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I am so excited this morning. Just trusting and believing that there is a word from the Lord. My name is Lonel Dawson Williams. Praise you. I am the chief of staff here at 28:19 and I'm just excited to be in the room on this morning. Listen, I just want to do a couple of quick shout outs and then we can dive right into it. Number one, I got a shout out to the main man, my friend, my brother, the pastor of this amazing house, Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell. Come on, Listen, it's so interesting. See, I've known Pastor Philip for quite some time. We were friends before I actually became a member of the staff. And it's so funny because, like I see him in my neighborhood, he's always walking and people be like, is Pastor Philip really like that? Like, is he always wearing black? Is he always weeping? And I'm like, yes, that is, yes, that is really who he is. He'll take walks in all black. I'd be like, it's hot, Doc. But listen, he's an amazing man, amazing leader and what you see online is who he really is. And that's what makes him a good friend of mine and a great brother. I also want to shout out, obviously Ms. Lena, an amazing first lady of this house. She's awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome. And then I gotta, I gotta shout out my wife who's in the room. Come on. Dr. Jessica Williams. I love her hard. I love her real good. You know what I'm saying? I love her real good. And then lastly, I just want to shout out to everybody here and all of our Digital disciples watching online. Oftentimes I'm in the chat during the week and during the Sundays and, and I see people from Angola, from Saudi Arabia, from Fiji, from Samoa, people literally all over the world streaming in to watch and to be a part of this amazing experience. We call you Digital Disciples. Why? Because Jesus literally said, go make disciples. We don't believe in membership here. We're all called to be disciples. And so because you're a digital disciple, you're watching digitally and so you are part of our family. And so we just thank you so much for being a part today. And so with that being the case, I believe there is a word from the Lord. And so if you can just turn your attention briefly, if you can, to Exodus, the book of Exodus, the 32nd chapter. The 32nd chapter. Now, we're going to use the first four verses for the purposes of this preachment. However, I'm only going to read the first verse. I'm going to read the first verse. But we're going to walk through all four verses this morning. And the Bible reads, when the people saw that Moses was delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, up. Make us gods who shall go before us. And as for Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. Listen, if I could tag a title to this sermon, I would tag it the Idol called Anxiety. The Idol called Anxiety. Listen, I was born in 1985. I heard somebody say, geez, all right, wait a second. All right, 1985. And born and raised on the west side of Compton, California. Shout out to the CPT had to represent. And in 1999, I was 14 years old, 13, going on 14 at that time. And I just graduated from Enterprise Middle School on the west side of Compton. And during that summer, there was a unique experience that was happening not just in California, but all over the world. And that experience was what they call Y2K. Now, Y2K was a very interesting thing because at that time when computers were actually being built, computers were coded to only go up to 99, the year 99 of that century. And the fear was that if and when the clock would turn to the year 2000, at that moment, for some reason, the assumption was that it would actually start over and all of our internal, internal systems would not go to the year 2000 but to the year 1900. The fear was that all of the systems that we had in place were going to be based on the year 1900 and not 2000. So the banking system feared that at that point all of the deposits in the bank would just disappear. The utility space thought that the infrastructure of our entire system would collapse because the computer would think it was the 1900s. And even in some religious communities there was a fear and a thought that Jesus would return in Y2K. I remember sitting at Newmount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church on El Segundo in town, sitting at watch night service, praying my eyes out, lord, I am 14, do not come back yet. I was praying. I was up in there. Jesus, just, just give me a minute. And I just remember the fear that the world had, the anxiety that the world had. In fact, they actually spent in today's dollars $548 billion. In preparation for Y2K. People bought and literally built bunkers underneath their homes in preparation for Y2K. People cashed out their 401ks and emptied their bank accounts because of the fear of what could happen at Y2K. The airplanes, at that time, the fear was that they would just fall from the sky. And so they had more people inside of the airplane towers to ensure that nothing was gone wrong. And when the clock struck 12 o', clock, nothing happened. Nothing. I remember sitting there praying, and I'm like, oh, we still here? Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. We still here. And this is the thing. Anxiety does not prevent disaster. It manufactures it. And this is what it was when it came to the children of Israel as we read in this text. Now, let me give you some history so you understand how we're positioned here. Historians believe it is around 448bce, and at this time, the children of Israel have spent 400 years in slavery in Egypt. Now watch this as Moses has come and he has given the different plagues to Egypt. And at that time, the Egyptians said, all right, fine, you can leave. Pharaoh said, let them go. So they. So they released them from slavery. They crossed over the Red Sea, and now they are literally in the midst of the desert, trying to make their way to the promised land. Okay, now here is the unique point. At this point in the text, In Exodus 32, we have Moses, who has now ascended to the top of Mount Sinai. And when he's at the top of Mount Sinai, God is speaking to him and giving him instructions for the people. He's literally giving them the laws that they would govern themselves for the rest of eternity. Now, some of these laws are very interesting. He was giving laws around the Sabbath and how one should govern and keep the Sabbath holy. He was giving rules around how in which the tabernacle should be kept and how it should be built, how the tent of meeting should be structured. He was giving them the ten Commandments. Now, mind you, all of this is literally happening during this time frame. And we read that when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain. We often see that waiting as a passive act. But it is intensely active, and it will reveal who we trust in that moment. Moses delay was not simply inconvenient. It exposed an anxious heart beneath their coveted faithfulness. Notice what the text says. It says, Moses delayed. He did not disappear. Look at the text. It says, Moses was delayed, but he did not disappear. In Hebrews, the word signifies an unexpected pause, but not abandonment. And they were stuck in the painful gap between God's promises and God's timing. Have you ever been in a moment between God's timing and your patience? Anxiety grows strongest in the spaces where God leaves intentionally silent. Those 40 days were literally unbearable. You see, Moses was literally at the top of the mountain for 40 days. Now, we got to understand this chronologically because this is what messed me up. As I was doing my study at this point in time, in the junction, they had literally left Egypt three to four months before. Think about it. Three to four months after being freed from slavery, they started to question God's faithfulness. Three to four months after experiencing God's favor, they question God's faithfulness. Think about it like this. Just walk through the history with me. 400 years of slavery. They get freed. They cross over the Red Sea. Favor. They experience manna falling from heaven. Favor. God turned bitter water into sweet water. Favor. Fire by day, cloud by day, fire by night. Favor. Three to four months of miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle. And God is spending time with Moses and they are questioning God's faithfulness. Can I ask you, when was the last time that you questioned God's faithfulness even though he's been favorable to you? I wonder if your faithfulness is based on your own timing and not God's calendar. Because the Bible says that God is the same today, yesterday, and forevermore. Is that not what it says? I think it's Hebrews 13. So if God is consistent in how he shows up, then I wonder what it is that cause him to feel that way. And this is the thing. Oftentimes God doesn't move, but our emotions do. Oftentimes God is consistent. But because of our failed and fickled emotions, we will become wavering in our spirit. And when we become wavering, we will replace the faith with fear. How many of you have been experiencing fear this week, God? Are you gonna answer this prayer, God? Are you gonna make sure that this bill comes through, God? Are you gonna secure this deal so that I can do what I've got to do? Lord, I need this house. Lord, I need this baby. Lord, I need this moment. Lord, I need this al rhythm to hit. Lord, I need you in this season. But this whole time you have been operating in fear and not in faith. All right, let's go. Lean into this. Anxiety grows the strongest in the space where God leaves empty. When people saw. Now watch this. This is what it says when the people saw. In Ephesians 1:8. It says that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened. What he's saying there is that the eyes are a reflection of what our heart says. Because our anxiety often distorts our spiritual vision when we cannot see what God is doing. We quickly assume he's doing nothing. All right, y', all, not with me. That's okay. That's okay. That's okay. Moses was on the mountain encountering God's glory, but the people were below, replacing their faith with fear. Is your faith in God's timing, or is your faith on your own schedule, pursued? Silence produced enough anxiety that one decision that was made impacted a whole generation. Impatience gives anxiety permission to rewrite your story. Yeah, your impatience can literally impact an entire generation. See, had they submitted to understanding that God's silence was not his abandonment, but his trust and testing of their trust in him, then they would have actually made it to the promised land. I wonder what decisions have you made in the moments of fear and anxiety that have caused you to miss what God has stored for you? What moments and decisions have you made in this season that has actually impacted not your generation, but the generations that follow? And we say, oh, it's not that serious. It's not that. I mean, all I did was this, and all I did was that. And God's like, no, no, no, no, no. I was silent for