Go a little deeper
In the MORE series, Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick describes anxiety as an obstacle to experiencing God’s fullness. Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick walks through 1 Peter 5:6-11, a letter written by the apostle Peter to churches facing persecution and uncertainty. Rather than leaning on willpower, the message argues that overcoming anxiety begins with humility — acknowledging that God is God and we are not — and then moves into action: entrusting worries to God in response to his care. The goal, Pastor Keith says, is that people would leave lighter than they arrived.
Pastor Keith organizes 1 Peter 5:6-11 around humility, entrusting worries to God, spiritual attentiveness, resistance to evil, and God’s calling. He encourages listeners to consider what shapes their minds and to resist isolation by standing alongside other believers. He concludes with God’s care through suffering and an invitation to bring burdens to God at the altar.
Take this with you
Humility comes first
From 1 Peter 5:6, Pastor Keith presents humility as acknowledging the difference between God’s role and our own. He describes it as a lived response to God rather than something a sermon can simply produce in a listener.
Casting is an action
Using 1 Peter 5:7, Pastor Keith distinguishes knowing about God’s care from actively entrusting worries to him. His fishing illustration emphasizes action, and he encourages listeners to put the passage into practice rather than retain it as information.
A carefree life is not careless
From 1 Peter 5:8, Pastor Keith explains that trusting God also involves spiritual attentiveness. He urges listeners to consider how media and entertainment shape their thinking, and connects this with Colossians 2:8’s warning about ideas that draw people away from Christ.
Resist together, not alone
From 1 Peter 5:8-9, Pastor Keith urges resistance to evil alongside other believers. He warns that isolation can deepen a person’s sense of being alone in suffering and encourages shared faith and support.
Called means restored
In 1 Peter 5:10-11, Pastor Keith emphasizes God’s calling and care amid suffering. He connects this with identity as God’s child and confidence in God’s work of renewal and stability.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
so we're on this journey of more how many you want more of God you haven't experienced the fullness Ephesians 3 says that you can experience the fullness of God and and I want you to have an anticipation of wanting more that you have not experienced the fullness of what God's going to do but there is something that will stop you from experiencing more there is something that will hinder the Holiness of God and today I I want to acknowledge that the very thing that will stop you from experiencing the greatness of God in your life is anxiety it's the one thing we will all have at some point in our lives some of you don't know what a life without anxiety looks like anxiety is a reality that will stop you from experiencing the
fullness of a relationship with God now if I told you today I hope you leave with more anxiety that you came in with that would fill you with more anxiety I hope today you leave even heavier than what you came in with today that that that would be a big burden to bear but when you come to church we don't come here to listen to songs we don't come here to hear a preacher we come here to meet with a person who is able he is a god that is able to do far more abundantly than all we could ask or think so today I want you to leave lighter than what you came in with today I want you to leave transformed by the
power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ today I want you to know that there's a God that is not only with you but he will never forsake you a God that wants to fill you up a God that wants to do his work through you you don't have to bear that burden anymore our assignment today is found in the book of First Peter chapter 5 1 Peter chapter 5 we'll read verses 6- 11 I'm going to read the ENT entire text so work with me here write it down if you won't remember this 1 Peter 5: 6- 11 I'm going to read the entire text and then we're going to talk about what is the key to overcoming Anxiety and anxiety is the very thing that will stop us from experiencing the fullness of God here we go 1 Peter 5:
6-1 humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the ER time he may exalt you casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you be sober minded Be watchful your adversary the devil prows around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour resist him firm in your faith knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your Brotherhood throughout the world and after you have suffered a little while the God of all Grace who
has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore confirm strengthen and establish you to him be the Dominion forever and ever and the church says together amen amen hallelujah God has given us everything we need to overcome anxiety to understand this text we want to first know who's the author it's Peter the Apostle Peter the one that walked with Jesus talked with Jesus failed miserably with Jesus the one that would open his mouth at the wrong times
the one that was willing to take bold Steps of Faith when no one else would Peter writes this text at a time that the church was being persecuted and was now known as turkey in the ancient days in which this text was written was known as Asia and the church was being put to death for their faith when you believed in Jesus Christ for the Forgiveness of your sins and the hope of eternal life that you get to spend forever with God it came at a cost you didn't know if if you would live tomorrow you didn't know what would happen to your family the weight of of following Jesus and having faith in him came at a cost there was a burden to
