Craig Groeschel - Peace for Your Anxious Mind
One of the many things I love about Christmas, I love the decorations. Anybody else at all? Type in the comment section, "I love the decorations". Now, to be clear, I don't like putting them up at all, and it's my job to get the Christmas tree down and all the decorations down and they have to all come downstairs. And where are my kids when I'm setting up? I do not know, but they're not nearby. I don't like setting them up. I don't like tearing 'em down. I just like looking at 'em. I really do. I mean, a lot. And then when they come down, I'm like, "How did our house not look so good anymore"?
I love looking at 'em. I was looking around and I noticed there is, at our house, I can't speak for all of you, but there is one word that's the most common word on our Christmas decorations. At our house, the most common word on our decorations is the word peace. It's everywhere. Peace. I mean, there's peace on coffee mugs and ornaments and wrapping paper and stockings and Christmas card and decorative pillows that only come out for 30 days and then go away for the next 11 months. There's peace everywhere, all over my house. But it raises the question, during the Christmas season, why do we see peace everywhere but don't feel peace in our hearts? Why do we see the word peace everywhere? And for many of us, we don't have peace in our hearts.
In fact, it was actually Jesus who promised us His peace. He said to His disciples in John 14:27, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you". Not just any peace, He says, but, "My peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives". This is a different kind of peace. This is only a peace that heaven can give. "I don't give like the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid". This is a word for somebody who is anxious and maybe a little bit afraid. Jesus promised us His peace. And yet for many people, it's more common to feel anxiety than peace, right? For many people in our culture today, it's more normal to be afraid than it is to have a heart at rest. And when you look at it, it doesn't take long to figure out why, right?
Pick up your cell phone and just start scrolling and immediately you're bombarded with just bad news everywhere. I mean, there's wars and rumors of wars. And I know even right now at our global audience, there are many of you that are in the middle of a horrible situation right now. And there's all the stuff that, should we be worried about it? Should we be worried about bird flu and UFOs? I don't know. I mean, maybe. You read about it everywhere. And then, you know, you got inflation, you got interest rates, and you know, like my kids, they're all married, and it's like, it's hard enough for them to afford Christmas, much less, how are they ever gonna afford a house?
And so you worry about your financial future and about your health and your mental health and whatever you just bought at the grocery store that you can't afford is probably even recalled because last week, four things I bought got recalled. There's a food recall. And then you got your crazy family to deal with over the holidays, and amidst all that, you still have to find a place for the elf on your shelf. How do you do it all, right? And so Jesus says He's given me His peace. Sometimes, in all the craziness, I wanna say, "Okay, Jesus, if You gave me Your peace, either You forgot to give it to me or You gave it to me and I forgot where I put it". Right? It kinda raises the question like, is peace like true peace, is lasting peace, is that really a promise for today, for like 2024? Is peace even possible for us? And what I wanna do today is I wanna tell you is not only is peace possible for you, but it is a promise that applies directly to your life, and it applies for you today. The title of today's message is Peace for Your Anxious Mind.
And Father, we pray that Your living Word that never returns void would do a healing work and renew our minds. God, I pray especially for those who are anxious and overwhelmed with worry. May Your Holy Spirit draw us close to You where we would experience a supernatural peace that goes beyond our human ability to understand. May it be so as You renew our minds with Your truth. We pray this in Jesus' name, and everybody who agrees says amen.
Type in the comment section, "amen," just so we know you're agreeing with us. Now, we were in a message series called The Arrival on Advent. And if you missed last week, Advent is a very rich time for those of us who are followers of Jesus. It's something that's been going on literally for centuries and centuries and centuries as people prepare their hearts to celebrate the first coming of Jesus. And we also celebrate and look forward to the second coming, the return of Jesus. And so for four weeks, we're preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Last week, we lit the first candle. We lit the hope candle.
