Red Letters - A Cure for Anxiety

Anxiety can feel like background noise you’ve learned to tolerate—until it drowns out everything else. In this week’s Red Letters teaching, Tyler Lynde unpacks Jesus’ cure from Matthew 6:25-34 and shows why the gospel offers something better than coping strategies.

1 | Worry Is Unnecessary
• Birds never sow or reap, yet the Father feeds them.
• Wildflowers never shop, yet God dresses them in royalty.
Takeaway: If God lavishes care on short-lived creatures, His long-loved children can rest.

2 | Worry Is Unfruitful
Stress drains energy without adding time. Modern studies confirm Jesus’ ancient insight: chronic anxiety weakens immunity, shortens lifespan, and cannot change tomorrow’s variables. Why invest in a strategy with zero return?

3 | Worry Is Unbecoming
Jesus notes that panicked pursuit of basic needs typifies those who don’t know God. Followers who act like spiritual orphans misrepresent the Father’s heart. The root issue isn’t circumstances; it’s unbelief in lavish love.

4 | The Father’s Love Is the Cure
John 3:16 and 1 John 4:18 frame the argument: the God who sacrificed His Son to adopt us will not abandon us for groceries or rent. Perfect love casts out fear because it proves our worth.

5 | Kingdom-First Practice
“Seek first the kingdom … and all these things will be added.” Tyler offers three drills:
• Morning surrender—pray today’s needs, release tomorrow’s.
• Gratitude breaks—notice God’s care in creation.
• Daily boundary—plan but don’t borrow trouble from the future.

Final Call
Ready to trade panic for peace? Spend 30 minutes with this passage and watch fear lose its grip. Share the video with anyone who needs a reminder that their Father already knows and already cares.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to "A Cure for Anxiety"
• 4:40 Jesus' Sermon on the Mount Unveiled
• 12:57 The Reality and Prison of Fear
• 20:47 Worthlessness of Worry: Jesus' Practical Truth
• 29:42 The Root Source of Our Anxiety
• 38:10 Living Like Loved Children of God
• 47:16 Laying Our Fears at Jesus' Feet

Transcript

Tyler Lynde: 0:02

We're going to go ahead and get into the message. I've been waiting for this message since the Lord gave me a deposit earlier this week and I felt like that he really spoke to me, what he wanted me to share with you this morning, and so let's get right into it. We're in a sermon series called Red Letters, and in the New Testament, especially in most translations, the words of Jesus are notated by being in red right. So they're in red. So that's why we say red letters. And Jesus preached the greatest sermon ever preached. We call it the Sermon on the Mount, and that's found here in Matthew, chapter five through seven. And we're in the middle of studying the Sermon on the Mount. We've been seeing how Jesus gives his disciples a clear picture of what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and he really focuses in on the heart. It's the heart that matters most, right, the condition of our hearts. And last week Kelly did an amazing job of showing us that where your treasure is there, your heart will be also right. Scripture teaches us and exhorts us to choose our treasure wisely. Who is our greatest treasure? Jesus? That's the right answer, amen. So in our passage today, jesus is continuing the theme of single-hearted devotion to God, and he deals with the need for his followers to walk in freedom from anxiety, especially over our daily needs.

Tyler Lynde: 1:27

Now I want to give a little bit. The title of today's message is A Cure for Anxiety A Cure for Anxiety, and I want to give a little bit of a disclaimer. Before we start, I want to just make it clear that there are instances in people's lives when anxiety and depression are things that need to be treated by professionals. Okay, there are those who struggle with, let's say, mental illness or trauma, and so they need some psychological help in order to overcome that. There are others who also maybe have a chemical imbalance and, because of the chemical imbalance that they have, their emotions and anxiety and things like that are affected because of the chemical imbalance that they have, their emotions and anxiety and things like that are affected because of the chemical imbalance, and so they need medical help. And then there are also others that, because of demonic oppression or influence in their lives, they need spiritual help. They need freedom from demonic spirits that would try to cause people to walk in anxiety and fear. Does that make sense? So I want to make it very clear I'm not going to be preaching what I'm preaching this morning with the idea that what I'm going to say to you today is going to apply evenly for each and every person. It depends a lot on where they find themselves, where each individual finds themselves at this stage in their life and the type of help that they need. And my encouragement to all of you, as a person who has needed these kinds of helps in my own life if you need help, get help. If you need help, get help.