bear there was all kinds of anxiety in terms of what is tomorrow face the uncertainties and we come to a point in a a letter to the church that Peter's actually writing to the elders the overseers the leaders of this church at a time of unknown of uncertainty with their finances with their families and he comes to this particular text and he he shows us that that what you believe will shape your behavior that you're not going to live like everyone else you're going to take God at his word you're you're going to receive from God what he has for you and we can go back to the beginning of this letter when he just points us to the person Jesus 1 Peter chapter 1 ver3 Peter starts at the beginning of this letter he says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ according to his great Mercy he has caused us to be born again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ there truly is hope for everyone and that hope is found in Jesus it's all about Jesus there is a living hope not a hope we conjure up not a a hope that we will in our hearts this hope is alive this hope is in the man Jesus Christ that by believing in him it shapes who you are Jesus Changes Everything Jesus changes
us we are Changed by Jesus so much so that by the time you get to chapter 2 1 Peter 2:9 tells us but you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession that you yes you you you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light God's word reminds us that in Jesus you are no longer the same person you used to be you are no longer defined by the family you were born into you are now defined by being a part of the family of God that's who you are you're
a chosen race God had a plan for you from the beginning you are God's people you are royalty if you're royalty that means you have authority and you only have authority when you start acting on that Authority you're not only a royalty with authority you're a priesthood which means you're set apart you're holy you're anointed you are appointed to do the work of God that's the way God sees you you're a holy nation the world ought to see God work through us we are set apart for his purpose and his plan we are his possession we've been set free from darkness and we have His Marvelous Light we have the hope of God Peter points us to the person Jesus saying even if you're persecuted it's
worth it we don't live for the things of this world we might be in the world but we're not of it we're living for something greater than the pleasures of this world we're living for something greater than the rewards that this world has to offer and when you believe in Jesus it ought to change who you are the way you think the way you behave because Jesus will meet you right where you are he'll meet you Jesus will meet you right in the mess of your mistakes Jesus will meet you in your divorce Jesus will meet you in your depression Jesus will meet you right where you are Jesus does not run from our
problems Jesus came to be the solution for our problems so that we know longer would carry the weight of the world on our shoulders but rather we would give it back to him and if you claim to have faith today which I pray that you do it's one of our pillars here at Journey Church that if you remove faith everything falls apart the key to faith is Jesus oh it sounds so simple but we've got to make sure that we understand this the key to Faith is not about you mustering up the will and the courage to do what needs to be done the key to Faith is not about any other person the key to Faith is not even in the church the key to Faith is it's all about Jesus
when Jesus said that if you just have faith like a mustard seed you will move the mountain he was implying that it's not you that moves the mountain it's where you put your faith when you put your faith in Jesus he's a Mountain Mover it's not about you having great faith it's about you putting your faith in the right place namely today I'm talking about the person Jesus Christ and if you would like to overcome your anxiety the very hurdle and obstacle that will stop you from the fullness of God I want to give you to key to overcoming Anxiety let let's go back to verse six and dissect the text so that we can we can not only hear the word of God we can do the word of God we can
be participants practitioners we can leave here different than the way we came today let's start with verse six humble yourselves everyone say humble humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you the first point in today's text to overcoming Anxiety is humble you ought to write that down Shout It Out say it with me humble so there's something about humility that's going to take you to a place you can never go without it that is when you humble yourself you're acknowledging who you are and who God is now here's the thing about humility and this is so hard for me as a preacher I
cannot teach humility I cannot preach humility because being humble is not taught it's something that's caught how many of you have ever met a prideful person the just says it's all about being humble I can't tell you to be humble you can't act like you're humble you either are or you aren't humility is acknowledging this very simple fact God is God and I am not oh that principle sounds so simple and Elementary but if this was put into practice we wouldn't see so many of the problems we see from generation to generation Millennia to Millennia we are seeing the same problems today as in the days of old because we're taking on the
role of God instead of Allowing God to be God and Peter points us to this simple principle just humble yourselves under God's Mighty hand now the the visual here of God's Mighty hand is what's known as an anthropomorphism it's giving a human characteristic to the character of God God who is infinite eternal all powerful all knowing how can we fathom God but we we look at the things of this world and we try to understand God through our own lens because we actually cannot fully fathom God so we use characteristics like a hand that's powerful a mighty hand a a strong hand humble yourself under God's