a reason. Y' all don't believe me? No, it's cool. It's cool. I got Bible. I got Bible to back it up. This is it right here. The Bible says that for 400 years, the children of Israel were praying for a deliverer, and they felt like their prayers were being unanswered. Now watch this. While they are praying for a deliverer, and they assume that God was being silent, God was in the desert speaking to their deliverer. Y' all missed it. Okay, I'm gonna come over here. Y' all got it? Y' all got it. In the moment where they were praying for a deliverer and assumed that God was being silent, God was in the desert speaking to their deliverer. God may seem like he's not listening to your prayers, but can I submit to you in this moment that is it possible that God has already spoken, speaking to your answer? God has an answer to the prayer, and he's working on the prayer in the silence. He's working on the answer in the silence. So rather than becoming scared and fickled and fabled, you should say, I trust in the Lord with all my heart, and I will not lean not to my own understanding. In all thy ways, I will. And he. I'm telling you, this is a generation that says, listen, I don't care what's going on. I don't care what's happening around me. I will trust in the Lord, the road might be shaky and the river might be running and everybody might be running to everything. I don't care what the world is doing, I will trust. Is there anybody in the. I feel like preaching today. Is there anybody in the room that will say, say I trust? God's position never changed, but their perspective of God did. Anxiety makes you forget the miracles faster than you remember the pain. Here's the thing. Watch this, watch this, watch this. Because they spent 400 years in slavery, and when they assumed that God was silent, it triggered something inside of them to assume that this was only a reflection of their experience of the past. So they were triggered in that moment. And rather than being settled in their fear and in their anxiety, they catastrophized. Catastrophize basically means that I'm going to put more energy and effort and freak out in a moment that is unnecessary. How many of us have catastrophized in moments and made piss poor decisions because we could not trust God in what he said? God said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you, but you operate in this season like somehow God is on the back burner and, and your emotions are in the driver's seat. And when you let your emotions be in the driver's seat, eventually your emotions will force you to crash into what we call stupidity. Okay. All right, well, that's fine. All right, I hear you, Holy Ghost. Some of us. Yeah, I'mma say it. Some of us will try to conjure up favor and conjure up ways to get over anxiety. You know I'm telling the truth. Oh, Lord, I'm about to just manifest good intentions. And Lord, if I just speak well. And Lord, if I just light this incense. And Lord, if I just keep this crystal. And Lord, if I just read my horoscope. The devil is a liar. The Lord God, the maker of heaven and earth, the one who has cows on us. I'm. I'm trying to tell you. If he did it before, he'll do it again. Same God right now is the same God. Does anybody in here trust the Lord and say my anxiety won't control this season? I don't care what they say, I will. Oh, y' all don't want it. Y' all ain't. Y' all ain't with me. That's okay. No, no, no, no, no. Sit down, sit down, sit down. There's more. There's more. There's Jesus. You are so worried about what they will say that you are not thinking about what God Said, what I see doesn't change what God said, but what God says will change what I see. I see despair. God sees opportunity. I see, oh, my God, how are we gonna make it? And God says, I'm gonna make a way out of no way. You see, oh, my goodness, my children are acting awry. God says, I've got a plan for that child. I'm going to restore unto them the years. Y' all don't hear me up in here. You are so worked and consumed in everything else but what God said. God, the author of the finish of our faith. God, the man who made heaven and earth. God, who was wise enough to put the sun just far enough from the earth that if we were just an inch closer, we would burn up into existence. And if we're an inch further, we would be frozen to death. God, who is smart enough to put the birds in the sky and the fish in the ocean. God, who was able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we can ask or think that God, let me help you. The God who was able to dry up cancer. That God, the God who was able to pay the bill when you had more month than you had money. That God, the God who said, I will see. I'm. I'm looking at people who are questioning God's faithfulness. Your anxiety has controlled you so much that you have mistaken the voice of fear and have placed it over the voice of God. Let's keep going. Here we go. Here we go. The Bible says that the people gathered themselves together. Okay, I just. I'm gonna say this. I'm gonna say it. I'm gonna just say it. I'm not gonna get in trouble. I'm gonna say it. Some of us have been keeping and allowing people in our ears to talk us out of what God has said. Your circle, the community that you consider yourself friends with, if you are not constantly praying and. And vetting those individuals, you will allow a Judas into your circle and not even know it. And some of us don't. Look forward. Look forward. Some of us have. Judas is right next to us. Oh, yeah. Don't. Don't touch him. Don't tell him. Don't. I said look forward. Look