Questions of Jesus Series #7
Pastor David T. Elms 10/21/2025
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54:53
Summary
Pastor David Elms explores Jesus' questions about worry, challenging the church to trust God's provision as seen in nature and to refuse to let small anxieties cloud their spiritual atmosphere.
Key points
- •Anxiety is fundamentally a division of the mind that pulls focus away from God's sovereignty and toward temporary stresses.
- •Jesus uses the 'how much more' argument by pointing to nature: if God provides for ravens (who don't store food) and lilies (who don't labor), He will certainly care for His children.
- •Worry is ineffective; it cannot add a single hour to one's lifespan, yet it can cloud the entire atmosphere of a person's life like volcanic ash in the sky.
- •The antidote to fear is to lean into the community of the church and redirect one's sight to God's faithfulness through experiential, operative faith.
Scripture
Anxiety and Peace
Divine Provision
Faith vs. Fear
Spiritual Perspective
Life application
This week, when a specific worry arises, stop and literally look at birds or flowers to remind yourself of God's provision, then consciously choose to 'adult' by taking positive action rather than sitting in anxiety.
Reflection questions
- What is one 'time thief' or 'joy thief' that has been dividing your mind lately?
- How can we distinguish between responsible foresight and sinful worry in our daily planning?
- Pastor Elms mentioned that 'knowledge must be operative.' What is one scripture about peace you know that you haven't put into practice yet?
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Full transcript
0:00the Lord Jesus, the Lord most high.
0:00Amen. I'm inviting you to Luke the 12th
0:02chapter, the 24th verse.
0:05How Jesus is saying some very powerful
0:08things. Consider the ravens for they
0:12neither sow nor reap which neither
0:15neither have storehouse nor borne. And I
0:19would say, nor freezer, nor
0:21refrigerator, nor pantry.
0:24Okay? And God feeds them. How much more,
0:29what a question.
0:31How much more are you better than the
0:33birds? Now, I know there's a lot of
0:34things I do that are for the birds. But
0:37the Lord is saying, you're better than
0:40the birds.
0:41Some people trade in their children for
0:43chickens. I'm not going to do it. I'm
0:45tempted, but I'm not going to do it.
0:48I want to have my children, not the
0:50chickens. Even though,
0:53oh Lord, should I start?
0:57We open the door for chickens and we
0:59meant for it to be only female chickens
1:01because in the in the foul language,
1:09>> female chickens don't talk as much as
1:12male chickens,
1:14or at least they don't talk as loud.
1:16That may be true. man in humanity. So, I
1:19made one covenant, one rule.
1:23If we're going to have chickens, we will
1:25have no roosters. None. Zero.
1:32Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
1:35out of nowhere,
1:37three roosters have shown up.
1:41Now, there's something that might need
1:42to be the the flock may need to be
1:45called. Sister Susan, because I think
1:48some of those babies are starting to go,
1:53I rolled down my window the other day
1:55and it wasn't one of the three roosters
1:57from nowhere. I think it was one of
1:59those chickades that started roostering.
2:03So, I just don't want our neighborhood
2:07to be angry because we now have a a
2:11noise factory down over at the school,
2:13but the kids love them. You are more
2:16than the chickens, y'all.
2:19I'm glad there's two of you that agree
2:21with that.
2:23You know, I know the chairs are extra
2:25back right now because we've just
2:27disassembled a platform, but I'm still
2:29going to need your help today. All
2:31right. Uh here we go. And so, and which
2:37of you with taking thought can add to
2:39his stature? Now that word in the in the
2:43Greek really means lifespan.
2:45Who can add to your life one not just
2:49one cubit but one inch or one minute.
2:53You can't add one. When it's your time
2:55to go, you're going to go. If you then
2:58being not able to do that thing which is
3:01the least, why do you take thought
3:05or stress
3:08or get anxiety? That's what take thought
3:10means. Why do you get anxiety about the
3:14rest? Consider the liies how they grow.
3:16They toil not. They spin not. I don't
3:19know if that's a special dance. Have
3:20y'all seen them spin?
3:22It's an amazing class. They have
3:24spinning class.
3:26All of the liies take spinning class.
3:29This is biblical. I'm in the Bible.
3:32All right.
3:34I can see y'all are needing your your
3:37laugh button here today. It's all right.
3:39I'll work on you. I'm I'm not afraid. Uh
3:42they spin not. And yet I say unto you
3:44that Solomon in all of his glory was not
3:46a raid like one of these. Lord, I want
3:49to say something that is powerful and
3:52empowering to your people tonight. We
3:54are not here clocking time. We're not
3:56here putting you on the clock. We are in
3:58this house because your word is fresh,
4:00new, and rewarding. It is the reward of
4:03the Lord that we seek for tonight. bless
4:05I pray in Jesus name this word as we
4:07preach tonight and let the church say
4:10amen.
4:11>> Amen.
4:11>> And you may be seated. Thank you for
4:13standing and thank you for heing us. We
4:17have been launching into questions Jesus
4:19asked because he taught by this uh this
4:23this method of posing a question to
4:25where the answer is not simple. Yes,
4:28there are rhetorical answers that seem
4:30to be reasonable and simple, but the
4:32questions Jesus asked go deeper than
4:34just an automatic knee-jerk answer. And
4:37so, the first week we talked about
4:39awakening the flame of faith. And we we
4:41the we saw how the Lord exposed doubt as
4:45being caught between two opinions. And
4:49he encouraged trust and he ignited
4:51action. And he wanted faith to be alive.
4:55And faith is only alive when you're not
4:58caught between two opinions. It's like
5:02Joshua said, uh, you choose this day
5:05whom you will serve. You choose this day
5:08whom you will serve. As for me and my
5:10house, we will serve the Lord. That's a
5:14statement, but it's also an action that
5:17all of you have made. And the enemy
5:19isn't happy that you have made that
5:21decision. And he fights you for about
5:23that decision. And he pushes against
5:25that decision. And every day you've got
5:27to get up, soldier on, and say, "I'm
5:29going to serve the Lord in gladness. I
5:32will serve the Lord with joy. I'll draw
5:35water out of the well of salvation. I'm
5:37not doing it because it's some kind of a
5:40burden upon me. I'm doing it because
5:42it's the greatest reward I could ever
5:44receive." And then the next thing he we
5:47we looked at was the shadows of
5:49hypocrisy. And we talked about those who
5:52have a lot to show, but they do not have
5:54much in their soul. Much uh they're
5:57they're more interested in the approval
5:59of men than the approval of God. And
6:01that always shows up in prayer time when
6:05people want to pray to be seen of men.