Mighty hand and we see this imagery this anthropomorphic image woven throughout the scriptures in the Old Testament it's used often for for two different reasons number one is discipline you don't do what God says you get God's Mighty hand you tracking with me I cannot just tolerate me giving you my word and then you doing things your own way you're going to experience God's Mighty hand it doesn't matter who you are God is God no matter where you are no matter who you are and so we see it with with Pharaoh in Egypt in Exodus 3: 19 but i know that the king of Egypt will not let you go God says unless compelled by a mighty
hand God's going to do some discipline work we see this fleshed out through the plagues God's going to slowly but surely let them know that you're not doing what I want you to do it's not just God's discipline we also see it in God's Deliverance God will deliver us not because of something we've done not because of how strong we are how smart we are it was God that made it happen and so we would use the imagery of God's Mighty hand so we see in Deuteronomy 9:26 and I prayed to the Lord oh Lord God do not destroy your people and your heritage whom you have redeemed through your greatness whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand how did the Israelites get out of Egypt and on a
journey to a Promised Land how did they go from being slaves to set free it was God it was God's Mighty hand now it wasn't a literal hand this is the imagery to say that God was behind this now we come back to the text in 1 Peter 56 if you want to see a movement of God in your life it starts with the acknowledgement that it's all about Jesus it's all about God I've got to humble myself I've got to be humble so that at the right time it's going to is going to point people to the person Jesus Christ and when you humble yourself you'll get to see God work I wish this was easier but if I just look in the mirror I see someone who's gotten this wrong so many times I can look back at my own life and
say I have made decisions without seeking the counsel of God only to discover and determine that was not of God help me out has anyone ever made that kind of decision before maybe I shouldn't have dated that person maybe I should not have invested in that business maybe I should not have made that choice or maybe I should not have had that drink and I can look back where I have become my own God I take the role of God I'm going to do what I want to do God you're taking too much time I don't even know which way to go I'm going to do what I want to do and when I do is never good if you want to get to the place that God wants you to be it starts with
one word what should you do humble yourself be humble our humility in God's hands allows God's Mighty hand to lead us to develop our full potential now when you humble yourself and you let God be God here's the great news you live a Carefree life it's the very thing you long for it's why you spend all that money on that vacation you want a Carefree life but here's what the Bible say says I'm going to give you the old English in the King James version First 1 Peter 5:7 casting all your care upon him you're Carefree you gave it to him casting all your care upon him why for he carth for you see a Carefree life is one immersed
in the focus of Jesus Christ the one who gives Grace upon Grace as the Book of John tells us in chapter one let me read from the English Standard Version the one we normally read out of 1 Peter 5:7 casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you when your life is filled with anxiety you will not know the fullness of how much God cares for you how much he loves you the more anxiety you have in your mind and in your heart the less you know how Loved You Are by God we see a principle here the the more anxiety you give back to God the more you understand how much he cares for
you it's in this principle that we don't even learn what the anxieties were of the early church he didn't tell us what it is we can come to our own conclusion they're being persecuted but we don't need to know what their anxiety is because I've got my own anxiety to deal with which brings us to our second point today of overcoming Anxiety that is to cast everyone Shout cast cast this is an action if you want to catch a fish you can't just bring your fishing rod you've got to cast it you got to do something if you really want to overcome your anxiety you've got to throw it on the Lord you've got to give it to God you you've got to you've got to cast all your anxiety this is an action this is not head
knowledge this is putting God's word into practice I'm going to take God at his word I'm going to give it to God I can't hold this on my own that when when I come into church I didn't come here so I can just look good I didn't come here to act religious I didn't come here for a ritual I came here to meet with the Living God that can he's the only one that can carry my burdens if I try to give it to you you're not going to be able to handle it you can't even handle your own anxiety we need to cast all our anxieties on him and I'm so thankful that 2,000 years later God's word is as relevant to us today as it was when it was first written you don't need to carry your
anxieties you just need to know where to leave them I'm not a fisherman I'll pretend to be one for a moment if you really want to catch a fish you need to know where to Cast Your Rod you go to the wrong places you're not going to catch anything you're not going to get anything and I believe what Peter is pointing the church to the leaders the people to is come before Jesus and cast it all on him in The Sermon on the Mount Jesus spent some time talking about this same subject knowing how important it would be for us in Matthew 6:25 Jesus said therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life it's like Jesus knew something about us long ago do not be anxious about your life the the very
