As we finish our series through the letter of 1st Peter entitled Living Hope We come across a passage that is both timely and timeless. It's timely in that it's meant for our day right now wherever you're watching this, whether it's on your phone or other smart device or on your computer or tv. I believe this message is for you. It's also timeless and that that this letter was written almost 2000 years ago to a group of people and exile facing suffering and difficulties of a different nature. But yet it still applies to us today. This morning's message is entitled when anxiety attacks each and every one of you I believe is facing some level of anxiety. This is a crisis like our country has not seen in my lifetime and for sure in most of yours, I can't remember a time where schools and institutions and sports as we know it, we're all shut down to this invisible thing known as the coronavirus. And so there's some level of anxiety facing us with the unknown future or is a family member gonna get sick or well, my job's still be there at the end of this. See the definition of anxiety is this distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune or the unknown. I would say this describes our culture right now. Maybe you've been feeling it a little bit I know that I have as well. And so what I wanna do is this morning's message is kind of like what I would describe as solar panels now I know that's a little odd, but I was going through a walk in my neighborhood as something that we're still legally allowed to do in our community right now. And I notice a lot of houses in our neighborhood have solar panels. In fact, Arizona is the third ranked state for solar panels on residential homes in the country. Can California's be number one. But what's interesting about a solar panel is that it takes the energy from the sun and then produces energy for the house and then reduces your cost of the electric bill. And in a way this actually gives us a picture of what I'm hoping this message will do for you. You see when we study the word of God, we receive power from the sun, not the physical son, but the son of jesus christ That power then gives energy inside of our households. It's my prayer that this word from God not mine, but his will actually give you energy to endure and fight for another day. And then the last thing just like solar panels, reduce the cost that you face every month and utility bills. It's my prayer that it'll save you a little bit in your mental bank account and your emotional bank account as well. And so may we receive a renewable resource not of a physical one, but a spiritual one and dive into what God's word has for us today. If you have your bibles open up to first peter chapter five to set up the passage that we're going to talk about is that the first couple of verses in the last chapter of this letter, Peter talks to the shepherds or refers to Miss shepherd's really the pastors and elders of the group. And he gives his credentials for riding to those leaders by saying that he himself is an elder, that he saw firsthand the suffering of jesus, he saw firsthand the glory of jesus being on the mount of transfiguration. And then he actually has lived out this example of battling suffering as well. So he encourages pastors and leaders and elders to live by example too eagerly and willingly give of yourself to serve your congregation. And so now we're going to pick up the passage in verse five, where he turns to everybody else Here, it says here, starting verse five. Likewise you who are younger, be subject to your elders. So first he challenged elders to set the example for the church and then he says, those who are younger be subject to the elders. But this next phrase notices close yourselves, all of you, which means he's referring to everybody that's going to read this letter and he's referring to everybody, including us who's reading the letter today. So notice what it says here, close yourselves, all of you with humility toward one another for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The fact that humility can be described as a piece of clothing to put on means that humility is a choice. You know, we might not have a choice of how we feel, but we do have a choice in how we act. And humility is a choice. It's the choice of putting God before yourself. It's the choice of putting the needs of those around you before yourself. It's the opposite of what we've seen in grocery stores as of late, where people are hoarding supplies, but rather it's giving of yourself and putting others and God ahead of yourself willingly. And so Peter challenges us to clothe ourselves with humility and he continues continues on and he says, humble yourselves. Therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. Now I want to pause there for a moment because that phrase right here, the Mighty Hand of God is a loaded phrase and here's why this is the only place in the new testament that you see, the exact words, the Mighty Hand of God. Now, almost 10 times in the old testament, you see that phrase but in almost every case the description of the Mighty Hand of God is used to describe God and how he led the Israelites out of Egypt with moses for those that are not familiar with the old testament. Years and years and years before Peter was on the scene, the Israelites were held captive in Egypt and God led moses to set the captives free after a series of plagues and things like that, the pharaoh finally let the Israelites go And when they went they passed the sea and God split the waters and had this incredible miracle that they walked through on dry land and now it took them a long time to get to the promised land because they disobeyed God. It took 40 years in fact. But yet even in that time of disobedience, God protected them, offered things like daily manna that was given to them, sustained them and gave them the leaders like moses and then Joshua who would ultimately lead them into the promised land. And after a response of how God protected them and provided for them. The phrase the mighty hand of God was a picture of provisions. And so what Peter is saying here is that humble yourselves. Therefore under the mighty hand of God, the same hand of God that saved the Israelites from the rule of the Egyptians. This is the same hand that will one day exalt you and lift you up. What also is interesting and the fact that Peter Talks about the hand of God is a unique story found in Matthew chapter 14 the disciples are on the water and it's stormy waters and then they see this figure walking on water and it turns out to be jesus. Now Peter, the outspoken one says