6:07That's what the Pharisees like to do.
6:09And the Lord said, "Don't be like the
6:11Pharisees who literally they would come
6:13and have trumpets blown before they
6:15started start
6:18one day for it service. I need to just
6:20demonstrate how the Pharisees gave.
6:22Okay, that would be fun all by itself.
6:24So here here they would and they would
6:26pray and they would say, "Oh Lord, I'm
6:28glad I'm not like him." What were they
6:30doing? They were looking around them. If
6:32your prayers are self- congratulatory,
6:35then you're apparently not kneeling at
6:36the cross.
6:38Because if you're always demonstrating
6:41how good you are, then you have not seen
6:44with him with whom our soul has to do.
6:47It's the Lord who pushes back the
6:49shadows of hypocrisy. Then we talked
6:51about the assessment of our giving that
6:52there's measurables in how we give and
6:55how we understand the things of value.
6:59Don't give things that are holy to dogs.
7:02We talked about casting pearls before
7:04the swine. We talked about a child if he
7:07asks for bread, will you give him a
7:09stone? all these great uh comparables
7:12which are absolutely seems to be
7:15absolutely yes no answers but when you
7:19consider them the Lord's trying to put a
7:21deeper point in there that you've got to
7:24continually assess what am I getting
7:26involved in how much value does this
7:30give to me and it's not just once you
7:32have to do that you have to do that
7:33continually through your life because
7:36everything comes along as a time thief
7:39thief. Time thieves. They show up all
7:42the time. And many time thieves are good
7:45things. All time thieves are not evil.
7:47They're not all evil. The phone is one
7:50of the greatest time thieves in all the
7:51world. YouTube for me, this is my
7:55personal temptation is YouTube because I
7:58think I can learn. I'm always learning
8:00something. I don't I just watch a new
8:02podcast. I learn about lions. I learn
8:04about baboons. What good is that going
8:06to do me? I'm so interested.
8:09It's It's ridiculous.
8:11I sit there. I say, "What? Just what are
8:15you doing watching a lion?"
8:18Well, they're time thieves. They're not
8:20all bad. They're not all evil, but
8:23you've got to make sure you slot them in
8:25a proper authority of of measuring your
8:29life. Don't trade grapes for thorns.
8:31Don't trade pearls and throw them for
8:34swine. Don't trade bread for a stone.
8:37Make sure you're doing it. The next
8:38thing we talked about was teaching
8:39kingdom culture. That we are not of this
8:42world. That in the middle of our fallen
8:44world, repentance resets us and the Holy
8:49Ghost transforms us. I had one of the
8:52greatest phone calls of my ministry last
8:54week. Uh somebody that's coming to our
8:57church and uh it's here on Sundays but
8:59lives a long ways away uh was talking
9:01about how the Holy Ghost is changing
9:03their life and there's impacts that
9:06they're seeing and of course the devil
9:07showing up and fighting and they're
9:09changing how they dress. They're
9:10changing how they talk. They're changing
9:13things they do and it's messing up
9:15people around them. And and it was so
9:17awesome hearing somebody just tell me it
9:19wasn't me doing the preaching. It was
9:21them doing the preaching to me.
9:22Brothers, what I do? I I made this
9:24decision and I thought, oh, I'll tell
9:27you what's happening to you. You're
9:28being transformed by the renewing of
9:31your mind. It's the Holy Ghost that
9:33teaches you both to do and to be in the
9:36ways of God. Now, it's uh it's not just
9:41at church where we do this. It's also we
9:44do this when we walk out of this place.
9:47Assessing kingdom culture. Everything in
9:49the kingdom is a so story of planting
9:52and growing of seed and soils. What kind
9:55of soil am I? And I talked about how we
9:57must interrogate ourselves. Uh and
10:01that's something that often needs to
10:02happen. You need to have a little talk
10:04with yourself. Uh you know I know let us
10:06have a little talk with Jesus. Tell him
10:08all about our troubles. He'll hear our
10:10faintest cry. He will answer by and by.
10:14Sometimes you need to say, "I'm gonna
10:15have a little talk with me."
10:19Why? Because you're the only one that
10:21can fix you.
10:23I know my wife, she does a good job at
10:26trying to fix me, but I'm Listen, she
10:28she isn't here tonight to defend
10:30herself.
10:32I'm a stubborn old dude. And she helps
10:35me how I drive. I need help driving.
10:41I need help pronouncing words correctly.
10:45I I say I say uh words like uh ever
10:50instead I mean every uh I've get this
10:54ever and every mixed up. Do you all
10:56remember it? What is the word ever
10:58since? And I say it's every is it ever
11:02since or is it every since? I say every
11:06sense. And
11:10oh my goodness, I see some folks in the
11:12house.
11:14Sister Linda Joacum and your sweet
11:16daughter. Good to have y'all today.
11:18These bright lights. It's honor to have
11:21y'all in this place. Who knows? They
11:24might be needing to move back to South
11:25Florida. We're having revival of
11:27Haitians. We're having a revival of
11:29Haitians in this house. Amen. But we've
11:32got to measure ourselves and and see am
11:35I doing okay? You know, that's the
11:37reason you have foremen at work. You
11:40know, I know all of y'all are highbrow
11:43people. You have white collar jobs. And
11:45so those aren't foreman. Those are
11:47managers. But I grew up in the warehouse
11:49district and when I worked at Protector
11:52Safety and there was a foreman there and
11:53he walked in and everybody better
11:55straighten up and he could clean your
11:57clock. He was professional at cleaning
11:59your clock. If you don't know what that
12:01means, it's Greek for he gets in your
12:03face.
12:05Uh and uh why? Because you need that. If
12:08you didn't need leadership, we there
12:11would be no leaders. But everybody needs
12:13somebody to lead them. And so we've got
12:15to stop and assess ourselves. That's the
12:17reason we we need each other at church.
12:19We need each other. Rub up against each
12:21other, rub the rough edges off. I'm not
12:24talking about literal rubbing. I'm
12:25talking about spiritual uh getting iron
12:28that sharpeneth iron. We get encouraged
12:30one another in the Lord. And so it's
12:32kingdom culture. The fifth one was the
12:34priorities of mercy. We talked about
12:36mercy and how great is the mercy of the
12:38Lord and how the Lord uh impressed us by
12:42letting us know he followed the news.