Tyler Lynde: 2:58

There's such a stigma in Christian circles at times around people who need to reach out for help when it comes to anxiety and fear and mental health issues, and it should not be this way. It should not be this way. We, as the body of Christ, should be embracing, welcoming and also understanding of those who are dealing with things that are outside of their control. Now, how many of you believe that Jesus can touch every one of us and miraculously heal us and cause chemical imbalances to be made normal and cause mental illness to diminish and to leave? So I'm not limiting God in any way. All I'm saying is let's be careful before we pick up rocks and start to judge others, and we're going to learn about this next week, about being careful how we judge others. Let's be careful that we not judge others when we haven't walked a mile in their shoes. Amen, all right. So there's no shame, like I said, in getting help. We need help in whatever way, whatever form it comes.

Tyler Lynde: 4:01

What we're talking about today are the things that we can make choices about. There are things, regardless of what our background is, regardless of what our chemistry is, regardless of what's going on in our personal lives, there are principles that can be applied to each of our lives, based on the scripture, that will help us to make the right kinds of choices so that we can avoid being trapped in the prison of anxiety. Now we're going to use three words today that we're using them synonymously. We're using fear, anxiety and worry, and we're using them interchangeably, right? So whatever word it is that you connect better with in understanding whether it's fear, anxiety or worry, those are the three words that we're talking about this morning. So let's turn into our Bibles and hear what Jesus has to say, because it's his words that matter most and hear what he has to say about this subject in Matthew 6, verses 25 through 34.

Tyler Lynde: 4:57

Therefore, I tell you, 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. It's not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. And are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, o you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear, for the Gentiles. Seek after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all, but seek first his kingdom, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself, sufficient for the day, is its own trouble.

Tyler Lynde: 6:29

Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for the moments that we have ahead of us this morning. We thank you that you've prepared the way already before we ever came into this building. I thank you for the prayers that have been prayed about this time that we would spend together. I thank you for the prayers that have been prayed about this time that we would spend together. And, lord, I thank you that what was in your heart and in your mind, that you've given that to us this morning and you're going to help me to be able to communicate it to your people. And so, father, I ask that you would do that, that you would open our ears, open our hearts, open our minds, that we would receive the truth of the word of God with gladness and Lord, that we would receive it in such a way that our lives would be forever changed. And we take authority over anything that would try to hinder us from being able to receive the truth found in this passage. And we say that you have no authority over us, in the mighty name of Jesus, and we give you glory. Amen and amen, the mighty name of Jesus and we give you glory. Amen and amen. So I gave these.

Tyler Lynde: 7:31

The elders passed out these cards that just simply say my greatest fear is dot, dot, dot. And what I would ask you to do is, if you already know what that is, if you want to go ahead and jot that down, that's great. We're going to do something at the end with these, so there is a purpose for this other than just holding them right so you can fill it out now. If you don't know now and something pops into your mind or your heart during the service, maybe that's the Lord speaking to you and go ahead and write that down, or, if you're not sure, even to the very end of the service. We'll have a few minutes then to contemplate that as well. Okay, so just be prepared for that. I believe the Lord's given me some wisdom on how to deal with this at the very end.

Tyler Lynde: 8:10

So the temptation to fear if we're honest is very real. Can we just be honest and real and authentic with each other? This morning? There's a great temptation that we face concerning worry, anxiety and fear, and it's not a one-time temptation. How many of you know that? Every day and every moment we're presented with opportunities to choose whether to trust God or to fear. We are confronted with these kinds of decisions all of the time. Can you imagine what it is like in the world? And maybe you can remember what your life was like in the world before Jesus? There was no answer to worry, anxiety and fear. That was the way of life, that was the norm. That was the way we all experienced life without Jesus. But now that we have been born again, we've been introduced into the family of God. How many of you know we don't have to live any longer under fear, anxiety and worry? Jesus has made a way for us.

Tyler Lynde: 9:12

We are surrounded at times with circumstances that are either real or imagined, and most of the time fear starts out as a whisper. Out as a whisper. It starts out very softly, almost serene-like, but how many of you know? After it continues its work and grows and grows and grows, before long the whisper becomes a scream and the scream doesn't let up. The scream infiltrates every part of our lives. It attempts to infiltrate the way that we live our lives on a daily basis. The scream of fear is really this.

Tyler Lynde: 9:53

The bottom line, scream of fear is you can't trust God. That's what fear wants us to believe. And how many of you know that Satan is the author of fear? And Satan hates God, and because he hates God, he hates God's children and he can't get to God. How many of you know God got to him and he can't get to God? But how many of you know he also attempts to get to God by getting to us? And so we need to be wise, we need to be discerning, we need to understand what the scripture teaches, we need to know how to resist the temptation to give in to the screaming lies of the enemy.

Tyler Lynde: 10:38

There's a great acronym, and I'm sure most of you have heard it Fear is false evidence appearing real. It's something that screams out at us that it is real, that it is happening, that is going to happen and that there's nothing that we can do about it. And that is the attempt that fear makes to try to grab us and to hold on to us and to manipulate us. It's very real. To manipulate us is very real. Perception is reality to people, whether it's the truth or not.

