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I don't know what fears you may be personally dealing
Speaker 1: with right now because of some setbacks in your life.
Speaker 1: I don't know what's causing you to panic, cause you worry,
Speaker 1: to keep you awake at night, to have anxiety or
Speaker 1: even panic attacks. But I do know this, God doesn't
Speaker 1: want you to be fearful. And so what I want
Speaker 1: to do in this message is show you five common
Speaker 1: fears that people faced at the very first Christmas. And
Speaker 1: I want you to show I want you to see
Speaker 1: God's antidote to those fears that you feel when you
Speaker 1: have setbacks in your life. I think you're going to
Speaker 1: identify with these. Okay, all right, So what were the
Speaker 1: fears that people had to face at the very first Christmas.
Speaker 1: Let's get right into this Number one. Let's talk about Mary.
Speaker 2: First.
Speaker 1: Mary faced the fear of inadequacy. Mary faced the fear
Speaker 1: of inadequacy, and that happens when you have a step
Speaker 1: back in your life.
Speaker 2: Now, think about this. Mary is a young peasant girl.
Speaker 1: She's probably maybe, I don't know, fifteen, sixteen years of age.
Speaker 1: She's engaged to be married. This is a happy time, Perer.
Speaker 1: She's happily planning her wedding day. This is a fun time.
Speaker 1: She's got all the plans of assume to be bride
Speaker 1: in her head, and she's got it all planned out.
Speaker 1: She's got her whole life planned out. And then one
Speaker 1: day an angel interrupts her plans. It's a setback and
Speaker 1: he shows up. That would be enough to scare anybody.
Speaker 1: If an angel showed up in my bedroom, it was
Speaker 1: scare me. But the angel's message is even more shocking.
Speaker 1: And the angel says, Mary, by the way, you're pregnant.
Speaker 1: And Mary's going, how can this be? I've never had
Speaker 1: sex with anybody. And then the angel drops the second
Speaker 1: half of this bomb. He says, oh, by the way,
Speaker 1: not only are you pregnant, but you're carrying the Son
Speaker 1: of God. God is coming to earth and he's coming
Speaker 1: as a baby, and you're going to be the mother
Speaker 1: of the Son of God. Now that is a setback
Speaker 1: to Mary's sweet and simple plans to just get married
Speaker 1: and settle down?
Speaker 2: Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1: She's gonna what's this all about? Her mind must have
Speaker 1: been filled with panic. She would have been overwhelmed with fears.
Speaker 1: What does all this mean? How much supposed to react
Speaker 1: to this?
Speaker 2: Why was I chosen me? Why now?
Speaker 1: How am I going to explain this to everybody? Wouldn't
Speaker 1: you feel a little inadequate? Wouldn't you be a little fearful?
Speaker 1: Of course you would. In Luke, chapter one, verse twenty
Speaker 1: nine to thirty four, it says this Confused and disturbed,
Speaker 1: Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. So
Speaker 1: the Angel said, do not be afraid. This is the
Speaker 1: first of the four fear nots. Do not be afraid, Mary,
Speaker 1: for God has decided to bless and to use you.
Speaker 1: And you're going to have a son, and you will
Speaker 1: name him Jesus, and he will be the Son of
Speaker 1: God and his kingdom will never end. And then Mary asked,
Speaker 1: but how can this be? Well, you'd ask the same thing,
Speaker 1: so would I. Now Mary would have to deal with
Speaker 1: the skepticism of a family and friends, and know she's
Speaker 1: gonna be an undwed mother. She's got to make a
Speaker 1: long trip on a donkey the day before she delivers,
Speaker 1: got to move to go to Bethlehem. She's gonna have
Speaker 1: to deliver her first child by herself in a barn
Speaker 1: with no doctor, no mother, or no midwife. That's scary.
Speaker 1: And then she's got to raise the son of God. Really,
Speaker 1: the fear of inadequacy is one that we can all
Speaker 1: relate to. Am I good enough? Am I up for
Speaker 1: the task? Can I handle this? Mary has a legitimate fear.
