Yeah, man, I'm glad that you're here today. We are in what is my favorite season here at the church, and it's not the winter. I hate being cold. I hate everything about it. Um, there's nothing that puts me in a bad mood like being cold, but I'm glad I'm here with you.

Um, when I say my favorite season, uh, I mean 21 days, what we call 21 days of prayer. This is a thing that we've done for as long as I can remember. And, and listen, we're, we're not unique in this. This is a thing that we do. We, we join in with hundreds, thousands of, of other churches around the world to set aside some time right here at the beginning of the year to say, look, we wanna walk into the year and all that.

It's gonna hold dedicated to prayer, right? We wanna set some time here to say, this is a space and this is time for prayer and for fasting. And listen, if that is, if that is overwhelming to you, you don't really know where to begin. Or maybe like every year you're on this train and you're like, yeah, this is the year prayer habit. Here I go.

And then by January 16th, you're off the wagon. Like, just know we've got all of the resources available for you that, that hopefully will help. You can download the app, they're all right there. And just something to help you kind of take a step to begin to answer some of those, like how, what, where kind of questions. Um, and listen, our, our goal here, our invite is, is just to invite you to take a step in to, to kind of take a step in, in this process with us.

We kicked off this, this series and the season last week with, with hopefully like a little bit of a reset if you're here for that. Like Craig, our lead pastor Craig, challenged us to, to kinda reset a little bit, if we could take our, our experiences and our expectations about this thing, right? This thing called the church. If we could take our, our expectations of this and kind of set it to the side a little bit, like, what should this be? What, what should this look like and feel like?

What should we experience as a part of the church? And when I say the church, I mean people gathered together for the purpose of knowing, loving and following Jesus, right? Do we get any clarity? Do we get anything from God, from his word about what this should look like? And and the answer is, yeah, we, we do, we get some language, we get some clarity around that.

The Book of Acts tells us a lot, right? Acts, if you did not know this, Matthew, mark, Luke, John Acts, the Book of Acts is, is written by a man named Luke. Luke writes, the acts of the apostles is really what that, that means. Uh, and, and it's all about the story of the apostles, the disciples, those that that followed Jesus the closest for his time on earth, his ministry on earth after his death, his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension. The, the disciples, the apostles are left with kind of being commissioned to go and finish the work, to go and complete the work that he has started.

And so, so we get this picture right. Acts one tells us that after the ascension of Jesus, the the apostles are gathered together and they're praying. They've got nothing else. That was the last thing Jesus told 'em to do. So they get together and they start praying.

And Scripture tells us that as they pray, this is Acts chapter one. As they pray, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the presence of God falls down in a miraculous way over the apostles and empowered by the spirit, empowered by the presence of God. They begin to preach the Gospel, the good news of Jesus, right? That, that Jesus offers hope and, and eternal rescue and salvation and redemption. And as they preach, thousands are saved.

Luke tells us 3000 actual numbers, 3000, 3000 people are saved. And so overnight, and this just really dramatic way the church is born, this thing that you and I are still a part of thousands of years later, it pops up overnight. And we have these thousands of people who are, who are committed, they want to, they wanna, they wanna know more about Jesus. They wanna look, they wanna follow in his way. But, but what is it gonna look like as all of these people pursue this together?

And so we, we get a picture in Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two, verse 42 is really the first description we see of the church. I want you to see this verse. This is what Craig preached on last week. This is the first thing we see about the church is they're gathered together.

It says that they were devoted, they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching being the word of God, right? The apostles taught the words of Jesus, the way of Jesus. They, they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching to the fellowship and the breaking of bread, which is just to say like community and life together. And they were devoted to prayers. They were devoted to the word of God to fellowship and prayers.

And so this then becomes our mark, right? This kind of becomes a target for us. Like if nothing else is said, if this could be said of us, like, listen, there, there's a lot of great things that could be said about venture church and love being a part of this faith family, this church, right? We, we could say that every week, man, we get to be a part of some incredible worship at five different locations, physical locations, all across South Mississippi, me, some incredible worship, right? We have some, some passionate and really good looking communicators, right?

We got some, some, uh, incredible facilities. Man. God has blessed our church with some great facilities to, to not only gather and worship, but so that our kids can, can have a safe and warm and welcoming environment. And we've got partners that men are, would do anything, right? They're, they're welcoming, they're serving, they're loving, would do anything so that one more person could no love and follow Jesus.