12:44And someone had told him about uh Pilate
12:47who had killed some people while they
12:49were worshiping at church. And the
12:51scripture says it like this. He mixed
12:53the blood with the sacrifices. and uh
12:57and they were trying to work Jesus up
13:00about that and get some kind of upset
13:02spirit out of him. And you know, he had
13:04some zealots in his group. And if you
13:06don't know what a zealot is, it was the
13:07people who believed all the
13:09conspiracies.
13:10I pastor a few of those.
13:15There's always going to be conspiracies.
13:18Some of them are absolutely right.
13:22But here's the point. Jesus stopped the
13:25zealots because that's why John the
13:27Baptist he would he stayed with the
13:29zealots for a little while. John the
13:31Baptist went down by the Dead Sea was
13:33where many of the Zealots would go and
13:34they were always trying to fight Rome.
13:36Pilate and Herod always had some
13:38sinister ugly ucky plot. And it's true
13:42they did. that Jesus didn't fall for
13:45solving the conspiracies because he
13:47said, "I've come to seek and to save the
13:50lost, not the fooled."
13:55You're always going to have people that
13:57are fooled and duped in the earth.
13:59Whether I fall in the duped category or
14:02the not duped category, it bothers me,
14:05but it's not important to am I born
14:08again of the water and of the spirit.
14:11I want to be born again of the water and
14:13the spirit and in the kingdom of God.
14:15You'll always have anytime people study
14:17prophecies, you're always going to have
14:19people that are chasing down every
14:21little vein of prophecy, guessing what
14:24it's going to be. I've seen churches
14:26that were built on prophecy teaching. It
14:29is a shallow church because the prophecy
14:33teaching only gets you excited about the
14:36future and it gets you out of
14:38understanding right now. No, you got to
14:40seek and save the lost.
14:43It can get you chasing all kinds of
14:45things. And brother, you can build a
14:47crowd if you'll preach prophecy. All I
14:49got to do is start putting pictures of
14:51dragons and beasts and foreheaded
14:53monsters up. We'll have people coming
14:55out of the woodwork for that. Brother uh
14:58Brother Irvin Baxter was the head of end
15:00time ministries before he passed away.
15:03And and uh I preached for him. He was a
15:05a wonderful man. He was so driven by end
15:08time ministries. He had he really
15:10believed that the 144,000 in the book of
15:13revelations was literally 144,000 and he
15:17had 144 envelopes thousand envelopes
15:21that he was preparing to send to Israel
15:25on the day uh uh of what he felt like
15:28was the coming of the Lord. And he lived
15:30through several times he thought the
15:33Lord was going to come. And I'm not
15:35laughing at him. I love him. He was a
15:37wonderful man. But you can't build your
15:39life on that. You can't build a family
15:41on that. You You've got to enjoy the
15:43moment, celebrate the fact, and know
15:45that he's coming soon.
15:48But you got to know the priorities of
15:49mercy. So So Pilate has killed people
15:52while they're worshiping. That's
15:54terrible. And here's what Jesus does. I
15:56mean, he's so focused.
15:59He says, "How that was terrible. Except
16:02you repent, you're going to so likewise
16:04perish.
16:06Listen, the Lord's my kind of man.
16:11It's like right there in your face. Then
16:14somebody says, "Did you hear about that
16:16tower that fell over? 18 died on it."
16:19And the Lord said, "In fact, yeah, I
16:22know about the tower of Saleom." And
16:24what about it? It's terrible. It's no
16:28good. Except you repent, you shall
16:31likewise perish.
16:34I I don't remember how many was slain.
16:36Parkland, but I know it was over 18. How
16:39many? It was 17.
16:4117. It was terrible. But to use a a an
16:45illustration like that, they were
16:47victims. They were a victim of an evil
16:50man. And you think, my what happened?
16:53Except you repent, you shall likewise
16:54be.
16:56Whatever shocking thing you can grab,
16:59the Lord's saying, don't let that shock,
17:03it's always going to be around. We will
17:05always have shocking events whether it's
17:09racial shock uh uh e economic shock uh
17:14shock of injustices in the court system
17:18of government. It's always going to be
17:20around.
17:22So if we're surprised, who's that on?
17:26That's on us.
17:28Even though I continually get shocked,
17:32but I have to let the Lord come and get
17:35me back, grab my attention instead of
17:38acting like this is the first time
17:40that's ever happened. Whoa. No, no, no,
17:42no. Ever since the cursed blood of
17:46Lamech
17:48was shedding blood everywhere he walked
17:50all the way back in Genesis 4, that
17:54blood of Lamech has walked this land and
17:57evil men have continually continually
18:00walked the earth. And that's the reason
18:02when I pray, I pray, "Oh Lord, lead me
18:05not into temptation,
18:08but say the word
18:11>> deliver me." I'm telling you, when you
18:14pray, you need to say that word with
18:16passion.
18:17Deliver me. In other words, God is
18:19saying, you don't have the strength to
18:21get out of it. It'll catch your mind.
18:24It'll grab your attention. It'll grab
18:26your heart. I need the Lord to get me
18:29out of the evil that I encounter.
18:32It's the reason I need you guys because
18:34when I see you, I remember there's
18:36things right in this world. That's the
18:39priorities of mercy. And we talked about
18:41his first message was except you repent.
18:44And the last message was
18:47be zealous therefore and repent. This
18:51week we're talking about challenging
18:53fear and worry. And of course, Halloween
18:56is coming up. I always uh talk about
18:59Halloween because that's another
19:00conspiracy that's out there. When I was
19:03a kid, it wasn't near what the
19:04evangelical movement has made it.
19:06Literally, religious people have turned
19:09Halloween into the devil's day.
19:13And I just want to tell you, he gets
19:16none of my days. The devil doesn't get
19:19any, not one of my days. If Lucifer
19:23himself walked in that and sat on the
19:25front row exposed, you know what we
19:28would do? Sit there while we worship
19:31God, you get no attention. I have no
19:35hope for you. I have no time to mess
19:37with you. You get no days. You don't get
19:39a shirt. Just because people get
19:41inspired by his evil and put their house
19:43up like a skeleton's closet, it doesn't
19:47matter to me. I'm walking around. The
19:49joy of the Lord is my strength. Yes.