Speaker 1: Now there's a second fear in the story. Now that's
Speaker 1: Joseph's fear. Joseph struggled with a different fear. Joseph faced
Speaker 1: the fear of disapproval. Now imagine his position. Your fiance
Speaker 1: comes to you and says, honey, I'm pregnant. Now you
Speaker 1: know that you've never had relations with her, and she
Speaker 1: claims God made me pregnant.
Speaker 2: It's his child.
Speaker 1: How are you gonna explain that to everybody in town.
Speaker 1: Imagine the ridicule, the shame, the gossip, the criticism heaped
Speaker 1: on him. You know, Joseph, they say he's crazy to
Speaker 1: believe that story. She's taken him for a ride. And
Speaker 1: the Bible tells us that Joseph's first reaction was to
Speaker 1: break off the engagement privately. Matthew Chapter one, verse eighteen
Speaker 1: to twenty. He says, now this is how Jesus Christ
Speaker 1: was born. His mother Mary was engaged to be married
Speaker 1: to Joseph, but while she was still a virgin, she
Speaker 1: became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancee, being
Speaker 1: a good and righteous man, decided to break off the
Speaker 1: engagement quietly so it wouldn't disgrace Mary publicly. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's still protecting his fiance But after he can consider
Speaker 1: doing this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him,
Speaker 1: so he's getting scared. Appeared to him in a dream
Speaker 1: and said, Joseph, don't be afraid to take Mary home
Speaker 1: as your wife, because the child in her is from
Speaker 1: God's Holy Spirit. And just like with Mary, God has
Speaker 1: to tell you fear not. This is the second of
Speaker 1: for fear not. He said, don't be afraid.
Speaker 2: Now, let me ask you.
Speaker 1: Who's disapproval are you afraid of? Let me ask you
Speaker 1: another way, whose approval are you living?
Speaker 2: For?
Speaker 1: You know, the Bible tells us that the fear of man,
Speaker 1: or the fear of disapproval, is a trap it will
Speaker 1: limit you and you will miss God's will. You'll miss
Speaker 1: God's plan for your life. If you're worried about what
Speaker 1: other people think, then you're not gonna hear what God.
Speaker 2: Has for you.
Speaker 1: Joseph could have missed the greatest blessing in his life.
Speaker 1: Now next, the third fear we find with the shepherds.
Speaker 1: Now the shepherds face the fear of unexpected change. And
Speaker 1: we all have this one when we have setbacks in
Speaker 1: our life. Unexpected change. Yeah, set back too, and what
Speaker 1: was it? Their plans got changed? Now, let me give
Speaker 1: you the picture. This is at night time in there.
Speaker 1: The shepherds are out enjoying a quiet night the field. Okay,
Speaker 1: they're out laying on the grass tending their flock of sheep,
Speaker 1: and they're bedded down for the night. The sheep are
Speaker 1: betted down, it's quiet. They're looking up at the stars,
Speaker 1: probably telling a few jokes, eating, you know, maybe made
Speaker 1: some popcorns, some snores or something. But suddenly the skylights
Speaker 1: up and like an explosion of brightness in the sky
Speaker 1: and they go, oh, UFOs, you know what is this
Speaker 1: And a huge choir of extraterrestrial beings starts singing loudly.
Speaker 1: Would that scare you? Yeah, yeah, you know, certainly that's
Speaker 1: a scary site.
Speaker 2: What is going on?
Speaker 1: And their plans for quiet evening are interrupted, And the
Speaker 1: fact is they will never be the same.
Speaker 2: Again.
Speaker 1: Luke chapter two, verses eight to ten, says that night
Speaker 1: the shepherds were in the field outside the village guarding
Speaker 1: their flocks of sheep, and suddenly an angel of the
Speaker 1: Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's
Speaker 1: glory flashed surround them. It's like this flash of brightness,
Speaker 1: and they were terribly frightened. Everybody's scared at Christmas. So
Speaker 1: the angels had to say to them, here's the third time.