And all of that is true. And then I celebrate all of that. But the reality is, if we had all of that and we miss this, I think we'd miss the Mark A. Little bit. Great worship, great communicators, great facilities.

But, but man, if we, if we miss, if we weren't devoted to the word of God and fellowship and prayer, I, I think we'd miss the Mark A. Little bit. And so this, this kind of becomes our guide, right? If we could lay all the other expectations aside, this, this becomes our, our guide. Now, I think that that is going to require something of us though, okay?

And, and listen, that's not like the serve more, give more setup, okay? Don't worry, that's not coming at you. But if we're gonna do, if we're gonna be people who are devoted to God's word, and when I say that, like there, there's more there than just hearing God's word, right? Like the Scripture says, to, to not only hear, but be doers of the word. And so if we're gonna be devoted to God's word, that means we're gonna be devoted to, to our life being shaped and framed by what God teaches us in his word, by the words of Jesus and the the words of God, all throughout those pages, like our, our actions and our thoughts and our words are gonna be set by his word.

We're gonna be devoted to it. If we're gonna be devoted to, to fellowship, to life with one another. Like, I don't know if you know this or not, but like, people are messy and, and, and life's just not always great with one another, right? Like when you, when you get up shoulder to shoulder to life with people, like there's problems if you realize that or not. But like you got problems, you bring problems to the table and so do they.

And like, it, it just kind of creates a mess. But if we're gonna be devoted to, to God's word, and to fellowship and to prayer, then especially in a culture that, that doesn't necessarily celebrate that kind of devotion, then I think it's gonna require us to be people of, of faith, people of grace, and people of prayer. And Craig told you last week, like that's, we're gonna unpack those over the next couple of weeks, right? What it looks like to live and grow in, in faith and grace and prayer so that we can be devoted to, so that what we read in acts could be set of venture church across South Mississippi. That man, this is a group of people devoted to God's word and fellowship and prayer.

So here's where we're gonna start. Matthew chapter six, the Gospel of Matthew chapter six. We pick up there kind of what is about the middle of what, what we traditionally call the Sermon on the Mount. And the Sermon on the Mount is, is like the first big, uh, stepping out onto the scene of Jesus. It's the first big sermon, first big teaching message that Matthew records of Jesus.

He has this crowd. Jesus has this crowd around him. He sits down on a heel and he begins to teach. And this isn't the only time he teaches these things. You kind of see throughout the gospels that, that these teachings that make up this sermon, they kind of become foundational to his ministry.

That he'll, he'll take pieces and parts of this and repeat 'em all throughout his ministry. But we get Matthew chapter six. Uh, where we're gonna start is verse 25. Okay? So we're gonna read, I'll tell you what, we're just gonna read verse 25 through 34.

There's, there's one big section here. And then, um, we're, we're going to kinda walk through it a little bit at a time. Okay? Let's read it first. Matthew chapter six, verse 25 says this, this is Jesus teaching.

He says, therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you'll eat or what you'll drink, nor about your body, what you'll put on. It's not life more than food and the body more than clothing. I mean, look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor eat, nor gather into barns. And yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to a span of life? And 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 so richest, greatest king in the Old Testament, even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so close the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, well he not much more cloth you. Oh, you of little faith. 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 these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all of these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Uh, I, I had a, a guy, Chad, who serves here at Lincoln Row, he asked me earlier today, he said, man, I was looking at your notes. How do you do with anxiety? Are you an anxious person? Do you, how do you do with worry? And, and honestly, like here's what I would say, I, I don't carry around a whole lot of anxiety.

Like I'm not a highly anxious person, at least not externally. Um, I've got like, like one speed, one movement, speed. And it's not all that fast. I think it drives my wife crazy. You know, like, I mean, we can be walking around the block or the house could be on fire, and I've got like one pace, one cadence, and it ain't all that fast.

I don't carry around like a whole lot of anxiety externally. But, but worry is, worry is a little bit of a different conversation. And, and here's what I want you to see, okay? We walk through this text, we tend to key in on, on the negative phrases that we read. Do not be anxious, do not worry.