forward. Look forward. Don't say, oh, yeah, I'm. He talking about you. I know he talking about you. The devil is a lie. You have to keep your circle clean. Jesus had the 3, the 12 and the 70. The 3 and the 12. He had three individuals that he kept close to him at all times. They were willing to see his humanity and his divinity. He had the twelve, the disciples. He walked with them, he poured into them. He loved on them, but they could not see the humanity of who he was. How do I know? Because you had doubting Thomas. Thomas was in the 12, but he didn't make the three. And watch this. Some of us keep the three, even though in some seasons, the three need to be the 12. And in some seasons, the 12 need to be the three. You've been keeping Becky in your circle when Becky probably needs to be in the 12th. Yeah. Maria don't need to hear all your business because Maria can't handle everything that you're going through because Maria will be willing to talk you out of what God said. All right, all right, y'. All. All right. I'm gonna keep going. This is what it says. This is what it said. This is what it says. The Bible says that they gathered themselves together to Aaron. They said to him up and make us gods who shall go before us? The man who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what's become of him. In their panic, they put Moses in the seat of God. Read says that they. They. They spoke of the miracles and the deliverance, that they were merely Moses's duty and that they forgot that it was God's power. Anxiety often causes spiritual amnesia. They experienced all of the favor, and yet at this moment, they spoke like they didn't know him. Anxiety rewrites the memories, removing God from your story. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Have you ever been in a place where you have forgotten about God's favor and replaced it with fear? Oftentimes, people will use every means possible to replace the presence of God in order to ease their discomfort. They knew God's faithfulness and had seen God's faithfulness, and yet at the same time, they questioned God's faithfulness. Let me ask you this. Have you ever seen God do something in one season and felt like he wouldn't do it again in the next? Some of us in this room have literally seen miracles after miracles. But the minute it gets a little tight, we start to question if God really has our back. We will. He will give you a word of something to do, something to say, to make a move. But because of fear and anxiety, we will disobey God in order to ease our sense of self. How many of us have felt the weight of God's voice and not listened? We said, well, what does God's voice sound like? What does it sound like? Listen, if you want to know what his voice sounds like, open up his word. It's right here. His word is right here. It's right here. Test the spirit by the spirit, open up the word, question his faithfulness and read the stories of old. Read the narratives of people who have experienced God's grace and God's mercy and put it up against your own experiences and your own and your own times and Troubles. They experienced 400 years, miracle after miracle, three to four months, back to back to back. And in the moment when they thought he was silent, they let their fear shake them. Now, this is the thing. If you're a leader, a manager, a boss, if you take any position of authority, Aaron, under pressure, did this. He told them to remove the gold and the earrings from the wives and the children's ears. Here's a leadership principle. Aaron didn't just fail to stop it, he permitted it. When you bow to the pressure of people, you do not allow them to become more holy. They allow them to become more chaotic. And when you let people's anxiety drive your decisions, you don't just compromise your leadership. You unleash their chaos. All the people removed the jewelry, the very gold that God had provided for them from Egypt as they were leaving Egypt. God had disrupted Pharaoh and the Egyptians so much with all the plagues that God said, go to Pharaoh and the Egyptians and ask for the gold and the silver. And the Egyptians were so fed up with the Israelites, they said, here, just take it. They just began to take off gold and earrings and things of that nature. They gave it to the Israelites. Now, the reason why they did this, the reason why they did this, was because God had intended for that gold to be used for to help build the tabernacle. The blessing that God gave them was to be used for his glory. But they use the blessing to comfort their fear. You got a job that God blessed you with. You have a career that God blessed you with. You have a relationship that you've been praying for. But in the moment of fear, you will put that thing over God. Lord, if I can just get this deal, everything will be all right. Lord, if I can just have this marriage, everything will be all right. Lord, if this diagnosis just comes back positive, a negative, I'll be all right. Lord, if this moment that I'm under, this stress that I'm feeling, if it just comes back all right, I'll be all right. They literally placed their faith in the thing and not in the one that gave them the thing. They repurposed God's gift to fuel their doubt, and their anxiety transformed A blessing into blasphemy. They preferred literally visible security over invisible faith and God's promises over their own reality. What God gave them to remember his faithfulness, they used to forget his face. I'm gonna say that again. Okay. All right, hold on. What God gave them to remember his faithfulness, they