Speaker 1: Do not be afraid. Let me ask you. Do you
Speaker 1: like being caught off guard?
Speaker 2: No? Do you like unexpected changes in your life? No?
Speaker 1: It shoots adrenaline straight into your system and you get
Speaker 1: that natural fight or flight reaction when all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: somebody throws you a curveball and out of left field,
Speaker 1: everything's changed and you go, what where'd that come from?
Speaker 2: And you've got a setback in your life.
Speaker 1: Now, Listen, sometimes a setback is just God showing up
Speaker 1: in your life. You don't realize it. But it's God
Speaker 1: showing up in your life, and that could be very unsettling.
Speaker 1: It can be scary because the status quo is upset,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden you're out there just looking
Speaker 1: up on a starry night and ready to go to sleep,
Speaker 1: and God shows up. God doesn't want to scare you.
Speaker 1: This is the third time the Angels have to say,
Speaker 1: don't be afraid. Now there's a fourth character who panicked
Speaker 1: when there was a setback when Jesus was born, and
Speaker 1: it was the man appointed by the Roman Emperor to
Speaker 1: be the ruler over Israel while they're under the occupation
Speaker 1: of the Roman Empire. Now, this guy, his name was Herod.
Speaker 1: He was given the title King of the Jews by
Speaker 1: the Roman Emperor. But the Jews considered this guy to
Speaker 1: be an impostor and a tool of the enemy, and
Speaker 1: they despised Herod. So the phrase Herod King of the Jews.
Speaker 1: They hated that, and they hate him. Plus, King Herod
Speaker 1: was incredibly insecure. In fact, this guy was so paranoid
Speaker 1: of being overthrown. Listen to this King Herod was so paranoid.
Speaker 1: He may have had a mental illness. He had his
Speaker 1: brother in law murdered, that he is afraid he might overthrown.
Speaker 1: He had his mother, his own mother murdered, he had
Speaker 1: his wife murdered, and even had his two sons murdered.
Speaker 1: He was scared that somebody was going to take over,
Speaker 1: kick him out, and take over control. Now, when Herod
Speaker 1: hears that the promised Messiah, the true quote King of
Speaker 1: the Jews, had been born, what's his reaction. He panics,
Speaker 1: He's afraid. He is so petrified that he would re
Speaker 1: replace that he goes out and he orders all the
Speaker 1: children under two years of age in the city of
Speaker 1: Bethlehem to be killed, just to make sure that Jesus
Speaker 1: doesn't live. Now, King Herod faces a fourth kind of
Speaker 1: fear that we often have once we have a setback
Speaker 1: in our life. Financial setback, helped set up set back,
Speaker 1: marriage setback, parent setback. King Herod faced the fear of
Speaker 1: losing control. Oh boy, this is a common fear. You've
Speaker 1: had this one many times, the fear of losing control.
Speaker 1: Matthew chapter two, verse one to three says this Jesus
Speaker 1: was born in Bethlehem during the time that Herod was
Speaker 1: the King of the Jews, and then some wise men
Speaker 1: came from the east to Jerusalem, and they started asking
Speaker 1: where's the child born to be King of the Jews?
Speaker 1: Now that scares Herod. We saw a star in the east.
Speaker 1: We've come to worship him. When King Herod heard this news,
Speaker 1: he was deeply frightened, and he was disturbed and noticed,
Speaker 1: so was everyone else in Jerusalem. You know, it's interesting
Speaker 1: that at Christmas time we sing that song silent night,
Speaker 1: all is calm, all is bright, but when reality not
Speaker 1: everybody was calm when Jesus was born. Now, let me
Speaker 1: get real personal and ask you, what are you afraid
Speaker 1: of losing control of? Let me put it in another way.
Speaker 1: What's out of control in your life and it's scaring
Speaker 1: you to death? What's out of control in your life
Speaker 1: and you're still trying to pathetically control it?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 1: He said, well, how do you know when I'm afraid
Speaker 1: of something's out of control my life?
Speaker 2: Simple?