19:52>> And see, I was around before the
19:54Christian movement turned this thing
19:55into such a goblinfilled day.
19:59>> I mean, who ever decorated for
20:00Halloween? I know I'm old, so let me
20:02just be old for a minute. Who ever
20:05decorated for Halloween? Brother Gay's
20:07church, we had haunted houses. We walked
20:10through and they had floating eyeballs
20:12at Brother Gay's church. Can you believe
20:15it?
20:17I mean, unbelievable.
20:20It was it was it wasn't it wasn't this
20:23demonic thing. And then all of a sudden
20:25we started listening to Meline Murray
20:26O'Hare. We started listening to witches
20:28and warlocks. And we started finding out
20:30what they did on Halloween because to
20:32them it's a devil's holiday. But they
20:35still don't get any of my days. They
20:37don't get any of my days. So and that's
20:40not the only day they they crucify and
20:42sacrifice and kill babies. That's not
20:44the only day. They're evil all the time.
20:48>> They're cursing all the time. They fast
20:50just like we fast.
20:53They make sacrifices just like we make
20:55sacrifices. Does that mean I get on my
20:57tiptoes and say, "Oh no, we got to go to
21:00war." No. The blood of Jesus has already
21:03won this thing. I'm going to reach the
21:04lost them that are seeking the Lord,
21:10those that are hungry for the Lord. So,
21:13I'm going to reach them and I'm not
21:15going to let one day be taken. I I've
21:17told you this several times. I I
21:19remember that when it first started
21:21getting huge in the in evangelical
21:23movement was it was probably 1990
21:27or ' 89 when I was preaching in Dallas,
21:29Texas and I was preaching for Tom Foster
21:31there and I remember on the radio that
21:34one guy came on and he had had a demon
21:37call in every day for like a whole week
21:39of Halloween and the demon would just
21:41start manifesting over the phone and I
21:44got so tickled. It was good theater. I
21:46mean it was amazing theater but then
21:51You know, everybody's listening and he'd
21:53say, "Okay, just wait just a minute. We
21:56got to go to break." And the demon
21:58waited for the break for commercial
21:59break.
22:01Even the demons need commercials. You
22:03know, it's just folks, ladies and
22:06gentlemen, we've got to realize there
22:08were demons on the earth when Jesus was
22:09on the earth. He handled them, but he
22:12didn't let them become the show.
22:16And they're never going to be the show
22:17here.
22:19Never. Never. Because the Lord reigns.
22:22He's coming back. And nobody's even
22:24going to be worrying about demon
22:26possession when Jesus comes on that
22:27horse. No. Nobody's going to say one
22:31thing about, "Well, do you know we've
22:33got dungeons and dragons? Do you look
22:36like we've got a Ouija board?" Nobody's
22:38going to walk out with tarot cards. Are
22:40they tarot cards or tarot cards? Tarot.
22:44Nobody's going to walk out with tarot
22:46cards and they're not going to hold up
22:47their astrology sign. The Bible's
22:50telling us that all the morning stars
22:52are going to sing his praises.
22:55Nobody's going to walk out with this
22:57pentagram. Is that what it is? Pentagram
22:59on like son of Sam had on his hand. You
23:01know, was it? It was Richard RmIrez.
23:03Remember when Richard This is once
23:05again, y'all are all too young. Y'all
23:07are all too young to remember Richard
23:09RmIrez. Richard RmIrez was the mass
23:11murderer and I think it was in Los
23:13Angeles and he was so proud of his
23:15demonic stuff. He put the pentagram on
23:17his hand and he held it up when he went
23:18into court. It's like you're just evil.
23:21You're of your father, the devil. I'm
23:23not even upset about you. You've been
23:25around since the beginning. There's
23:26hungry people all around right now. Lead
23:29me to the hungry people. I'm not going
23:32to chase all these demons who will never
23:35have hope. They'll never have hope.
23:38There's not one revival for one demon.
23:42Just keep shining the light of Jesus
23:44Christ. And so, uh, here is the Lord
23:47talking about worry. And he says, "Are
23:48not two sparrows sold for a farthing and
23:50one of them shall not fall on the ground
23:52without your father? Why are ye so
23:54fearful? How is it that ye have no
23:56faith? And which of you thinking, taking
23:59thought, can add to his stature one
24:01cubit?" By being anxious, here's what
24:03another uh me version of the Bible says.
24:07being anxious can add a single hour to
24:09his span of life. If ye then be not able
24:13to do that thing that is least, why take
24:15you thought for the rest?
24:18Don't worry. Now listen, I know it's
24:20tough when if you have Halloween in your
24:22neighborhood and me and my lady always
24:24get our candy out and we turn on the
24:26light. You know, some of the kids come
24:28and they're acting real scary and and I
24:30just want to be a good neighbor. I want
24:32the kids to love my house. Honestly, I
24:34know some people turn out the light and
24:36turn everything out. Something evil
24:37walking. You got the joy of the Lord.
24:41>> I mean, walk out. Those kids say, "Look
24:43at you.
24:45Wow, that's a good costume."
24:49Oh, that kid is they're scared
24:50underneath it. You know, show the show
24:53the joy of the Lord. Go get you a big
24:56old bowl and sit there and when they're
24:57coming around, smile. Say, "This is the
24:59house that's got the light of Jesus."
25:01They already know you leave every Sunday
25:02morning. They already know that and
25:05they're just hoping that you'll be some
25:07prude,
25:08just some chromogian
25:12sitting around. Oh, we lost our joy
25:14today.
25:16We lost our joy. We have literally had
25:19people now this is primarily and and I
25:21want to give some respect to the Latin
25:23culture because there's a lot of
25:24demonism down there in South America.
25:26But listen, I was in this was San Diego.
25:28There was a lot of Latin there. But
25:30we've had some people from our Spanish
25:31church come and because we had pumpkins
25:33in the foyer, which our harvest, you
25:36know, it's kind of a fall celebration.
25:38They they were threatening to leave the
25:40church. In fact, they may have. I don't
25:42know if they did or not, but you know, I
25:44don't want any I don't want to offend
25:45people, but I also am not going to baby
25:47offenses. I'm not going to baby that. I
25:51mean, we had some people say they're
25:52going to leave our church because we got
25:53a cross palm. That that thing that's
25:56over the water fountain. They left
25:58because we had, in fact, we gave one of
26:00those as a gift to the Spanish church
26:01and they left because of that. Listen,
26:03foolishness. Let foolishness rain, but
26:05don't let it rain here.