thing that the world is still struggling with today anxiety-ridden world that we live in today you just watch television and there will be ads for some pill to to help you relax to help you overcome your anxiety and Jesus instructs us do not be anxious about your life what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body what you will put on is your life not worth more than food and the body more than clothing Jesus is letting us know you have something greater to live for than food and clothing now here's the reality most of our Lives revolve around food and clothing you go to work to make money so that you could eat food so you could buy clothes or a whole world surrounds is
surrounded by this very simple thing that Jesus talked about The Old Mill isn't a place where you're born again to a living hope it's a place where you shop for clothes and you eat food you don't go to Amazon to buy Living Hope you go to there to buy food to buy clothes to buy some Gadget and Jesus warns us that that if you don't turn your attention to who he is no matter what your age is no matter where you've been you will hold on to anxiety and you will stress out about all sorts of things so he simply says look at the birds look at the flowers a nature walk can do a lot for you if if you would just look through the right lens if you if You' see what God sees the birds they're not freaking out about where they're going to get their next meal they're not freaking out about the
the winter that's coming they're not worried about what's going to happen next you look at the flowers of the fields they're not judging each other you sure are a fat flower I wish I was thinner there there's a lot of horrific evil happening around the world right now even over race because it's demonic and it's satanic and Jesus says I wish you would just look the flowers because they didn't work to look as good as they look you shouldn't look to other people you ought to look to the Creator the one that made you and so Jesus said here's what you ought to do here's what you should really do verse 33 Matthew 6 he
said but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you so so if we would be less focused on the things of this world and more focused on the kingdom of God everything's going to line you know God's not against you enjoying good food he's not against you having good clothes but what he is saying is if you put a priority over the things of this world instead of his world you're going to miss the most important of the matters you're going to still have have anxiety so if we could just align our hearts with his it changes everything and then he just adds for just one more point to his sermon verse 34 when he says therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself sufficient for the day is its own
trouble if I could just paraphrase what I believe Jesus is saying you're not strong enough to carry tomorrow's anxieties and today you can't do it so let's just start with today not tomorrow because you have no clue what curveballs coming tomorrow and you start worrying about that you're going to miss them today and what you got to focus on today is learning to cast your anxieties on him today tomorrow hasn't happened yet Jesus taught us how important you are to God when he said are not Two Sparrows in Matthew chapter 10 sold for a penny and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father God sees everything he sees every bird that falls he knows everything he's Sovereign he's all knowing but it says in verse 30 even the hairs of your head are all numbered just like he knows all the
birds he knows everything about you therefore in verse 31 the most common commandment in all the Bible fear not Jesus says fear not therefore you are of more value than many sparrows you are of more value than any creature on this planet You're Made In God's image the birds are not God created them but he created you to be made in His image and he loves you so much and he said if you just know how much I love you you're going to be less stressed when Paul was writing a church to excuse me when Paul was writing a letter to the church in Philippi he says almost the same thing Peter's saying in 1 Peter chapter 5 here here's what Paul
writes to the Philippians 4: 6 he sayso not be anxious about what anything oh that's easy for you to say Paul you don't understand my family you don't understand the people I work with you don't understand the winter we're about to face here in Central Oregon you you don't understand all the crazy people around here you don't understand that next year is going to be an election season again how crazy is this going to be with all the world wars that are happening right now uh you don't understand Paul we're living in 2023 soon to be 2024 I'm stressing out about that I saw someone here at church last week I haven't seen since pre- pandemic and he looked at me grabbed me by the shoulder says man you looking old I just grabbed him by the shoulder
says we're all looking old do not be anxious about what anything now now this is a commandment of God this is not a suggestion this is not an option this is not an opinion this is the the power of God's word you are not to be anxious about anything so how could you not be anxious here here's Paul's little formula he says but in everything everyone say everything in everything that's absolutely everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be made known to God you become a Praying person a prayer Warrior you start your day with God you end your day with God and throughout the day you're trusting God you're turning to God you're asking God