Speaker 1: There's a warning light. When you're trying to control the uncontrollable,
Speaker 1: there's a warning light. The warning light is called worry.
Speaker 1: Worry is the warning light that you're trying to control
Speaker 1: the uncontrollable. Every time you start worrying, you're trying to
Speaker 1: control the uncontrollable. We'll come back to this. But finally,
Speaker 1: there's one other guy in the Christmas story who has
Speaker 1: a setback and his life gets turned around.
Speaker 2: His name is Zachariah. He was an old priest.
Speaker 1: Now, Zachariah's wife was named Elizabeth, and Elizabeth was actually
Speaker 1: Mary's cousin during Mary's pregnancy. When she heard that she
Speaker 1: was pregnant, Mary went to stay with this couple with
Speaker 1: Zachariah and Elizabeth an older, older couple. Now, Elizabeth and
Speaker 1: Zachariah had prayed for many, many years to have a baby,
Speaker 1: but it had not happened, and they had had one
Speaker 1: set back after another trying to get pregnant, but they couldn't.
Speaker 1: Now they're very old and they're childless, and they've given
Speaker 1: up all hope. But one day God shows up and
Speaker 1: says to zachariah's finally gonna happen.
Speaker 2: Guess what, You're going to be a daddy.
Speaker 1: But Zachariah didn't believe it, and he's afraid to get
Speaker 1: his hopes up. He's been disappointed so many times, so
Speaker 1: he doubts God. And this is another common fear that
Speaker 1: happens when you've had one set back after another in
Speaker 1: your life, you start becoming afraid in this area, Zachariah
Speaker 1: faced the fear of being disappointed. You've had this one too.
Speaker 1: You have had the fear of being disappointed. I've been
Speaker 1: disappointed so many times. I'm afraid to get my hopes
Speaker 1: up Luke Chapter one, verses eleven to thirteen. It says,
Speaker 1: while they were serving in the temple, an angel appeared
Speaker 1: to Zachariah, and when he saw the angel, he was
Speaker 1: confused and overwhelmed. That's frightened, overwhelmed with fear. But the
Speaker 1: angel said to him, do not be afraid. There's the
Speaker 1: fourth don't be afraid, says Zachari. Don't be afraid. Your
Speaker 1: prayer has been heard. While it's about time I'd finally
Speaker 1: given up. Now, notice again God has to say fear not.
Speaker 1: Are you getting the point that God doesn't want people
Speaker 1: to be afraid? That God doesn't want you to be afraid.
Speaker 1: No matter what set back you're going through, God does
Speaker 1: not want you to be afraid. God brought you here
Speaker 1: so he could say this to you. No matter what
Speaker 1: you're going through, don't be afraid, God said Zachari, You're
Speaker 1: finally gonna get your child By the way, Zachariah's long
Speaker 1: awaited son, he became somebody famous. He was called John
Speaker 1: the Baptist, Jesus' cousin. Of these five fears, which of
Speaker 1: these have you struggled with because of setbacks in your life?
Speaker 1: The fear of feeling inadequate. I can't do it, so
Speaker 1: i won't even try. The fear of disapproval or the
Speaker 1: fear of rejection, so I'm just gonna be a people pleaser.
Speaker 1: The fear of unexpected change like the shepherds, so I want.
Speaker 2: Everything to say the same.
Speaker 1: The fear of losing control like Herod, so I don't
Speaker 1: want anybody messing with my plans. Or the fear of
Speaker 1: being disappointed. I've been let down so many times. I
Speaker 1: just don't even dare to believe, or trust or have hope.
Speaker 1: And listen as your pastor, who love you and who
Speaker 1: prays for you, I want you to know that for
Speaker 1: God to turn your setback into the comeback that he
Speaker 1: wants it to be. For God to turn your setback
Speaker 1: into that comeback, you're going to have to exchange your
Speaker 1: fear for faith. You got to turn your fear of
Speaker 1: the circumstance to faith in God. How in the world
Speaker 1: do you do that? How do you replace fear with faith?