26:07>> This is the house of the living God.
26:10>> And we've got praise and victory and the
26:13joy of the Lord is my strength. And and
26:16if it's your kids getting dressed, dress
26:18them up. I told you my favorite when I
26:20was the best bumblebee around. My
26:21stinger. You should have seen my little
26:23stinger. My little stinger just come out
26:25right there.
26:27I mean, I I in fact, I think every one
26:29of that was Austin's I think one of
26:31Austin's first outfits. I remember him
26:34so much. It was so awesome. Those little
26:37stripes, yellow, just running around
26:39with that little stinger off his diaper.
26:42So, just have fun with it. Let them know
26:45you got the joy of the Lord. We're not
26:47promoting evil.
26:49>> Be clear on that. Don't dress up like a
26:52demon.
26:54Don't crossdress like half the world
26:56does on that day. You know, it's like
26:59the one day that every woman in the
27:01world gets to dress up like a
27:02prostitute.
27:03Good night. That's not what we do. Isn't
27:06it the truth, though? I mean, you look
27:08at Oh, it's it's Halloween. How do we
27:10know that all of them are dressed for
27:12work? Well, man, all of them. Is that
27:15the only Is that the only profession
27:16we're trying to be like?
27:19That's a ridiculous. But it's just the
27:21carnal flesh. And so as children of the
27:25day, we bring the joy of the Lord to it.
27:28And we do not allow the grip of fear to
27:31get a hold on us. You got to cut down
27:33the grip of fear. Questions the Lord
27:36present address anxiety.
27:39He says, "What are you anxious about?"
27:41He said, "Be anxious for
27:44>> Lord, I need your help on that. I don't
27:46know about all those people out there,
27:48but I need your help on being anxious
27:50for nothing. And I'm not a very anxious
27:52guy, but you know how it can sneak up on
27:54you.
27:57>> I've got an escrow that's not paid on my
27:59roof. Y'all don't care about these
28:01things. It's not I'm getting anxious.
28:05I got to figure out how this escrow is
28:07going to get done taken care of.
28:10Ever since
28:12ever since I replaced my roof, couldn't
28:15pay for it, so I got Y green to finance
28:17it. That's too tmi. But y'all have the
28:21same kind of stresses in your life. You
28:25get these stresses that come around and
28:27it's like you're just handling it.
28:28You're juggling it. And those who don't
28:30think other people have those stresses,
28:32that's the only reason I just told you
28:33that. So you can know you're not the
28:35only one walking around with the stress.
28:37We all have crazy stresses that show up
28:41at weird times and you think, "Wow, I
28:43didn't know that about him." Well, it's
28:45because it's we just don't tell it. We
28:48just know that's what life is. You just
28:50soldier on, tighten your boot, put on
28:51your crash helmet, collect cans.
28:55And so here, we diminish the grip of
28:58fear. We we address the anxiety and we
29:02redirect our sight to God's
29:06faithfulness. Don't you know the birds
29:09of the air are taken care of? Aren't you
29:12more than the birds of the air? I want
29:15all of you husbands to tell your wife
29:18right now, you're better than a bird.
29:25That might be the sweetest thing you've
29:26said all day. Some of you men wouldn't
29:29even cooperate just now. Y'all tightened
29:32up.
29:37No.
29:39How grossly we have underestimated the
29:42goodness of God. How terribly we have
29:46underestimated the goodness of God. His
29:49goodness have we all received. He's good
29:52to us all the time. And when these
29:54stresses try to beat us down, we need to
29:57stop and say, "Wait just a minute. Lord,
29:59you're better to me than I am to
30:01myself." Oh love of God, how rich, how
30:06pure.
30:09John Newton once wrote a friend on this
30:11subject and he named the letter on the
30:13if in if in inefficacy of knowledge.
30:17This was John Newton. You all know the
30:19great scientist and he was writing about
30:21the word of God. He was an amazing
30:23Christian on the inefficacy of
30:26knowledge. And he said this, just
30:29knowing the scripture does not transform
30:32how we live.
30:34That gives a false sense of security.
30:37Knowing it, he said, knowing it gives a
30:40false sense of security. He argues that
30:43true knowledge should be his words,
30:46experiential and operative.
30:49Okay. So, tomorrow's Wednesday. I don't
30:52know what burdens you're facing right
30:54now. I don't know what worries you've
30:55got. All of these things are real. How
30:58do you transform tonight? Talking about
31:02the birds of the air and the liies of
31:04the field, how they toil their spin and
31:07yet they're clothed greater than solemn
31:09and all their glory. How do we turn that
31:12knowledge into tomorrow's stress point?
31:15Stopping and saying,
31:23God is good.
31:27Have you ever said it like that?
31:33I had to I had to take my blood pressure
31:36today. Oh, it's stressful when I have to
31:39take my blood pressure from the doctor.
31:42So, I go and I realize I How much coffee
31:45have I had?
31:47>> All right. All
31:48right. You know, and so I I put my arm
31:51down in that cuff, sit there, and I hold
31:55my breath to try to get my heart to slow
31:57down. And
32:05then I act like I'm taking a nap for a
32:07minute.
32:09Totally relaxed. Relaxed.
32:17And I always like take three, you know,
32:19trying to get the best one because I got
32:21to tell the doctor and I'm not sure
32:23which one I'm going to tell him
32:25which one is the better with the higher
32:27number or the lower number. I'm not sure
32:29which one I'm going to work it out and
32:31let him know, you know. And so I gave my
32:35report to the doctor and he said, "All
32:36right, what's your blood pressure?"
32:38Before I told him, I did did it by Zoom.
32:41And I said, "Well, doctor, I had um I
32:45had probably two or three cups of coffee
32:47before he I had that." So he went down,
32:51you know, his rebuking about the coffee
32:54and uh he said, "But you need to eat
32:56something." And he proceeded to show me
32:59all these things. Well, where's that
33:00anxiety? Well, it's that crazy cuff
33:02that's going to tighten up on my arm.
33:05And I can't even feel my heartbeat all
33:07day until that cuff gets on. And then
33:09all of a sudden I realize I have a
33:11heart. I've got these thick veins. Boom.