Lord, if it's you call me out there and jesus says okay Peter come and Peter actually steps out of the boat and when his eyes are not on the winds but on jesus he's able to walk on water but it's when he starts to notice the storm, the winds, the waves around him that he begins to sink and jesus walks over to Peter and guess how he lifts him up. He reaches out his hand and he says oh ye of little faith, why did you doubt me? But that hand was one that lifted peter out of the water and back into the boat. That hand of God is the same hand that led the Israelites out of Egypt and this is the same hand that will lift you up if you willingly choose to humble yourself before him. Now, what's interesting in this story is that in some translations they put a period right here, but in the original greek it was one sentence and it continues on and in our translation right now there's a comma and so I'm gonna reread verse six and then we're gonna continue into verse seven, Peter says, humble yourselves. Therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. It's important to know that that statement is not two separate statements but one idea because one is an expression of the other, how can you show that you are humble before God? The act of casting all your anxieties on him is an act of humility. That means that as you lift up humility in your life, the anxieties lower in your life and you have the ability to cast off or to throw away all that is worrying you. That word cast first made me think of the fact that Peter was a fisherman. He was casting nets when jesus first called him to be a disciple. And so I looked up the word and I thought man it's gonna be great. It's gonna be the same passage when Peter was casting nets, turns out I was wrong. There was actually only one verse using the word casting in all of the new testament and that's found in Luke. Chapter 19 verse 35 and what's known as now? Palm sunday or the triumphant entry of jesus, he was going to enter the town and he was going to ride a spotless donkey and he goes to ride the donkey and in luke. Chapter 19 verse 35 it says that they threw the garments on top of the donkey and then jesus wrote it into town and so they took the garments the clothing and threw it onto an animal so that another animal carried the weight into town. This idea of casting it still fits with his fisherman persona. But the greater picture is the fact that he loaded the what was holding him down the weight onto somebody else who could carry it more in the same way to humble yourself is to cast all your anxieties on him. Why can we do that? Because God cares for you? We already saw that his mighty hand has the strength to hold you, but also his mighty hand is loving it enough to hold you. I've heard it said before that when it comes to your family, you want to be tough for your family and tender with your family. And this is exactly what God is for us. God fights are spiritual battles and he will lift us up in those last days, but he also is tender enough to be with us in the middle of our storm, in the middle of our battles as well. Why? Because he cares for us. Let's continue on with the scripture Peter writes, be sober minded, Be watchful, your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. It's interesting to note that this is the third time in the letter of 1st Peter, that we see the phrase be sober minded. I think it's important for Peter and it should be important to us. What it is that we focus our minds and how we think to be sober minded and to be watchful is to be alert and aware of the situation around you. That means we cannot be drunk. That means that we cannot be aloof and unaware of everything going around us. But we need to be focused, we need to be alert, We need to be self controlled Why? Because it's in these times, it's in the times where anxiety is attacking you, that you're struggling, that you doubt God, that you have these questions. It is in the middle of these times that satan loves to come in, he's described here as a lion and what do lions do they attack and they eat? That means that satan the devil is described as someone who feeds off your anxiety. Isn't that so true? That when we're worried that when we have questions, when we doubt when we are afraid it's those moments that satan comes in and tempts us and tries to lead us away from God. We started asking questions like God, how could you let this happen? There must not be a God if there is something like this and those are legitimate questions, I'm not saying don't ask them, I would just say, if you ask a serious question, then go deep enough to find the answer. What I mean by an honest question right now is how can God a loving God allow the coronavirus to happen? And while I don't know the exact answer of why this happened, the reality is is that how do we define this as evil or a bad thing? Well you only define evil because there's an existence of good, you only define unhealthy and virus and sickness in light of opposition to health and wellness. We only know something is bad because we have an idea in our heart of what's good and so what we long for is healing and hope and no more sickness. And it's because we live in a sinful broken world that all creation groans and longs for the day that jesus will return and give us a new heaven and a new earth where there's no more sickness, there is no more death and there is perfect love and acceptance in him. So the fact that we are battling this illness right now, the fact that you're battling questions in your mind should encourage us to lean in. Why do we ask those questions in the first place? I believe it's because when we ask those questions, we have the opportunity to connect with God and it's not like God is just waiting to his return to ultimately deal with bad things. I know this to be true because it was in the middle of all this craziness and madness that jesus first entered the scene, It says in Romans 5 8 that while we were sinners while we had already rejected God, it's in the middle of that while we were sinners christ died for us. God loves you and me so much that he entered the middle of our mess on our broken world and he died on a cross for you and for me and he didn't just die on the cross, he rose again and then he gave us the Holy Spirit, which means that one day we will rise again one day we will have perfect bodies. One day we will be reunited with jesus in all perfection. And in the meantime, we get to experience a taste of heaven through how we love our families, through how we love people the way jesus loved us when we connect with God and worship, when we connect