And, and that, yes, the reason we key in there is because that's the emphasis of this passage. But what I want you to see is that there's more here than the negative than the do not, like I don't carry around a whole lot of anxiety. Not because I've mastered this text. I promise you I have not. I think it's 'cause I drink so much coffee that my mind doesn't even know how to register adrenaline anymore.

I'm just, I've, I've ruined that self. It's not a great life act. But what I want you to see as we walk through this text is that, that there's more than the negative. There's the positive that Jesus is pointing us to on the other side of the worry that he's leading us away from is the faith that allows us to be the devoted church that we see in acts to live out that faith, right? Jesus even gives us that comparison.

Verse 30, he says, oh, you, he ends that phrase, oh, you of little faith. It's almost as if he's saying to worry is to have little or have no faith. Now, that may sound harsh. Okay? So let me just, let, let, let me offer some clarifiers and then I wanna walk through this text a little bit at a time.

Okay? Here's the first thing I wanna say. Even though I read and, and we saw on the screen the word anxious, do not be anxious. I wanna use the word worry. Do not worry.

'Cause I do think there's a difference there. And some of your translations say that some of your translations already say worry. And, and both are good and right translation of, of what Matthew says, of the Greek anxious and worry. But I think for you and I, in our, in the waters that we swim in, in our current cultural climate, like when we hear anxious and anxiety, we tend to picture certain things, right? Like a lot of times anxiety disorders or things that, that involve trauma or chemical imbalances, right?

Like we tend to go there when we hear, we think about anxious. And I don't think that is what is on the radar of Jesus. Okay? Like I don't think that's what he's speaking. Now, I do think that there are a lot of passages in Scripture that do speak to that reality.

I don't think that is what Jesus is aiming at here, right? Rather, I think what he's aiming at is, is our thought pattern, sometimes intentional, sometimes not, but our thought patterns that affect and influence our life. But let me offer a definition that, that may help, okay? That may give a little bit of clarity. When I say worry, here's what I'm talking about.

Okay? Worry is to allow one's mind to dwell. And man, this language is important to allow and to dwell, to allow one's mind to dwell on difficulties or troubles. Now, here's the deal. I told you like, I, I don't carry a whole lot of anxiety externally, and, and I've never been diagnosed with clinical anxiety, okay?

But this, to allow one's mind to dwell on difficulties or troubles, listen, no matter how cool, calm, collected you are, this is a thing. None of us are exempt or immune from mean. Many of you know our story. Like, like listen, there's only so many nights you get in a hospital with a sick child before you're dwelling a whole lot on troubles and difficulties, right? Like none of us, none of us are immune or exempt from this.

Whether like clinical anxiety is on your radar or not to allow one's mind to dwell on difficulties or troubles. That's what I think Jesus is aiming at here. And that, that is, is totally different than like wise planning, right? Like to think ahead and to plan ahead. Like that's a thing Scripture would tell us to do, to count the cost to consider what this path, what this thing may cost us, and to plan ahead to think ahead.

It's also different from concern. There's a little bit of a different nuance there, but there is a difference between concern and worry. And, and, and here's how I would draw that distinction. Concern is oftentimes rooted in responsibility. So for example, like as a, as a husband and as a father, I'm responsible for the wellbeing of my family.

Therefore, I'm concerned when my wife never answers the phone, when I call, right? Concern, worry, worry's different though, worry is rooted oftentimes in fear. So we're concerned is, is is rooted in responsibility, worry is rooted in fear, oftentimes fear of things that we cannot control. And so if I wanted to say that in a stronger way, here's what I would say, worry worships fear. And you're like, oh, come on, man, way too much.

Like I don't, I don't worship the fear, I don't praise the fear, I don't want it. But that's not, that's not really what worship is like, worship isn't, worship isn't just what we, we sing praises to, like that's a part of it. Yeah. But worship at its base, like worship is what we give our mind and our heart to worship is where our minds and our hearts go in the free space. And so when we have that moment, what it is that we, back to our definition, what is, what is it that we begin to dwell on?

That's what we, that's what our lives are aimed at worshiping. Which is why, by the way, like all of the teachings in Scripture about not worshiping other gods are far more relevant for you and me than we tend to give them credit for. Because worship isn't just like creating golden statues of things, right? Worship, worship is what gets our, our hearts and our minds attention the most. Worship worry begins to worship that fear.