33:13Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. I didn't know
33:15you were there. What are you doing
33:16showing up right now?
33:20Anxiety.
33:22Know ye not that the Lord is good? You
33:27by taking thought cannot add one minute
33:32to the measure of your life. Worry is a
33:35serious problem. The ignorant worry
33:37because they don't know enough. The
33:39smart worry because they know too much.
33:41The rich worry because they're afraid of
33:43losing what they have. The poor worry
33:45because they don't have anything. The
33:47old worry because they're looking how
33:49close death is. The young worry because
33:51they're facing an uncertain future.
33:54Worry, worry, worry. We've got to
33:57conquer it. Take no thought is the root
33:59word, which means to divide one. It's
34:03the dividing of your mind. It's causing
34:07your mind to get off focus and divide
34:11and think, well, I I got to do this or I
34:13got to do that. No, just live. Just
34:16live. He's not talking about being
34:19flippant and happy golucky attitude that
34:21does not provide and take care of
34:23yourself. I mean, I I I replenished my
34:25CoQ10 pills today.
34:28>> 53 stinking dollars for those pills.
34:30Good night. I'm going to go broke for
34:32CoQ10.
34:34Am I the only one taking CoQ10 in the
34:36building? Good night. I'm glad. I love
34:40all y'all. Y'all are my partners. Okay,
34:42then I got to take vitamin. I take these
34:45green vitamins. They're like green
34:47gummies. I'm healthy now. And then I
34:49take an aspirin a day, the baby aspirin,
34:53because that fixes everything. See
34:56there? And then and and after church,
34:58I'm going to get plenty of advice. I
35:02brush my teeth with aluminum free
35:04toothpaste.
35:07>> Oh,
35:11that's so true. I knew aluminum wasn't
35:14the word, but I was needing some help.
35:18>> I got the aluminum free deodorant. My
35:20new deodorant has steel in it.
35:27I mean, listen, I was raised my aunt
35:30Pat, I went and saw her with my sister,
35:32with my wife three or four weeks ago in
35:34Reno and we sat with aunt and uncle,
35:36uncle Lawrence and that Pat. I love them
35:38so much and they did so much for me.
35:39When I was first came here, I had to
35:41sell my trailer and it wouldn't sell and
35:43it sat at their house in California for
35:45like like nine months in front of my
35:47aunt's kitchen window. And I just know
35:50it was miserable. She never complained
35:51one time, but can you imagine your
35:53nephew parks a trailer in your yard
35:56outside the Christmas window? You know,
35:58she complained in her head. When is he
36:01going to take care of that trailer?
36:03Ultimately, they sold it for me because
36:05I couldn't afford to go flying back and
36:07forth to sell that trailer. So, I wanted
36:09to go and take him out to eat. And I
36:11drove them all around and I took him to
36:14a restaurant. It was a Greek restaurant
36:16right there on South uh Lake Tahoe. And
36:20it was it was awesome being with them.
36:22And I told Aunt Pat, she's what probably
36:2480 she's 85 now. In fact, she may be
36:27watching tonight. I love you, Aunt Pat.
36:29She was Miss Shackley. Oh,
36:33she every Shackley product that was out.
36:38She knew the health stuff.
36:42Folks, be healthy. Take care of
36:44yourself. Don't neglect your body, which
36:46is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Don't
36:48don't go around and and and ignore it.
36:51But at the same by the same token, after
36:54you've done your best, then lay your
36:58burdens down.
37:01The Bible says that we should remember
37:03the law of sewing and reaping. Whatever
37:05you reap, that shall you also sow. If I
37:09mean, whatever you sow, that shall you
37:11also Thank you very much. Ever since uh
37:14and so here we go.
37:17in this process. It's coming back
37:19around. So, you got to be kind. Uh, but
37:23we have to have foresight on realizing
37:25that we work, but we do not worry.
37:30The Lord mentions food. That's one of
37:32the things people worry about. But then
37:35he says, "I provide for the birds." He
37:38mentions fashion. That's another thing
37:40people worry about. Y'all like my
37:41fashion tonight? I mean, I went all out
37:45tonight on this style. I mean, listen,
37:48look at that
37:50jacket. You're saying awesome. You can't
37:53see me, Brother Pep.
37:56But I appreciate what you can see.
38:00But I got to drive up to Palm Bay after
38:02church tonight. I figured I'd just wear
38:03this. So, I'm It's this Sears sucker.
38:06Look at that. Sears sucker jacker. Sears
38:08sucker shirt. Are you supposed to wear
38:09Sears sucker in October?
38:12I think it's out right now, isn't it?
38:15Except we're in the tropics. You get to
38:16wear Sears sucker all the time in the
38:18tropics. Eat your heart out, rest of
38:20America. I'm wearing Sears sucker. Is
38:23that what this is called? Sears sucker.
38:26Y'all don't know what Sears sucker is.
38:29Some of y'all have fashion sense. The
38:31rest of you, I just don't know.
38:35All right. He says fashion. He said,
38:38"And yet the liies of the field are a
38:40raid better than Solomon."
38:44And I dressed tonight to let Solomon eat
38:46his heart out. Solomon wished he looked
38:48as good like I found the right tie to go
38:50with it. All that this is me not
38:52worried.
38:572019 Penn State did a behavioral therapy
39:00study on worry and it's got all these
39:03big fancy words. It's called GAD,
39:05general anxiety disorder. That's what
39:07it's now called. So when you want to
39:09really get the funding money from the
39:11government, don't say, "I'm worrying."
39:13Say, "I've got general anxiety
39:14disorder." And you'll get a bunch of
39:16money. You got to learn these catch
39:18words. How do you get the money? You got
39:19to learn all these terms.
39:21I'm making light of it, but you guys
39:23understand. Listen, put your trust in
39:25Jesus. Don't put your trust in Uncle
39:28Sam. You'll live a happier life.
39:30>> But if you need those key words, GAD is
39:33what you're looking for. general anxiety
39:35disorder. 91% according to this study in
39:382019 91%
39:41never happened in their study.
39:45Y'all remember in 1980,
39:47that's so funny to me that I'm bringing
39:50an illustration from 1980. That's what's
39:53so funny. Y'all are all too young for
39:55this. Y'all were not even born in 1980.
40:001980, Mount St. Helens erupted. Did
40:03y'all know an a a a volcano went off in
40:06America. Let me educate you, all of you
40:09children of the tick tock. Mount St.