Tyler Lynde: 11:11

There are so many things that can cause us anxiety and worry and fear. How about our job scenarios? You may have thought your whole life that your job was secure and all of a sudden, there begin to become huge changes within the corporate structure of your company and all of a sudden, you don't know if your name's going to be on the list or not. Are you going to make the cut or not? What are you going to do if you go a week or two or a month without a paycheck? How are you going to survive? How are you going to provide for your family? How many of you know there's a lot of intrinsic fear that can be developed in that kind of thinking that can be developed in that kind of thinking. How about family relationships? What if my wife walks away? What if my children don't love me? What if? What if? What if? All of these different questions that arise?

Tyler Lynde: 11:57

How many of you know that there was something called a pandemic? That happened in 2020? And through that, guess what has happened in the world? There is a. The lid has been taken off of fear and fear has been unleashed upon the nations of this world. This is real. We're dealing with this, aren't we? I remember, on 9-11, my wife ran into the room to let me know that something very wrong was happening in our country and I ran out to watch what was happening on television and couldn't believe it when they finally realized this was no accident. This was something that had been planned and had been executed to bring about destruction and fear in our nation.

Tyler Lynde: 12:46

You can go back before that and this is laughable now, but some of us during Y2K were concerned. I mean, how many of you partied hard on December 31st 1999, right, it's like it's all going to be over tomorrow. Max out the credit cards. Hopefully you didn't do that, but anyway, we lived. For those of you who are younger, you didn't know this, but we were actually told that the world was going to end at midnight on January, the 1st 2000,. Because none of the computers were able to calculate that into the new millennia. Somehow it's 2025 and we're still here, right? So you can see at times. That is a glaring, obvious example of how foolish fear can be at times, right? And yet I'm sure that there were some of us that experienced at least a little bit of trepidation concerning that.

Tyler Lynde: 13:46

How about finances? Money comes and money goes, and there are times when we are confronted with the idea that we may be ruined, that this may be the end of our financial health, our well-being and all of the things that go along with that. How about politics? Is there any fear or intimidation or anxiety or worry that go along with that? How about politics? Is there any fear or intimidation or anxiety or worry that go along with politics? In today's world, it seems like that's all that there is. They've lost any kind of principle or idea, and everything is about how bad we hate the other people and how much we can try to make the American people afraid of what those bad people over there are wanting to do. Stop it. That is not godly. That is not the way that we're supposed to live as Christian people. We don't have to live like that. Christian people, we don't have to live like that.

Tyler Lynde: 14:51

How many of you find that after three hours of watching the news, your attitude changes, your disposition, the way you look at life begins to change. Why is that? Because of fear. Almost every newscast is laced with fear torpedoes that attempt to get to us, to our hearts and to our souls.

Tyler Lynde: 15:11

Many of you know that in late 2019 and into mid 2020, I had a major health scare. I've been spending several months over that time in the hospital with varying degrees of problems in my internal, in my GI tract, it's the nicest way to say it. I can think of Four surgeries later and several cumulative, like I said, months in the hospital. I was finally back on my way to health, but through that process I realized that I had been inundated with fear and this wasn't new fear, it was new-ish, but it was fear that I recognized from other times in my life, and so I wanted to get to the bottom of it. How many of you are tired of weed-eating weeds? What's the end result of weed-e eating weeds? Do we have less weeds or do we have more weeds? We at least have the same weeds, don't we that grow back up? How many of you know it's much better if you can pull them out at the root? So my desire, as I was going through that very difficult scenario and, by the way, it wasn't just me, it was my family and a lot of you that were here and were praying for me, and so thank you again for walking with us through that very difficult time.

Tyler Lynde: 16:35

But as I was going through that, I was asking the Lord, what is it that I'm afraid of? And I thought, first of all, I'm afraid of dying. I mean, you know that's a pretty common fear, right? What I realized after I'd gone through this is there were three specific times I was very close to dying and I didn't even know it, because God's created our bodies with these, with hormones and chemicals and all these things that get released when our body is under certain strains and stresses. I didn't even know. The doctor in my family had to tell me. Unfortunately, my family had to deal with that from a reality standpoint, because they knew it right Again. So I wasn't afraid of dying.

Tyler Lynde: 17:16

And then I thought I'm afraid of pain. I'm afraid of extreme pain Anybody with you on that but I went through what I can only describe as the most gruesome pain. And, by the way, when I say these things, I know that there are people that have suffered much greater things in their life. So I'm not trying to compare or compete, but to me this is the greatest form of pain that I had ever experienced in my life, on a daily basis, over and over and over again, over again, felt like Groundhog Day, right, and yet that wasn't it. And so, finally, I was going in for my last surgery to be repaired and everything to be repaired and reconnected and as I went in, it was May of 2020. It was May of 2020.