Now let me, so we we're kinda on the same page with, with where we're at. As Jesus says, do not worship kind of what we're talking about here. I hope so. This means yes. Okay, good.

Um, so let's do this. I I wanna walk back through the Scripture that we read a couple of verses at a time, because three times in this passage, Jesus says, do not worry. And I think with each time he gives us something a little bit unique, a little bit different, okay? So let's walk back through it. Look at the first couple of verses of what we read.

Matthew chapter six, um, starting in verse 25. He says, therefore, I tell you, now Paul's right here for just a second. I, I'm not gonna spend a long time on this, but I wanna do this real quick. A lot of times, uh, we, we've said this before, like when you are reading Scripture, you come across this phrase, therefore it should always kind of clue you in to look backwards a little bit, right? Like there, whatever I just said, therefore, here's what I'm gonna tell you now, right?

And so you look back to see what's framing what he's saying here. And so if we go back a verse to verse 24, this is the end of a teaching. What we, Jesus is talking about the things we treasure in life, right? He says, no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted. There's a word again.

Or he'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. Here's the summary. You cannot serve God and money. You cannot serve God. And you can put anything else in the blank.

This is just a teaching on money. Here, what Jesus is saying here is, Hey, there's only one thing that gets your worship. There's only one thing that gets your heart and your mind's attention and focus. And it can't be something other than God. Therefore, you cannot serve God and money, therefore, don't worry.

And and I think like I, I think what Jesus is kind of forcing us into to questioning and, and, and considering is, could it be, could it be that the root of our worry and our fear is that we, we treasure the wrong things? That our treasure is misplaced? I mean, could, could it be that the, that what's at the heart of our, our worry and our fear? Could it be that we, we've begun to treasure the gift more than the giver? Could it be that we, we love what God has given us more than we love God?

You cannot serve God and money, therefore, I'll tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you'll eat or what you'll drink, nor about your body. What you'll 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 re nor gather into barns. And yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they? Now I think with, with these verses I told you in this, um, this section, Jesus tells us three different times, don't worry. And with each one, he offers us something a little bit different. Each one, he, he gives us kind of a, a why, right? Like he's not pulling the dad card of 'cause I told you so, which if anybody can do that, by the way, it's Jesus God in flesh.

But he doesn't, he, he gives us, honestly, even more than a why he gives us an action to lean into. And so like when that worry and when that fear begins to well up and begins to consume your thoughts, what do I do to take hold of it? What do I do to take that captive and live in the faith that we see in the church? How do I do that? Well, he, he gives us that in this section.

I wanna show you three times, right? Here's what I believe he says. First, don't worry. Instead consider, think about pay attention to God's compassion and God's care, especially for his creation. And if you got like a little hippie in you, you can vibe with this teaching of Jesus, right?

Ah, man, don't worry. Go look at the birds, go look at the flowers. They're so pretty and listen out on chirp. Isn't that great? And, and look, I I love to be outside, not in the cold.

I hate being cold. I don't know if I've said that or not. Like being outside. I don't like, I struggle with this part. I really do.

Like I'm not great at this. The whole like contemplating and thinking about what creation tells me about its creator, maybe for you, maybe it hits a little bit closer to say like, Hey man, don't worry. Just go get in the tree stand and, and just be at peace. Hey, don't worry. Go, go get out on the lake on the boat and just, just look at the waves.

I love that stuff. I'm just, I'm not, I'm really not all that great. But the point, the point here is not, it's not the birds, it's not the flowers, it's not the woods, it's not the waves. The, the point here is the value. Go back to verse 26.

I want you to see this, this is what we read just a second ago. Jesus says, are you, are you not of more value than they man? For, for some of us, this is the most important thing you could hear today. But you're valued. Like you don't, don't breeze past this statement.

You, God has placed value of you have worth in the eyes of God. Not some arbitrary person, but the creator and sustainer of the universe sees you. Mom sees you, dad sees you, husband sees you, college student sees you and says, yeah, you're worthy. Yeah, there's, there's value, like, not, not you that, that achieves things that work not you, that, that graduates honor roll not you. That that brings whatever to the table.