used to forget his faith. We will use the blessings that we have been given and allow the fear of losing it to force us to create an idol and forget him. We say, I'd rather place comfort in what I see than what I don't see. I'd rather place my comfort in the stuff than in the one who gave me the stuff. Some of us have placed so much attention and time and energy in the home rather than actually putting time, attention, and energy on the one who gave you the home. Yeah, you fail. You prayed for the miracle, but now that you got the miracle, you forgot who gave it to you. So oftentimes, God will keep you in the position of needing him in every season. That's why with the children of Israel, it said, daily bread, the bread was spoiled. So every day there was a level of dependency on God, and they had to trust God in that moment. And they could not allow their own feelings and desires and interests to hold on to something that God was willing to take away at any moment. Some of you have been holding on so tight to it, and you can replace it with anything you want. It can be anything. It can be what's in your bank account can be into that child and its future. It. Whatever it is in this season, God wants you to let it go and to hold on to him. So now that we see how the children of Israel have responded when it comes to making an idol out of their anxiety, we must understand what is the nature of anxiety and how it can be considered an idol. This is the thing. It says this. The moment anxiety moves from your heart to the throne, you've crowned the wrong king. Anxiety is not sinful. Hear me out. Anxiety is an internal alarm clock that lets you know, hey, something is going on, right? It is not a sin to have anxiety. It is a sin when you place anxiety on the throne over God's word, right? Be anxious, but sin not. You can have anxiety and not allow it to run and control your life. And when you allow the voice of anxiety to supersede the voice of God, you have made it an idol. You can make insecurity an idol. You can make fear an idol anytime. The voice of that thing is louder than the voice of God. You have Turned it into an idol. And Moses. Moses was so uniquely positioned to remind the children of Israel how important it was to keep God first. So anxiety as an idol produces a level of worship. What do I mean when I say that idols. It becomes a sin when you give it more authority than God, when it occupies a place in your heart that belongs to God the Father. And the Israelites were spiritually unentered. And what does idolizing anxiety look like when you are unintentionally giving it something it doesn't do deserve? That is called reverence. When you reverence anxiety, you are choosing to listen to fear over the word of God. When anxiety speaks, we listen. But when God speaks, we question it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Another way that we have seen. And I gotta hurry up, though. Another way that we have seen. Seen where we have turned anxiety into an idol is when we sacrifice to it. You are giving anxiety your time and your attention and your energy and your resources. It is forcing you to not sleep and not to eat and not. And to overthink and to stress and to make anxiety your idol. You can identify an idol by what it makes you sacrifice. You'll sacrifice a marriage because of anxiety. You'll sacrifice a position where, you know, God told you to leave. I'm speaking to myself. What God told you to move on and you didn't? Well, God told you that's not your man or your woman. And because of your fear of being alone, you'd rather keep what God told you to let go. So now you're in a season where you're holding on to something that God can't bless, all because of fear and anxiety. And this is the thing. Oftentimes, when we think about it, we are following anxiety and worship through worship. By controlling behaviors, we will lose all of our time and energy, allowing us to believe that. That if we just plan everything out to a T, that everything's gonna be all right. If I can just plan it out. I'm a pragmatist by nature. I gotta see the end before it happens. Don't surprise me. I don't like surprises. I don't like surprises. Don't surprise me with nothing, okay? Because I want to know. But oftentimes, I will try my best to plan everything out to a T. And I don't give room for God to move. How many of us have been so consumed in the planning that we forgot the planner? All right, y' all don't believe me? Okay. Anxiety does not ask. It takes. It took 40 days to get the commandments but it was one decision for them to break, one choice, and the tablets were broken. What one decision have you made, not trusting that God had your best intentions at heart? Now, here's the thing. We have learned what not to do from the Israelites, but now let us learn what to do. And the best example is Jesus. I want you to turn your attention to Matthew 26, verse 39. It says this. And going a little further, he fell on his face, and he prayed, saying, my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but as you will. So let's. Let's look at this. Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane moments before Judas was to turn him over to the. To the Roman soldiers. And he's literally on his knees in the private prayer space, crying out to God, his Father. I promise you, in that moment, Jesus had anxiety. Lord, remove. Look at the text, if it's possible, let this cup pass. Let this experience of anxiety of me having to literally carry the sins of the world to the cross, let this pass. I do not want to be pierced in the side. I do not want to have nails driven into my hands. I do not want to experience the anguish of having to literally carry the world on my shoulders. But nevertheless, Jesus shows us that feeling anxious is a part of being human. But we have to bring those feelings to God in prayer and still obey. Jesus did not deny his anxiety. He leaned into prayer to obey the Father. And some of us have forgotten the power of prayer in the moments of anxiety. And some of you might be saying, well, listen, I have. I have. Doctors have prescribed me medication because of the fact that I have chronic anxiety. Right? That's a real thing. I want you to hear me. I'm not saying that if you have prescription medicine and that you suffer from chronic anxiety, that that is sinful or that you're making an idol out of it. A doctor has literally told you you struggle with anxiety. So I'm not telling you that you are somehow making an idol out of it. What they and the children of Israel are doing, and oftentimes what we as believers do, is we literally create anxiety out of situational moments, out of situations. So I'm not telling you, don't take your medicine. Listen, don't say Lynelle, Lynette, say that at all. All right? You do what your doctor said. Now, trust in God. I believe he'll heal you. I do believe he'll heal you. I do believe that. But if the doctor told you to take it Take it. But situational anxiety, where the situation arises and you allow the idol of anxiety to sit on your throne rather than trusting in the one who created you in the first place. And this is it. I just want to. I want to land the plane here. Anxiety whispers, what if. What if it doesn't work out? What if I don't get the job? What if the 401k tanks? What if this entrepreneurial endeavor all of a sudden falls through? What if we don't get the home watch this? What if we don't get the baby? What if that deal doesn't come to fruition and we can't pay these bills? What if I don't get the promotion? What if I don't get the right diagnosis? Anxiety says, what if? But faith says, even if. Even if it doesn't come to pass, I trust you that some men trust in horses, some men trust in chariots. But we. We trust in the name of the Lord, for the Lord is a strong tower. And as I was preparing for this message, I want you to know that I was literally, I was preaching to you, but I was really preaching to myself. Because I've been in a season where I was curious and concerned because I know what God said, but I know what my heart wanted. And I was trying to hold on to something longer than I was supposed to. And what I was holding on to began to spoil. Let's think about God's grace. God's grace is sufficient. But sometimes God's grace can become violent. Sometimes God's grace will shake the foundation of where you are to get your attention. And I was in a season where I'm holding on to something and God saying, I let it go. If you let it go, I'll do more for you in this season than you holding on to something in the next. And as I was preparing this message, I began. The Lord began to minister to me and say that there are. There are people in this room today and watching online who are struggling with anxiety. You are fearing what could happen and not trusting in the one who can make it happen. You have been struggling for so long privately. Come here, brother. You have been trying to play the part and be the man and say you got it under control and everything's gonna be all right. But secretly, in the car, before you walk in the house, you're crying because you're scared on how you guys are gonna make it. And you've been putting all of your energy into working hard and doing what you gotta do, not realizing that you have to Put your faith and trust in God. Even if mom, you. You. You've been trying to play the role and. And be the wife and. And the breadwinner, and you've been trying to take care of it as a single mother. And you're trying to figure out, God, how am I going to. To make it? How are we going to do what we need to do in this season? And God is saying, even if. Even if I want your prayer this week to say, even if it doesn't work out, you've been better than me, than I've been to myself, you've been better than me, than I've been to myself. That even in this, you're still worth the glory. That even in this, you're still worth the honor. That even in this, with tears coming down my eye and anxiety riding on my heart, that I will put you on the throne and not my emotions. Because emotions are fleeting. Your feelings are not facts. They are secondary emotions. You get angry. You think it's anger. No, it's hurt. You get. You get angry and you don't even realize it. That you were just triggered by something of your past. You don't even realize that God is trying to do something in this moment of the wait, that in the season of waiting, that God said, I'm doing something in you that no person, no thing, no situation can do. Amending the brokenhearted. That's what he says. He says, I mend the brokenhearted. I bind up their homes. Some of you have wounds that you have not dealt with because your mother left you years ago. Now you fear when somebody walks out the door and you won't trust them because of what she did. One person broke your heart and you're punishing everybody else. One job fell through and now you question, am I even good enough? You have been struggling with thoughts of suicide because you feel like God forgot about you, not even realizing he's right there in the room. I just want to seal this moment with prayer because I feel like God