Tyler Lynde: 18:07

You guess what the policies were in the hospital in May of 2020? I went in there by myself. I should rephrase that Me and Jesus walked into that place and I was laying in the hospital bed with my family, not able to visit nobody else, just me, the staff. The hospital was very sparse, there were very few patients around and I lay in the hospital bed, able to do nothing for myself, and I realized what my fear was. I've written it on my card right here my greatest fear is losing control. And you know what the Lord was so gracious to show me in that moment he's in control and if I put my hope and trust and faith and confidence in Him, he's there with me, he's walking with me and, regardless of the outcome of all of this, it's going. It's going to be okay. Do I still deal with these things? Am I still tempted to fear? Of course, but I have to say my life is far different today than it was in 2020. And I believe it's partially because the Lord spoke the truth to me that brought freedom into my life, and I want that for each and every one of you as well, not for you to go through what I went through, but for you to be able to walk in freedom.

Tyler Lynde: 19:35

Jesus, in this passage, is telling those who had proposed to be his followers that they must think differently about things, that they needed to have a different set of eyes, that they needed to evaluate things according to the way he evaluates them, especially when it comes to fear over their basic life needs. He admonishes them to stop worrying and instead start believing. Satan's desire is to keep us in a constant state of anxiety, which causes our thoughts to be overwhelming. Anybody have an overwhelming thought at times Again. Are we going to be real with each other this morning? Thought at times Again. Are we going to be real with each other this morning? Okay, overwhelming thoughts. He disturbs our joy in God. He threatens our restful sleep Anybody having trouble with sleep. He hinders our enjoyment of the goodness of God. He hinders our own enjoyment, our enjoyment of our family and friends. Satan hates us and he wants to keep us crippled in our minds when it comes to fear, anxiety and worry.

Tyler Lynde: 20:41

So let's look at what Jesus says the worthlessness of worry. Three things that he says that I believe are really impactful. First of all, he basically says it's unnecessary. It is unnecessary to worry. Remember, in verse 26, he says look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? What a beautiful picture.

Tyler Lynde: 21:07

Jesus is using a lesser than greater than approach. He's saying you don't need to be anxious, because look at the birds, listen to the birds. Are they singing their songs of joy this morning? Yes, they are. Are they straining and stressing about what it is that they're going to eat today or what they're going to drink today? Are they stressed out? Are they exhausted? Are they weary? How do they fly as far as they fly the migratory ones? I've never understood that. Thousands and thousands of miles, some of them. They're just little bitty things at times, and yet God has put in their nature this innate ability to be able to know where they need to go, where provision is, to know that they're going to be taken care of.

Tyler Lynde: 21:50

Jesus is saying if our Heavenly Father takes care of the birds like that, is he not going to be taken care of? Jesus is saying if our heavenly father takes care of the birds like that. Is he not going to take care of us? This is where you answer yes, amen, he will take care of his children. He goes on to say and why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in Solomon, we always think of him for his wisdom. But not only was he wise, he was also the richest man on the planet. And being the richest king on the planet, can you imagine what his kingly robes must have looked like, the adornment of his clothing? He must have been something spectacular. Queen of Sheba came up and made all kinds of commentary about Solomon's kingdom and the way that he was adorned and the way that he was in this life. Jesus compares him, at the pinnacle of success in his finest kingly attire, with the wildflower in the field. That has a temporary lifespan here today and gone tomorrow.

Tyler Lynde: 23:13

When I was growing up, we lived in Wyoming at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains are just that a lot of rock, a lot of rock and some pine trees and that's just about it. Not a lot of other things to kind of catch your eye other than the wildlife, right, but certain times of the year there are these certain things that grow up, these certain plants that grow up, sometimes even that seems out of the rocks themselves, and they have a flower that turns this bright crimson red. They're called Indian paintbrush. If you've ever seen them, they're some of the, to me, some of the most spectacular creations from as far as plant life that I've ever seen is my mom's favorite flower, okay, but these are basically kind of like weeds, here today and gone tomorrow.

Tyler Lynde: 24:05

And Jesus is referring to this specifically in the fact that they would cut down the fields and the wildflowers in the fields and they would bundle them together and they would use that for fuel to cook food, to keep warm, whatever the need was. And he's saying to them again, to his followers we don't have to stress. Just like the lilies of the field, don't stress. Can you imagine if a plant out, if you could like somehow see on the inside of the field, don't stress. Can you imagine if a plant out, if you could like somehow see on the inside of the plant and see it like you know what I mean? That's, this is weird to think about. Flowers, don't have to do that, it just kind of happens. A little bit of rain, a little bit of sunshine, a little bit of bee work right and before long. Beauty. Beauty is everywhere.