to fill your thoughts you're asking God did I say the right things did I do the right thing you're repenting right in the middle of your mistakes you you are giving God everything and when you need something you're going to the one that can give it to you to God and what happens when you pray pray pray pray pray as a theologian MC Hammer says just to pray to make it today all the 80s and 90s kids in the house we got to pray just to make it today and verse 7 says the peace of God that's the Shalom of God the peace of God which surpasses all understanding no one can fathom where this comes from but God because he gives it to you will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus anxiety will stop you from peace an anxious heart cannot experience the peace of God because the peace of God guards your heart now now that word guard is is the use for an Umpire an Umpire tells you whether in baseball you have a strike or a ball if you don't have Jesus guarding your heart and your mind you're going to be calling strikes where there shouldn't be strikes you're going to be freaking out over things you shouldn't be freaking out of of course you don't know where that provision is going to come from it comes from the provider and he's asking you to trust him to ask him to turn to him to actually have this thing called Faith which means you don't know how he's going to do it but you know the one that can do it and now you have a piece when the whole world would be freaking out including the doctors but you don't
freak out because you know the god that gives you peace instead of anxiety and the one thing Satan wants to rob from you is peace because if you don't have peace you don't have the very fruit that God wants to give you the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace oh God has a good plan for you patience kindness goodness so here's what we've learned so far humble cast now we're going to see something even more that you've got to work on first you got to cast you you've got to take action you've got to do something but now God's going to go further and say you got to work on this look at verse eight be sober minded Be watchful your adversary that's your enemy the devil prows around like a
roaring Lon seeking someone to devour so so a Carefree life giving God all your anxiety is not a careless life you've got to watch that's our third point today you want to overcome anxiety you've got to watch what you're watching you've got to think about what you're thinking about I am shocked at how many of us don't even care about what fills our minds and what you think about you start believing and what you believe shapes your behavior man I encourage you the greatest news that you should be reading is in this book it's not CNN or Fox and let me just tell you in in today's world it's not even the mainstream news media anymore it's anyone with a camera and a
microphone if they sound intelligent you just believe it and then you share it with the world we've got to be very cautious of that type of thinking that's the same type of thinking in the days of Jesus it was a Greco Roman culture and whoever was the smartest had the most power or we'll just believe them they know more than I know we'll call them a philosopher of this world that same spirit is alive today that if we're not careful we'll just do what people tell us to do without even thinking about what we think about we're not even trusting God we're not humbling ourselves under God's Mighty hand we're not casting all our anxieties we're not watching what we think about Colossians 2:8 warns us see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition just because it sounds good doesn't mean it's
of God according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ this might sound extreme but you need to watch everything you think about I'm talking about movies I'm talking about what you binge watch I'm talking about what you stream I'm talking about even social media if Christians spent half as much time on social media in the word of God the whole world would be changed if grown men cared nearly as much about a Living Hope in Jesus as they do about football the whole world would be changed there's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ this isn't a judgment this is just an exhortation to go after God with
everything don't play Church there's no such thing about going to church on Sunday that no no the church is the eklesia we are the Gathering of Jesus Christ where we go God goes with us we become the living hands and feet of Jesus Christ and if we don't we've been warned there's an adversary an enemy that's going after us in fact Peter here it's like he wants to use your imagination like just imagine you're watching a National Geographic documentary and I need you to imagine if you will the Devil he's not just looking at what you're doing say I'm not going to mess with them no he's waiting for the right opportunity he's waiting till someone messes up and they're not thinking they're stuck not looking the other way he's just waiting he joins us right in the middle of us and we're not even
aware that he's walking all around us waiting to devour someone waiting for a weak one that just says you know I'm going to look to the things of this world I'm not going to look around me I'm not going to look with my spiritual eyes I'm not going to be aware of what's going on but if we would just work together if we would be a pack and work together and say hey look out there's a devil right around your shoulder I want you to look out we can overcome the enemy my friends we are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ we are the head and not the tail We Are The Victors not the victim we need to know today and understand that we have everything we need in Jesus Christ everything so Peter says resist second Peter 5:9 resist him you don't need to
give into the devil's tactics he's not the real lion there's one Lion of the tribe of Judah he's a fake he's a fraud resist him firm in your faith knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your Brotherhood throughout the world like Paul's instruction in Ephesians chapter 6 we to stand firm against the devil's schemes this is a consistent teaching in the word of God we've got to fight the good fight the devil wants to isolate you get you alone we're meant to do this together we are better together we need to keep coming back to the principles of God's word that there are other people just like us there are people behind you that have way more anxiety than you have you're not alone in
