Navigating Anxiety: Embracing Fear with Faith
Summary
### Summary
This morning, we gathered to explore the pervasive issue of anxiety in our culture. Anxiety, which has risen dramatically in recent years, affects both the young and the old, altering the way we live and interact with the world. We examined how anxiety is essentially a fear of loss—whether it be health, relationships, or stability. I shared personal anecdotes and referenced Curtis Chang's book, "The Anxiety Opportunity," to illustrate how anxiety can cripple even those in ministry.
We discussed how society often frames anxiety as something to be eradicated, either through prayer or therapy. However, both approaches can fall short if we expect them to eliminate anxiety entirely. Instead, we should reframe anxiety as something we must go through, not something we can make disappear. Jesus' experience in the Garden of Gethsemane serves as a powerful example. He faced immense anxiety but reframed it from something to be avoided to something to be endured with God's help.
We explored practical steps to manage anxiety: naming it, submitting it to God, and seeking support from friends. By doing so, we can move through our fears and anxieties, trusting that God will guide us through to the other side, where we can experience His resurrection power. This journey through anxiety can lead to greater maturity and resilience in our faith.
### Key Takeaways
1. Anxiety as Feared Loss: Anxiety is fundamentally the fear of losing something valuable. This could be health, relationships, or stability. Recognizing this helps us understand why anxiety is so pervasive and difficult to eliminate. Naming our specific fears can help us confront them more effectively. [51:13]
2. Reframing Anxiety: Instead of viewing anxiety as something to be eradicated, we should see it as something to be endured with God's help. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane exemplifies this approach. He faced his anxiety head-on, reframing it from something to avoid to something to go through with divine assistance. [01:04:52]
3. Practical Steps to Manage Anxiety: Naming our anxieties, submitting them to God, and seeking support from friends are crucial steps. By doing so, we can objectify our fears, lay them at God's feet, and gain strength from our community. This approach helps us move through anxiety rather than getting stuck in it. [01:12:09]
4. The Role of Community: Sharing our anxieties with trusted friends can provide the support we need to face our fears. Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to stay awake and pray with Him, showing the importance of community in dealing with anxiety. [01:13:26]
5. Resurrection Power Through Anxiety: By going through our anxieties and losses with God's help, we can experience His resurrection power. This journey can lead to greater maturity and resilience in our faith, enabling us to face future challenges with confidence. [01:10:04]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[41:05] - Introduction and Personal Reflections
[41:47] - The Role of Trevecca Nazarene University
[42:25] - Graduates in the Marketplace
[43:04] - Worship and Memories
[44:21] - The Church as a Gathering
[44:55] - Prayer and Need for God
[46:03] - The New Pandemic: Anxiety
[47:12] - Personal Story: My Father
[48:48] - Anxiety Among the Young
[49:53] - Curtis Chang's Testimony
[51:13] - Defining Anxiety: Feared Loss
[54:24] - Cultural Approaches to Anxiety
[57:31] - The Inevitability of Loss
[01:02:28] - Jesus in Gethsemane
[01:04:52] - Reframing Anxiety
[01:10:04] - Resurrection Power Through Anxiety
[01:12:09] - Practical Steps to Manage Anxiety
[01:18:52] - Closing Prayer and Benediction
Study Guide
### Bible Reading
1. Mark 14:32-36 (NRSV)
> They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.”
2. Philippians 2:5-8 (NRSV)
> Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.
### Observation Questions
1. What emotions did Jesus experience in the Garden of Gethsemane according to Mark 14:32-36?
2. How did Jesus respond to His anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane? ([01:04:52])
3. According to Philippians 2:5-8, what attitude did Jesus demonstrate in facing His suffering?
4. What practical steps were suggested in the sermon to manage anxiety? ([01:12:09])
### Interpretation Questions
1. Why is it significant that Jesus experienced distress and agitation in the Garden of Gethsemane? ([01:02:28])
2. How does Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36) reflect a shift in His approach to anxiety?
3. In what ways does Philippians 2:5-8 encourage believers to handle their own anxieties and fears?
4. How does reframing anxiety as something to endure with God's help change our perspective on dealing with it? ([01:04:52])
### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you felt deep anxiety. How did you handle it, and what might you do differently after hearing this sermon? ([01:12:09])
2. Jesus asked His disciples to stay awake and pray with Him during His time of anxiety. Who are the "Peter, James, and John" in your life that you can turn to for support? ([01:13:26])
3. The sermon mentioned naming your anxieties and submitting them to God. What specific anxieties do you need to name and submit to God this week? ([01:12:09])
4. How can you reframe a current anxiety in your life from something to be eradicated to something to be endured with God's help? ([01:04:52])
5. The sermon highlighted the importance of community in dealing with anxiety. How can you be a supportive friend to someone else who is struggling with anxiety? ([01:13:26])
6. Reflect on Philippians 2:5-8. How can adopting the mindset of Christ help you face your own fears and anxieties?
7. What practical steps can you take this week to move through your anxieties, trusting in God's guidance and support? ([01:12:09])
Devotional
Day 1: Understanding Anxiety as Feared Loss
Anxiety is fundamentally the fear of losing something valuable. This could be health, relationships, or stability. Recognizing this helps us understand why anxiety is so pervasive and difficult to eliminate. Naming our specific fears can help us confront them more effectively. [51:13]
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or 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?" (Matthew 6:25, ESV)
Reflection: Identify one specific fear that is causing you anxiety today. How can you name this fear and bring it before God in prayer?