Tyler Lynde: 25:00

So not only is it unnecessary to worry, it's also unfruitful. Verse 27, jesus says and which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? How many of you have worried yourself into a better scenario? How many of you have been so anxious that you started feeling better? How many of you have been overwhelmed by fear to the point to where you were like give me another hour of this. Can we be real? I love how practical Jesus gets with his followers. He's not leaving anything to the imagination.

Tyler Lynde: 25:39

He asked them literally can you add an hour to your lifespan by worrying about it? Can you do it? Can you make it happen? Not only can't they obviously it's a rhetorical question but according to the National Institutes of Health, the NIH, individuals that live lives characterized by worry and fear and anxiety may actually experience a reduced life expectancy the exact opposite of what somebody who's worrying and trying to make themselves live longer, to expand their life, to have a longer lifespan. A lot of times when you worry about those kinds of things, you actually seemingly reduce the quality of life at least, and sometimes it seems like the length of life. They experience a reduced life expectancy, potentially by several years. Now, don't worry about that. I hear you right now. I'm worried about being worried about experiencing. Don't double worry, okay, it's like a double negative, don't do it.

Tyler Lynde: 26:41

Compared to the general population, obviously it's vitally important that we deal with this. Let's deal with it. It's unnecessary, it's unfruitful to worry and, finally, it is unbecoming. Verse 31 and 32,. Therefore, do not be anxious saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear, for the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all.

Tyler Lynde: 27:09

I can't remember we were talking about this the other day. I can't remember when the word unbecoming became a part of our family vocabulary, but it found its way in sometime when our kids were younger. What does unbecoming mean? What does it have to do with? How do we translate it? We translate it as acting out of character or nature, acting in a way that is not becoming unbecoming.

Tyler Lynde: 27:34

So, for example, amy and I were at a restaurant the other day and the table behind us had what I suppose was a mom. I don't know if it was a mom or a babysitter or an aunt. I would have thought it was a grandparent, but it wasn't. But the kids were practicing their burping skills. They'd eat a bite of pizza and drink a soda and then they would burp very loudly, very loudly. And Amy and I were sitting there trying to enjoy our meal. And if it had been our kids or our family, we would have said to them Levi, no, not Levi. Levi would never do that. There's a couple of my kids not here this morning. I could pick on them. They have good reasons. So do we have a picture somewhere? Is there a picture that we have? Oh, what is?

Tyler Lynde: 28:22

that, oh my goodness.

Tyler Lynde: 28:27

That is Amelia Grace. She's our brand new grandbaby and she's doing really well and she'll be here hopefully next week. So we love her very much. Anyway, can't be anxious when you're looking at that, right, what a cutie. So we are so grateful. Yeah, jordan and Noel are doing well and everybody's adjusting and learning what it's like to be big bro and big sis again, and they're doing well.

Tyler Lynde: 28:54

So what was I talking about Unbecoming? So, yeah, the burp. Yeah, sorry, did I say burp in church? I probably shouldn't have Another example, but anyway, you know, dressing inappropriately, gossiping, fighting with one another, that's unbecoming of this family.

Tyler Lynde: 29:14

That's not how we do this, right? Well, jesus is saying to his followers it's unbecoming of you, as my children, to worry, to be anxious, to be fearful. He says the Gentiles, unbelievers, do that all the time, but you guys don't need to do that, you don't have to do that, you don't have to do that. Isn't that good news? It's great news.

Tyler Lynde: 29:40

So, finally, the source of anxiety what is it? What causes us to be anxious? What causes us to fear? What causes us to live in worry? I believe that it's a lack of trust in Father God. Remember I use that word there purposefully Father God. Jesus refers to his Father many times in this passage and he's wanting to pass on to them this sort of new reality. To them, God is not just a great king or a great Lord or a great majestic one. He is all of those things, but he's also our father. He's our father.

Tyler Lynde: 30:18

And how do we know that, jesus, that a lack of trust in father God is a reason for anxiety? What did he say to them? Oh you of little faith. Oh you of little faith. We want to boil it down to its very root. We must acknowledge that, primarily, worry and fear come from that fact. It's a lack of trust in Father God. The bottom line cause of it is we don't really believe what, that God loves us. Let's bottom line it. Let's bottom line it. If we're filled with worry and anxiety and fear and we are believers in Jesus Christ there is one reason, and that is because we don't really believe that our heavenly father loves us.