this we need to put this into practice together we need to Humble together we need to cast together we need to uh be we need to watch together and now against the devil we need to resist that's the fourth principle today is to resist if you don't resist you're going to become bitter frustrated angry confused why are you suffering get your eyes off yourself and see that other people are suffering as well all over the world all over the world I was taking my youngest child to school a few weeks ago and she was just telling me how hard it is to live in Bend Oregon just describing how difficult it is there's nothing to
do I want to be honest with you I just had one moment this is a real moment where I did not act Godly for just a moment I did snap and I did say listen you know there are teenagers all over the world right now that are in the middle of a war and they don't know what tomorrow holds do you understand right now and I just I just started berading what's happening to teenagers all over the world and she looks at me with the tears streaming down says I'm sorry Daddy I'm like no I'm sorry girl I could have done that a lot better than I actually did Dad's only had one cup of coffee I'd need two or three more friends our suffering is not unique you think you're the only one that's gone through a divorce all kinds
of divorce people in this room right now you think you're the only one that struggle with addiction all kinds of addicts in this room right if you knew the ugliness in this room right now there'd be all kinds of nakedness and shame but what God does is he cloth us with his righteousness you're not defined by your sin anymore once you understand that you want other people to be a part of it too you're hurting I've hurt just like you let's do this together the Holy Spirit helped me when I didn't think I can get through this I wasn't going to get through this God got me through this you're going to get through this let's pray together let's get into God's word let's come to the final point today we've looked at humble cast watch resist and then we looked at called here's what happens when you're called verse verse 10 11 after you've suffered a little
while the God of all Grace who has called you everyone say called he's called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore confirm strengthen and establish you to him be Dominion forever and ever say it with me amen it's so important you know God has called you he didn't Overlook you when when you get a phone call you look at the importance of whether or not you should hit the green button or the red button how important are you I saw a call the other day it said CDC and I hit the green button I put it on speaker hi this is Angela with the CDC would you please take our survey about vaccinations I would be happy to Angela this was a Monday it was my day off and I spent the next 20 plus minutes answering her questions and my wife's over here shaking her head what are you
doing wasting your time with this I'm like I'm letting the CDC know how I feel about them babe I kept telling her Angela I love you I just don't love the CDC let me explain this to you God has called you you don't answer the call you don't know who you are called means this listen to this carefully called means restored confirm strengthened and established the key to overcoming Anxiety is replacing anxiety with who God says you are you are a child of God you better believe today he's going to restore what the devil has devoured he's going to confirm in you his promise he's going to strengthen you and lift you up he's going to establish you you have everything you need in Jesus so the key to overcoming Anxiety
is coming back to Jesus let's go through this again five things humble cast watch resist called You're called this is who you are and right now we're going to do something a little differently today for those who are in person that I I genuinely I'm going to call you to action today and I don't care if it's one person or if it's 100 people or what this looks like but I'm I'm going to use this platform today as an altar of God and here's what I'm just going to ask for the next few minutes this is how we're going to finish our time here today I'm going to ask today that if you came in with anxiety you want to leave at the feet of Jesus that you would get up from your seats and you just come to the altar I'm not going to ask anything from you you're just going to stand here and you're going to give it to God this is between you and the Lord a preacher can't do this for you another person can't do it for you but if you've got
bitterness in your heart that you want to give to God and receive His blessings you just come forward right now if you've been tranquilizing your troubles with your life through alcohol or cannabis or any pill I'm I'm just going to ask would you leave it today the leave the addiction right here they all just come forward right right now where you are you're not going to care about what anybody else thinks you're going to leave it if you're concerned about a family relationship right now you you have no clue how there can be reconciliation would you take that anxiety and just bring it to to the altar right now would you take every problem that you've carried the way the sleepless nights would you bring your sleepless nights to the Lord right now would you replace it right now with peace would you receive the promise of
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Anxiety as an obstacle to fullness
Pastor Keith begins this message in the MORE series by naming anxiety as an obstacle to experiencing the fullness of God, then reads 1 Peter 5:6-11, explaining that Peter wrote to believers facing persecution and uncertainty.
