Scripture 2
Kings 6:1-7
JOKE: Dear Frank. We've been neighbors for six tumultuous years. When you borrowed my tiller, you returned it in pieces. When I was sick, you blasted rap music. And when your dog went to the bathroom all over my lawn, you laughed. I could go on, but I'm certainly not one to hold grudges. So, I am writing this letter to tell you that your house is on fire. Cordially, Bob
That’s funny, but borrowing your
neighbors’ tools can have serious consequences, especially if you lose or break
one. I recently borrow some tools from my neighbor. I have a dog who likes to
chew – well anything. Yep, he chewed up the neighbor’s tool I had borrowed.
Needless to say, this created a bit of anxiety on my part. Fortunately for me,
I was able to find the exact make and model in a store and gave it to my
neighbor with the explanation as to why I bought him a new one.
JOKE: Dear Frank. We've been neighbors for six tumultuous years. When you borrowed my tiller, you returned it in pieces. When I was sick, you blasted rap music. And when your dog went to the bathroom all over my lawn, you laughed. I could go on, but I'm certainly not one to hold grudges. So, I am writing this letter to tell you that your house is on fire. Cordially, Bob
ANXIETY IN
AMERICA
Anxiety is the most common mental illness in the country.
Who is experiencing anxiety in our country right now?
Healthcare workers.
Airline attendants.
Employers who can’t get help. (Including - Churches who can’t find pastors.)
Teachers / Students
First Responders / Police officers
Politicians
Small Business owners
All ages, races, male & female, and across all socio-economic parts of society.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is worried thoughts and associated physical changes like increased heart rate. Anxiety is natural, anxiety disorders are more extreme. Anxiety disorders involve intense fears with more severe physical responses that can interfere with a person’s daily life. Living with anxiety is like living with a piece of iron across your shoulders weighing you down.
It should come as no surprise that many mental health consultants blame the rise of the internet, and social media especially, for anxiety in teens and twenty-somethings. Comparing lifestyles depicted in social media and a fear of missing out (FOMO) are likely causes of anxiety as well as the way social media ironically makes people feel lonely. Not to mention the fact that social media is addictive, producing the same increase in dopamine that drugs give you. At this point, it appears anxiety and millennials are intertwined.
With the rise in technology also came an increase in artificial lighting and bad sleep habits. The blue light waves from your phone or computers late at night can have twice the adverse effects on your body’s production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, than normal artificial light. Could something as simple as unplugging alleviate some of the anxiety in millennials?
(fire & candlelight – to gas & oil lamps – to electric lights, to television, to computers & phones)
We could focus
on how someone might overcome anxiety – which is a Christian thing to do BTW. God
cares about the smallest details of your life – he doesn’t want you living with
anxiety and fear. 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all
your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
HIStory “Can iron float?
2 Kings 6:1-7
The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live."
And he said, "Go."
3 Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?"
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"
JESUS GIVES
PEACE
When Jesus healed someone, he would often say what? “Your faith has made you well, go in peace.”
John
14:25-27 “All
this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind
you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to
you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid.”
CONCLUSION
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Notice the condition:
Prayer – coming to God (coming into His presence – “Surely the presence,,,”)
Petition – asking God (James 4:2 You do not have, because you do not ask God.
John 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.)
Praise – thanking God (Ps 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts
When you break the
tool you borrowed from your neighbor, God can work a miracle moving you on a
pathway from Anxiety to Peace: Prayer, Petition, & Praise… And the peace
of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your
minds in Christ Jesus.
Living with
anxiety is like living with a piece of iron across your shoulders
weighing you down.
Jesus took, not a piece of iron, but a beam of wood on his shoulders and bore it for us. He died and was buried in a sealed tomb. God threw a stick down form heaven that rolled away the stone and lifted Jesus out of that tomb of death. And now he tells us to reach out and grab him.
Anxiety is the most common mental illness in the country.
Who is experiencing anxiety in our country right now?
Healthcare workers.
Airline attendants.
Employers who can’t get help. (Including - Churches who can’t find pastors.)
Teachers / Students
First Responders / Police officers
Politicians
Small Business owners
All ages, races, male & female, and across all socio-economic parts of society.
Anxiety is worried thoughts and associated physical changes like increased heart rate. Anxiety is natural, anxiety disorders are more extreme. Anxiety disorders involve intense fears with more severe physical responses that can interfere with a person’s daily life. Living with anxiety is like living with a piece of iron across your shoulders weighing you down.
It should come as no surprise that many mental health consultants blame the rise of the internet, and social media especially, for anxiety in teens and twenty-somethings. Comparing lifestyles depicted in social media and a fear of missing out (FOMO) are likely causes of anxiety as well as the way social media ironically makes people feel lonely. Not to mention the fact that social media is addictive, producing the same increase in dopamine that drugs give you. At this point, it appears anxiety and millennials are intertwined.
With the rise in technology also came an increase in artificial lighting and bad sleep habits. The blue light waves from your phone or computers late at night can have twice the adverse effects on your body’s production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, than normal artificial light. Could something as simple as unplugging alleviate some of the anxiety in millennials?
(fire & candlelight – to gas & oil lamps – to electric lights, to television, to computers & phones)
HIStory “Can iron float?
2 Kings 6:1-7
The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live."
And he said, "Go."
3 Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?"
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"
When Jesus healed someone, he would often say what? “Your faith has made you well, go in peace.”
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Prayer – coming to God (coming into His presence – “Surely the presence,,,”)
Petition – asking God (James 4:2 You do not have, because you do not ask God.
John 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.)
Praise – thanking God (Ps 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts
Jesus took, not a piece of iron, but a beam of wood on his shoulders and bore it for us. He died and was buried in a sealed tomb. God threw a stick down form heaven that rolled away the stone and lifted Jesus out of that tomb of death. And now he tells us to reach out and grab him.
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