with him in prayer and when we connect with him and loving him fully with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and we can do that through the Holy Spirit. So while someone might say, how can there be a loving God in the middle of this mess, my response is I am so grateful that we have a loving God in the middle of our mess, because without God, I don't know where people turn, because without God, you are left to the devil, prowling around, to feed on your anxieties, to feed on your doubts, to push back on your isolation and make it to the point where you don't feel loved and connected. So there are different levels of anxiety. I don't pretend to be someone who is skilled in psych medicine and mental health. I believe that that's a real thing and for those that are battling, I want to pray for you and know that God loves you and that your chemistry is not your character. And so whatever level of anxiety you're facing right now, I want to encourage you to lean into God because if you don't, satan is ready to feed off your anxiety, you're gonna get negative thoughts in your head, you're gonna think this is never gonna end, this is never gonna move forward. If I lost my job, I'm never going to get the next one. But the reality is God knows the future and that there is hope and there is light and that though we walk through the valley of the Shadow of death, we will fear no evil. Why? Because God is with us here and now and when you have the presence of God, your anxiety goes down. So he says in verse nine, resist him, resist the devil, resist those negative thoughts that enter your mind instead be firm in your faith knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world and their story, they were being persecuted for being christians, but you're saying, hey, hang tight because you are not alone. The devil tries to isolate where while we are not physically together, you're definitely not alone because you have the spirit of God there with you. And so while the devil tries to separate, even in this moment, Peter encourages them saying, look, you're not suffering alone, God loves you God with you and there are other people experiencing the same thing. You're not the only person watching this video, others are watching this and that collectively we can pray for each other, connect with each other and know that God is making a difference when we live in community together and he continues on says after you have suffered a little while notice there, he doesn't say that you will never suffer, but he just say that the suffering is temporary. He says the God of all Grace who has called you to his eternal glory in christ he himself will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you to him, be the Dominion forever and ever. Amen this word. Amen is a confirmation saying that I believe this if you need encouragement today, I want you to underline this verse that wherever you are, whether you just lost your job, whether a loved one's been sick, whether none of that has happened yet, but you're fearing the unknown wherever stage you find yourself in notice that this verse is true for you. This is a promise. This is a promise directly from God to you. It's that jesus will restore you, confirm, you strengthen you and establish you forever because God's reign is everywhere and he is present now in this moment and he loves you. And when you say Amen, I want to challenge everybody at home wherever you're watching this, to say Amen everyone say it 123 because when you say Amen that means I believe this And so the best way to fight thoughts of anxiety is really confirmation of praise. And so if you could walk away from this message was one thing I want you to write this down, I want you to write this down and that is this. Cast your anxiety carry your responsibility, not the other way around. Let me say that again. Cast your anxiety, carry your responsibility, not the other way around our world tries to do exactly the opposite. If you turn on the news, you're gonna carry your anxiety if you watch it for too long. I'm grateful for the facts. I'm grateful for the stories. I just don't know if we need 24 hours of people telling us bad things happening around the world, you know what I'm saying? Like after a while you're like, oh my goodness, I can never leave ever. And everyone in the world has the virus because when you watch something long enough on repetition, you start to carry your anxiety. This is how our culture functions even before the virus entered our country, When you go on social media, all you see are arguments and division and strong opinions and its people carrying their anxiety with them and on the other side, this idea of people in our culture tend to cast their responsibility, we play the blame game whose fault was it, whose fault was it and we love to blame other people for what's going on. But what peter tells us is to cast your anxiety. That weight, that heaviness that's on your shoulders was not meant for you to carry. Now if you've been a part of Mission Grove for a while, you might have heard this story, but in case you were turning in to Mission Grove for the first time, I'd like to share this with you that Jackson, my son when he was younger, would attempt to carry my backpack, the one that I would bring to work. Now I bring a lot of books and my computer to work. And so my backpack often to be pretty heavy. And so then Jackson as a two year old would try to pick it up and carry it across the room and inevitably would just fall over. And after a few times of giggles as parents, that's what we do. And then one time capturing on video, I then went over and said Jackson, let me help you. That's too heavy for you. But don't worry because what's too heavy for you isn't too heavy for dad. What's in your backpack right now what worries and anxieties and weight in your life is weighing you down. I don't know what it is personally for you. I know collectively as a nation, we are fearing the unknown, but what I do know whatever it is that is in your backpack. Whatever you are facing. I know that it's not too heavy for God? Cast your anxiety, throw it out and let God carry that weight. But on the reverse is true. Don't play the blame game. Don't play a victim. Don't say you're being attacked when you've just made some poor choices. Instead carry your responsibility. The things that you have control over, you can take action with. So in a culture that tries to cast your responsibility blame other people and then carry anxiety where you worry about everything all the time. Peter encourages us to do the opposite. He says, cast your anxiety, carry