Next week, we'll light the joy candle, which is actually a different color. You might find out why. On Christmas week, we'll light the love candle, and then the center candle represents Jesus. Today, for the second week of advent, we are going to light the peace candle and believe that the Holy Spirit will give those of you that need some peace, some peace. If you need some peace from God, say, "I need a little peace". I need a little peace. You can type in the comment section, "I need peace from God. I need peace from God".
Let's look at God's Word and let Him speak to us. For centuries before the birth of Jesus, people were awaiting the birth of a Savior. One day God's gonna send the Messiah. He's gonna send a Savior. And then when the time was just right, we read that last week in Galatians, at the exact right time, God sent His Son, and the angels announced the birth of Jesus, and the angels proclaimed in Luke 2:14, "Glory to God in the highest". And go ahead and say it with me. And what else? "And peace on Earth". Glory to God. We praise You, God. You are worthy of all praise. And as Jesus comes, the angel promised Jesus would come as peace on Earth. This was not the first time that Jesus was described as one who would bring peace.
In fact, if you go way, way, way, way back 700 years before Jesus was even born, in the Old Testament, something known as the messianic prophecy, Isaiah prophesied 700 years before the birth of Christ this in Isaiah 9:6, "For to us, a child is born. To us a son is given". And the prophet gave Jesus four titles. "He'll be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father," and he'll be called what? Say it aloud. He'll be called "Prince of Peace". In other words, Jesus doesn't just promise us His peace, but He actually is peace. He is the Prince of Peace. That's who He is. Peace on Earth is literally God's Son, Jesus coming to Earth. He is Prince of Peace.
In fact, in the Hebrew, Prince of Peace is made up of two Hebrew words. They're the words sar shalom, sar shalom. What does sar mean? Sar actually means the one in charge. It means the lord, it means the chief or the general. It's sar kinda like a Roman czar, C-Z-A-R or Julius Cesar. See what I did there with you? It's the one who's in charge. There's sar shalom, and shalom is a Hebrew greeting. It means rest. It means tranquility. It means wholeness. Shalom, this is a great word, is the fullness of peace. Who is Jesus? He is the the Prince of Peace. He's the Lord of shalom. If Jesus comes as the Prince of Peace, what does that mean for you? What kind of peace does Jesus give?
Well, the Prince of Peace gives us two types of peace. He gives us peace with God, and Jesus gives us the peace of God. Say that with me. What does He give us? He gives us, first of all, He gives us peace with God and He gives us the peace of God. Peace on Earth. It starts with peace with God. And this is really important. Now, remember around Christmastime, that's when more than any other time, we talk about Jesus being born of a what? Virgin, right? And conceived by the what? By the Holy Spirit. Jesus was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Why does that matter? It matters more than you could imagine when it comes to having peace with God. If Jesus had been born, not conceived by the Holy Spirit and not by a heavenly Father, but instead, if He had an earthly father, He would have inherited the sin nature of an earthly dad because all of us have sinned.
We're all born as a sinner. That's why you never have to teach a kid to be selfish. Little baby says, "Mine" because we're born with a sin nature. Jesus was born of a virgin, therefore He didn't have a physical earthly father, but was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was conceived. Who was His father? It was the Heavenly Father. So He didn't have a sin nature. Instead, He was born without sin, and the Holy Spirit dwells within Him. That's why Jesus could be the perfect sacrifice because He was born with no sin because He never ever sinned. And that's what Paul told us in 2 Corinthians 5:21. Paul said that "God made Jesus," here it is, "who had no sin to be sin for us".
On the cross, Jesus took on our sins. He was sinless. He was the Lamb of God who was slain for our sins. "He had no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God". If right now you're doing life outside of the will of God, maybe you don't have a relationship with God and you don't feel at peace with God. Maybe you're like, "I don't know where I stand with God. I mean, like, I'm trying to do good, but I mean, I don't really know. I mean, like, I hope I'm good enough, but I'm not really sure".
