1 – Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;
2 – hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
3 – because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked; for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.
4 – My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 – Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.
6 – I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
7 – I would flee far away and stay in the desert;
8 – I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”
9 – Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words, for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 – Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it.
11 – Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.
12 – If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide.
13 – But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend,
14 – with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.
15 – Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.
16 – As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me.
17 – Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.
18 – He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.
19 – God, Who is enthroned from of old, Who does not change—He will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.
20 – My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.
21 – His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.
22 – Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
23 – But You, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in You.
When you try and get a mental image of King David what do you see? I don’t know about you but I see a Brad Pitt look-alike and I’m thinking of when he played Achilles in the movie Troy. I get that mental image because I know David to be a brave, valiant warrior. Nothing seemed to scare him. When he was a teenager, he killed the giant Goliath with just a sling—and before that—perhaps in his middle-school age years—he killed a lion and a bear with his bare hands. I think of the David who bravely led his band of mighty men—much like Robin Hood—coming to the aid of common Hebrew farmers, protecting them from marauding Philistines while cleverly keeping out of the clutches of the jealous King Saul.
I mean, in my mind David was FEARLESS! And yet in today’s psalm we see a much-different David. This “mighty king” is in “panic-attack” mode. He’s using phrases like, “My thoughts trouble me and I am DISTRAUGHT.” “My heart is in ANGUISH within me; the TERRORS OF DEATH have fallen on me…FEAR and TREMBLING have beset me…HORROR has OVERWHELMED me.” What’s going on? What has happened to our fearless giant-slayer?
Context always helps with questions like this, so here goes. David wrote this psalm in his older years—during a time in his rule when he had been betrayed by a friend. Some think the betrayer was Ahithophel, David’s most trusted counselor, who sided with Absalom in the rebellion he led against his father. Others suggest it was a friend who is unknown to us. But identifying the betrayer is not important for our purposes this morning. You see, my point in looking at this psalm is for us to note that even brave King David, Israel’s greatest king—a man after God’s own heart—even he experienced times of anxiety and panic—something all of us deal with to some extent.
Now—to be clear—there are people who deal with anxiety more intensely and more often than others. Researchers say that there is a certain percentage of our population who seem to be genetically-predisposed to be much more anxious than is typical. If we were to illustrate this research data, we could draw a bell-shaped curve and it would show there are some people on the RIGHT SIDE of the curve who almost never get anxious. These people seem to be genetically-disposed to be RISK-TAKERS. For some reason, their brains and nervous systems are not very sensitive to adrenaline or to other stress modulators. In fact, it takes a large amount of risk just to keep these folks from feeling bored. These are the guys and gals who are drawn to surfing, bungee cord jumping, tightrope walking, alligator wrestling, karaoke nights, and prison ministry. They get bored easily. Folks in the MIDDLE of the bell curve are set up for what we might think of as “NORMAL” experiences of anxiety. And then people at the LEFT END are those people who seem to be genetically-predisposed to HAVE A HARD TIME WITH ANXIETY. Their brains are extremely sensitive to the effects of adrenaline. This group is likely to feel as much—or more—anxiety if they have to go to a party where they’ll have to make small talk with strangers as somebody in the other group might feel about jumping out of an airplane. We don’t know for sure but it’s probably a physiological thing—something that’s related to the raw material that they were born with. It’s part of the fall—where everyone is broken in some way.
But—hear me—just because you spend a lot of time on the right side of the bell curve does not mean you are more spiritually mature or have more faith than somebody on the far left. And, just because you frequent the far left doesn’t mean you are spiritually inferior to somebody who is on the thrill-seeking far right. In fact, sometimes people on the left—people who fight fear the most—sometimes they are the people who are further along on the journey toward Christlikeness—because in dealing with anxiety they have learned that they can trust God to help them—a lesson risk takers might not feel the need to learn. In any case, we must be careful not to judge on this issue. Our response to people who suffer from anxiety or fear should be compassion and understanding.