Ephesians 3 · 1 Peter 5:6-11
- Pastor Keith describes the early church's anxiety as tied to real uncertainty about tomorrow. Where does uncertainty press hardest on you right now?
- What would experiencing more of God's fullness look like, according to this passage?
Humility: God is God and I am not
From 1 Peter 5:6, Pastor Keith describes humility as recognizing God’s role rather than taking it ourselves. He explains the image of God’s hand through Old Testament examples of discipline and deliverance.
1 Peter 5:6 · Exodus 3:19 · Deuteronomy 9:26
- Where are you tempted to take God's role in your own life, deciding what you want on your own timeline?
- Pastor Keith describes God's hand in the Old Testament as both discipline and deliverance. How does that shape the way you read 1 Peter 5:6?
Casting: an action, not just knowledge
In 1 Peter 5:7, Pastor Keith emphasizes actively entrusting worries to God in response to his care. He uses a fishing illustration to distinguish action from information, and connects it with Jesus’ teaching about worry and God’s provision in Matthew 6.
1 Peter 5:7 · Matthew 6:25-34
- What distinction does Pastor Keith make between knowing about casting anxiety and actually giving it to God?
- Jesus points to birds and flowers as evidence of God's care. How does that image speak to you?
- Pastor Keith says the more we give our anxiety back to God, the more we understand how much he cares for us. How have you experienced that in either direction?
Watching what shapes your mind
Pastor Keith explains spiritual attentiveness in 1 Peter 5:8 as part of trusting God. He warns that media and entertainment can shape belief and behavior, and discusses Colossians 2:8’s warning against ideas that draw people away from Christ.
1 Peter 5:8 · Colossians 2:8
- What has been filling your mind most consistently this month, and how does it compare with Scripture?
- Pastor Keith challenges listeners to examine what they binge watch and scroll through. Where do you sense the strongest pull?
- Why does the message insist that being sober-minded and watchful is part of trusting God rather than replacing it?
Resisting together and answering the call
From 1 Peter 5:8-11, Pastor Keith emphasizes resisting evil alongside other believers and remembering God’s calling and care through suffering. He warns against isolation and connects God’s renewing work with identity as his child.
1 Peter 5:8-9 · Ephesians 6 · 1 Peter 5:10-11
- Where have you been tempted to believe your suffering is unique and that no one understands?
- Pastor Keith teaches that the adversary seeks to isolate people. How does standing firm in faith alongside others change the way you face anxiety?
- How does Pastor Keith connect God's calling with identity as a child of God?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What is the main point of this message on anxiety?+
Pastor Keith uses 1 Peter 5:6-11 to discuss anxiety through humility, entrusting worries to God, spiritual attentiveness, resisting evil alongside others, and remembering God’s calling. He presents these as responses of trust in Jesus and connects them with identity as God’s child.
Which of the five keys would be hardest for you to put into practice, and why?
Why does the message start with humility rather than practical techniques?+
From 1 Peter 5:6, Pastor Keith explains humility as recognizing God’s role rather than taking it ourselves. He describes it as a lived response, not something a preacher can simply produce in someone, and encourages allowing God to guide one’s life.
Where are you tempted to take God’s role rather than trust his guidance?
What does it mean practically to cast your anxiety on God?+
From 1 Peter 5:7, Pastor Keith describes actively entrusting burdens to God in response to his care. He uses fishing to illustrate the difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it. He connects this with Jesus’ teaching about worry in Matthew 6 and Paul’s encouragement to pray with gratitude in Philippians 4:6-7.
How does Pastor Keith explain casting anxiety as action rather than head knowledge?
If I cast my anxiety on God, does that mean I can stop being careful about what I take in?+
Pastor Keith says trusting God includes spiritual attentiveness. Applying 1 Peter 5:8 and Colossians 2:8, he urges listeners to consider how media, entertainment, and other influences shape belief and behavior rather than accept ideas without examining them.
What does the message say about suffering and isolation?+
From 1 Peter 5:8-11, Pastor Keith encourages resisting evil alongside other believers and recognizing that suffering is shared. He warns against isolation and points to God’s calling and renewing care as a source of confidence.
How does recognizing that other believers also suffer relate to Pastor Keith's teaching about resisting together?