Day 2: Reframing Anxiety
Instead of viewing anxiety as something to be eradicated, we should see it as something to be endured with God's help. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane exemplifies this approach. He faced his anxiety head-on, reframing it from something to avoid to something to go through with divine assistance. [01:04:52]
"And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.'" (Matthew 26:39, ESV)
Reflection: Think about a current situation where you are experiencing anxiety. How can you reframe this anxiety as something to endure with God's help rather than something to avoid?
Day 3: Practical Steps to Manage Anxiety
Naming our anxieties, submitting them to God, and seeking support from friends are crucial steps. By doing so, we can objectify our fears, lay them at God's feet, and gain strength from our community. This approach helps us move through anxiety rather than getting stuck in it. [01:12:09]
"Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7, ESV)
Reflection: What is one practical step you can take today to manage your anxiety? Can you name your anxiety, submit it to God, or seek support from a trusted friend?
Day 4: The Role of Community
Sharing our anxieties with trusted friends can provide the support we need to face our fears. Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to stay awake and pray with Him, showing the importance of community in dealing with anxiety. [01:13:26]
"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2, ESV)
Reflection: Who in your life can you trust to share your anxieties with? How can you reach out to them today for support and prayer?
Day 5: Resurrection Power Through Anxiety
By going through our anxieties and losses with God's help, we can experience His resurrection power. This journey can lead to greater maturity and resilience in our faith, enabling us to face future challenges with confidence. [01:10:04]
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3, ESV)
Reflection: Reflect on a past experience where you went through anxiety and came out stronger in your faith. How can this memory encourage you to trust in God's resurrection power in your current struggles?
Quotes
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "The new pandemic in our culture is anxiety. Anxiety. A deep restlessness within our culture that is changing the way that we live. Since 2011, we have watched anxiety rise in the American population from about 11% to today. 2011 to today. To around 62% of Americans who say, I suffer with anxiety at some level that impacts my life significantly." [46:03] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "Anxiety is feared loss. Feared loss. It is the anticipation that something that really matters to me is going to go away or someone's going to take it from me or it's going to disappear. I remember a few years ago I think it was around six years ago now that I was sitting in the doctor's office and the doctor looked at me and he said Dan, it's cancer. It's probably not going to kill you but we're going to make your life miserable for the next few years." [51:13] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Anxiety wins when we get stuck in it. It wins when we get paralyzed. It wins when the hamster in the cage just keeps going round and round. It wins when we believe that certainly one more turn of the Rubik's Cube and I'll solve this problem. It wins when we get stuck in it and angry because of it. It wins when we are doing all this numbing out kind of stuff to make it go away." [01:07:53] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "Anxiety is defeated when we decide that by the help of the father we will go through this. And I think this right here brings us to a pivotal moment in what I would call the weakening of Christianity in America today as I look at it. Because we have begun to look at our faith as those who are cross avoiders instead of cross carriers." [01:08:23] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "The only way that we will ever experience the resurrection power of God is to go through the anxiety which even may take us through loss. To know that on the other side of that is the power of the God who resurrects the dead. And we will find resurrection in our own situations as we walk with God through those times." [01:10:04] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
### Quotes for Members
1. "Anxiety is not something that's going to that we can make go away. Anxiety is something that we must go through by bearing the cross that has been given to us recognizing that what we fear losing we may well lose. But whether we lose it or not we will go through it with the help of the father. And Jesus becomes the model and the example for us here in this story in the garden of Gethsemane." [01:09:28] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "Entrusting our fear of loss into the hands of the Lord. The father is a very hard thing to do because the father may not remove that loss that is in front of us and we may have to go through it. And it's framing our anxiety as something that the father will get us through by his own grace." [01:06:31] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Jesus comes to the point where he realizes this isn't going away. This isn't going to change. I'm going to be crucified. And he entrusts himself to the father to deal with the anxiety that he founds. Anxiety wins when we get stuck in it. It wins when we get paralyzed. It wins when the hamster in the cage just keeps going round and round." [01:07:53] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "So I'm asking you this morning the thing that you're holding right there in your lap that thing that you most fear about tomorrow that thing you fear losing can you reframe that? can you reframe it from something you want to go away? can you reframe it to something that you will and you can go through by the help of God?" [01:12:09] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "I love what Peter says in his benediction prayer he's writing to a church that's experiencing persecution in a pagan culture and these are the words he says to them humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you in due time cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." [01:14:00] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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