Speaker 1: The answer is do the same four things that the
Speaker 1: people did at First Christmas in this passage that we've
Speaker 1: just looked at.
Speaker 2: So let's just go through it real quick. Here's what you.
Speaker 1: Do if you want to reduce the fears, the anxieties,
Speaker 1: the panic in your life. Number one, First, surrender my
Speaker 1: life completely to God every day. It starts with surrender.
Speaker 1: I surrender my life completely to God every day. Surrender
Speaker 1: is the first antidote to fear and anxiety and panic.
Speaker 1: You let it go, you give it up, You give
Speaker 1: yourself completely to God. But you do it not just once,
Speaker 1: You do it every day. This is how Mary overcame
Speaker 1: her fear of inadequacy. The Bible tells us that Mary
Speaker 1: prayed a prayer of surrender, and she put everything that
Speaker 1: she didn't understand into the hands of God and just
Speaker 1: trusted him completely. Luke, Chapter one, verse thirty eight. It
Speaker 1: says this, Mary responded, when she heard all this fantastic story, Well,
Speaker 1: I'm the Lord's servant and I am willing to accept
Speaker 1: whatever God wants for my life. Have you said that
Speaker 1: that is a statement of surrender? I am willing to
Speaker 1: accept whatever God wants for my life. I want to
Speaker 1: challenge you to whisper that right now. I am willing
Speaker 1: to accept whatever God wants my life. I am willing
Speaker 1: to accept whatever God wants for my life. That's the
Speaker 1: prayer of surrender. God will never ask you to do
Speaker 1: something without giving you the ability to handle it and
Speaker 1: call the equipped.
Speaker 2: He equips the call.
Speaker 1: And he if you say I am willing to do
Speaker 1: whatever he asked me to do, He's going to give
Speaker 1: you the ability. Your confidence is not going to be
Speaker 1: in yourself. Your confidence is going to be in Him.
Speaker 1: And I started saddleback church with no money, no members,
Speaker 1: no building, no support. I'd never been a senior pastor.
Speaker 1: But he did have confidence in God. And I remember
Speaker 1: telling it to Cave. So what do you think, she said, Well,
Speaker 1: I believe in God and I believe in you, so
Speaker 1: let's go for it.
Speaker 2: He said.
Speaker 1: It scares me to death, but I believe in God
Speaker 1: and I believe in you, so let's go for it.
Speaker 1: Joe eleven, verses thirteen to eighteen says this surrender. It says,
Speaker 1: surrender your heart to God, turn to Him in prayer,
Speaker 1: and give up your sins. Then you won't be ashamed,
Speaker 1: and you'll be confident and fearless. Here's how you get
Speaker 1: confidence and fearlessness. Surrender yourself to God and your troubles
Speaker 1: will go away like water beneath a bridge, and your
Speaker 1: dark night will be brighter than noon. And then you'll
Speaker 1: rest safe and secure, filled with hope and emptied of worry.
Speaker 1: That sound pretty good to you. Sounds good to me,
Speaker 1: Fill with hope and emptied of worry. How do you
Speaker 1: do that?
Speaker 2: Starts with surrender? And so well? How often do I
Speaker 2: take this step?
Speaker 1: Just every day if you're if you're fighting anxiety, you're
Speaker 1: fighting worry, in security, fear because of the setback you've
Speaker 1: had in your life. Before you get up in the morning,
Speaker 1: you need to say, Father, I surrender this day to you.
Speaker 1: I surrender my past, my president, and my future. That's
Speaker 1: the starting point. Second thing you do to move past
Speaker 1: your setback listen, is to stop listening to the voices
Speaker 1: of fear. Stop listening to the voices of fear around you. Now,
Speaker 1: all around you are our naysayers and all kinds of
Speaker 1: fearful people, and the media in particular is filled with
Speaker 1: naysayers and fearful people. By the way, sometimes those fearful
Speaker 1: voices are inside you. Sometimes you need to stop listening
Speaker 1: to you, and you need to replace the.
Speaker 2: Fear with faith.