You behind the mask, you, you, you, the, the you that only you know, God says there's value, there's worth in your life, over your life. And what worry does is worry ignores that worry, denies the worth that God sees you in, worry ignores the value that God's placed over you. Don't worry. Instead, consider the way God cares for his creation. Let's keep going.

Skip down to verse 31. Verse 31. Therefore, do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear for the Gentiles and for the original audience?

Like when, when they hear this word, gentiles, what that means for them is, is all the people that are outside of the faith, family, all of the people that are not following in the ways of Jesus, right? Or in the ways of God for the Gentiles seek after all of these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all of these things will be added to you. So for my note takers, here's your second point, don't worry.

Instead pursue God over provisions. Now, in case we like take the last illustration a little bit too far, uh, Jesus gives us a little bit of clarity here, right? The birds and the flowers. Listen, lemme just give you this really practically, okay? You don't have the, the option, the right to, to do nothing and claim it as faith.

Okay? Like really practically, okay? And this is not me picking on anybody, just practical example. Like you don't get the option to, to deny, to ignore, to turn away from, from education or improvement or development. You don't get the option to sit at home and, and scroll through your phone and play video games and say, I'm gonna get a job because I believe it in faith.

That's not how it works, right? Like, listen, God is a God of miracles, but he calls us the partner in it. Like, I don't think God can do whatever he wants. I'm not saying he won't. I'm just saying I don't think what Scripture points us to is believing that he's just gonna pop your cell phone number into a CEO's name one day and they're gonna call you up with a dream job.

That's not faith, that's not, well it's faith, but this might be crazy faith. That's not how it works, right? I mean, back to our illustration, like the birds, the birds may not worry, but they do work. And we could say the same thing with faith. Faith doesn't worry, but faith does work.

There's something to do. There's effort, there's energy. I mean, Scripture tells us, right? Like to, to work out our, our faith with fear and trembling. Scripture tells us that faith without works is dead.

Not that faith requires works, but that faith does indeed work. There's effort, there's energy in it. I mean, Jesus says clearly here, seek first. Right? There is a seeking, there is a pursuing, there is energy and effort being extended towards a thing.

And so the question isn't, do I do or do I not do? The question isn't do I sit around and wait or do I put some energy? The question is what is my energy put towards? And what Jesus says here is that our effort and our energy should be put towards his kingdom, not ours. And when I say kingdom, right?

Like we, we get this on a, on a kind of practical level, like a kingdom is a place in which a king rules and reigns, right? A kingdom is a place where a king has authority. And so when we talk about the kingdom of God, we're not just talking about a heavenly dwelling place that you and I will experience one day, right? Like that's part of it. Yes, absolutely.

But that's not the only place God reigns and rules. Last time I checked, he still reigns and rules here and now. And so when we talk about the kingdom of God, we're not just talking about eternity one day, we're talking about now my life, your life and God as king, reigning and ruling in and through our life. Like that's what we're pursuing, that's what we're seeking God's lordship in my life. So what does that look like?

How do I seek the kingdom? Well, I think it looks like, I mean what, like what what we've been talking about, right? To, to be a people devoted to his word and to community and a fellowship, because that's what his word points us to. I think it, I think it looks like being salt and light. I think it looks like, you know, us being a people that, that display, that grow, the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control so that the world around us may taste and see that the Lord is good.

I think it looks like you and I being examples at home in our communities at work, in our neighborhood, at the PTO meeting of God's goodness and God's grace and God's love and God's mercy seek first the kingdom. There is an effort, there is an energy, there is a pursuit involved here. We seek his glory over our own glory. And so the way I would say that is, sorry, faith replaces worldly worry with kingdom concern. And again, like if I could circle that concern word and go back to the, the, the definition I gave you earlier, concern is rooted in responsibility.

You and I have a responsibility within the kingdom, right? We have a responsibility to the call of the Gospel to go forth. And so faith replaces worldly worry with kingdom concern. One, one more verse and then we're gonna wrap up verse uh, 34. Matthew chapter six, verse 34.

He says, therefore, so all that we've said so far, therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. So here's your last point. Don't worry. Instead be present.

Now he, here's the bad news about what Jesus is saying there. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. There's trouble today. This is what like listen to, to seek the kingdom of God isn't to avoid all trouble, all worry, all pain, all problems. That's not, again, that's not how it works Today.