If you don't have peace with God, let me try to explain to you the good news as simply as I can, not using my words, but using words from God's Word. I'll explain the good news this way. You can have peace with God because God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus. That whosoever, doesn't matter what you've done, doesn't matter how dark your life has been, whosoever believes in Jesus would not perish but would have eternal life. Why did God send His Son? Not to condemn the world, but He sent Jesus to save the world. And the Word of God says, "If you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive all of your sins and to cleanse you from unrighteousness".
Therefore, according to Romans 8:1, "Now therefore, if you are in Christ, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". "If you're in Christ Jesus," Scripture says, "you're a new creation". The old is gone, and God will not hold your sins against you because of Jesus, you can have peace with God. You don't have to worry about where you stand with God. You don't have to fear what happens to you after this life. You can experience the forgiveness and grace of God. Then you can tell people around you, and one by one, your family members and loved ones can start coming to know Jesus and you can have peace with God because Jesus was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit, had no sin, became sin for us. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, He gives you peace with God. And not just peace with God, but He gives you the peace of God.
Now, when Jesus promises you His peace, it's kind of a conditional promise. For example, someone in my family might have said to me and my sister when we were kids, "Hey, you can open up a Christmas gift on Christmas Eve if you don't fight with each other," right? That's kinda like, "You can do it, but there's a rule to it". There's kind of a condition to it. And Isaiah 26, Isaiah promises us the peace of God, but he shows us what we must do to experience the peace of God. Isaiah 26 says this, "God will keep," this is a beautiful phrase, "will keep in perfect peace all" who not just do whatever they want and live without God. No, no, no, no. You'll be kept in perfect peace all who trust in God, "all whose thoughts are fixed on Him". You'll be kept in perfect peace, all whose thoughts are fixed on Him.
Now, what does it mean to be kept in perfect peace? This is so rich. The word translated as peace is the word what? Shalom, right? Shalom. In the original Hebrew text in Isaiah 26, to be kept in perfect peace is actually two words back to back. It's shalom, shalom, back to back. Shalom, shalom. This is a theological term. Whenever you see words back to back in the Bible, it's called a Hebraic doubling. What does it mean? A Hebraic doubling is simply a linguistic technique in the Hebrew Bible in which a word is repeated to convey an intensified meaning. Shalom, shalom. What does it mean when it's together? What this word means is shalom, shalom, together, this Hebraic doubling, it means a perfect and unbroken peace. It means complete wellbeing, both inward and outward. I don't know about you, but I want some shalom, shalom. Amen.
Type in the comment section, "I want some shalom, shalom". This isn't just a double portion of peace. It's more than that. It's perfect peace, perfect peace. Now, you may say, "If I have this perfect peace, that means I don't have any problems ever again". Not at all. Sometimes you actually have to have problems to realize you have peace in the middle of the problems, right? It doesn't mean that nothing's gonna break. It doesn't mean that your kids are never gonna fight. And it doesn't mean that your spouse is no longer gonna get on your nerves. It's not what it means. What this perfect peace is, it is much different than that. And what we'll discover, as we get to know the Prince of Peace, we're gonna discover that peace isn't found in the absence of problems, but peace is found in the presence of God. It's a perfect peace.
And the Bible calls it, in the New Testament, "A peace that goes beyond our human understanding". Some of you who've been walking with Jesus for a long time, you know this type of peace. Your marriage could be struggling and it's difficult, and yet in the middle of it, you're seeking God and you have a peace that God hears the cries of your heart and God's gonna work it out. There are those of you that maybe you have a child that's walked away from the faith, walked away from the church and is breaking your heart, but you're praying the hound of heaven after your kid, and you're believing that the Holy Spirit's gonna do a work. And even though you don't see it, you have a peace and an assurance that God hears your prayers and God's working in the life of your child. It could be that it's difficult to pay the bills, and you're like, you're kind of nervous about it, but you faithfully, you tithe, you believe God honors your generosity.
