TRL - Stressed Out and Worried...

This weekend we launched a 3 week series called "TRL". We asked our students for some topics that they would like me to teach on... This weekend we talked about stress and anxiety and finding a way to deal with it in a healthy and Biblical way.

Here's this weekend's outline...
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TRL (Total Request Live)
Week 1: Stressed Out and Worried!
Live Wire/High Voltage – March 2, 2008 – Jim Clark
Truths about Stress and Anxiety:
-Everyone deals with stress, anxiety and worry.
If you’re alive… it’s part of your life.
-You feel: -Overwhelmed.
-Strapped for time.
-Out-Of-Control.
-We tend to get stressed out about the wrong things.
-Stress can be managed.

Jesus dealt with Stress…
Taught about stress, worry and anxiety.
Matthew 6:25-34 and Luke 12:22-34
Dealt with stress everyday.
When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
Mark 5:21-29

-People.
-Healings.
-Expectations.

Jesus’ secret to dealing with stress… Adequate downtime!
Got alone with God.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35
Got alone with friends.
He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. Mark 4:36

Action Steps and a Touch of Hope:
1. Admit your anxiety and stress to God and others.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:23
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

2. Narrow down the things that need attention and those things that don’t.
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12:25

3. Share an encouraging word with the stressed out ones in your life.
An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. Proverbs 12:25

The Bottom Line:
Stress is part of life… But for the Christian it shouldn’t be an out of control part of life.