40:12Helens erupted. And I was in North
40:15Carolina and I remember how when that
40:17that went off way off on the west coast,
40:20got in the sky, it colored.
40:23It colored the sky and we had ash
40:26falling on cars in Charlotte, North
40:28Carolina.
40:30I mean, it was crazy. And that ash
40:34changed the color of the sky. Now, I did
40:38a little research today to find out
40:41about the approximate amount of ash it
40:43took to color and change the effect on
40:47the sky. And you know what they said?
40:49that the amount of the haze that sent
40:53red into our sky was the equivalent of
40:57dissolving a single cube of sugar into
41:0110,000 Olympic swimming pools. I would
41:05have never thought that because I
41:07remember that sky being absolutely
41:09different. I would think it to would
41:12take a lot more than that to cloud up my
41:15sky than the equivalent of one cube of
41:18SC sugar in 10,000 Olympic size swimming
41:22pools. And the reason I bring this
41:25illustration is to tell you how
41:26something little can mess you up.
41:31And when you stop and get a full look at
41:33it in hindsight, you think, "How did
41:36that affect me like that? That changed
41:40my attitude. I was kicking the cat and
41:42and and rebuking the dog and mean to my
41:46wife all over something that small.
41:51And this is where we've got to stop and
41:53realize uh atmosphere is so important in
41:56our life. And atmosphere is what anxiety
41:59attacks. Anxiety attacks the atmosphere
42:02of your hope, the atmosphere of your
42:04mind, the atmosphere of your joy.
42:07I mean, listen, I I know what I'm
42:09talking about. A child can come home
42:11with a bad grade,
42:13and your first response can be anger.
42:18It can be frustration. And then you can
42:21say, "I knew you were playing too much."
42:26Because kids are going to play.
42:29Or you can stop and tackle yourself.
42:33And instead of letting that grade soil
42:36the atmosphere of the whole room, you
42:39pour hope into that child and you say,
42:43"You know what? That's partly my fault.
42:46While you got that grade, you didn't get
42:48that grade. We got that grade."
42:51Why? Because they're the kid and you're
42:52the adult. It's on you. If the adults
42:55don't do the adulting, then the kids are
42:58certainly going to do the kidding.
43:02parents walking around like it's the
43:04kid's fault. No, that's all on you.
43:06They're a kid. They're a child. And what
43:09do you do? Instead of letting that thing
43:11cloud the whole atmosphere of your day,
43:14you start with, "Hey, we're coming
43:16through this because I know whose child
43:19you are. I know whose brains you got."
43:23That ought to scare some of you.
43:29I know whose brains you got. We're going
43:32to get this thing taken care of. And you
43:36start marching with them. Why? You
43:38refuse to let some one negative thing
43:41cloud that. So, there's been a a Mount
43:44St. Helens go off. That's bad. But it's
43:46not going to cloud everything. It's not
43:48going to steal the hope of joy and and
43:50the and the love that's in my house.
43:53Worry never dried a tear. Worry never
43:55lifted a burden. Worry never solved a
43:57problem. It's action. It's being
44:00operable in a positive way. When anxiety
44:03tries to hit is not life more than food
44:07and the body more than raignment, can
44:09any one of you by worrying add a single
44:11hour to your life? And why do you worry
44:14about clothes? And listen, I I I follow
44:16this guy. I don't know. I was telling
44:19Alex last night about it and I'm closing
44:21right now. Uh that I follow this thing
44:24called Moonshots. It's four brilliant
44:26guys. One's a professor at MIT, the
44:28other one's Peter Diamantis, whatever.
44:30They have programs that come out and
44:31they're just on the cutting edge of
44:33technology and it's my nerdiness that
44:34comes out. Well, they put in they put a
44:36podcast out yesterday that literally
44:39they they they they believe that AI has
44:42solved math
44:44that they can track it now. All they got
44:46to do is add compute, but it's already
44:48proven by touring test and other things
44:50that math is solved. And you know what
44:52that means? No, you don't. because I
44:54don't either. Maybe some of y'all might
44:56know, but they don't even know what it
44:58means. When math is solved, that's going
45:00to really change material science
45:03completely.
45:05Material science, the mysteries, we're
45:07so close to these things. Well, I sit
45:09there and I get going and then I think,
45:13where are the jobs going?
45:16I refuse to let that anxiety come on me.
45:20I'm going to show up and smile and meet
45:22the day and love the people and find the
45:25hungry and find the positive and not let
45:28that cube of sugar spoil the all 10,000
45:32Olympic pools of water that are around
45:34me.
45:36No. Romans 8:28, all things work
45:40together for the good to those who love
45:43God until AI comes.
45:47No, all things. I don't think it was a
45:50coincidence that the battle after
45:52Jericho that they lost was the battle at
45:54Ai.
45:59See what I did there?
46:04I don't think it's a coincidence. Don't
46:06you know God's way in tomorrow?
46:09That maybe the greatest en enemy of the
46:11last days was how AI would try to tear
46:14people away from one another? No. Get
46:16close.
46:18Use it. Don't ignore it. If you're
46:21ignoring it, you're disregarding what
46:22your pastor's asking. I'm asking you to
46:25learn about it. I want you to be on your
46:26front foot learning about it. And when
46:29it becomes the mark of the beast, then
46:30we'll stop. But it's not yet. Your phone
46:33is the mark of the beast, so get rid of
46:34it.
46:37Remember when the mark of the beast with
46:38a barcode,
46:41you know, there's two long ones at one
46:43side, two long ones at the other side,
46:44and a two long ones in the middle. And
46:47when you look at that, that 666.
46:49I want to know any of you that'll go
46:51grocery shopping where they don't use
46:52barcodes.
46:54Not one of you. Don't you love it when
46:56they walk up beep beep beep. I don't
46:58even need to talk to the register
47:00person.
47:02No,
47:04I'll just walk up to the machine myself.
47:06Beep beep beep beep beep out.
47:11That's not the mark of the beast, but it
47:14was in the 70s.
47:16If y'all were around, it was in the 80s.
47:18That's the mark of the beast. Beware.
47:21Remember when Real ID was the mark of
47:22the beast? No, it's the way you travel.