You believe that God is gonna meet every one of your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus and you have a peace. How do you experience this perfect peace? I wanna look again at Isaiah 26. This is so important. It says, "God will keep in perfect peace," who? Anybody? Everybody? "All whose thoughts are fixed on Him. All whose thoughts are fixed". The word fixed in the Hebrew is a cool word. It's the word samak. Like, "I'll samak you". Not really, I would never do that. I'll hug you. But samak, it means to lean on completely. It means to fully rest oneself. And so you see the picture. You'll be kept in perfect peace all whose thoughts are leaning on God. You'll be kept in perfect peace, all whose thoughts are leaning on the truth of God's Word.
For example, we'll play a little game. When people fall, which way do they fall? What do you think? Someone said, "Down". That's probably pretty good. They don't fall up. That's close. Very good. I'm at the smart campus, okay? Yes. There you go. Come on right here. I see you. Yeah, yeah, all right. They fall down. Okay. What I'm about to tell you is almost as bad as that, but I'm setting you up, okay? When people fall, which way do they fall? Research is conclusive. 100% of the time, they fall in the direction they were leaning. Hm, see what I did there, right? I know it's bad, but it's true. They always fall in the direction they are leaning.
And so I would ask you this, which way are you leaning? Are you leaning on the truth of God? Or are you leaning on your own ability, your own knowledge, your own wisdom? Because Proverbs 3:5, it's on your coffee mug, it says this, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge God". Lean on Him "and He will make your paths straight". This is powerful. Don't lean on your own logic, your own wisdom, your own understanding. You can't get it all done. Lean on God's goodness. Lean on God's truth. And in all your ways, you acknowledge Him. The word in the Hebrew for acknowledge, it's the word yada, and it means to know.
In all your ways you know Him, in all the ways you seek Him, in all the ways you let His Word be your truth, you lean on God's goodness, you lean on God's promises. You lean on God's strength, and in all your ways you surrender to Him. And this is the paradox of peace. It's a surprise, and it's true. The peace of God is found in surrender, not control. It's surrender. Almost every time you find yourself anxious, afraid, overwhelmed, up at two o'clock in the morning. You're thinking about it through and making your pros and cons list, right? Trying to get it figured out. Trying to manipulate. "Hey, you know, she said this..." And trying to make everything come out your way. Almost every time you're doing that, you are overestimating your ability to control and you're underestimating the goodness of God. You're leaning on your own understanding, and you always fall in the direction you are leaning. It's a paradox. Peace is found in surrender, not control.
So I would ask you right now, are you trying to control something that's not yours to control? We could stop right there and close in prayer and you could go home. You got your money's worth, okay? Like, seriously. Are you trying to control something that's not yours to control? In fact, let's just do this. Let's just, it's kinda different, but I just feel moved to do this. Let's just take a moment, close your eyes and just ask:
God, am I trying to control something that's not mine? God, teach us to trust You. Teach us to lean on You, not our own understanding. And God, show us any areas of our lives that we're getting in Your way, we're trying to manipulate. Show us, God, and lead us to lean on You. In Jesus' name, amen.
That means you can look back at me. You're trying to control something that's not yours to control, a relationship, a person, a financial situation, a health situation, a kid, your spouse, your spouse, your spouse. I'm saying that in case you weren't paying attention. You can't change them. Only God can. Surrender, not control, and you'll be kept in perfect peace all whose minds are fixed on God, all whose minds are leaning on God. And so you may say, "Okay, I like that and I want perfect peace, but what if I don't have peace"? Fair question. Remember, Jesus is sar shalom. He is the Prince of Peace. He's the Lord of Peace. This is so powerful and so personal. That means because He's the Lord of Peace, that means that Jesus can give peace, and what else can He do? Take it. He can take it away. He's the Lord of Peace.
And this is really important and strategic because Jesus loves you and cares about every detail of your life. And so if you're in a really difficult situation and you're leaning on Him and you're seeking His Word and you're crying out to Him, He can give you a supernatural peace that goes, you're like going, "I don't know why I feel peace right now. I shouldn't. I mean, things are crazy, but I just am". That's peace from heaven. And He gives that. And those of you that have walked with Him, you know that peace. But then there are other times when you're about to do something dumb and He removes peace. You're thinking, "Should I go into debt to buy this high-tech smart refrigerator with a built-in TV"?