We'll have trouble. That's what Jesus is telling us, sufficient for the day. It's got all the trouble it needs, right? Today, right now. And you know what?

Tomorrow there's gonna be trouble there too. And if God gives us another day, guess what? There's gonna be trouble in that day too. Each day has its own trouble, has its own problems, has its own difficulties to deal with. And so faith isn't avoiding those, right?

It's the reality of them. Here's the good news about it, though. The full testimony of God's word would tell us that while today has its own trouble, God is in it, that while trouble is present today, so is God, while trouble will be present tomorrow, so will God, right? Like I think about Psalm 23 and David, when he says, even though I'll walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why?

Because your rod and your staff, they comfort me like I'm in the valley. I'm in the darkness. The shadow is heavy, but it's not gonna control me because God's, you're with me. I think about the promise of Jesus all throughout the New Testament, that his spirit is going to dwell among us. That, that we're not gonna be left as orphans in the family of God, but the presence of God will be with us, an advocate, a helper, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God.

Now think about that line from Paul in second Timothy where he says that, that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and love and self-control. That God's in it with us in a powerful way, in a loving way. God's in it with us. And so, yes, while today has its troubles, God has today. So let me lemme say this.

I've said this before and this is my last thought, okay, I've said this before, but I wanna make sure I'm really clear on this. We talk about faith and faith opposed to worry. Faith is not the absence of fear. And I wanna say that as clear as I can to you because I don't want you to think anytime that there's a fearful or worrisome or stressful thought that wells up in you, that somehow you've fallen out of faith and you've fallen into sin. Because I don't think that's the reality of what Scripture teaches us.

Like fear is a reality of the human experience. Faith is not the absence of fear. The question, and back to what I said a minute ago, it's not whether or not it's here, it's what we do with it fear's a reality. What happens with it Worry. Worry will become paralyzed by that fear.

Faith does something altogether different. Faith is able to move forward despite a presence of fear Because We have a present God with us in it. 'Cause he has not left us. Not only is he present, but he's present with you who he considers worthy. So I wanna wrap up in the same place that we, we kind of closed last week with Philippians.

Philippians chapter four, the Apostle Pauls writing to the church at Philippi there. And here's what he said, Craig. Craig took us to this verse last week. This is where we ended last week. I want to end here again.

Paul says this, do not be anxious about anything. Don't worry, don't be stressed, don't be anxious about anything. But in every situation, no matter what that situation holds by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. This is how we practice our faith and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This is what it looks like for faith to continue to move forward in the presence of fear.

All that is stressful and worrisome. All that causes us fear and anxiety to not pretend that it's not there, but instead take it and give it to God. So here's what I just wanna give you a minute to practice that, to do just that and all the other things we've got going on. We've got 60 seconds, okay? We've got 60 seconds to pause with our heavenly Father.

So I wanna give you just a minute here to think about all of those things, all of the worry, all of the stress, all of the fear, And with Thanksgiving. God, you're good. Thank you. Give it to him and ask for his peace. Let me give you a minute to pray and then I'll come back and tell us what we're gonna do next.

Okay? Across all of our campuses, our teams are gonna come and they're gonna lead us in a time of worship, um, and response. And listen, if you're still in a space of, of just praying and being right there, then look, stay right there. Okay? But it is gonna be an opportunity for you to stand, for you to sing, for you to move and engage with whatever God is leading you to.

Okay? We're gonna have some prayer team members down front ready to pray with you. Man, if you just need somebody to put a hand on your shoulder and say, look, this is the source of so much fear and worry in my life. Will you pray for peace? We'd love to do that.

If you just need to acknowledge it, you need to write it down. You need to put words to it. You need to leave it at the cross as a symbol of saying, I'm done with this. God, here it is, it's yours. Do that.

We're gonna worship, we're gonna invite you to move and respond however God leads. Okay? Lemme pray for us. Lord, we come before you. God, we thank you for your goodness.

God, we thank you for your presence in this place. God, we thank you for your spirit that dwells among us, that we're not orphans, that we're not lost God, that we're not without you, but there is a, an advocate, a helper, a spirit of power that you've given us. And we pray that whatever may worry, whatever may cause fear and stress, we'll be able to lay it down at the foot of the cross so that your peace can stand guard over our hearts. We pray that you'll move God, that you'll be glorified. All things we ask in Amen.