How do guardrails keep friends and associates from driving us into a ditch?

This is about the need for guardrails with regard to friends and associates. Modern science and the bible show us that we become like those we hang around with. So, choose wisely.

How do guardrails give us practical protection in our personal lives?

The main text is Ephesians 5:15-18, and this first message is just establishing the wisdom of having guardrails in our lives to protect us from going into a ditch, i.e., damaging our lives and our futures. Identify where you’re at risk and set some boundaries. Society won’t do this for you, but it will laugh at you and ridicule you when you mess up. You’ve got to take the reins on this yourself.

Christmas Eve With The Surge!

The Surge Christmas

Does anyone else have a hard time thinking about anything else but their problems?

Two helps with anxiety. (1) Think about the right thing. Problems require some thought, some attention, but fixation? Probably not. Obsessing? Nope. Scripture tells us to be careful what we ponder. Not talking here about positive thinking, but Godward thinking. Intentionally direct your mind to God. Meditate on His Word. So, think right and, (2) do the right thing: obey. Practice the things Jesus taught us, and we'll have less time to worry about us. Focus shifting from us to God and others causes anxiety to lose its grip.

Has anyone out there found a good counselor to help you with your anxieties and fears?

God commands us (not a suggestion) to stop worrying. Great. How do we do that? God's recommendation: pray. But prayer isn't to just be a rehearsal of your worries. It's unburdening yourself, getting rid of the burden, putting them on God. He can handle it. Stop trusting in you; instead trust in God. Plead specific requests. Pray with thanksgiving, because thanksgiving kills anxiety. If you ponder how good God is, it helps keep worry at bay. Pray with rejoicing

Money is tight right now, so how can I not be terrified about finances when I get older?

This message is all about financial anxieties, given that 80% of Americans have financial fears ranging from somewhat to extreme. Even the rich have these fears. We can handle money better, but those concepts don't cure this because it's our hearts that need curing. Our fears reveal our idols, what we really want. Answer from Jesus: Dump your life of the love of money and what money can buy. We think money can satisfy and provide security. It doesn't. It's fleeting. A relationship with God provides both, however.

How do I break this fear that something bad is always lurking just around the corner?

The focus is on fear of the future, what's going to happen. The belief that Murphy's Law is true if it can go wrong, it will. The answer to our key question is found in three questions. 1) Who am I listening to? It'd ought to be Jesus; 2) Who am I trusting? It ought to be Jesus. Our fears show us we're not. 3) What am I seeking? It ought to be the kingdom of God make your great goal God, and He will take care of all your needs. A special on trusting in the right thing, worrying about tomorrow, looking for happiness in all the wrong places would work.

Death is something we all will experience, so why are we so afraid of it?

We have a double whammy in our culture not only fear of death, but fear of aging. Good news is the bible agrees that death is a problem. And death exists because of sin... we've all sinned. So our greatest need is someone to die for us. We may not think so, but the bible tells us we are in lifelong slavery because of a fear of death. The answer: Jesus came in the flesh, died, and was raised he is the solution to our fear. In Him, we're free, and no longer crippled by fear. A special about death or the fear of it or the uncertainty of it would work.

What do we need to hang on to when depression hits?

When it's seems hopeless, we need to hope in God. Our minds are going to talk to us about how awful things are. We need to interrupt that conversation and start one where we challenge ourselves to hope in God, and buttress that with what we know of who God is, what God is, what God has done, and what God has pledged to do. And we use that to keep pushing back the hopeless thoughts that we or other people, or the devil or the world pitch to us. Fight through that to praise God for the help He's capable of providing. A special on hope or when it all looks hopeless would work.