And you just don't have a peace about it. Why? Because Jesus loves you and He's keeping you from paying 28% interest on a TV you'll never watch, right? You don't have a peace. Or you get a job offer in another city for more money and are going, "This feels right, there's more money". But something deep down like, "I'd have to leave my church and my community and like, it seems right, but I don't feel at peace about it". He's the Lord of Peace. You're like, "I've been dating this person and there's, you know, everyone tells me, you know, 'You've been going out so long and you should be moving forward.'" And you're just going, "Something doesn't feel right".
Maybe it's the Lord of Peace who gives it and He also strategically removes it. Just as Jesus gives us peace to comfort us, He can withdraw it to refine us. He's the Lord of all peace. He is the Prince of Peace. And this is why this is such good news for everybody. God's peace, it is a promise, and it's a promise for you that through Jesus, you can have peace with God and you can have the peace of God. The problem is, the world's jacked it up big time, that the world and our culture today has kind of reduced peace to temporary fixes tied to entertainment, to self-care trends, to empty promises that always fall short of truly satisfying the deepest part of our soul.
We're falling for a counterfeit. We're trading shalom, God's sacred, holy, unending peace for shallow substitutes and wonder why our hearts always feel fractured. Whenever peace is disconnected from the Prince of Peace, it becomes a false comfort that never, ever lasts. And that's why the words of Paul in the New Testament, I've alluded to this verse multiple times, from a Roman prison, if you can imagine, he's chained up in prison, potentially gonna die. And under the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul pens these words to the believers in Philippi and he says this, Philippians 4. He says, "Do not be anxious about anything".
For some of you, that's a whole word for you right now. Whatever you're anxious about, you're leaning on your own understanding. Don't be. Lean on God. Don't be anxious about anything. But no matter what you're going through, "in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, you present your request to God". You're leaning on God. God, I'm trusting You, God. I need You. God, I don't know what to do about this. God, I know that You're good. You're presenting your request to God. And when you do that, when you're leaning on God, the what? Say it with me, "The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus".
When you present it to God. It is the peace of God. It's not the world's peace. The world can't give it, and the world can't take it away. It is the peace of God. Because Jesus came, you can have peace with God and the peace of God. Transparent moment. I'm getting older. I had a birthday this week. 50-something. 50-something. And you know what, I actually, I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it. I love getting older with Amy. I'm more in love with her than ever before. And I actually love having a lot of years under my belt getting to know the character, the goodness, and the nature of God, because He is so good. In the first decade, it's kinda like enthusiastic excitement.
And then it's kinda like, reality sets in. Like three, four decades into it you're like, "Yeah, His Word's true. He is so good". And it hit me recently because we went through a difficult time. It's always funny, I always say like, "We went through a difficult time," and then I talk about it and people are like going, "You're a real person". Like going, "Uh, yeah". Like you're... And then they always say, "I'm so happy to know you're having problems 'cause it makes me feel connected to you". Like, "Glad to make you happy". So there you go. And like going, "Yeah, we're real people". I mean, we got six married kids. That's a lot of people and stuff happens, and we got a lot of you. And there's a lot of complications in my life and I experienced deep pain.
And in the past what I would have done is I would have like, tried to disconnect by finding the latest show on Netflix. But what instead is I've walked with Jesus long enough to just get down on my knees and to lean on Him. What I'm gonna tell you is His Word is true. When I lean on Him, do not lean on my own understanding, but fix my mind on Him, on His truth, on His promises, on His goodness, as I did that in the middle of a very difficult, complicated, painful situation, there is a peace that goes beyond my ability to understand.
And that is a peace that's not a promise for me because I'm a preacher. That's a peace that's a promise for me because Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and that peace applies to you. He is the Prince of Peace. Peace on Earth, peace with God, and the peace of God. And peace, I promise you, is not found in the absence of problems. It's found in the presence of God, and it is a real peace available to you. Peace with God is through faith in Jesus. The peace of God is for those whose minds are fixed on Him. So if you're leaning on yourself today, lean this way with me and let's depend on the power and the presence of God's truth.