Before we go any further let me say if you are someone who feels like you wrestle with extreme anxiety—crippling fear—all the time—if you LIVE on the left side of the bell curve—I would encourage you to seek out a good Christian counselor—a growing believer that God has called, gifted, and trained to be an expert in this area—a counselor or a physician who is mature enough spiritually to rely on the principles of the Bible in his or her prescriptions for treatment—to help you find peace and healing. You don’t have to be afraid all the time. You don’t have to LIVE on the left side. Help is available!
But the truth is, all of us deal with fear and anxiety to some extent. All of us worry. All of us have times in life when we feel like King David did when he wrote this psalm. All of us are fearful for various reasons—and I’m not talking about little everyday fears—I’m talking about big things. To quote Charles Swindoll, I’m referring to, “…the ulcer-causing, big-time, mental monsters that crawl into your head, then go with you to bed and steal your sleep…the concerns you can’t shake off.”
And, here’s something else—I think if we were to compare bell-shaped curves in our day and age to those bell curves that were made, say 75 years ago, we’d see a big difference. We’d see more people spending more time on the anxious left today than any other time in history because these days we have more things to CAUSE us fear.
In his book on this subject, Max Lucado reminds us of some of these things—these fears we face—with a very scary list. Here it is. The things that give US anxiety these days include: “layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming, breakouts of al Qaeda cells, some demented dictator who is collecting nuclear [or chemical] warheads the way others collect fine wines. A strain of swine flu is crossing the border, [brain-eating amoeba are in the water]…We fear being sued, finishing last, [being shot at work by some mentally ill individual,]. We fear going broke; we fear the mole on the back, the new kid on the block, and the sound of the clock as it ticks us closer to the grave. We sophisticate investment plans, create elaborate security systems and legislate a stronger military, yet we depend on mood-altering drugs more than any other generation in history.”
I bet if we had a show of hands—all of us found ourselves on the left side of the bell curve a couple times as I read that list. This is a scary time in which to live. In fact, this week I read that studies show ordinary children today are more fearful than psychiatric patients were in the 1950’s.
Well, whatever its cause, when anxiety comes our way it can do incredible DAMAGE. If we are not careful, it will corrode our confidence in God’s goodness and suck the life out of our souls. It will curl us into an embryonic state, and drain us dry of contentment. Fear—anxiety—worry—whatever you call it—when it attacks it can rob us of joy. It can make us more self-preoccupied and less attentive or loving to other people. It can poison relationships—because when we are anxious our focus is of course on ME. It also makes temptations look attractive because we will do anything that helps us escape this inner pain. Anxiety erodes our ability to feel grateful. It increases our irritability. And maybe worst of all it has the potential for keeping us from trusting God. Anxiety keeps us from saying YES to the fearful things God calls us to do—things that require us to trust Him things—that if we do them—bring us incredible fulfillment and joy. You see, when fear shapes our lives, safety becomes our god and when safety becomes our god, we worship the risk-free life and when we don’t have enough faith to risk for God our spiritual growth comes to a halt. This is what Jesus was referring to in the parable of the soils when He said, “The ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns are the ones who have heard the Word, but the WORRIES OF THE WORLD…enter in and choke the Word and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 7:18-19)
When you think of all the potential damage that anxiety or worry can cause, it is no wonder that “fear not” is the most common command in the Bible. The second most common command, to love God, and neighbor, appears only on 8 occasions, whereas the Gospels alone list some 125 times that Jesus said things like,“do not be afraid” or “fear not” or “have courage” or “take heart” or “be of good cheer.” Jesus said this because as God in the flesh, He knows how toxic fear can be to us.
Well, how can we overcome the fears that so easily beset us all? How can we be delivered from them? In an attempt to answer these questions I want to point us toward three Scriptural principles.
(1) First we need right THINKING.