is. He's working on some people. He's working on your heart in this moment. He's literally doing work that no man or woman, no doctor, no lawyer, no teacher, no preacher could ever do do. God, thank you. We don't deserve it, but thank you. Ease the anxiety that these people feel, the fear that keeps them up at night. Father God, I pray God that you would just comfort them. You are a comforter. Let them know that you are still with them, that in the silence, you are still present. You are a ever present Help in the time of trouble. God, you would heal their hearts. Let them trust in you more than they trust in man, More than they trust in money, more than they trust in manna. God, let them trust in you. And in this season, let it be like the word of God says that these are they that turned the world upside down. Say, hey, man, listen, I want to do something really quickly. I know my time is up. The clock is telling me I'm over time. I got it. Listen, real quick. I'm gonna tell you a quick story. Put that picture up. I got four kids. Layla, who's 18, going to college. I'm so proud of her. We've got Dawson, Alyssa, and Ivy. That's my son, Dawson. Now, Dawson is. He's nine. So this is. He's a lot younger in this picture. But I distinctly remember a moment. We took our children to an amusement park here in Atlanta, and we were having a good time. I mean, we're having a great time, just enjoying ourselves and having fun and getting on rides. And I just think we're, remember us going over to the go kart space. And when we got to the go kart space, I looked down and I didn't see Dawson. I was like, oh, that's weird. Now, my son, if you know my son, that's his personality. He just kind of does his own thing. But. But I was a little anxious. I was like, where's my. Where's my son? And I looked at my wife and I said, honey, have you seen Dawson? She's like, no, I thought he was with you. I was like, he's not with me. And so we begin to look around, and we looked around, and we looked around, and we could not find our son. And so my mind, naturally, as a father, I went to the absolute worst. Somebody got my child, and I'm literally running around going from amusement park to amusement park. Excuse me. Space to space, ride to ride. And I remember finding one of the park attendants, and I said, my son is missing. He said, are you sure? I said, yes. He said, I'm gonna help you. But he said, hold on one second. He got on the radio and he said, angel alert. Angel alert. Angel alert. That was the park's notification to everyone that there was a child that was missing and that everyone needs to be on the lookout. And they describe what my son looked like. And we're going literally bathroom to bathroom because my mind is going crazy. I'm scared out of my mind because I think my son has been killed, kidnapped, and what felt like an hour, which was probably only 20 minutes, as we literally went from ride to ride, space to space, and we couldn't find him. And then one moment, somebody hit the radio and said, we found him. And my wife and my kids were right there. And I said, they found him. And I said, well, where is he? They said, he's in the parking lot. I said, well, what? How in God's name did he get to the parking lot? They said, he's there right now. A police officer has him. And I remember looking at my wife, and I took off and I ran as fast as I could because in my mind, I was so anxious and nervous that something had happened. With tears running down my eyes, I ran to go get him. And as soon as I saw him, I grabbed him, I hugged him, and I said, I love you, son. And just as I embraced my son in that moment, and I left my wife and my kids to chase after my son. Here's what Jesus wants to do with you. He said, I'll leave the 99 and chase after the 1. And some of you have yet to experience, experience and understand that Jesus is your savior and that Jesus wants to have a relationship with you, that you've come here wondering and questioning and thinking, I don't know if I want to do this Jesus thing. And I'm telling you, having a relationship with Christ will change your life forever. Now, I'm not saying that your life will be perfect, but I am saying that it will be better. And when the Bible says, He says, when you hear my voice, harden not your heart. In other words, when you hear my voice, know that it is me that is speaking. And Jesus wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to know, and he wants you to know his voice. So as you think through where God is taking you in the season, as you think through and wonder with curiosity, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to just keep coming to church. Keep coming, keep learning, keep growing. And wonder what must I do to be saved? Acknowledge, believe, confess, and know that he is king. At the end of this gathering, there will be people who here who can walk you through that process, who can. Who can share with you the good news and allow you to be saved. And trust me, you want that feeling. You want that security. Because we don't know what can happen when we leave this building. You could walk out this door, get into a car accident, and it's over. And I would rather open my eyes in heaven. I'm going, just leave it right there. God loves you. He wants a relationship with you. And he puts it in your hands to walk with him. Listen, if you love the word this morning, I want you to just put your hands together. Come on. We can do better than that. Come on. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Anxiety has no place in our heart. Hallelujah.