Tyler Lynde: 31:10

So let's do a quick little exercise together. Does God love Jesus, his son? How do we know that? Think of some examples. How about the fact that we know that he's loved him for all of eternity? He has loved him for all of eternity. They are in perfect union with one another Perfect unity. Can you imagine what it must have been like for the two of them, and the Holy Spirit involved as well, to speak words and to see the earth and all of the things that we experience in our daily lives around us? To see them come out, boom? What a great joy that must have been for them, as father and son, and with the father in his heart wanting to create a bride for his son. That's how deep the father's love is for Jesus.

Tyler Lynde: 32:03

And at his birth, not only were there shepherds and wise men, but, how many of you know, the skies were filled with a heavenly choir of angels. Because heaven couldn't contain itself. It had to express the glory and the joy and the majesty of God, the Son coming to this earth. How about at Jesus' baptism? Before Jesus did any mighty works? He comes up out of the water, heaven opens. And what does God say? He comes up out of the water, heaven opens. And what does God say? This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And then Jesus is taken by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. And what does God do? He sends ministering angels to minister to Jesus, to strengthen him, to help him. And then, at the transfiguration, elijah and Moses show up and again God speaks out of the heavens. This is my son, listen to him. And we have examples at the garden of Gethsemane I just learned this this morning there were angels that were sent at the garden of Gethsemane to minister to Jesus and his need. And how many of you knowsemane to minister to Jesus in his need and how many of you know that?

Tyler Lynde: 33:13

God, the father, raised Jesus from the dead. He experienced the resurrection because of the love that the father has for his son, and he also caused him to be ascended into heaven. He sat him at his right hand and he's given him the name above every other name, the name of Jesus. Does our heavenly father love his son, jesus? I know what you're thinking, but that's Jesus. He's perfect. He never made any mistakes. Of course his heavenly father loves him. How could he not? Of course his heavenly father loves him. How could he not?

Tyler Lynde: 33:58

I purposely left out part of the story that I want to recircle back to you see, god's father heart is so great that he willingly allowed his son to be nailed to a cross, the son that he had loved throughout all eternity and had shown his great love for him in so many powerful ways, in ways that we, as human fathers, try to emulate. In some way we could just grasp on, even to the hem of his garment, to show our children and those around us what a father's heart really is. And yet a heavenly father who loved his son so much laid him on this cross. Why Did he lose his love for his son? Or had his heart grown so much that he wanted more children, that he wanted to express his love in the most powerful of ways, the most endearing of ways, in a way that could never be discounted?

Tyler Lynde: 35:03

Who lays down their life not only for their friend, but for their enemy? And yet that's what our heavenly father did to Jesus. He asked him to be sacrificed so that we could be adopted into the family of God. My friends, we are not orphans and we need, as believers in Jesus Christ, to stop acting like it. I'm begging you, I'm imploring you, stop that lie of the enemy. Now you have been adopted, you have been grafted in, you have been chosen by God to be a part of his family, and he loves you so much. His love is indescribable. And I'm going to read some verses over you. And faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And as I speak these words, I'm believing that worry and fear and anxiety is going to begin to come off of each and every one of us, that we're going to lay it down once and for all and walk away from it. John 3.16, and you can close your eyes if you want. However, you want to absorb these truths, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Tyler Lynde: 36:36

First, john 3.1. See what great love the father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Lamentations 3.22 says the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I will hope in him.

Tyler Lynde: 37:22

First, john chapter four says by this is love perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the truth that makes us free. This is the love that overwhelms fear and anxiety and worry, and this is the truth that we must remind ourselves every day, because satan whispers, whimpers and screams at times to tell us that it's not true.

Tyler Lynde: 38:18

The cure for anxiety, my friends, is for us to live like loved children of God, to live like we are loved. Verse 33 says but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. In other words, seek first what the kingdom is like, what the family is like, seek to be a part of what God's way and his will is. Live life the way that he expects for it to be lived by his grace, and all of the other things that we worry about, that we're concerned about, will melt away. They'll run away from us in a million different directions. You and I will not be able to be free from anxiety until we put our faith and trust in the living God who sent his son to die for us. Instead of living like orphans, we are to begin to live like loved children of God, because he has adopted us and given us his righteousness as a free gift. In doing this, we will choose to seek first his will and his way of doing this.

Tyler Lynde: 39:30

Remember the prayer our father in heaven. And then, a few words later, it says your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What does it look like to be a citizen of the kingdom? A citizen of the kingdom trusts their father. Jesus is our great example of this. Even though he was equal with God, he chose to humble himself and he became obedient to his father's will. We see this in Gethsemane Father, if there's any way for this cup to pass from me, let it pass. Yet not my will, but your will be done.

Tyler Lynde: 40:12

Was Jesus concerned about the beating? Was he concerned about the blood? Was he concerned about the crucifixion? Was he concerned this was going to be the first time in all of eternity past, present and future that he was going to be separated for a moment in time from his heavenly father, and that was what was most unbearable to him. That is what he needed help with and when we put our faith, hope and trust in a living savior that did that for us, that paid the price for us, that laid his life down for us so that we could be free. What greater gift can we give than to walk in that freedom?