And I say this because fear BEGINS in our THOUGHTS—our minds—and minds that are filled with worry and anxiety are basically the results of inputting the WRONG things because wrong thinking leads to wrong feeling and before long we are strangled by anxiety. In the fourth chapter of his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul talked about this principle. Do you remember his words? He said, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—THINK about such things.” (Phil 4:8) Paul knew that our thought life is very important because our thoughts are the origin of our actions.
Do you remember this old poem?
“Sow a thought, reap an action—Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character—Sow a character, reap a destiny.”
Perhaps this unknown poet was inspired by Proverbs 4:23, where it says we must, “…be careful what we think, because our thoughts run our life.”
As many of you know, my undergraduate degree is in music—and to get a music degree even if you are a voice major like I was, you have to pass a piano proficiency test so I took a lot of piano in college, both class piano and private lessons…and even though I did—I BARELY passed my proficiency test. But I did learn enough to find my way around a keyboard—and glean an important principle of life as well. You see, my piano studies helped me begin to understand how amazing our minds really are. That grey matter in our skulls records and learns literally everything you do—both good and bad. As I said, I discovered this at the keyboard because when I would make a mistake on a piano piece (which I did quite often) my mind would learn that mistake, such that if I was not very careful I would find myself stumbling at the same exact place the next time I tried to play the piece. I asked my piano teacher about it and she agreed with my conclusion and said the more I make that same mistake the better my mind would learn it, such that a sort of mental “rut” would be formed—a “rut” I could easily “fall” into whenever I played. And the only way to correct it would be to do what piano teachers always want you to do—namely PRACTICE—because practice is the way to make a bigger mental “rut” by doing the part of the piece where I messed up correctly over and over and over again such that the “correct playing rut” would be bigger than the “incorrect playing one.” That old phrase, “practice makes perfect” is apparently true!
Well, the things we think about make mental “ruts.” The more we think WRONG thoughts the more likely we are to fall into the “rut” of thinking them again and hence the more likely we’ll always find ourselves in ANOTHER rut—the rut of fear and anxiety. So, to paraphrase Paul, we need to develop “ruts that are made by right thinking.” We need to “practice” right thoughts. We must discipline ourselves to think RIGHTLY.
With that in mind let’s take a closer look at the kinds of things Paul says we OUGHT to THINK on as Christians.
A. First of all…he says we should THINK about things that are TRUE.
Years ago, Dr. Walter Cavert did a study of the things we worry about. He discovered that:
- 40% of the things we worry about never happen.
- 30% of our worries concern the past…which can’t be changed.
- 12% of our worries are needless worries about our health.
- 10% of our worries are insignificant or petty concerns
- This leaves only 8% of our worries as being legitimate troubles.
So if you’re going to worry about something, make sure it is part of that 8%. Make sure it is TRUE—and most of the time—92% of the time—the thing we are worrying about is NOT true. This reminds me of another poem:
He worried about the weather, He worried about his health,
He worried about his business, He worried about his wealth.
She worried about the children, She worried about her clothes
She worried about the neighbors. She worried about her woes
They worried about their taxes, They worried about their pets
They worried about their future, They worried about their debts
They worried, still they worried, They worried, but alas
They worried about a lot of things…That did not come to pass.
Listen. As Jesus said in John 8:44, Satan is a liar and one of his most affective weapons is to corrupt our minds with his lies—making us worry about things that are not factual. So when fear or anxiety hits—think on things that are TRUE!
B. Paul also says RIGHT THINKING involves dwelling on things that are GOOD—things that are honest and just, perfect things that are worthy of respect, things that are pure, lovely or radiant and of good report, things that possess virtue and praise.
In other words we are to focus our mind on only the BEST kinds of thoughts—things that are fit for God’s ears.
At this point I should warn you because I’m moving from PREACHING into MEDDLING.You see, I don’t think it is wise for us to spend our time watching crud TV or horror movies. We shouldn’t fill our mind with images that magnify unwholesome things—evil things. We shouldn’t put that kind of trash in our brains. If we do, that fearful trash will come out in our thoughts and we will find ourselves falling more easily into the “rut of fear.”
