Talk—Ethan Porter
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Thank you for this nice conference.
Unable to have.
Thank you for all the work that.
People that hosted it.
Ask that we'd all be able to take something home from the conference for ourselves and maybe even something to share with others. And so we thank you for the.
Good reminders. We've had the excitation and they just ask for your help in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So.
The topic that I was thinking of, it sort of came to me just before the plane took off in Philadelphia and.
Anybody that knows me well knows that I'm kind of an anxious person by nature and I've never liked flying. And so as the engines are turning up to take off, there's always kind of like a little jump in my heart rate and now that I wear this.
Fitbit and it tracks my heart, so I can actually see how much of a jump that is. And The funny thing is I had a.
One of the, I guess one of the biggest moments professional life. This past Wednesday, I had to turn in.
And I did the estimate for the construction for.
It's a huge job and I spent a month.
And then finally it was time to put the number in and I got there at work early and we're still finishing everything up. And during that time, I checked my heart rate and I found out that in the mid.
Of the stress of working on that bid and then taking off, my heart rate was about the same. It was probably a gift of 20 to 25 feet.
Higher than my.
Resting heart rate.
So.
Especially when I was younger but still today.
I fear is it's a part of our lives or it comes in as a part of our lives. And so I just wanted to talk a little bit about fear and the things that I was afraid of when I was younger are a little different than that.
Now, but I think that.
The solution to fear is the same regardless.
So I'm just going to read.
Some verses real quick.
This is in Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 and I'm reading from the NASB.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests.
Be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
So I was just thinking that, you know, fear, it's a natural response to.
Maybe a reaction to what's around us or what we know is coming.
And it's not meant to be a big part of a Christian's life. And yet we do fear sometimes, And maybe especially when we're young, we might feel a little guilty about being afraid because we know maybe we shouldn't be.
Paul told Timothy that we weren't given the spirit of fear.
So oftentimes I find when I'm anxious, it's because maybe I haven't been reading like I should be, maybe I haven't been trained every day and the way that I ought to be, you know, really.
Like my dad has side note to really get down on your knees, you know, it's I I find myself praying a lot throughout the day, but.
You're not always diligent to actually get down on my knees at home where it's quiet and really be before the word. And I think that that's a different kind of prayer that's real needful. And when it's not in my life, that's when I start to be afraid. So it says be anxious for nothing.
00:05:02
But like so often, follows up until it's 13, but in everything by prayer.
And supplication with Thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God. So there's three things there. There's prayer, supplication, and Thanksgiving. And so.
To pray is to to make a request.
Supplication I think of as fervent prayer, things like prayer, but it's, it's really, really recognizing God's lordship over all of creation and that he, he can provide an answer. And then there's Thanksgiving. And so we recognize what he's done for us. And I think of that verse that.
He who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all.
Thou shalt eat, not with him.
Really good. Thanks.
And so we just when we were able to consider that he spared not his own son.
Then of course, He's going to take care of every aspect of our lives. He's already saved us through this life into each. So it says, if you do that peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
And you know, the thing about being a young person today is even in the world, I think issues with anxiety are are probably in an all time high. It's something like I heard that.
Sleep aid, including medications and devices, is now a multi billion dollar market in the US because people are just so anxious they can't get to sleep. And it shouldn't be that way for a believer. But we're not untouched by that and so I think it's especially an issue.
That, you know, young people face today and it's, it's probably going to get worse, you know, the whole creation.
Is groaning and you know even.
Even the you know after the fun and said that the the dread.
Man was going to be upon all of them and so it's that curse and it exists until the Lord comes and there will finally be peace so and I think it's only going to get worse until he comes but.
In contrast, the believer has this promise, the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds of Christ Jesus. And then it says, finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. And so that's.
You know, all those adjectives that kind of, I think you find every one of those things.
In the Scripture. And so that's the other side I think of how to approach fear in our lives is to look to the Scripture for answer and not just to sit there and be afraid, but to look to the Lord and to his Word for Scripture and so for answers. And so that's just what I would encourage you to do if you have fear about school or what you're going to do in the next stage of your life.
Or really anything.
It doesn't matter how small we can admit before the Lord that it makes us afraid. And be honest with Him and be before Him about it, and look to His words for answers. So.
Just closing prayer.
Our grandfather, we just thank you again for this time and.
Again, ask for help for.
Each of us in our lives.
From a time like this conference, which maybe it's easy to have thoughts of you and to to focus on you and to.
Live a good Christian life but we just asked for help too when we.
Go away from a place like this that you would have the first place in our hearts and in our lives, and that would be drawn to you. So we just asked these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you know.