Tyler Lynde: 41:02

And Jesus concludes the thought by a practical application. Jesus was a practical teacher. He told his disciples to focus on one day at a time. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow. He told his disciples to focus on one day at a time. I love the fact. It gives them an instruction on where to begin with transforming their thinking. He told them, let's just focus on today, let's focus on the present, let's focus on what's going on right now. Let's focus on being tuned in to my father's voice and seeing where he's leading us and guiding us. Let's not worry.

Tyler Lynde: 41:42

And how many of you know the what ifs? The what if? Questions are the ones that cause us sometimes the greatest consternation. And if you go to the end of what if, for example, if I had died in that hospital, I know that my family would have been very sad and I would not wish that upon them, and I know that many other people that know me and were praying for me would have been very sad and would have mourned that. But how many of you know to pass from this life to the next as a believer is not something to be pitied. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So let's take it to the fullest extent. Fear. What are you the end result of? Whatever? However, this life wraps up, it's all good. If you read the back of the book we win, come on, we win.

Tyler Lynde: 42:40

Now here's some people saying does that mean that we can't plan for the future? Can we not save any money? I'm not saying that. He's not saying that. He's not telling us that we shouldn't think about the future in the right ways and prepare for things to come, but he's saying our mindset should be to live in this moment, present with God, with us, and then the next moment and the next moment and the next moment will come. So I want us to finish the service this morning in a very unique way, and I'm going to ask that the worship team or whoever is going to come and play would come, and I'm going to ask that a couple of guys come and move the cross to the center of the stage and as I was praying about how to finish this, I felt like the Lord encouraged me to have a practical way that we could respond to this.

Tyler Lynde: 43:39

So, again, if you have not filled your card out, I want you just to take a minute now and just you can write down a word, you can write down a phrase, you can write down a sentence. You don't have to sign these. There's not going to be, we're not going to be reading these over the microphone. So don't be, don't be concerned about that. This is between you and God. But what we're going to do here in just a minute, we're going to pray together, god.

Tyler Lynde: 44:03

But what we're going to do here in just a minute, we're going to pray together and ask the Lord to. Can we be real? We need to ask the Lord to forgive us for areas in our life where we have, for whatever reason, not chosen to trust him, where fear and anxiety and worry have taken the predominant voice in our heads. And not only do we need to repent and acknowledge that we want to change, but we want to take a first step, an act of faith. And so we're just going to, symbolically, I'm going to ask you as you feel comfortable doing it. I'm just folding my piece of. Symbolically, I'm going to ask you as you feel comfortable doing it. I'm just folding my piece of paper here and I'm going to bring it after we pray and I'm going to just lay it here at the foot of this cross. And we know this is just a symbolic cross, it has no power in and of itself, but how many of you know it represents God's love toward us.

Tyler Lynde: 45:06

While we were yet sinners, christ died for us, and so we're going to symbolically lay these fears at the feet of Jesus this morning and we're going to also, by faith, we're going to let them go. Are you ready to let them go? Are you ready to let them go? Are you ready to move on past this fear? Are you ready to not feel that sinking feeling in your gut, or that tightness in your chest, or that lump in your throat sweating the nervousness? Are you ready to let go of that? Can I be honest, sometimes we think that's our friend because we've grown so accustomed to it. I'm here to tell you the freedom that Jesus offers us is so much greater than any feeling that we can get from something that we're holding onto like this because we've grown comfortable with it, right.

Tyler Lynde: 46:08

And so I'm gonna ask again, just as you feel, that after we pray together, just to come down and lay it at the feet of this cross and symbolically laying it at the feet of Jesus and saying, lord, I'm responding to you, I'm responding to your word. I'm saying, lord, help Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. Does that make sense? It's a beautiful prayer that the Lord loves to answer. It's a prayer of humility that acknowledges I have a need here. I've tried in my own strength, I've attempted to just will myself to somehow get better in these ways, and yet I find myself still surrounded by these voices in my head.

Tyler Lynde: 46:54

Today is a day and there's been a lot of people praying about this Today is a day of freedom, and I believe with all of my heart that God is going to take the words that have been spoken and the spirit that's behind it, and he's going to create within us clean hearts today and he's going to renew a right spirit within us and he's going to restore unto us the joy of our salvation and some of these things that have had a hold of us for a long time are going to fall away and it's going to be a new day and a new beginning in Jesus. Are you ready for that this morning? So let's just take a minute between you and the Lord. I'm going to lead us in a prayer, but you just talk to him. He's your father and, by the way, if you're here this morning, you don't yet know Jesus.