When Sarah and Becca were little, I was away on a youth mission trip and to make sure they knew I missed them when I was gone I bought them two little stuffed animals—a baby chicken and a baby sheep. If you squeezed these stuffed animals they would say—in a very cute voice—“Happy Easter!” And the girls loved them—the toys were a big hit. That Holy Week, “Happy Easter” was heard repeatedly around our home! Well, about ten years later, long after my mind had forgotten about those stuff animal toys, when Sarah was starting high school she went through this time where she would wake us up in the middle of the night claiming to hear evil voices. She would wake us up and it was obvious she was terrified. After three or four nights of telling her it was only a dream, she came in again and I was too sleepy to deal with it so I told her to climb in bed with her mom and I went to sleep in her room. I had just started to drift off when I heard a voice in the darkness—and it DID sound evil. I listened and heard it again. The hair on my arms stood up. It sounded terrifying! The voice was just a whisper—and it seemed to come from a shelf in Sarah’s room not far from her bed—a shelf that was packed with all the stuffed animals she had received over the years. Well, as the echo of that evil voice faded, my mind thought of a current popular horror film where a child’s doll came alive and killed people.
I had not seen the movie—but I had seen tons of commercials about it. I think it was called, “Chuckie.” Well, I began to think about Chuckie—as I cautiously crept toward the shelf. I reached out toward the stuffed animals fearful that a doll hand might reach back and I heard it again. Coming out of the darkness, the creepy voice said in a low voice, “HAPPY EASTER!” and I almost ran back to my bedroom but I got myself together and began to dig through those stuffed animals—expecting one to jump out at me at any moment. And there at the back of the pile I found the stuffed sheep I had given Sarah so many years earlier. Its battery was almost dead—making its formerly cheerful, cute recording—sound like something Chuckie would say.
And—the weight of all the other stuffed animals on top of it would push against its “play” button and make the recording play from time to time—the source of Sarah’s—and my fear! We immediately threw it out—and my point in sharing all this is to be careful what things you put into your mind. Learn to think on GOOD things—PURE THINGS—things that are WORTH putting into the amazing brains God gave us. I mean, if a commercial for a horror film can affect my thinking—imagine what a steady diet of that stuff can do! As Paul put it in Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
By the way I find it interesting to see that Psalm 19:7-9 parallels these “right thinking” kind of things that Paul lists in Philippians 4. It says, “The Law of the Lord is PERFECT, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are RIGHT, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are RADIANT giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is PURE enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are SURE and altogether RIGHTEOUS.” This tells us that the Christian who fills his heart and mind with God’s Word will have a “built-in radar” for detecting and filtering out wrong thoughts and this is why a daily quiet time is so important. I mean, one result of daily meditation on the Word of God is a renewed mind—a mind where all the bad ruts are filled in—a mind that thinks right. Thinking on the truth of God’s Word will change our perspective on fearful times by helping us understand that God is bigger than anything that causes us fear—that He is completely sovereign—that He loves us and that He is always with us. RIGHT thinking is a powerful fear deliverer!
(2) Another thing that helps us find deliverance from fear is right RELATIONSHIPS.
Just as bad relationships—like the one David was grieving about in this psalm—can cause us anxiety that makes us want to run away—good relationships can help free us from that anxiety. The fact is we all need Christian friends who will come along side us in the fearful times of life to help us. We need people who won’t judge us when we are afraid but will love us enough to hear us out and then tell us the things we need to hear. We need friends who will help us THINK rightly. This is one of the blessings of having a Godly husband or wife. One researcher put it like this: “Never worry alone, because when you worry by yourself, it just intensifies what you’re worried about.”