your responsibility. What do I mean by carry our responsibility? I mean just like what we talked about. Be humble, humble yourself before God that's a choice resist satan he's looking to tempt you right now and to attack your anxieties but make healthy choices and to stand firm in your faith with other people and trust that God one day will restore you and that God's Dominion and power is eternal, where the suffering is only temporary. It's so freeing when you understand that your anxiety was not meant for you to carry, it's meant for you to place it on the back of jesus, place your worries and cares on him and then carry your responsibility of what you can in fact control. I want to encourage you at home to do this. Either you need to pause the video or you can keep watching and do it as I talk. But I want you to make a list of everything that is worrying you. Everything that's in your mind right now that's circling plane, repeat on your mind. I want you to write it down but I don't want you just to write it straight down on the list. I want you to make two categories on one side. I want you to put the heading cannot control on the other side. I want you to put the heading can control and for every worry that enters your mind, I want you to write it down. Either I cannot control this or I can control this. For example, the spread of the coronavirus collectively throughout our society, we have no control over that social distancing health choices. You know, am I living a healthy lifestyle right now washing my hands. That is something we can control. But more than just this virus. Whatever stressing you, whatever worries come before you. I want you to put these things down and then once you've created your list, I want you to do two things first. If it's in the cannot control list. I want you to pray and give to God. That is an anxiety that you were meant to cast or let christ carry for you and then the things that you can control. You want to make a small step in the right direction. So if it's health maybe you can't be healthy overnight, it might not happen in a day. But it can happen daily by what you eat and how you exercise and in the health case are you washing your hands and best practices in those ways. And once you have your list, you can create an action plan for the things you can control and then pray for the things you can't control. So it says in Philippians chapter four verse 6 do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God. So how do we deal with our anxiety? How do we let go of the things that worry us? We pray. We say God, I can't control this, but I'm going to humble myself, understand that I am not in control, but you are and God I ask that you bring healing throughout our land. So you can pray this verse and then you can make an action plan for the things that you can control. Again, cast your anxieties carry your responsibilities, not the other way around. In closing today, I want to bring up a picture of an eagle years ago as a youth pastor, I used to take students to what's known as Student Leadership University and dr jay Strack uses an eagle as the logo for student Leadership University and the reason is because eagles are known for their focus and their stamina, See their focus is so good that their vision if you compare it to humans is more than eight times stronger meaning that a good vision for a human is 2020. The vision of an eagle is 24 because they can see something for miles away and they laser focus in and in the same way if we have that focus we can zero in on christ even in the middle of a storm like what Peter did when he stepped outside of the boat. The second reason that the eagles are celebrated as excellent symbols for leadership and how to overcome is their stamina. And that is this that when storms enter a land, most animals go for cover. They run and they hide eagle's actually do the opposite. They go to the highest level that they can and they wait for the strong winds to come from the storm. And while other animals are going to hide. Eagles spread their wings and soar and the winds of the storms that cause so much destruction, they actually causes eagles to fly higher and faster than ever before. And in fact they soar above the storms. And that's my encouragement to you As you see in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength and they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint just as an eagle rises above the storm. So to you can rise above this storm we cannot control what enters our country right now And I understand that this is a stressful, anxious time. But you at home right now with your family can rise up with wings like eagles rise above the storm. Have your focus on jesus because when you cast your anxiety and then carry your responsibility, you can endure whatever situation comes your way and you can become stronger through this. I want to encourage you and pray for you right now. But I just want to ask you this question. Are you an eagle? Are you an eagle in this moment? Are you willing to spread your wings and in this obstacle view it as an opportunity to soar higher and fly faster than ever before. Are your eyes are you're focused so zoned in on jesus that you don't see the water, the waves, the winds. But you see him to the point where you've humbled yourself before God so that his mighty hand can lift you up so that you catch your anxieties on him because he can carry it anyway, resist the devil, Stand firm in faith and trust that a day will come, will you will be restored. How do we respond when anxiety attacks my encouragement to you is to cast your anxiety to carry your responsibility and to give everything Glory to God. Let's pray, dear God for everyone that is battling anxious thoughts. God, you have told us that you bring peace routinely when you entered rooms with fearful people. The first words out of your mouth, where peace be with you. My prayer right now is for everybody. Watching this message, God, that your peace will guard their hearts. God, I pray that we can cast our anxiety on you, whatever it is that is out of our control. I pray that we can give the situation to you and then God, I ask that we can carry our responsibility when we look now on how we choose humility. May we choose to stand firm in our faith, to resist temptation to follow you, to love others the way that you have loved us when we view this as an opportunity to love our community and not to go to church, but to be the church as you have called us to Godwin, anxiety attacks, when we give our worries and our stress up to you, we love you God, it's in your son's name. We pray Amen.