Tyler Lynde: 47:46

Everything that I said that applied to followers of Jesus can apply to your life too. If you would just humble yourself today and acknowledge your need for a savior, repent, which just means to turn away from your way of living, your way of thought, and recognize Jesus. I need you, I need you to save me, to change me I can't do it myself and put your faith, believe in him, put your faith and trust in the Jesus who did die on this cross and just as he said he would do, three days later he rose from the grave. Call out to him right now and he will answer you and he will save you and your life. Please don't think it's gonna be perfect in man's eyes, but you'll never be alone again because he'll always be with you. So let's pray together.

Tyler Lynde: 48:43

Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for everyone that's here and also, lord, I just feel led to pray for those who are watching online. And, lord, we're not just doing this as some kind of just to make a scene. Our hearts, lord, we just want to trust you. We want to trust you, we know that you are trustworthy and yet we find ourselves at times trusting in everything else and not putting our trust in you. And so, Father, I ask that you would forgive me, forgive us, lord, god, for our inability at times to recognize our need. Lord, we grow comfortable with these strange bedfellows at times, and it's like we're accustomed to being afraid, to living with anxiety and fear and worry.

Tyler Lynde: 49:49

Father, I pray that today would be a new day, a day of new beginnings.

Tyler Lynde: 49:53

We ask, lord, god, that as we take a step of faith this morning, that, as we come and we lay these burdens down at the foot of the cross representing the sacrifice of Jesus, I pray, lord, god, that this would not just be a moment in time, but we pray, in the name of Jesus, that the power of God and the spirit of God would move and that you would break walls, that you would remove, that you would remove burdens off of people's lives and, father, we pray that you would help us to obey the words of Scripture and to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, and not be worried about all the other things, because you promise that you'll take good care of us.

Tyler Lynde: 50:47

Lord, we know that your answer to our requests, or what you see as success, or what you see as victory, are sometimes very different from our own perspective, and so open our eyes, lord. Help us to see more clearly when you're working, even in the times when it seems like you're nowhere to be found. Father, we ask for your help. We sincerely pray these things in Jesus' name.

Tyler Lynde: 51:17

And now, just again, just as you feel comfortable, just gonna take a few solemn moments here in the presence of God and begin to present these things before him. Thank you, lord. Father, I thank you that you deliver us this day from every fear, every form of anxiety, every form of worry, in the name of Jesus. Lord Jesus, we lay them symbolically at the foot of the cross, we lay them at Jesus's feet and, father, I ask in Jesus's name for freedom. I declare freedom over each and every person in this room. In the name of Jesus Christ, we command that every fear, every form of anxiety, every form of worry physical worries, relationship worries, financial worries, fear of failure, fear of All of the things, lord God, that try to hinder us and keep us from trusting you Would you set us free this day In Jesus' name.

Tyler Lynde: 52:32

Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Lord.

Tyler Lynde: 52:39

Thank you, lord. Do you, can you do I surrender all? Do you know that? One? Okay, thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. Thank you, lord. Do you, can you do I surrender all? Do you know that? One? Okay, thank you Lord. Lord, we lay these things down. We lay them down. It's an act of faith. Thank you, lord, god, for the freedom that you provide. In Jesus Christ, father, I pray that you would change our ability to see you so that we would see you in the way that you love us. Open our eyes and our hearts to the love of God. In Christ Jesus, our Lord. Open our eyes, lord Jesus, help us to see. Help us to see, Father. In Jesus name, let freedom reign. Let freedom reign. Let freedom reign. Let freedom reign. He whom the son has set free is freed indeed thank you, lord let's just sing all to Jesus and stand to our feet.

Tyler Lynde: 53:40

We'll finish with this song. Let's just sing all to Jesus and stand to our feet.

Tyler Lynde: 53:44

We'll finish with this song Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord, thank you Father, thank you Jesus, I surrender all. Thank you Jesus, I surrender all, all to Jesus, look to him, all to thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

Tyler Lynde: 54:36

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that, at the proper time, he may I surrender all.

Tyler Lynde: 54:58

Jesus, all Jesus. I surrender all. Thank you, lord, all to thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

Tyler Lynde: 55:25

Father, we thank you for this time together today. Lord, we ask in Jesus' name that as we leave this building, that we would not leave behind the truth that makes us free. We ask that you'd help us to walk now in this freedom, in this newness of life. We give you glory and honor and praise, and, lord, I pray that you would bless your people, that you would bless them and keep them, cause your face to shine upon them and be gracious to them, that you would lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace. In Jesus' name, amen. In Jesus' name, amen. Remember this week, if the temptation tries to come, resist, resist the temptation in the name of Jesus, and it has to go. It has to go. We are free because Jesus has made us free.