Speaker 1: As I said earlier, Romans fourteen twenty three says this,
Speaker 1: whatsoever is not a faith is sin. You see, fear
Speaker 1: is the opposite of faith, And anytime you walk in fear,
Speaker 1: you're not walking in faith.
Speaker 2: Now, I don't know if you know.
Speaker 1: This, but fear is a communicable disease. It's highly contagious.
Speaker 1: If you hang around fearful people, guess what, you're going
Speaker 1: to become fearful. So let me give you a couple
Speaker 1: practical suggestions to lower the fear.
Speaker 2: In your life.
Speaker 1: Number One, turn off talk radio and negative TV news shows.
Speaker 1: Study show that the more you listen to those kind
Speaker 1: of shows, the more angry and more fearful you become.
Speaker 2: Let's just turn it off. You don't need it.
Speaker 1: Number Two, start hanging out with people of faith instead
Speaker 1: of people of fear instead. It's one of the reasons
Speaker 1: you need the church family. You need to get into
Speaker 1: small group. Now, let me give you a third practical
Speaker 1: antidote to the worry and fears that come with setbacks. Okay,
Speaker 1: this is definitely from God. Number three, Fill my mind
Speaker 1: with music that praises God.
Speaker 2: He said, what yep, if.
Speaker 1: You're having problems with panic, with anxiety, with fear, fill
Speaker 1: my mind with music that praises God. Did you know
Speaker 1: the Bible teaches over and over again that praise is
Speaker 1: the antidote to panic, that worship is the cure for worry.
Speaker 1: You know, we do this instinctively whenever there's a crisis
Speaker 1: like a hurricane. Okay, people instinctively cry out to God.
Speaker 1: People cry Oh God, why because you lose your fear
Speaker 1: when God is near.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I had a neighbor once to tell me, said, you know, Rick,
Speaker 1: when I was going through the darkest days of fear,
Speaker 1: I bought a ten CD set of praise music and
Speaker 1: I just.
Speaker 2: Listened to it over and over and over. He said.
Speaker 1: It gave me both comfort and courage. You might need
Speaker 1: to do something like that. Fill your mind with the
Speaker 1: music of praise. You know, when Matthew, our youngest son,
Speaker 1: died a few years ago, Kay and I we didn't
Speaker 1: turn on the TV for well over a month. Instead,
Speaker 1: we filled our home with praise music. Do you know
Speaker 1: what Mary did when she felt fearful and aquid. She
Speaker 1: wrote a song of praise and she sang it. In fact,
Speaker 1: Mary's song is in Luke chapter one. You might read it.
Speaker 1: It's verse forty six to fifty six. It's a long song,
Speaker 1: but part of it says this. Then Mary sang, with
Speaker 1: all my heart, I praised the Lord. She's scared to death,
Speaker 1: but she says, with all my heart, I praise the Lord.
Speaker 1: I rejoice in God, my Savior, for he notices and
Speaker 1: cares for me, simple servant girl. He's blessed me. And
Speaker 1: he's the mighty one who's holy. He's all powerful, he
Speaker 1: can do anything. He meets all our needs. He keeps
Speaker 1: all his promises. She's just filling her mind with who
Speaker 1: God is and what he can do. You know, we're
Speaker 1: talking about the Christmas story. It's no accident that Christmas
Speaker 1: is the most music centered holiday because at the very
Speaker 1: first Christmas, everybody sang. Elizabeth sang, the angels sang, the
Speaker 1: shepherds sang, Zachariah sang. If you're having a problem with
Speaker 1: anxiety and fear, you need to fill your life with music.
Speaker 1: You need to sing the songs at worship of worship
Speaker 1: on the weekends at church. Now, let me give you
Speaker 1: a fourth way to defeat the fears to come with setbacks.
Speaker 1: Base my hope on the promises of God. Base my
Speaker 1: hope not on what I think I can do, but
Speaker 1: what on God has promised to do. Now, this is
Speaker 1: what gives Mary and Joseph such confidence. In Luke, Chapter one,
Speaker 1: verse forty five, Mary says to Elizabeth, you're blessed because
Speaker 1: you believe that the Lord would do what he said.
