Be anxious for NOTHING.

What is the THEREFORE, there for?

Treasures in heaven - notice that Jesus leads the conversation about worry with a conversation about treasure. I think he means to teach us that many of the things we worry about are directly related to what we most treasure.

This reminds me of a scene from one of my favorite movies. The Hobbit. One of the characters in this movie is a little creepy creature named Gollum. In one scene we see the main character, Bilbo Baggins lost in a foreign cave. in the deep darkness of the underground caverns he runs into this little creature who seems to be half hobbit half frog. Through a sequence of riddle challenges and some trickery Bilbo wins the right to be lead out of the cavern by Gollum but not before stealing an item of great value from the little guy. A ring. Gollum soon notices the item is gone and begins to totally unravel, his explosion begins with anxiety around having misplaced the ring and soon turns into all consuming rage as he realizes it has been taken by Bilbo. This is a simple story that shows us a very real problem we all deal with, our hearts get fixed on things that we’re never meant to bring us permanent joy, and when we lose them, we freak out!

So I imagine that if Jesus were talking to Gollum he would say these words “dude, let it go. It’s not ever going to give you what you need anyway. whats in front of you needs your attention more than what isnt. give what you have your focus and concern rather than worrying about things you can’t control anyway.”

I mean, I dont know that Jesus would’ve used the word Dude, or that he would be having a conversation with a fictional creature but you get the point.

Jesus addresses the Gollum worry/anxiety problem as he addresses the Human worry/stress/anxiety problem.

There are an innumerable amount of things that us humans get stressed out about right.... whether our team will win or lose, relationships, or lack of, friendships that hurt, online activity, grades, clothes, food, shelter, jobs, SAT’s ACT’s, lunch tomorrow, fashion next week, my future, my past, my family, the family I’ll lead and the list can go on and on and on...

BUT we don’t have to get caught in the gerbil wheel of worry and anxiety here. If you’ve never heards the words of Jesus on this subject I want you to listen up. No matter who you are or what has or will cause you stress these words will help you and if you trust them, they will save years off your life.

Psychoanalytic theorist Karen Horney developed one of the best-known theories of neurosis. She believed that neurosis resulted from basic anxiety caused by interpersonal relationships. Her theory proposes that strategies used to cope with anxiety can be overused, causing them to take on the appearance of needs.

According to Horney, basic anxiety (and therefore neurosis) could result from a variety of things including, " . . . direct or indirect domination, indifference, erratic behavior, lack of respect for the child's individual needs, lack of real guidance, disparaging attitudes, too much admiration or the absence of it, lack of reliable warmth, having to take sides in parental disagreements, too much or too little responsibility, over-protection, isolation from other children, injustice, discrimination, unkept promises, hostile atmosphere, and so on and so on" (Horney, 1945).

These 10 neurotic needs can be classed into three broad categories:

Needs that move you towards others.These neurotic needs cause individuals to seek affirmation and acceptance from others and are often described as needy or clingy as they seek out approval and love.Needs that move you away from others.These neurotic needs create hostility and antisocial behavior. These individuals are often described as cold, indifferent, and aloof.Needs that move you against others.These neurotic needs result in hostility and a need to control other people. These individuals are often described as difficult, domineering, and unkind.

Well-adjusted individuals utilize all three of these strategies, shifting focus depending on internal and external factors.

So what is it that makes these coping strategies neurotic? According to Horney, it is the overuse of one or more of these interpersonal styles. Neurotic people tend to utilize two or more of these ways of coping, creating conflict, turmoil, and confusion. In her book Self-Analysis (1942), Horney outlined the 10 neurotic needs she had identified:

1. The Neurotic Need for Affection and Approval

This need​ includes the desires to be liked, to please other people, and meet the expectations of others. People with this type of need are extremely sensitive to rejection and criticism and fear the anger or hostility of others.

2. The Neurotic Need for a Partner Who Will Take Over One’s Life

This involves the need to be centered on a partner. People with this need suffer extreme fear of being abandoned by their partner. Oftentimes, these individuals place an exaggerated importance on love and believe that having a partner will resolve all of life’s troubles.

3. The Neurotic Need to Restrict One’s Life Within Narrow Borders

Individuals with this need prefer to remain inconspicuous and unnoticed. They are undemanding and content with little. They avoid wishing for material things, often making their own needs secondary and undervaluing their own talents and abilities.

4. The Neurotic Need for Power

Individuals with this need seek power for its own sake. They usually praise strength, despise weakness, and will exploit or dominate other people. These people fear personal limitations, helplessness, and uncontrollable situations.

5. The Neurotic Need to Exploit Others

These individuals view others in terms of what can be gained through association with them. People with this need generally pride themselves in their ability to exploit other people and are often focused on manipulating others to obtain desired objectives, including such things as ideas, power, money, or sex.

6. The Neurotic Need for Prestige

Individuals with a need for prestige value themselves in terms of public recognition and acclaim. Material possessions, personality characteristics, professional accomplishments, and loved ones are evaluated based on prestige value. These individuals often fear public embarrassment and loss of social status.

7. The Neurotic Need for Personal Admiration

Individuals with a neurotic need for personal admiration are narcissistic and have an exaggerated self-perception. They want to be admired based on this imagined self-view, not upon how they really are.

8. The Neurotic Need for Personal Achievement

According to Horney, people push themselves to achieve greater and greater things as a result of basic insecurity. These individuals fear failure and feel a constant need to accomplish more than other people and to top even their own earlier successes.

9. The Neurotic Need for Self-Sufficiency and Independence

These individuals exhibit a “loner” mentality, distancing themselves from others in order to avoid being tied down or dependent upon other people.

10. The Neurotic Need for Perfection and Unassailability

These individuals constantly strive for complete infallibility. A common feature of this neurotic need is searching for personal flaws in order to quickly change or cover up these perceived imperfections.

These are the ten ways that Dr Karen found that humans respond to anxiety and I think if we took a few moments and did an inventory we could probably figure out which one would be most appealing to us right.

Well today I have good news, no matter which one of these you may fall for the answer is the same for each one of us.

You Can’t do anything about it.

But God Can - as a matter of fact, He’s the only one who can. He is the only one who can stop the sun in the sky and stretch the day.

He’s the only one who can reach into tomorrow and make a way where you thought there wasnt anyway.

He’s the only one who can pull power from the future and deliver it right into your heart and call it ETERNITY

He’s the only one who can reshape and sew up a broken heart after a family fight last week

He is the only one who can truly provide all you need.

And He did.

He is here. now. and wants you to trust him with the stuff you’ve been worrying about. I want to invite you to write it down today and hand it over to Him.

I’m not going to read them, I’m actually going to demolish them with you.

Instructions for sheets of paper to be handed out and for students to write out the word(s) that represent the stuff they most stress about and deliver it into the trash can up in the front of the room.

Before you do I want to pray - because, you see, this isn’t just about writing a word on paper and magically it goes away. this is a symbol of us taking our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ.

PRAYER

Activity with Chill music in the background.

Discussion Questions for Small Groups:

who is the most stressed out person you know?

On a scale of 1-100 where would you say your stress level is on an average day. 1 being totally calm and relaxed and at peace and 100 being uncontrollably sobbing & vomiting while curled up on the floor because your so stressed out.

Where do you think God wants you on that scale?

How can you move closer to 1 and further from 100?

What truths about God can we all remember this week to help keep our thoughts obedient to Christ?

What should we be concerned with but NOT anxious or worried about?

How can we concern ourselves with these things WITHOUT becoming Anxious?

PRAY FOR EACH OTHER