47:26When the mark of the beast shows up, we
47:29will know it because it will involve
47:32worship
47:35because they don't want any, you know,
47:36all these different faiths. They're
47:38going to have to eclipse these faiths
47:42and let you to see that your loyalty is
47:44to the unification of the earth.
47:48When it happens, if we're still here,
47:52I'm not going to unify with anybody but
47:54Jesus Christ.
47:56Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he
47:59shall give you desires of your heart.
48:04Right before the COVID shutdown on March
48:068th, 2020, the Norwegian Cruise Line
48:09Breakaway was on a cruise from New York
48:11to London. It was carrying over 4,200
48:14passengers and it was midway across the
48:16Atlantic when the Nor Eastern hit.
48:19And there it encountered a bomb cyclone.
48:23That's what they call them. 80 mph
48:26winds, waves over 35 feet. The storm was
48:32crazy. They tried to avoid it, but they
48:35caught it. Got caught in it. The captain
48:38of that Norwegian cruise line ship, his
48:43name was Roy Deantier.
48:46He was Danish. He had been at sea over
48:4930 years.
48:51But instead of just relying on public
48:54system to talk to the people, he decided
48:58he would make a deliberate choice to go
49:01walk through the public areas in the
49:02middle of the storm.
49:04He walked around and about midnight the
49:07storm peaked. And so he left the bridge
49:09and walked around the public areas. At
49:12one point after midnight, about two in
49:15the morning, a crew member wanted to go
49:17see him. and he was at the bridge and
49:21this man walked in. He was a Filipino
49:24that was a ship mate that worked on the
49:26ship. This all blogged about. This is
49:28how I found out about it. People blogged
49:30about it and they said that this this
49:32man who was on the ship looked in the
49:34bridge and instead of getting rebuked by
49:37the captain for looking in, Captain Roy
49:40Deantier looked up at him and smiled and
49:43said, "She's built for this. Go tell
49:46your mates. We'll see the sun come
49:49morning.
49:51And he went back
49:53and the word spread on the ship and made
49:56it through. I don't know what kind of
49:58storm these li this life's going to
50:00bring us. I don't know what the last
50:01days are going to be like. If it's going
50:03to be like the 10 plagues in Egypt. I
50:05preached about that. The signs of a a
50:09second Passover, another Passover
50:11coming. I don't know what it's going to
50:12be like, but I can tell you this church
50:14will not be sitting around ringing our
50:16hands worried. We're going to smile at
50:18each other. We're going to rejoice in
50:20the Lord. We're going to know that God's
50:22got it. We're going to find a way
50:23through it. We're going to help one
50:25another. If we run out of food, we'll
50:27all pile together and help one another
50:28with food. I'm not going to pay your
50:30mortgage.
50:35Who knows? I'm just telling you,
50:41we are going to make it together. It's
50:43not time to isolate. It's time to add to
50:46your friendships.
50:47>> It's not time to insulate. It's time to
50:49get a part of a body because we're fitly
50:52joined together. There's people that
50:53have secret warehouses you don't even
50:55know about. And there's other people
50:57that know how to cook alligator meat.
51:01Goodness. We'll be cooking alligator
51:03tail. Brother Marty, get your grill out.
51:07That guy can make some of the best
51:09salmon in all the world. We'll find
51:11somebody that's catching some mahi.
51:13They're just offshore. But Marty, that's
51:16your job. You got to go catch all the
51:17mahi for the church to eat during this
51:19time.
51:21I laugh. I joke, but I'm serious. Don't
51:25be anxious for anything.
51:30Watch and pray.
51:33Know he's coming back again. Let his
51:35questions
51:37stir you. So, you're worried about that?
51:40Go sit in your yard and watch the birds.
51:43So, you're worried about that? Go walk
51:45by. We've got a lot of lilies here in
51:47South Florida. Go find one. Now, it
51:50toils.
51:52It doesn't toil. It doesn't spin. It's
51:54just sit there in all of its glory. I've
51:56often said, and you all have heard it
51:58whenever I I I get up in the morning,
52:00something heavy is going around. I
52:02always like to say, you know, the honey
52:03bees are so excited to make honey today.
52:06They are so excited to make honey. If
52:09I'm worried, I need to go watch the
52:11bees. Nothing's discouraging them.
52:14They're just getting after it because
52:16he's sweet. Shall we stand? Heavenly
52:19Father, I thank you for your love and
52:21grace in this house. I thank you for
52:24your mercy to build us up in our most
52:27holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
52:30knowing that as the last days come upon
52:33us, no matter what they bring, with all
52:35the excitement also comes fear. With all
52:39the unknown also comes anxieties. With
52:42all the stresses we know the Bible said
52:44that in the last days men's hearts shall
52:47be failing them for fear. Oh Lord, that
52:52is not what is in this house. For all
52:55things work together for the good to
52:58them who are the called according to his
53:01purpose. Strengthen this house. Keep us
53:05strong in your blessed name. Let us walk
53:07with you in Jesus name I pray.
53:13And let the church say amen.
53:14>> Amen.
53:15>> I love you all. We baptized
53:18Carlen in Jesus' name on Sunday.
53:23Last Saturday, not last Saturday, but
53:25the Saturday before last, Sister Genesis
53:28and Brother Ricky faithfully go down, I
53:31believe. How many teams do we have going
53:32right now? two teams that go down to the
53:36ladies prison. What's the name of this?
53:40Homestead Correctional Institute. They
53:42got all these fancy names now. They used
53:44to just be prisons.
53:47Okay. Homestead Correctional Institute.
53:49It's It's not quite as bad as the South
53:52Florida Reception Center.
53:55How's that for a prison name? If you go
53:58to South Florida Reception Center, it's
54:00pretty tough. You can play softball, but
54:03the bat's got to be chained to the
54:04ground because nobody can hit each
54:06other. You can hit ball with a chained
54:09bat. That's how that's the South Florida
54:11reception center. I've been there. Not
54:15as an inmate.
54:23They had one get the Holy Ghost there a
54:25couple Saturdays ago in Jesus name.
54:32There are so many Bible studies being
54:33taught right now. But if you have have
54:37the the quickening in your spirit to
54:38teach a Bible study, get after it. Teach
54:42somebody a Bible study. All you LXM
54:44graduates, you know it. You are supposed
54:46to be doing it. Don't forget now that
54:49you're out. I love you all. You're
54:51dismissed in the name of Jesus Christ.
54:52Have a great week this week. Be at Winds