And that’s so true. When I talk to another Christ-follower, it brings my fear into the light and I have the chance to get God’s eternal perspective through that person. So—choose good companions—Godly friends—wise friends. Don’t pick the kind who hear you tell about your fears and say, “Oh—that’s terrible. I’m glad I’m not you.” and then leave you more worried than you were when you started. No—we need people who will hang in there with us in the fearful times and then lovingly tell us the truth—even when it’s hard to hear. We need people to tell us things like, “I love you but your problem is your life-style. You’re not living like God said to live. So, it is no wonder you are afraid.” Or “Your problem is you’re not thinking correctly. You’re thinking things that are just not true.” or “Yes—that’s hard—that’s scary—and it may not get better but God is near. Stay connected to Him. And I’m not going anywhere either. We’ll face this together.” We need people to help us THINK RIGHTLY.
Other than Sue, I would say the best RIGHT relationships God has blessed me with is Bill Ratliff. Bill and I met in seminary in 1979 and have been friends who stick closer than a brother ever since. Some of you men know him because he led our men’s retreat a few years back. Bill pastors a church in Marietta, Georgia and has always been faithful over the years to hear my fears and to help me find deliverance from them. I remember one day in seminary I was driving home from church when the light on my dashboard that indicated if the engine was overheating came on. Steam began to pour from under the hood but I was on one of the crowded beltways in Louisville—and it was several miles before I could get to a place where there was a shoulder and it was safe to pull over. I parked my car and began the long walk back to Seminary Village and as I walked I thought things like, “We don’t have money to fix this. What are we going to do!? The engine has almost surely sustained damage. I can’t afford a new car. I can hardly afford to keep food on the table. Plus this is not fair! After all, I’m in seminary—preparing for God’s call. How could He allow this to happen?!” Well, after telling Sue my worries, I needed help to get my car so I walked across the way to Bill and Donna’s apartment to ask him for a ride and as we drove back to where I left it, I unloaded on him. I told him my thoughts. I told him my fears. He listened—patiently—and then he filled my ears with TRUTH. He reminded me that God was good—that that He had taken care of me up until this point—He told me about how God had provided for him and Donna. He told me the kind of RIGHT THINGS I needed to hear to get out of the rut of anxiety that I had been digging myself into. He also said, I was probably blowing the damage out of proportion—and when we got there and looked at my car I discovered he was right. It was just a small hose that had sprung a leak. We were able to buy another one for a couple bucks and do the repair ourselves, even with our limited skills. And—the engine had not sustained damage. No clouds of burned oil smoke billowed from my tail pipe when I started it up. It never overheated again. It drove great. Fear of my car’s demise was in the ninety-two percentile!
Well, Bill has been faithful to hear my fears on several other issues down through the years—and I hope I’ve been as good a friend for him in that way. Listen—life is scary—life is hard—and one of God’s greatest blessings to help us deal with fear is right relationships like the one Bill and I enjoy.
(3) Here’s one more thing we need in fearful times. We need right PRAYING.
King David learned this lesson, which is why in verses 16 and 17, he says, “I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.”
Then in verse 22 he said, “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.” David knew that when he faced anxiety the first thing he needed to do was go to God.
The apostle Paul had learned this lesson as well. Quoting his letter to the Philippians again, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
As I said, I have found that if I have a worry—something that really concerns me—it helps if I share it with someone who loves me like Sue or someone like my friend Bill. When I do this, it is as if that worry—that burden—were lightened because I know the person who loves me makes my burdens their own and in so doing helps me bear them. Well that principle is especially seen in sharing my worries with God. I never leave His presence without feeling better about my situation because I know that what concerns me concerns Him. As 1st Peter 5:7 says, “Cast ALL your cares upon Him—GOD—because you are His personal concern.” (Phillips)
You know, when you feel yourself falling into a “fear rut” — when you feel a chain of obsessive worry starting to form in your mind about something—researchers say when this happens you have a one-minute window of opportunity to cut it off. You have one minute to steer clear of that rut. If you don’t, you’ll fall into it and be consumed with anxiety. So it’s important that you learn to use that one minute window wisely—and the wisest thing to do in that minute is to PRAY. In fact, as Christians, we must allow anxiety to become a cue for us to talk to God. Just as Pavlov’s dogs became conditioned to salivate for dinner every time they heard the bell, we must let our anxieties and worries become a cue for us to run into God’s presence. We should train ourselves such that our instinctive response to fear is to run to God.