God, thank You. Thank You for an amazing church. Thank You that You're an amazing God. You are worthy of all praise. Glory to God in the highest who brought peace on Earth through Jesus. Holy Spirit, would You do a healing work in the minds and hearts of those who feel anxious today?
Today at all of our churches and all of the world online, if you're in a situation where you really maybe recognize you're leaning the wrong way, you're leaning on your own understanding and you want the peace of God in a situation right now, would you just lift up your hand? Maybe lift it up high like, "I need the peace of God". Type in the comment section, "I need the peace of God for some area of my life".
And as your hands are lifted up, just kind of, if you feel comfortable leaving them up as a act of worship, let me just pray for you. God, we bring our burdens to You according to Your Word. We cast all of our cares and anxiety on You because You care for us. We do that now by faith. In church, even just where you're sitting, wherever you're watching from, you can just tell Him what your burden is. You can think it. You're, "I'm praying for a child. I'm praying for a health issue. I'm praying for healing for someone". Whatever, "I'm praying for restoration". Whatever it is, just cast that burden on Him right now.
And God, we thank You that You hear the cries of our heart and that Your Word is true. That when we cast all of our cares on You, when we take our prayers and petitions to You, that there is a peace from heaven that guards our hearts and minds. God, would You give Your children Your peace? Your peace, a peace the world can't give. A peace the world can't take away. It's Your peace. God, we thank You that You are good. We trust in You. God, we don't lean on our own understanding. In all our ways, we get to know You. We acknowledge You. We thank You that You'll keep and make our path straight. And God, that when our minds are fixed on You, You'll keep us in shalom, shalom, Your perfect peace.
As you keep praying today at all of our churches, there are those of you that, if we could sit down and talk openly, you might say, "I really don't feel like I'm at peace with God". If we talked, you might feel guilty for some things you've done. You might be afraid of what would happen after this life. And that's something to take seriously. And the reason you'd feel that way is because all of us have messed up. We all have, and the Bible is real clear. The Bible calls it sin, and God is a holy and a perfect God, and sin separates us from a holy God. But I told you as simply as I could in the message about the good news, and the good news is that God does love you so much that He sent His Son, born of a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit so Jesus was not born in sin, and He never sinned so He could be the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins.
Christianity is not about joining a church. It's not about doing good works. It's about surrendering, not control, but surrendering to the lordship of the Prince of Peace. Who is Jesus? The Son of God, perfect in every way who died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. And God raised Him from the dead so that anyone, doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter what you've done, anyone who calls on His name, your sins would be forgiven and you would be brand new. Today, there are those of you, you're not here by accident.
God brought you here for this moment. You're not watching by accident. You're watching because God has a message for you. If you're not at peace with God today, we're stepping away from our sin and we're surrendering completely. "Jesus, be the Lord of my life. You are the Lord of Peace. You be the Lord of my life. I need Your peace. You be the Lord of my life. Forgive my sins. Today, I surrender to You". When you call on the name of Jesus, He'll hear your prayer, He'll forgive your sins, and you will be brand new today.
At all of our churches around the world online, those who say "Yes, I need the Prince of Peace. I want His peace. I want peace with God. Today I step away from my sin. I give my life to Jesus". That's your prayer, lift your hands high right now all over the place and say, "Yes, that's my prayer. I surrender to Jesus". Right back over here, praise God for you. Others today saying "Yes, Jesus". Lift your hands and say, "I surrender to You. Be the Lord of my life today". At all of our churches, people saying, "Yes, Jesus, I surrender". Online, type in the comment section, "I am surrendering my life to Jesus today". Would you pray with those around you? Pray:
Heavenly Father. Save me. Forgive my sins. Be the Lord of my life. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. So I could know You. And serve You always. Thank You for peace. With You. Peace to serve You. My life is not my own. I give it all to You. In Jesus' name I pray.