Speaker 1: Do you believe the Lord will do what he said?
Speaker 1: And so I'm fifty six, verse three and four. David
Speaker 1: says this. You know, when I'm afraid, I put my
Speaker 1: trust in God. And when I trust in God, I'm
Speaker 1: not afraid I praise him for what he's promised. I
Speaker 1: praise him or what he's promised. There is the fourth
Speaker 1: antidote to when you're overwhelmed with anxiety, when you're filled
Speaker 1: with fear, when you.
Speaker 2: Are pummeled by panic.
Speaker 1: Now, friends, I don't know what's set back you're facing
Speaker 1: right now. I don't know what fear is holding you back.
Speaker 1: I don't know what anxiety is keeping you up or
Speaker 1: gnawing at your heart. But I do know this that
Speaker 1: if you'll take these four simple steps, you will move
Speaker 1: toward your comeback, and you'll move out of your setback,
Speaker 1: and your setback will be the stepping stone to your future.
Speaker 1: Let's review, surrender my life completely to God every day.
Speaker 1: Stop listening to the voices of fear. Fill my mind
Speaker 1: with music that praises God, and base my hope on
Speaker 1: his promises. Let's bow our heads Father. This stuff is
Speaker 1: so practical, it's simple. Anybody could understand it. And yet
Speaker 1: only if we do it will it make a difference.
Speaker 1: To hear a message will not change our lives, but
Speaker 1: to practice it, to do it, to put it into
Speaker 1: application in our lives, will make permanent changes. And Lord,
Speaker 1: I pray for everyone listening to this message right now.
Speaker 1: There are people who are filled with fear. They're panicked
Speaker 1: about things in their lives. They've been trying to control
Speaker 1: the uncontrollable. They've been worried about what other people think.
Speaker 1: They've had set back that have changed the agenda, and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, their plans have been thrown out
Speaker 1: the door, and they don't know which way to turn.
Speaker 1: And just like Herod and just like Zachariah and the
Speaker 1: shepherds and Joseph and Mary what they thought was going
Speaker 1: to happen, and where they thought they were headed, it
Speaker 1: didn't happen. And they're going in a different direction right now.
Speaker 1: And there have been setbacks. And Lord, we know that
Speaker 1: the natural thing is to be afraid and be fearful
Speaker 1: and to be scared. But you've told this these simple steps,
Speaker 1: so may we take them today. Why don't you pray
Speaker 1: this prayer in your heart? Say God, I surrender my
Speaker 1: life completely to you. Say that, God, I surrender my
Speaker 1: life completely, including the things that are scaring me to death,
Speaker 1: including the things that have me worried and anxious, including
Speaker 1: the things that are causing me panic or anxiety.
Speaker 2: I give this to you. I surrender it to you.
Speaker 1: And then say, Lord, I want to fill my life
Speaker 1: with faith, not fear. So I want to stop listening
Speaker 1: to the voices of fear, even my own voices. I
Speaker 1: want to listen only to your voice. I want to
Speaker 1: listen to your word, to your promises. And I want
Speaker 1: to fill my life with the music of praise and
Speaker 1: replace panic with praise, and replace worry with worship. And
Speaker 1: when I start to worry, help me to turn my
Speaker 1: thoughts to you. The solution instead of the problem. And
Speaker 1: I ask you, Lord to help me to move into
Speaker 1: the days ahead trusting in your promises, putting my hope
Speaker 1: not in myself or even in my plans, or putting
Speaker 1: my hope in you. If you've never invited Jesus Christ
Speaker 1: to your life, say Jesus Christ, come into my life
Speaker 1: right now and become the manager. I want to follow
Speaker 1: you as best I know how from this day forward. Father,
Speaker 1: I asked that you give everyone in our church family
Speaker 1: a sense of peace this next week. Bless them in
Speaker 1: every area with peace and with power and with your
Speaker 1: presence in the name of the Father and the Son
Speaker 1: and the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: Amen.