When we get a bill we can’t pay—or a diagnosis that causes us fear—when the roof leaks—when our boss says we are going to be furloughed—when fear about this or that hits our first reaction ought to be: “I need to talk to God!” We must not sit back passively and let our mind be taken captive by fear—no—we must go to God. Listen, only one person can imprison your mind to fear—YOU! Don’t fall into a deep rut of fear—no! Instead choose to go to the only Being Who is able to help—GOD.
How many of you have ever gone bowling? I have found that it’s almost as fun WATCHING people bowl—as it is to bowl yourself because everyone has their own unique style—their own way to try and hit those pins with that ball. Of course there is a point at which they lose control over knocking down those pins because you can’t cross that little line at the end of the lane. But in spite of this people still try to control the ball once they let it go. They contort their bodies. They yell at the ball as it rolls toward the pins. They lean one way because the ball is going the wrong way. They hop on one foot—but none of that works. So, listen—here’s one of the secrets of fun-filled bowling: LET IT GO! Do all you can before you let the ball go. Get your footwork right. Bend your knees appropriately. Have a good swing. Use the right kind of ball. Look for the right release point. But when you let the ball go—just let it go and realize it is no longer in your control. Stop pretending you are controlling it. Just wave goodbye and say, “Ok God, it’s up to You now.”
My point in going down this “lane” is because we tend to think that somehow WORRY equals CONTROL of our fearsome troubles—but of course that’s silly. Worrying about our fears is just as effective as yelling at an errant bowling ball! We have to learn to give our fears to God—knowing He loves us and is both willing and able to help. So try it. The next time anxiety hits—before that first minute passes, get on your knees and talk to your Heavenly Father. Begin your conversation with adoration and praise because this reminds us of His greatness and majesty—and therefore helps us to see that God is bigger than our problems. Then, after a time of praise, honestly, earnestly, specifically share with Him your needs and concerns. I have found that the more specific I am in telling Him about my fears—the greater the peace I experience—but talk to God as long as you want. Bathe yourself in His presence. Then conclude your prayer time with a period of thanking God, sharing with Him your appreciation of Who He is and all He has done and continues to do for us. Then leave your fear there. Let God take over.
When we do this—when we pray right—it is just as Paul says. “The peace of God will guard our hearts and minds” and we will experience peace instead of fear. Charles Spurgeon once said, “If you do not come to [God], you will receive no peace; if you do not keep near Him, you will retain no peace; and if you do not grow nearer and nearer to Him, you will miss much of the peace that you might have. Abide in Christ Jesus, and let Him abide in you, and you shall have abundance of peace.”
Would you pray with me?
Father God, Search our minds and hearts this morning…know our anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in our thinking—ruts of falsehood or sin that lead us to fear. Guide us out of those ruts Father. Help us to think rightly. Lead us in the everlasting way—the way to the peace that only You can give. I ask this in Jesus’ name. AMEN
To experience the peace that God gives you have to know Him personally—and the only way to do that is by becoming a follower of Jesus. As the prophet Isaiah said, “The punishment that brought us PEACE was on Him.” (Isaiah 53:5) In Colossians 1:20-21 Paul says, “For through Him—Jesus—God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things by making peace through His blood shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”
If you’re not a Christ-follower you can become one today by admitting to God that you are a sinner, by believing that Jesus is God’s Son—that He died for your sin and rose on the third day, and by confessing your decision to follow Jesus as Lord. In that simple decision Jesus comes to live inside you and from that point on you’ll never again fight your fears alone! If you’d like to make that all important decision come and talk with me or one of the other pastors as we stand and sing. God may be leading you to join our church family—or you may want us to pray with you about some fear in your life but as we sing come.